Cross Country RelaysThe KS2 children showed excellent team work and stamina on Friday afternoon with all four classes taking part in cross country relay competitions run by OCRA. I'd like to say a huge well done to everyone who took part for putting in so much effort whilst running and for supporting the other runners throughout. It was a lovely atmosphere and great event. For those children in years 4, 5 and 6 who surprised themselves by enjoying it, there are still spaces at cross country club which starts this Tuesday. All other clubs (apart from sewing) also start this week. Please sign up for these through your school gateway accounts. Covid19 UpdateI'm pleased to report that numbers are remaining low across the school as we continue to work hard to minimise the spread of the virus. I believe that we currently have just two children who are positive and will be isolating next week. These children are in year 2 and year 6. As ever, please help us to keep the children safe by not sending your child to school if they have any of the Covid19 symptoms. Mealtime Assistant Job VacancySalary - £17,842 per annum pro rata (NJC Grade A) Location – South Tawton Primary School Job Term – Permanent / Part-Time Hours – 12.00pm to 1.30pm Monday to Friday (Term Time Only) 7.5 hours per week (Or any combination of these days as requested). About the role: South Tawton Primary School are looking to recruit a Mealtime Assistant to ensure that the lunchtime supervision of children is adequately covered. The successful applicant will need to supervise, assist and encourage the children with the daily meals and undertake playground duty promoting positive relationships and play. We offer:
We are committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and young people. A Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate will be required for all posts and be subject to enhanced checks as part of our Prevent Duty. For further information on this role and to make an application, please visit Vacancies - Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (dartmoormat.org.uk) Information for Parents/Carers - AttendanceWe have recently updated our attendance procedures across Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust. The link between a child’s attendance at school and improved outcomes and life chances is well documented. We want to help all children and young people to fulfil their potential and get the most out of their education. In line with our policy and government expectations all schools have the following procedures: · If a child’s attendance starts to drop the school will speak to the child/parent and discuss the reason for absence and any support needed. · After 10 sessions of absence, you will receive a first attendance letter (there are 2 sessions in the school day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon). · After 15 sessions of absence, you will receive a second attendance letter and you will be invited to have a meeting to discuss how we can best support your child to attend school more often. You will also be offered an Early Help meeting. · If your child’s attendance does not improve you will receive a third attendance letter and the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will be informed. Of course, there will be unavoidable absences for illness or medical appointments, but we want to minimise these where possible. Pupils and families will not be penalised for legitimate non-attendance due to Covid 19. No term time holidays will be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances. Every day in school counts, even a small drop in attendance can lead to a child missing a significant part of their education. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with school at any time if you have any queries around attendance expectations and procedures. PTA NewsThank you to all those who have donated gifts for future raffles and Christmas clothing that has been outgrown. We will continue to collect these items so please give all donations to the school office or to a member of the PTA! The 2 Challenge How about joining us for our 2 Challenge THIS WEEK on Wednesday 2nd February (2.2.22). Please can the children bring in at least 2 coins with the number 2 on (2p, 20p or £2) but feel free to bring in more if you'd like! The teachers will collect the coins and weather permitting children will make them into a giant number 2 on the playground, and let's see how much we can raise from all the 2s! School Disco Back by popular demand, we are holding a disco on Friday 11th, so get out your glad rags and your dancing shoes! Please return your permission slips and money by Wednesday 9th February ! It will be the same format as last term but with an additional slot for the preschool class: 3.00pm - 3.25pm Preschool 3.30pm - 4.30pm Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. 4.45pm - 5.45pm Year 3 and Year 4. 6pm - 7pm Year 5 and 6 Dates for the diary – more information to follow! Pancake day – Tuesday 1st March Break the rules day – Friday 1st April Ground Force Day – help to tidy up the school grounds Saturday 30th April Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 15th February via Zoom and we will send a link around closer to the date. If you'd like to get involved then email [email protected] As always thank you for your ongoing support from all on the PTA. GRANT APPLICATIONS TO STICKLEPATH AND BELSTONE SCHOOL CHARITYApplications for financial support are invited from young people, aged under 25 years, who live in the parishes of Belstone and Sticklepath. The objective of the Charity is "To promote the education (including social and physical training) of persons who are under the age of 25". Eligible people, or organisations, can apply to the Charity for a grant to help with the expenses of items which meet the objectives of the Charity. Grants have previously been approved for music lessons and sport/dance training fees, but the Charity will consider all appropriate areas of educational expenditure. Applications can be made by such residents regardless of their, or their family's, financial circumstances. Applications must be made by 31 March 2022 by way of an application form which can be obtained from the Clerk. Please contact Lois Rowlands on 01837 840367 or email [email protected] to request a form or for further information. The application should be made by the applicant themselves, rather than their parents, where this is appropriate, and should be for future costs to be incurred.
