Dear Friends of Crescent,
Welcome to the start of a new academic year – one in which we celebrate two notable anniversaries: 60 years as Crescent School and 20 years in Bilton.
The school has come a long way since Mrs Mortimer began teaching half a dozen boys who were the sons of masters at Rugby School. Looking back over just the past eight years we have added two classrooms (to give each class its own room so that the subject specialist rooms don’t have to double up as classrooms), added a computer suite that has been upgraded three times, broadened the curriculum, increased staffing levels, lengthened the school day and opened a Holiday Club whilst maintaining the highest academics standards. No school in Rugby can boast a record that can compare with ours for successes at both 11+ entry to the Grammar Schools and Scholarships to senior independent schools. In the past four years we have also been Rugby Town Champions at netball and football twice in each sport with the football team going on to reach the National Finals of an E.S.F.A. competition for small schools.
I hope you will join us to celebrate the achievements of the past 60 years on Saturday, 28th June when there will be events at the school during the day and a more formal dinner in a local hotel in the evening. Other ways of marking the anniversary will be announced in due course.
It is very tempting to sit back and enjoy reflecting on 60 years of success but there is still more to be achieved. Sport, music and drama are all very strong at the school but they compete for space with each other all too often. I have been in consultation with a local architect and the planning authorities on the possibility of building a Sports Hall adjacent to our existing hall. They tell me the idea is perfectly feasible and relatively straight forward so I am anxious to take the idea forward as quickly as possible with two options having already been drawn up.
There has been a great deal of coverage in the media in recent months about the Charity Commission’s apparent desire for independent schools to demonstrate ‘public benefit’ even more than they do already. A Sports Hall could certainly be used to the benefit of the local community as well as our children – although I have a vision of its use that would combine the two. The extra space created by having two halls could enable us to run music and drama activities after school and in the early evening for children aged, say, 9 to 14 so that our existing pupils could take part in activities with former pupils and children from other schools. Just imagine the standards they could reach!
I would also like to extend the front of the school so that the library could become self-contained, add a toilet block next to Classes I and II, give the Nursery easier access to an improved outdoor space and so the list could go on. We are already the best school in Rugby and the surrounding area for children aged 3 to 11 but there will always be ways in which we can do even better. Join with me in making Crescent School a beacon of excellence, not just for Rugby, but for the whole country.
Yours sincerely,
R. H. Marshall
Please note that all extra-curricular activities will commence the week beginning Monday, 10th September. Swimming for Classes V and VI will commence this Thursday, 6th September.