We were inundated with eager visitors on Saturday, all excited to explore the Junior School and learn more about our philosophy - ‘The Cransley Way’.

Our pupil ambassadors on the day ranged from Year 1 up to Year 6 - all were delightful, polite and very welcoming, truly showcasing who we are as a community. Thank you, parents, for lending us your little ones for the morning! By the smiles on face and the peals of laughter echoing around the Juniors, I’m sure they enjoyed guiding our guests, testing out the activities and sharing their experience of Cransley life. From the conversations I had with some of you too, it sounds like a child-free Saturday morning was a rare treat! Everyone’s a winner.

Thank you for selecting your Parents’ Evening appointment slots - your allocated times will be with you by Wednesday 25th September - if you have any problems, please contact your child’s teacher.

Home Learning

Our home learning routine is now in full flow. Home learning expectations can be found in our Parent Handbook and each specific task is outlined on Google Classroom. We deliberately keep home learning to a minimum - there’s no evidence or research base that suggests hours and hours of additional study improve outcomes for primary aged pupils. However, what the Education Endowment Foundation research does tell us is that reading with your child and regular practice of spellings, number facts and activities linked to learning in school can accelerate progress by up to 3 months. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/homework

So, whilst life is incredibly busy and juggling running a house, a business and a family can feel nigh on impossible at times - a productive and regular home learning routine is a necessity. Children thrive on consistency and reliable routines. Our commitment (Parent and School) is to provide the best opportunities for our children to flourish. We rely on you ensuring that your child completes their home learning expectations, so that we can continue to develop, build on and embed these skills in the classroom. Class teachers are always available to discuss the learning set for the week and we have supportive resources uploaded to each Google Classroom such as our Guided reading Prompts for Parents to help you. As with everything: if you need help, just ask!

Mr Morris

Colourful Creations

Mr Mole set us a mission, he left a message asking us to help him. He only had red, blue and yellow paint and he needed more colours to complete his painting. Reception explored using the colours he had and made some discoveries. It was a very messy, but fun afternoon. Great problem solving Reception!

Mrs Gallanders

Thame’s Thrilling Tales

Tuesday morning saw a real treat for Year 6 as we were visited by author Michael Thame. His grandfather was an evacuee from Liverpool during World War 2, and after writing his memoirs for him, he realised how fascinating his story was. He subsequently adapted elements of his grandfather’s memories into a series of children’s books recounting his exploits during the war.

We were treated to readings from the stories interspersed with opportunities to examine wartime artefacts, as well as a chance to question a real expert on the subject! Please let me know if your children want to access any of his stories and I will point you in the right direction.

Mr Armstrong

Cransley Chronicle Launches!

Roll up, roll up! The Cransley Chronicle has landed. Grab a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit (or 5) and browse our very own Google Classroom page full of exciting updates from our multi-talented Cransley pupils. All children have received an invitation to join through their Gmail account. Be sure to accept it and gain access to all of the latest posts. 

We have some keen young reporters collecting the latest Cransley news updates through our Cransley Chronicle CSE club on a Monday lunchtime. Currently, they are Olivia, Emelie, Seth, Ava, Naomi, Martha and Tabitha. 

If you have anything that you would like to share with the school community, please encourage your child to share this with our reporters in person and/or you could email a short blurb and photograph to Miss Lloyd, we would be hugely grateful. Please contact me on llloyd@cransleyschool.com 

Junior Safety Officers

We are excited to announce that Olivia, Emelie and Seth are our School community Junior Safety Officers. These children will be working alongside Miss Lloyd to bring you safety updates and exciting competitions. The initiative is run by the Cheshire West and Chester Council who will support the children in carrying out this role. Look out for a notice board arriving outside the Junior School where all of the latest updates will be posted.

Each month, we will share a video and bulletin via the PPB, Cransley Chronicle and notice board. The officers will also share this in assembly. Each week, we will share a Road Safety Top Tip too! Please enjoy September’s video and bulletin explaining the importance of safety in and around school. JSO Video

Dates for the Diary:

• 24.09.2024 - Whole School Photograph - Full uniform needed

• 30.09.2024 & 01.10.2024 - Junior School Parents’ Evenings

• 2.10.2024 - Year 6 Money Matters Workshop

• 18.10.24 - Harvest Festival - Details coming soon!

Special Mentions

Reception:

This week’s special mention goes to a Reception child for nurturing relationships. When asked how you can be kind to someone, he came up with hundreds of ideas. My favourites were to smile at each other, be friendly if someones upset and listen to what people are saying. My special mention goes to someone with an old head on young shoulders - Dougie! Well done!  

Year 1:

This week Year One were tasked with finding adjectives to describe objects that you might find in the attic, in the hope that they could rescue yet another Bear from the hatch in the ceiling. One child in particular came up with a variety of relevant adjectives to make sure the reader knew that the attic was old, dusty and a little bit smelly! I can’t wait to read all his stories this year! Well done to Charlie!

Year 2:

This week started with a reminder about passing kindness forwards. My special mention this week took that to heart and has nurtured relationships with every member of our school community. He has supported others in our class in activities and on the playground. He always uses his manners and he has made new members of our school community feel welcome. Thank you for being amazing, Luca!

Year 3:

What a fun-filled week of learning for Year 3 who became scientists to learn the Scientific Method rap, played fronted adverbial dice games, and shared some wonderful home learning tasks including home made maps in our Cities topic.  Throughout this week, I have noticed someone who constantly seeks excellence.  They are especially skilled in linking what they already know to move their own learning forward, a true independent learner.  This person is always kind, gentle and thoughtful even when they have felt a little under the weather this week.   Thank you for making my job so enjoyable, Georgia! 

Year 4:

It’s been a busy week of reading and writing in Year 4 featuring personification poetry (check out our new display!) and dramatic playscripts. Throughout all of these sessions, one learner has strived to seek excellence whilst also supporting their fellow learners. Thank you for your dramatic reading, your intriguing question and your justified predictions - Roselia!

Year 5:

This week, Year 5 have been focusing on describing a character’s emotions using new vocabulary. One child in particular impressed me with his inner voice extract where he used ‘show and not tell’ to portray thoughts and feelings. However, it wasn’t just this child’s English work that amazed me this week. After an exciting cooking lesson, this child Ventured Beyond by baking his own delicious creation and posting the evidence of his successful tasting session at home on the Google Classroom. I am beyond proud of your developing confidence, Charlie L and I can’t wait to watch you achieve great things this year.

Year 6:

Another week has breezed by and Year 6 have been basking in the glow of the glorious Cransley afternoon sunshine. We have also continued to delve into our learning about the events, impacts and relevance of World War 2. This week’s main man was both polite and inquisitive with our visiting WW2 author, Michael Thame, on Tuesday. He then ventured beyond that same afternoon, stepping up to represent the school at a Year 7 sports event! I have also noticed how well he has nurtured relationships in our Maths work, developing his learning through active co–operation with his classmates during a range of activities. Top stuff… Leon!