Covid19 Update We currently have 2 children isolating following positive tests for Covid19. These children are in YR and Y5 and both appeared to have become infected from positive family members. We continue to do all we can to ensure our staff and pupils remain safe. Smart Watches Several children have come back this term with new Smart watches. This represents a safeguarding risk if photos can be taken or messages sent and received on these devices whilst the children are in school. Please help us to keep all of our pupils safe to ensure that these functions are disabled during school time. Please also be aware that we do not recommend that the children wear expensive devices in school as we cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage. RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
SafeguardingSocial media and online safety - NSPCC
Using social media safely with children and young peopleThere are lots of benefits for children and young people when using social media. This includes staying connected with friends and family, enabling innovative ways of learning and creating new ways for them to express themselves. It can also have many benefits to organisations, for example:
Online risksChildren may be exposed to upsetting or inappropriate content online, particularly if the platform you’re using doesn’t have robust privacy and security settings or if you’re not checking posts. This content might be sexually explicit or it might be harmful in other ways, such as radicalisation, bullying, or content that's upsetting. Children may be at risk of being groomed if they have an online profile that means they can be contacted privately. Children’s posts or profile information may expose personal information and put them at risk. For example, they may talk about their home life, feelings, or thoughts they’ve been having. There may be information that makes them identifiable such as locations of events they are taking part in or visual clues in photographs. Perpetrators may use this information to groom, abuse or exploit children. Perpetrators of abuse may create fake profiles to try to contact children and young people through the platform you’re using, for example an adult posing as a child. They may also create anonymous accounts and engage in cyberbullying or trolling. People known to a child can also perpetrate abuse. On many platforms, children can be contacted anywhere and at any time through private messaging or notification alerts. This means it’s harder for them to escape from abusive messages or upsetting content that they are tagged in. > Read about protecting children from grooming > Find out more about cyberbullying > Find out more about protecting children from online abuse Train to Teach with the Dartmoor Teacher Training PartnershipPTA NewsThank you to all those who have donated gifts for future raffles and Christmas clothing that has been outgrown. We will continue to collect these items so please give all donations to the school office or to a member of the PTA! The 2 Challenge How about joining us for our 2 Challenge on 2nd February (2.2.22). Please can the children bring in at least 2 coins with the number 2 on (2p, 20p or £2) but feel free to bring in more if you'd like! The teachers will collect the coins and weather permitting children will make them into a giant number 2 on the playground, and let's see how much we can raise from all the 2s! School Disco
Back by popular demand, we are holding a disco on Friday 11th, so get out your glad rags and your dancing shoes! If you have not received a letter yet you should do so early this week. It will be the same format as last term but with an additional slot for the preschool class: 3.00pm - 3.25pm Preschool 3.30pm - 4.30pm Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. 4.45pm - 5.45pm Year 3 and Year 4. 6pm - 7pm Year 5 and 6 Dates for the diary – more information to follow! Pancake day – Tuesday 1st March Break the rules day – Friday 1st April Ground Force Day – help to tidy up the school grounds Saturday 30th April Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 15th February via Zoom and we will send a link around closer to the date. If you'd like to get involved then email [email protected] As always thank you for your ongoing support from all on the PTA. Covid19 UpdateI'm delighted to let you know that (hopefully!) we should be at full numbers tomorrow without any cases of Covid19 in school. The risk assessment has been changed to reflect new guidance on isolation as follows: From Monday 17 January, people who are self-isolating with COVID-19 will have the option to reduce their isolation period after 5 full days if they test negative with a lateral flow device (LFD) test on both day 5 and day 6 and they do not have a temperature. For example, if they test negative on the morning of day 5 and the morning of day 6, they can return to their education or childcare setting immediately on day 6. The first test must be taken no earlier than day 5 of the self-isolation period, and the second must be taken the following day. All test results should be reported to NHS Test and Trace. If the result of either of their tests is positive, they should continue to self-isolate until they get negative results from two LFD tests on