The General Election

The announcement this week will have pricked your ears and turned your attention to the manifestos of the various political parties - and the issue of VAT on independent school fees would have been of concern.  

As you would expect, the Governing Board and Senior Leadership Team have been discussing the matter at length for well over a year, with reliable modelling and analysis from the School Finance Director, Mrs Suzanne Parrott.   

I will provide a non-sugarcoated factual brief for parents over the coming week for your attention and consideration.

Just to remind you that the law (the Independent Schools Standards Regulations in our case) prohibits the promotion of partisan political views in teaching. Cransley will take reasonable steps to ensure that, where political issues are brought to pupils’ attention at school or school extra-curricular activities, there is a balanced presentation of opposing views.

That’s not to say that we cannot discuss political decisions with you from a business point of view and I will encourage that in due course.

Year 11 and GCSE 

Our amazing Year 11s are in the midst of their GCSEs currently - many having just finished a brutal week of six exams in five days, and are due another similar week after half term.

If you don’t know the group already, I pay a little tribute to our Y11s - The Fruits of our Labour - together with a few comments on the intensity of the exam season.

Foundation Events

Now, before this week, perhaps the only meaningful decision you had to make was whether you attended The Afternoon Tea or The Midsummer Ball, or even both, on Wednesday 26th June and the Saturday 29th June respectively.  We approach the busiest time for our Foundation and our fantastic volunteers have been planning these events for several months and deserve our attention and support.

We have a professional celebrity compère with television presenter Jenny Powell leading the Midsummer Ball and running the fundraising auction.  Together with a great band and great company, it will be a truly fabulous evening.

If you are a little unsure about attending your first Ball, don't worry - do get in touch with me and I will be delighted to welcome you to the event and host a table of newcomers. With our celebrity guest, and despite being a daddy of one the Year 11 leavers for the first time, I am at your disposal.

To be honest, I cannot wait for the Afternoon tea. It is a wonderful event with a variety of stalls, discussions on well-being and mental and physical health, cosmetic solutions, musical performances, clothing and fashion, fine food and drinks.  I will, of course pop in, enticed by the heavily-scented air and soothing tones, try a few deep-pore treatments and retinol peptide Q15a-19 Cetaphil nutritional Regenerist micro sculpting cream skin treatments, enjoy a small macaroon and leave the rest to the lion-heart James Hulme to be host and compère.

Estate developments

The construction of our new Food Nutrition and Technology Kitchen will be finally underway next week with ground preparation and delivery of the new £200,000 modular extension to our Science and Technology Building.  The kitchen will be equipped with nine workstations and a range of culinary tools, resources and equipment, supporting all of our pupils - and those from other settings - in developing this most vital of life-skills. We might even arrange some adult culinary masterclasses!

You will also see the groundwork for our new sustainable Junior Community Farm and growing garden, with a new outdoor shelter and shed being constructed subtly alongside.  The project, which Mr Morris will soon formally unveil, is a vital part of the Junior School’s development, providing: 

• daily, immersive cross-curricular learning opportunities for all pupils in the Junior School;

• wider opportunities for Senior School pupils to develop practical and social skills;

• seasonal produce for the School kitchen to use;

• a social focal point for families to engage with;

• opportunities for urban schools to access outdoor education.

Staffing

You may be aware that our superb Design and Technology teacher Mr Guinness will be leaving this summer.  Our resident Lego Genius and self-titled ‘Brick Consultant’ (with over 44,000 world-wide Instagram followers), will be developing his role with the brilliant bricks away from school, with commissions and workshops. We wish him every success in this.  

Indeed Mr Guinness developed the design and technology provision at Cransley from scratch.  It simply was not taught before he arrived and he has not only embedded a much-enjoyed subject into the timetable as a discrete subject and a cross- and extra-curricular aid across the school, such as the ‘F1 in Schools’ competition, but designed the bespoke, tooled and resourced a new studio in our Science and Technology Centre.  We have a lot to thank Mr G for and he will be sorely missed.

I am delighted to say that a new DT teacher has been found and recruited, subject to contract, and I will reveal further details in due course.

Part of our negotiation with the new member of the Cransley team is their willingness to support the development of ‘Cransley School Racing’, a new Motorsport Karting Club for girls and boys from Year 8 onwards, to be held at weekends throughout the new academic year.  Many of you will know that I have been very keen to develop this in recent years, and a new collaboration with the Speedworks Motorsport team in their new HQ, is very much in the offing.

Watch this space.

I wish you all a wonderful mid-term break.

Teachers and operational staff will be pressing on with annual reports and end of year preparations, and I look forward to seeing pupils back on Monday 3 June.

Richard Pollock

Headteacher

Dates for the diary

3 June - School reopens

20 June - Sports Day and Picnic (9.30am Juniors, 1pm Seniors)

21 June - Reserve Sports Day

26 June - Cransley Foundation Afternoon Tea

29 June - Cransley Midsummer Ball

3 July - Prize Giving Ceremonies (2pm Juniors, 6.30pm Seniors) Refreshments on the Back lawn afterwards

4 July - End of Academic Year, 12pm

31 August - CransleyFest 2024

3 September - School opens for the Autumn term