Old Princethorpians

Crackley Hall celebrated the Feast of St Joseph on Tuesday 19 March. Alongside Father Kevin, pupils from Junior 5 led the readings and bidding prayers as we celebrated our school saint. We reflected on the history of the school and thought about the life of St Joseph, whose trade was to shape, build and create. During the Homily, Fr Kevin talked about the many people who look to St Joseph for inspiration and reflected that just as God makes a difference to our lives, St Joseph tried to do that too.

The Mass concluded with four of the seven pupils being congratulated on making their first Reconciliation in preparation for their First Holy Communion, and we were delighted to be able to welcome a small number of Old St Joseph Convent School pupils and staff to the mass.

The Hunt’s Bookshop Book Fair visited Crescent School recently, causing much excitement for us all. The trolleys of brightly coloured jackets and bold titles catching the interest and imagination of all who walked past.

Hunt’s Bookshop is a local Rugby, family run, independent book shop, and we were delighted to partner with them to host the book fair. In fact, Hunt’s Bookshop even has an Old Crescentian amongst them, as Dominic is a former pupil of the school.

The book fair was very popular, as there really is nothing like the sight, feel and smell of a new book. Every class had the chance to visit the fair with their teacher during their lessons. They were able explore the selection of books on offer and no one had a problem finding one they wanted to buy. 

Thank you to Hunt's Bookshop for helping us to host the fair, it was great to partner with you, especially as all the sales help provide the school with the opportunity to purchase some lovely new books.

At the end of the Lent Term, staff and pupils at Crescent School said a fond farewell to two very much-loved members of staff. Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley, and Dinner Lady, Mrs Lesley Shallcross were both retiring after together accruing over 50 years of dedicated service at Crescent School.

Mrs Morley joined the Crescent back in 1998 and over the years has worked for four headteachers, first as school secretary, then PA to the Head, Bursar and finally as Registrar. She has been a terrific servant to the school for such a long time, supporting the senior leadership with her invaluable school knowledge, common sense and good advice, dealing with plenty of challenges and demands along the way, always with good humour.

As a member of the support staff, her contributions to the success of the school will have often gone unnoticed and yet behind the scenes, she has been the backbone to the school. Her work has supported all our pupils and parents as they pass through the school. Known for her incredible style, daily walks and love of a good roast dinner, she will be much missed by all.

Former Headmaster, Huw Marshall, comments, “As a Head one needs colleagues around you who you can trust completely to do a good job with common sense, honesty, integrity and loyalty. I couldn’t have asked for a better colleague that Helen Morley. It was a great pleasure to work with her and I wish her every happiness for her well-deserved retirement.”

Headmaster, Joe Thackway adds, “Helen’s positivity and hard work will be greatly missed. She has shown great commitment to the school, which together with her versatility and well organised approach has made her a much-valued member of the Crescent team. Her contributions have made a lasting impact, and her presence will be much missed.”

Then after serving up thousands of school dinners, Mrs Lesley Shallcross is also moving on. Another dedicated school servant, she has worked at Crescent in different capacities over the last 30 years, most recently in the kitchen. Known as a kind and wise soul, the care and attention she has generously lavished on all has made her much loved by children and staff.

Joe Thackway, continued, “Mrs Shallcross has been a wonderful member of our school community supporting generations of children who have passed through the school. She has always had such a calm and well-rounded disposition; she loves the children, and they all love her. We thank her for all her hard work and wish her every happiness in her retirement.”

Chair of Trustees, Liz Griffin, presented Mrs Morley and Mrs Shallcross with flowers, cards and gifts from us all here at Crescent School earlier this week at the Spring Concert. They leave with the very best wishes of the whole Crescent community and heartfelt thanks for everything they have done during their time here at Crescent School.

The Foundation often has vacancies that Old Princethorpians may be interested in.

Amongst others, we are currently advertising for an Events Co-ordinator to work as part of our new Commercial Enterprises team.

Full details on all the roles available and on how to apply are available on our website here.

Please do share this information with anyone you think might be interested.