consecutive days or until they have completed 10 full days of self-isolation, whichever is earliest. Anyone who is unable to take LFD tests or anyone who continues to have a temperature will need to complete the full 10 day period of self isolation. Further information on self-isolation for those with COVID-19 is available here. Guidance on what to do if you receive a positive LFD test result has also changed. Please note that this guidance only applies to people with no symptoms. Anyone with symptoms of Covid19 is still advised to get a PCR test. Confirmatory PCR testing following a positive result on a lateral flow device (LFD) will be temporarily suspended from Tuesday 11 January. This means that for all education and childcare settings, staff and students who have tested (either at home or through ATS) and reported a positive LFD result will no longer be advised to get a confirmatory PCR test. This change is informed by public health advice. With high COVID-19 rates, the risk of a positive LFD result being false is very small. We therefore don’t need to ask people to do a confirmatory PCR unless they: · have symptoms (in which case they need to follow the stay at home guidance, self-isolate and order a PCR test) · wish to claim the Test and Trace Support Payment · have been advised to take a PCR test because they are in a clinically vulnerable group · have been advised to do so as part of a research or surveillance programme Education and childcare settings are not expected to trace contacts of a positive case as this will remain the responsibility of NHS Test and Trace. Clubs After school clubs will begin again on 31st January and run for 6 weeks. The teachers running the clubs will open the booking system for these clubs and send you information when you are able to book your children in. The planned clubs can be seen below but these may be subject to small changes or additions. AttendanceWe have recently updated our attendance procedures across Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust. The link between a child’s attendance at school and improved outcomes and life chances is well documented. We want to help all children and young people to fulfil their potential and get the most out of their education. In line with our policy and government expectations all schools have the following procedures:
No term time holidays will be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances. Every day in school counts, even a small drop in attendance can lead to a child missing a significant part of their education. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with school at any time if you have any queries around attendance expectations and procedures. Parking in the villagePlease park considerately in the village and do not park directly outside the church. This is a designated 'No Parking' area as cars parked here significantly reduce the safety of children coming to and from school. Car parking is available at the recreation ground and the King's Arms. Please help us to keep your children safe by using these car parks. Menu ChangePlease be advised that Thursday 20th January is Census Day so we will be changing the menu to a special Census Day Celebration menu to encourage more children to try the new school dinners. The menu is as follows. Hot dogs served with chips, peas and BBQ sauce followed by a Rainbow Vanilla Sponge. If your child is currently booked for a home packed lunch on this day and you'd like them to have a hot meal, please let the office know and we can change this for you. Parent Governors NeededParents – Your school needs YOU! There is a vacancy for one parent governor to join the Local Stakeholder Board at the Three Hares. Local governors are a vital part of the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust’s connection with schools and community, and parents are an important voice within the governance structure. To qualify as a parent governor, you must have at least one child on the roll at any school within the Three Hares hub, and must be eligible under the national governing body rules. Nominations are now open, until close of business on Friday 27th January 2022. All nominations will then be put forward to a parent vote, which will take place electronically. The nomination form must be completed in full, and can be obtained by emailing the Clerk to Governors: [email protected] For an informal chat about the role of parent governor and the responsibilities of the local stakeholder board, please contact the Chair Emma Neath: [email protected] or the Clerk to Governors: [email protected] Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to receiving your applications It's Not Ok CampaignThis week, the whole of our Trust have launched the, 'It's Not OK' campaign across all the schools to say no to all forms of sexual violence and sexual harassment. In SCARF/PSHE lessons, children have talked about different ways they are kept safe in school as well as the characteristics of positive relationships. Over the next few weeks, we will revisit the NSPCC Pants Rule and ensure that our children know who they can talk to should they feel uncomfortable or unsafe at any time. PTA NewsWe'd like to ask if anyone received gifts for Christmas (or birthdays) that aren't quite to their taste, or if you received 2 similar gifts, please could you donate them to the PTA to use as raffle prizes in future fundraising events. We are also collecting Christmas jumpers/tops if you are having a sort through and want to donate! Please give all donations to the school office or to a member of the PTA! The 2 Challenge
