22 September 2023
22 September 2023
Dear Parents
It has been a busy and enjoyable week in school with the usual rich array of inspiring lessons, exciting fixtures, House meetings, coffee mornings, music lessons and much more besides! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the PTA evening last night. Listening to our parents talk about the school and being so willing to share so much of their time to support our community is both encouraging and hugely appreciated by everyone at school.
Assemblies and Heads of School
Our Reception children joined their first ever Junior assembly on Thursday in the newly refurbished Willow Theatre. They were impeccably behaved as they listened to Year 6 leading the assembly on the theme of compassion and empathy, and how this links with our most regularly endorsed school value, generosity of spirit. Year 6 then set Junior School the challenge of demonstrating this value throughout next week. We look forward to lots of acts of kindness permeating through Juniors, who I know will smash this challenge! Juniors also celebrated and welcomed in the new Heads of School, Will and Martha. We know they will do a brilliant job leading the Junior pupils and being excellent ambassadors for the school. Well done Will and Martha!
Similarly, today our Heads of School Alyx and Harry, joined by other representatives from Sixth Form, led a Senior School assembly on how to have a successful year. Leading on very nicely from Alyx and Harry’s speech at Prize Giving, about curiosity being the catalyst for success, our Head of School team presented an inspiring speech, about how we can make this year at Cranford a success. Their message was both practical and encouraging as they shared their top tips for developing good habits for learning and for life. Their assembly was based on the book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear and they talked with eloquence and enthusiasm as they enthused the school to make small changes to get 1% better every day!
Senior Experience Day
6D had a fabulous day on Thursday, as they joined Senior School for the day as part of their Senior School transition programme. Along with external Year 6 pupils who are considering Cranford as a Senior School destination, they threw themselves wholeheartedly into four exciting sessions including Sports, Creative Arts, Performing Arts and Science. I was very proud of our pupils, who warmly welcomed the visiting children, proudly showing them around the school whilst sharing excitement and chatting animatedly with each other about favourite subjects, pets and food! The Senior teaching team leading the sessions were very impressed with the maturity of this Year 6 cohort and are excited about getting to know them better as they move up into Senior School next year!
Whole School Open Morning
We are expecting a busy and successful Whole School Open Morning on Saturday 7 October, with nearly 150 families registered to come and look around Cranford. Our pupils are absolutely our best ambassadors and parents love hearing from them about their Cranford story, as they represent the school on this morning as a tour guide. Please see this letter with timings and further information, and please may I remind you that all Senior pupils are expected to be available on this morning. We really appreciate your support and know our visiting families always enjoy the tours with your children.
Have a good weekend!
Kind regards,
Dr James Raymond Headmaster