A long summer ends

We are approaching the end of a long summer, and I am sure keen to deliver your children back to us for the start of a new exciting term.

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Estate Development

As ever, there has been no pause in developments at School, even without the pupils. The notable educational improvements are outlined below, but such an beautiful Estate such as ours requires extensive unseen and often unrecognised work, and substantial improvements have been made to the drainage, the driveway, the utilities and landscaping.

My thanks as always to the unfailing Operations and Finance team who have enabled the extensive work taking place over these summer months, including Mr Colclough, Mr Gresty, and my evergreen dream team of Mrs Lambert and, of course, Mrs Holt.

Thanks also to Mark Walsh of Cheshire Contract Furniture for his supervision, oversight and sub-contracting, together with the teams from:

• Countrywide Ground Maintenance

• DW Hargreaves Electrical Services

• South Warrington Plastering

• Lee Mac Painting and Decorating.

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Food and Technology Kitchen

Our brand new kitchen is reaching its final stages with an impressive ten workstations now installed and ready for action, with all of the necessary equipments, safety features and teaching tools at hand for some amazing culinary creations.

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New Study Room and Library

Our old food and technology kitchen has been fully re-plastered, re-floored, re-wired and fitted ready for future furnishing as a new study area, office and library, and our main corridor through the engine rooms of the school have also been stripped, replastered, refloored and painted to prepare for the onslaught of pupils, scruffing shoes and heavy school bags.

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Cransleyfest 2024

My final preparations, checks and risk assessment are in place for Cransleyfest 2024 - the fabulous start to our academic year, and tickets are quickly selling as parents return from holidays, so please don’t delay. Please visit the Cransleyfest page and book tickets through Parentpay as soon as possible to be assured of a ticket.

Headline Sponsors

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Open Day

Open Day takes place on Saturday 21st of September for all prospective Junior School and Year 7 parents. Please do share details of the event and this website with friends and family (only if you like them, of course) and mark the date in your own diary: we may need your child.

Other Dates for the Diary will be released this week.

End of Year Delights

The Cransley Foundation Events

There are currently a small group of utterly-committed and talented mums giving every bit of their energy and effort to prepare the most glorious Midsummer Ball for tomorrow. Our guests and Year 11 pupils will have the most beautiful night.

Only a few days past, the marquee was stunningly decorated for Wednesday’s Afternoon Tea, adorned with flowers, fragrances and fanciful gifts, with over a hundred happy guests enjoying friends and fashion in the most sedate and refined manner. It was a joy to join and be involved with - a sentiment I hope is shared by all those who were able to attend.

Since then the marquee has undergone a complete transformation to now be dressed in nature’s finest regalia for our Midsummer event.

I must name names - Janet Ainslow, Lucy Fairclough, Estelle Flanagan, Chris Rees, Heidi Nickson, Mel Mather, Penny Storey, Jo Taylor alongside the ever-present (my own dream team) Clare Holt, Kathy Matthews and Lisa Lambert have worked tirelessly to bring the events together. My thanks also to Jasmine Worsley for her stunning balloon-art decorations, to Estelle for bringing her angelically-voiced students to perform, as well as her own considerable vocal talents, the Knowles family for their incredible working of some recently-felled Estate timber and many more individuals that I am simply too ignorant not to have added to this paragraph of gratitude. I hope I can make up for it over the weekend.

I look forward to seeing many parents and families over the coming days, as our school year ends with the climax and the celebration it deserves.

Richard Pollock

Headteacher

Preparing for the Summer

Cransley Sports Day

You see it all at Sports Day: varying levels of physical preparation (from a brief, pathetic stretch, to months of max-hyper-all-body-deep-high-intensity-enhanced-protein-enriched-hi-gain-hi-pain-endurance-sprint-fitness and lifestyle training, all meticulously diaried on Instagram and celebrated with numerous unnecesary self love hashtags*); abject and unnecessary posturing and flexing; the inevitable pale heaving flesh and flailing limbs; ; sweaty, tense disappointed traumatised faces, and ultimately, the feeble and pitiful efforts to maintain the already long-lost respect of family and friends.

But enough about the Junior Dads’ race, weren’t the children just amazing?

Mrs Storey and Mr Low - our extraordinary PE teachers

Thank you to all of our families who took time away from work and other duties to cheer on their children, enjoy the effervescent company of others and bask under a warming sun. There are few better places to enjoy a picnic than our back lawn in summer.

My sincere thanks as a Headteacher and as a daddy to Mrs Storey and Mr Low particularly, and all of the staff of both schools for their time and energy in making our Sports day the proper and correct balance of performance and participation. I watched all with pride and affection for all, and thoroughly enjoyed chatting so many families on the sidelines, despite the need to now heavily moisturise my sun-kissed receding hairline… I doubt I am the only one!

Photographs can be seen on our Instagram feed (details below).

*Honestly I would be one of these people if I wasn’t so fond of cheese and a glass of red wine. And lying down.

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INSTAGRAM NEWS

Catch up with all of our day-to-day learning experiences with our Instagram feed. Please follow us if you aren’t already.

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THE CRANSLEY MARQUEE

Thank you to two of our generous families who have sponsored the Cransley Marquee in readiness for the Cransley Foundation Afternoon Tea (26th June) and Midsummer Ball (29th June) next week. The Marquee was erected today on a beautiful morning by Craig Walker and his Marquees.com team in what I believe to be record time. A good supply of biscuits were on hand.

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Cransleyfest 2024

Even in the midst of our end of year celebrations, we are already preparing to begin the new academic year in the same frame of mind - with a party! Cransleyfest takes place on the 31st August this year with our fun-filled festival of food, funfairs, fireworks and fabulous bands. This year will be bigger than ever, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Storey’s of Cheshire Estate Agents.

All are welcome. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW THROUGH PARENTPAY. Please buy quickly and bring friends and family.

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ESTATE DEVELOPments

You will have seen the rapid construction of our Science and Technology Centre extension, and in the last week alone, the main internal installation of the Food Nutrition and Technology kitchen has taken place. I think you all deserve a little peek inside. My thanks to the teams from Wernick, Cheshire Contract Furniture (Mark Walsh) and DW Hargreaves for their brilliant work to get this completed in quick-time.

This project is one of several taking place over another busy summer, with new toilets being fitted in our Pavilion, the completion of a Junior School Outdoor building, refurbishments to corridors, and the conversion of the old Food Technology room into a free study space and office prior to the fitting of our new School libary. Mrs Holt and Mrs Lambert are the astonishing colleagues making this happen - fabulous pair that they are.

Our Autumn Open Day takes place on the 21st September (save the date!), and all parents are invited to tour the School and see the new room, particularly if you havent visited for a while. Further details will be announced in due course.

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Dates for the Diary

26 June - Cransley Foundation Afternoon Tea

29 June - Cransley Midsummer Ball

3 July - Prize Giving Ceremonies (2pm Juniors, 7pm Seniors) with 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

21 September - Autumn Open Day