How about joining us for our 2 Challenge on 2nd February (2.2.22). Please can the children bring in at least 2 coins with the number 2 on (2p, 20p or £2) but feel free to bring in more if you'd like! The teachers will collect in the money and weather permitting will make them into a giant number 2 on the playground, and let's see how much we can raise from all the 2s! School Disco Back by popular demand, we are holding a disco on Friday 11th, so get out your glad rags and your dancing shoes! It will be the same format as last term with Year R, 1 and 2 from 3:30 - 4:30, Year 3 & 4 from 4:45 - 5:45 and Year 5 and 6 from 6:00 till 7:00. It will only be £2.50 per child which includes drink and a pack of crisps! Permissions slips will be in book bags this week. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 15th February via Zoom and we will send around a link around closer to the date. If you'd like to get involved then email [email protected] Thank you so much for your ongoing support from all on the PTA. Happy New Year! It's been lovely to have all the children back in school this week after the Christmas break. I do hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and any plans weren't too disrupted by Covid. I'm pleased to let you know that case numbers amongst our community seem to be very low and, on Friday, we only had two confirmed cases amongst students - neither of these children have been in school this week. Our new student teacher, Mr Wilkins who will be in Y4 this term, has unfortunately had a positive PCR, but we are expecting (fingers crossed) that all other staff will be in this week. Our latest risk assessment can be found on the website here. There are very few changes from the previous version except for the new government guidance to change the rules of isolation in the event of a positive case. Anyone who has a positive test result can now leave isolation and return to school if they have two negative lateral flow test results 24 hours apart on days 6 and 7 following infection ([providing they no longer have symptoms). Please note that day 1 is counted as the day after symptoms begin. Please rest assured that we are continuing with enhanced cleaning, ventilation and hand sanitisation and will be doing all we can to stop any spread of infection. Please help us in this by not sending your children to school if they have any covid symptoms or are unwell in any way. Please also make use of available lateral flow tests to ensure that your and your family remain negative. Thank you all for your continued support. We have everything crossed for a happy, healthy term. Lego Coding ClubParents of children in years 2-6 will have received an email about a new coding club to be run at school by an external provider. Due to the numbers of children who were interested, I have managed to secure an additional session on Fridays. We will be in touch later in the week to let you know which session your children has been invited to (this can be swapped by arrangement if Fridays are not convenient). If you have not yet sent in the form or payment, but would like your child to take part, please return these tomorrow. Governor RecruitmentThere is a vacancy for one parent governor to join the Local Stakeholder Board at Three Hares. Local governors are a vital part of the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust’s connection with schools and community, and parents are an important voice within the governance structure. To qualify as a parent governor, you must have at least one child on the roll at any school within the Three Hares hub, and must be eligible under the national governing body rules. Nominations are now open, until close of business on Friday 27th January 2022. All nominations will then be put forward to a parent vote, which will take place electronically. The nomination form must be completed in full, and can be obtained by emailing the Clerk to Governors: [email protected] For an informal chat about the role of parent governor and the responsibilities of the local stakeholder board, please contact the Chair Emma Neath: [email protected] or the Clerk to Governors: [email protected] Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to receiving your applications PTA NewsWe want to say huge thank you for all your amazing support. Last term you raised over £4,000 which is incredible! You can see some of the great things we spent it on in the attached newsletter. We'd like to ask if anyone received gifts for Christmas (or birthdays) that aren't quite to their taste, or if you received 2 similar gifts, please could you donate them to the PTA to use as raffle prizes in future fundraising events! We are also collecting Christmas jumpers/tops if you are having a sort through and want to donate! Please give all donations to the school office or to a member of the PTA!! Our next PTA meeting is on Monday 10th at 8pm via Teams - all welcome! If you'd like to receive the link for the meeting please email us on [email protected]. Thank you so much for your ongoing support from all on the PTA. PTA 100 ClubDecember was a double draw and took place at the school Christmas dinner. The following numbers won:
87 Kerry Rushton 86 Sarah Angel 59 Mark Sidaway 37 Lynne Birchall 83 Judith Smith 65 Vellette Vallance Congratulations to the winners! Thank you to everyone who has supported the 100 club over the last term. If you would like to join the 100 club then there are still some numbers available. Please email [email protected] for more information. We've had a lovely last week of term and have got ourselves right into the festive spirit despite some rather challenging circumstances! The week began with a wonderful performance of 'Hey You!' with all the nativity characters and some wonderful singing, dancing and acting too. Well done to years R, 1 and 2. We'd like to say a big thank you to Alex Thomas who filmed and edited the production so beautifully. Thank you to the many parents (and grandparents!) who have got in touch to say how much they enjoyed watching the performance online. Covid19 UpdateWe have everything crossed that the two weeks off for the holiday will be enough to give everyone a chance to get better so that we can be back to full numbers of pupils in school in January. However, if your child does become ill over the holiday, please do get a PCR test and report the result to me by emailing [email protected] I need to continue to report cases to the county council during the holiday and would also like to know how everyone is. The number of children isolating at the moment are as follows: Y2 - 1, Y3 - 1, Y4 - 11, Y5 - 2, Y6 - 7 We also have 3 members of staff who have had positive cases: Mrs Dennis Y2 and Silje and Sharon from pre-school. Happily, no one is feeling too ill and I'm sure you'll join me in wishing them all a speedy recovery. Christmas DinnerWe had great fun in our Christmas clothes at our Christmas dinner on Wednesday. Through the crackers, jokes, hats and music, some of the sprouts even got eaten! Bookings for next term's new menu from our new provider are now available on your school gateway accounts. Please encourage your children to try these new meals - I think they'll be pleasantly surprised! Carols and Christmas songsWe hope you managed to catch some of the singing the children performed this week. A very big thank you to Mrs Dunn for organising this, and to all the children and staff who worked hard to practice and perform so beautifully. ChristingleI can't pretend that our Christingle service on the playground wasn't a little chilly, or that the candles would stay lit in the wind, however, we made the most of what we could do and had a lovely service with plenty of readings, singing, an address from Rev. Mark and another treat Ukulele performance from Y6. Thank you all all the staff and pupils for taking part so fully in this and every event this term. It's been a wonderful term despite some disappointing cancelations and changes of plans due to Covid. Through it all, everyone has kept smiling, kept working, kept positive and kept looking after each other. I couldn't ask for any more from a school community and am so grateful to be a part of South Tawton Primary School. I wish you all the very best, happiest and healthiest Christmas possible and look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Wednesday 5th January. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!PTA News
We want to say a huge thank you to you all for supporting all our events this term. We've raised a fantastic amount which we will continue to use to further enrich our children's school experience. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Christmas Colour Hampers. This was an amazing event and we were so impressed by everyone's enthusiasm donating and selling tickets. Congratulations to Year 6 who sold an amazing 438 tickets!! With Year 1 not far behind! An incredible effort by everyone. The ticket sales have raised over £2000! Kings Arms Big Fat Quiz of the Year Our friends at the Kings Arms in South Zeal are having their big end of year quiz on Wednesday December 29th. This is always a really fun event for all and they have kindly chosen the PTA to be their benefitting charity this month. In exchange we really need a few volunteers to help out on the night, collecting in quiz sheets, counting up scores etc. If you can help, please get in touch at [email protected] ASAP. Easyfundraising Last minute Christmas shopping online? (And planning your January sale shopping online too?) Please don’t forget to use easyfundraising when making your purchases online. Nominate us as your chosen charity and retailers will donate a percentage of your purchase to us at no extra cost to you. Date of next meeting - Monday 10th January 2022- 8pm - all welcome! Email [email protected] to be sent the zoom link. Dear parents,Unfortunately, Silje has had a positive test for Covid 19 this evening. This coupled with Sharon’s positive test earlier in the week, means that we do not have enough staff to safely open Little Beacons to children tomorrow. Due to positive cases within the school, we are keeping every year group in bubbles, so are not able to invite Little Beacons to join Year R for the day.
Apologies for the short notice and any inconvenience caused. We will be in touch in January to offer a replacement session. If you have any items you wish to collect from preschool tomorrow, please ring the school office in the morning to arrange collection 01837 840242. We do hope you have a happy and healthy Christmas, however, if your child does suffer any covid related symptoms, please do inform us during the holidays by emailing [email protected]. Best wishes, Sarah Marvin and Shirley Culverhouse Dear Stakeholder, Revised proposal to build a nursery unit for Little Beacons at South Tawton Primary School We are writing to let you know that we are in the process of submitting a planning application for the construction of a nursery unit within the grounds of our primary school. Following the stakeholders’ consultation in September, we have revised our plans to house the preschool within an extension of the existing school building. Please click here to view the plans. Please click here for the full consultation letter. In a week where most communications have centred around Covid19, it's lovely to take a moment to look at all the lovely work and activities that are happening in school. From the little elves working in Santa's workshop at preschool, outdoor learning in YR, festive computing in Y4, through to Y6's fabulous air raid shelters, it's safe to say that staff and children are keeping calm and carrying on! Remember, you can read more about all these stories in each class's blog page. Covid19 UpdateUnfortunately, those newsletters where I was able to report no new cases in school seem like a distant memory. This week has seen our cases rise quickly and we currently have 18 cases in school. Of these, 13 are in year 4, 3 in Y5 and 2 in Y6. All children who are off will have work available for them to do if they feel up to it. If you require this and have not yet received it, please let us know. As always, if your child has any symptoms of a cough, high temperature or loss/change of taste or smell, please book them a PCR test and keep them off school until a negative result is returned. Please let the school know the result of any tests: positive or negative. Parents of children in Y4, as your child has likely been in close contact with a positive case, as a precaution, please get a PCR test within the next couple of days if you have not already done so. To minimise any spread of infection, we have made the decision to return all classes to year group bubbles as was the case in the last academic year. All classes are now playing in their own zones at break and lunch to minimise close contact between year groups and we are ensuring social distancing between classes in the dining hall. Other measures being followed include all children being required to sanitise their hands on entering and leaving classrooms, staff undertaking daily lateral flow tests and only essential visitors being allowed on site. Staff are wearing masks in communal areas, we are increasing ventilation in classrooms and increasing the cleaning of high touch areas. We are very grateful for your continued support to keep everyone safe and would like parents/carers to wear masks during morning drop off and afternoon collection as well as observing social distancing. Whilst whole school assemblies have stopped, we will still be having a Christingle service, but this will take place in small groups in classrooms. This service is a lovely experience for the children, and we hope that you will also enjoy the Christingles they bring home at the end of the day. The hotly anticipated KS1 nativity show will be recorded and made available to you. We are very much looking forward to our Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day next Wednesday and are fully intending to have a lovely, cheerful Christmas week full of fun and excitement for the children. Many thanks for your continued support, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. PTA NewsChristmas is nearly here – only one week to go until the holidays! But we still have lots of great PTA activities going on. It’s not too late to enter the raffle and win one of these amazing hampers! Please bring in all your sold raffle ticket stubs and money by Monday 13th December. Please remember to write on the back of raffle stubs the colour of the hamper/s you would like to win. You can enter as many times as you would like! The coloured hamper which has the most tickets sold will receive a reward! The draw for the hampers will be on Wednesday 15th December 2021. Good luck everyone! Christmas Packs Looking for something fun to do in the Christmas holidays? How about getting one of our fun Christmas activity packs! These are now available from your child's teacher for £3 each. Numbers are limited, so be sure to get yours early! King Arms Big Fat Quiz of the Year Our friends at the Kings Arms in South Zeal are having their big end of year quiz on Wednesday December 29th. This is always a really fun event for all and they have kindly chosen the PTA to be their benefitting charity this month. In exchange we really need a few volunteers to help out on the night, collecting in quiz sheets, counting up scores etc. If you can help, please get in touch at [email protected] ASAP. We also need donations of wine, chocolates and other raffle prizes. We appreciate we have been asking for a lot of donations recently, but remember all process feed directly back in to enhancing our children’s experiences at school. Bag2School A great big thank you to everyone who donated their unwanted clothes for the Bag2School collection last week. It was our best response yet and we raised £141. Easyfundraising Doing lots of Christmas shopping online? (And planning your January sale shopping online too?) Please don’t forget to use easyfundraising when making your purchases online. Nominate us as your chosen charity and retailers will donate a percentage of your purchase to us at no extra cost to you. You can read details on how to sign up for this below: Date of next meeting - Monday 10th January 2022- 8pm - all welcome! Email [email protected] to be sent the zoom link.
SafeguardingThis week saw two external checks on school systems. On Monday, we had a visit from the NSPCC to carry out a safeguarding audit and make sure that we are doing all we can to keep our pupils safe at school, online and at home. The auditor was delighted by all that he saw and said, "If my children were the right age, I'd want them to come here.' What a lovely endorsement! On Thursday, we had a Devon County Council Health and Safety audit. Again, everything was found to be in place and the auditor was happy with all of our procedures and risk assessments. New email addressOur SENDCo, Miss Bennett, has had a few email changes recently and is concerned that some emails from parents may not be reaching her. Please discard any old addresses you may have and contact her on [email protected] Christmas!On Wednesday 15th December, we invite all children to wear their Christmas jumpers and most Christmassy outfits. The children do not need to wear uniform on that day, but we would like them to dress as Christmassy as possible. You do not need to buy a Christmas jumper especially for this day, but can add glitter, Christmas decorations or tinsel to any clothes. From next week, we will have a Christmas post box in school for the children to send each other Christmas cards. Please ensure that all envelopes are clearly marked with the recipients name and class so that we can ensure that our elves can make all deliveries successfully. At this time of year, children often like to bring in presents for their friends. Please could all gifts be exchanged outside of school time to avoid any pupils feeling left out or upset by this. PTA NewsChristmas Wreaths A big thank you to Hannah and Nancy for working so hard over the past weeks to put the wreath kits together. It was a fantastically fun and creative evening which raised great funds for our children. Thank you to everyone who joined in. Coloured Hampers The hampers look fantastic…... Thank you for all your delicious and inventive donations. You have one week left to sell as many tickets as you can! Remember - the coloured hamper which has the most tickets sold will receive a reward! More tickets are available from the PTA, your teacher, School Office or South Zeal/Sticklepath shops. Please remember to write on the back of raffle stubs the colour of the hamper/s you would like to win. You can enter as many times as you would like! Ticket stubs and money must be returned to your child's class teacher no later than Monday 13th December 2021. The draw for the hampers will be on Wednesday 15th December 2021. Good luck everyone! Bags to School Do you have unwanted clothes, accessories, home linens or soft toys getting in the way at home? Why not donate them to our Bag 2 School collection?! Drop Off Site: The Pavilion, South Zeal Dates for Drop Off: Sunday 5th December ~ 4-5pm Monday 6th December ~ 3-4pm Tuesday 7th December ~ 8-9am Christmas Packs These will be available from your child's class teacher from Monday for £3 each. Crammed full of activities to keep everyone busy and entertained during the holidays. King Arms Big Fat Quiz of the Year Our friends at the Kings Arms in South Zeal are having their big end of year quiz on Wednesday December 29th. This is always a really fun event for all and they have kindly chosen the PTA to be their benefitting charity this month. In exchange we really need a few volunteers to help out on the night, collecting in quiz sheets, counting up scores etc. If you can help, please get in touch at [email protected] ASAP. We also need donations of wine, chocolates and other raffle prizes. We appreciate we have been asking for a lot of donations recently, but remember all process feed directly back in to enhancing our children’s experiences at school. PTA 100 Club Year 2 did November's draw last week and the following numbers won: 5 Tristan Grimes 52 Steve Whiteley 82 Jamie Yates Congratulations! There are still some numbers available so if you would like to join the 100 club then please email [email protected] for more information. Next meeting Thank you to those who came along, albeit virtually, to our meeting on Monday. It was a very productive meeting and we are cooking up some fun fundraising ideas for next term. We are always looking for new ideas and new people to join us! Date of next meeting - Monday 10th January 2022- 8pm - all welcome! Email [email protected] to be sent the zoom link. SafeguardingFor help, support and information if you are worried about depression and anxiety in children, please visit the NSPCC page by clicking here.
It's been business as usual this week with all classes settled and concentrating on their learning. KS1 have begun rehearsals for their Christmas production which we're all very excited about. On my learning walks around school and whilst visiting classes with governors and prospective parents, I'm always struck by the children's enthusiasm for talking about their learning and showcasing their work. I'm delighted not only with the progress being made, but also the positive relationships and happy pupils I observe. Thank you, everyone. Welcome Little BeaconsWe're delighted to announce that Little Beacon's Pre-school now have their own blog page so that you can now read their news each week as well as that of the other classes in school. Recently, the Little Beacons children have been learning how to keep safe around traffic. They have learnt a new song, Stop, Look, Listen, Think, and have practised walking next to and crossing the road. We look forward to hearing more about our youngest children and thank their new teacher, Silje Rodde-Aust, for contributing to the blog. SafeguardingIn assembly this week, we have been talking about online safety. The children have been encouraged to think about the word SMART as seen in the poster below to help them remember how to keep themselves safe. We take internet safety extremely seriously. We have an Online Safety Policy that provides guidance for teachers and children about how to use the internet safely. Every year group participates in lessons on e-safety and children understand how to stay safe when using technology. You may find the following links useful in helping your child to stay safe online at home:
PTA NewsA huge thank you to all the staff and parent volunteers and The Kings Arms for lending us the lights that made Friday's disco possible. A fantastic time was had with much exuberant knee sliding, singing and dancing. It was wonderful to see everyone having so much fun. We also want to thank all the children whose behaviour and sense of fun was brilliant! This is the last chance to book your place to make a Christmas Wreath, all orders need to be placed by Monday 29th November. There are very limited spaces available so please get in touch quickly! If you would like to join the fun here's how... 1. Pick a style for your wreath: Rustic, Glitzy or Traditional 2. Email [email protected] to order your kit by Monday November 29th. Use the subject ‘Christmas Wreath’ 3. Your kit will be sent home with your child on Friday 3rd December (or pick up/delivery by arrangement) 4. Join us on Friday 3rd December at 8pm via Zoom! Coloured HampersThe hampers are starting to fill up and are looking great!! We hope to share some photos of the hampers next week so please send in your donations as soon as you are able. Food, drink, toiletries, gifts - anything new and in the classes colour goes! The more creative the better! Preschool ….Pink Year R …. Blue Year 1 ….Yellow Year 2 …. Red Year 3 …. Orange Year 4 …. Gold / Silver Year 5 …. Purple Year 6 …. Green Please keep selling raffle tickets to family, friends and neighbours and remember to write on the back of raffle stubs the colour the hamper/s you/they would like to win. You can enter the raffle for as many hampers as you would like! Ticket stubs and money must be returned to your child's class teacher no later than Monday 13th December 2021. Remember - the coloured hamper which has the most tickets sold will receive a reward! More tickets are available from the PTA or School Office. The draw for the hampers will be on Wednesday 15th December 2021. Bags to School Do you have unwanted clothes, accessories, home linens or soft toys getting in the way at home? Why not donate them to our Bag 2 School collection?! Drop Off Site: The Pavilion, South Zeal Dates for Drop Off: Sunday 5th December ~ 4-5pm Monday 6th December ~ 3-4pm Tuesday 7th December ~ 8-9am See the attached poster for more info. Many thanks in advance for your support! Date of next meeting - Monday November 29th - all welcome! Email [email protected] to be sent the zoom link. Beacon Nativity ServiceAn invitation to you from Nazareth the donkey and friends! They will be attending our annual community Beacon Nativity to be held at St Andrew’s Church, South Tawton on Sunday 12th December at 4pm. As always, we need lots of shepherds and angels and also three kings to make the story happen. Do come along and join in the fun. Please email [email protected] for more information. |
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