Comic Relief We had lots of fun wearing red for Comic Relief and, to date, have raised £193 with more money still pledged. Thank you to everyone who supported this cause. The children have settled well back into school and routines and lessons are running smoothly. We're noticing a few deviations from our standard uniform and shoes. We realise that many children have out-grown their clothes during lockdown and would ask that everyone is back in standard uniform by the beginning of the Summer Term (Monday 19th April) School Gateway Accounts If you have recently noticed an account called South Tawton New appearing on your child's school gateway account , please do not worry. This is due to a change in the MIS system used in school. Please continue to use your old account until the Easter holidays. Many children are still coming to school without a lunch booking on their accounts. Please help us to get into learning time quickly in the mornings by ensuring that you have booked your choice - even if it is a home packed lunch. Social distancing at the school gates We are still having families arriving early for their pick up and drop off times. Please help us to do everything we can to stop the spread of the virus by keeping to your allotted slots. PTA news
Thank you to those people who have already offered to decorate a window for the PTA Easter Trail. Just a reminder that if you would still like to participate then please let Katie Wright ([email protected]) know by tomorrow. The trail is not just limited to South Zeal, so you are very welcome to do a window display if you live in Okehampton or one of the surrounding villages.
Many thanks, The PTA I couldn't resist starting this week's newsletter with a bumper gallery to celebrate the fact that the school is fully open again and the children are back. It has been so lovely to once more hear the hum of busy classrooms and to see the children outside playing with each other. I'd like to thank every pupil for making such a positive start to life back in school and I'm sure you'll all join me in keeping everything crossed that we have all seen our last period of school closures. There have been so many smiley faces this week; well done to all children and staff who have once again risen beautifully to the situation. World Book Day DisplaysWonderful World Book Day displays are springing up in classrooms and corridors and I have just ordered a large batch of photos to be printed to supplement these. If you have any World Book Day books nooks or other creations at home that your children are willing to share, please bring them in. Lockdown Art Work WantedI have received the message below from the editor of the Moorlander newspaper. If you have any lockdown art work at home which you are willing to be displayed in the newspaper, please send photos to me or your child's teacher and we will send it to the editor. Dear Sir/Madam, I am the editor of The Moorlander newspaper and am writing to you with a request. During this past lockdown I was, as many others were, home schooling my two primary aged children. One of my daughter’s lessons was to find an artist she liked the work of and either copy one of their paintings or produce her own ‘in the style of’ that artist. Other children in her class uploaded their work onto the central online classroom and I was absolutely amazed at how good some of their artwork was. One teacher even questioned whether one painting was the original – it wasn’t! So this has led me to reach out to you to invite you and your staff to choose some of their favourite pieces of artwork produced during this last lockdown and send it to me so that I may publish the best in the paper. This isn’t a competition, it’s simply to showcase the wonderful talent in our children across the area and perhaps give something back to those children who have coped so magnificently with the upheaval that COVID-19 has brought about. I would very much like to help the children feel proud of themselves and what they’ve achieved, so please do consider taking part. Please send any work with the name of the school, name of the child and their age, to this email address. I’m afraid I do have to put a fairly tight deadline on this, so please make sure you have sent your pieces by 5pm, Wednesday 24th March to make sure they can be included in the paper which will be out on sale on Friday 2nd April. Thank you for your time and I very much look forward to hearing from you. Regards, Laura White Editor [email protected] Year 1 Small World GardenWell done Archie and ReggieArchie and Reggie Guscott and their family are going 'sugar free' for Lent. Mum, Lorraine, says, 'We have now been 3.5 weeks without a drop of sugar (except naturally occurring). We've been collecting sponsorship for the food banks. The boys have been amazing, I am so proud of them. We've cut out all the obvious things (cake, biscuit, sweets, chocolate) but also those foods with sneaked in sugars, tomato ketchup, all crisps except ready salted, most white breads, beans... The list is endless, shopping has been a challenge at times!' The link to the 'gofundme' page is gf.me/u/zh49au if you would like to donate to this excellent cause? Every pound donated will also buy a ticket for a family Easter egg basket! PTA newsSecond Hand Uniform I've been asked to add a reminder about the second hand uniform which is for sale on the PTA Facebook page. All items are just £1 each and there are some fantastic bargains to be had. Crisp packets Dear all, The PTA will no longer be collecting crisp packets at school for the Terracycle recycling scheme. However, we would still love to encourage the recycling of crisp packets and suggest the following: - Tesco are starting to roll out collection points for soft plastic packaging, like crisp packets (also pet food pouches, bread bags etc), so hold on to your crisp packets until you are able to drop them off at your nearest Tesco collection point. - There is a Terracycle crisp packet collection point at the Co-Op in Moretonhampstead. We'll let you know if we hear of any other drop-off points that might be even more local. Many thanks The PTA Easter Trail The PTA are planning an Easter Trail for children to do during the Easter holidays. Participating houses will display an Easter-themed decoration which will have within it a letter of the alphabet. The trail will involve walking around, spotting the decoration and writing down the letter that they find at each house. The letters will form part of an anagram which the children then have to solve. We are asking for volunteers to make and then display these Easter decorations in your house window or garden, so long as it is clearly visible from the road. You can decide how simple or complicated you make it – from a basic paper egg, to a full window display! If you would like to host a display, please email Katie Wright ([email protected]) with your address by Friday 19th March. The PTA will then contact you with the alphabet letter which you need to incorporate within your display. Displays will need to be put up on Good Friday and remain for the whole of the Easter holidays. Please note that by providing these details to the PTA you consent for them to print your address on the South Tawton PTA Easter Trail sheet, which will be sent home with children at the end of term. The trail will not include anybody's name and the addresses will only be used for the purposes of the trail. Roots and ShootsHello We're a small community group based in Chagford that has received National Lottery Covid-19 Community Support funding to create arts and crafts packs (with online tuition by local craftspeople) to send out to children in Devon during these challenging times. https://rootsandshootschagford.org.uk/nature-nurture-programme/509-2/ We've attached a flier and were wondering whether you could let parents know about the project. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information. Kind Regards Anna and Bella Year 6 Likes and LovesWorld Book DayWhat a glorious success you all made World Book Day! Thank you all for attending both assemblies, carrying out the challenges and sending in your photos. I do hope that you al enjoyed doing it as much as I enjoyed hearing all about it. I received some photos which haven't yet made it onto the blogs yet but these will be updated tomorrow morning. If you haven't yet looked at all the wonderful photos which have been sent in, then please visit the following links: https://www.southtawton.co.uk/school-news/world-book-day-book-nooks https://www.southtawton.co.uk/school-news/extreme-reading8229713 https://www.southtawton.co.uk/school-news/reading-with-pets-siblings-and-toys-for-world-book-day Return to school tomorrowI will re-paste below the information which I sent out last week. However, if you haven't yet done so, please book lunches for the week (including home packed lunch options) and, if relevant, spaces on the bus and at breakfast club. Our risk assessment has been revised and can be found here. We're working hard to ensure that we have everything in place for a smooth and safe transition back to school. Please help us to avoid crowds at drop off and pick-up times by only arriving for your children's designated slot and leaving Tawton Lane promptly after. All timings will revert to those in place last term: Years 1, 3 and 6 will begin at 8:40 and be collected at 3:20. Years R, 2, 4 and 5 will begin at 8:50 and be collected at 3:30. Children will not be allowed on site before their allocated times and we will ask parents to wait well clear of the school gates if they arrive early. This is for the safety of the whole community. Please remember that, if you have children who have different start or finish times, you should arrive at school for the later of the two times. Hot dinners will be served from the 8th. The current menu can be viewed here. Please book all meals as soon as possible through your school gateway accounts. Bookings for breakfast club and the school bus are also now open and can be accessed through school gateway. Everything you need to know for school on 8th March: a message from Devon CCRemote LearningI'd like to say a very public and heartfelt THANK YOU and WELL DONE to everyone - pupils, staff and parents - for all the hard work that you have put into the last few weeks and the excellent results which you have achieved. I couldn't be prouder. Community Lateral Flow TestingDid you know that you can now access lateral flow tests as parents and families of school aged children? More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests Recycling of old pensI've been asked to remind parents that Steve Granger collects old pens and takes them to be recycled, Usually, there is a collection box in the Kings' Arms, but Steve can take them directly whilst the pub is closed. If you would like to use this service, please let me know and I'll pass your details on to Steve. 100 Club DrawFebruary's draw was carried out at School last week and the following numbers/people won:- 1st 40 Ruth Murray 2nd 3 Claire Tucker 3rd 16 Mark Williams Mary MacMillan-Scott will distribute prizes to the winners outside School next week. PTA AMAZON SMILE SCHEMEMost of us have Amazon accounts and many of us are using them now more than ever.
When you make a purchase from Amazon, they donate money to nominated charities through their Amazon Smile scheme at no additional cost to you! Therefore, please click on the link below and nominate South Tawton School PTA as your chosen charity. Then, every time you shop with Amazon, they will donate 0.5% of the sale value to the school. Please also share this link with anyone you know who also uses Amazon - friends, grandparents, aunties and uncles, etc... Amazon Sign In Scroll down to see all 25 non-screen activities. Don't forget to have a look at the other World Book Day blog for many more ideas of things to do. If you complete any of these activities, please bring them into school on Monday; I'd love to up on display! It's been a very strange term so far, but we're delighted that we'll be welcoming all the children back to school on Monday March 8th. Our risk assessment has been revised and can be found here. We're working hard to ensure that we have everything in place for a smooth and safe transition back to school. Please help us to avoid crowds at drop off and pick-up times by only arriving for your children's designated slot and leaving school lane promptly after. All timings will revert to those in place last term: Years 1, 3 and 6 will begin at 8:40 and be collected at 3:20. Years R, 2, 4 and 5 will begin at 8:50 and be collected at 3:30. Children will not be allowed on site before their allocated times and we will ask parents to wait well clear of the school gates if they arrive early. This is for the safety of the whole community. Please remember that, if you have children who have different start or finish times, you should arrive at school for the later of the two times. Hot dinners will be served from the 8th. The current menu can be viewed here. Please book all meals as soon as possible through your school gateway accounts. Bookings for breakfast club and the school bus are also now open and can be accessed through school gateway. World Book DayWorld Book Day will be on Thursday 4th March and we will also be celebrating it on Friday 5th March. There will be a dedicated blog post with lots more information, but here are three things you need to know in advance: 1. We will not be dressing up this year as so many children are learning at home. Instead, we would like all children to make a 'book nook.' More details will follow but, in the meantime, please save any cereal (or similar size) boxes. Every child will need one. 2. Remote learning on these two days will be different to the past few weeks. There may be some class live lessons, but most of the time will be spent on World Book Day activities that siblings and families can do together. 3. There will be virtual whole school assemblies on Thursday and Friday mornings at 9am. Links to these will be sent out via email. Our World Book Day blog post full of ideas and activities can be found here. Read the latest Devon Count Council update here.
Please help us to keep our pupils, staff, parents and extended families safe, by following the lockdown rules for each stage of the government's 'roadmap.' I'm receiving reports from some local residents that they are concerned that children and families from the school are not following the rules around families and children mixing. Please remember that, at the moment, individuals are only allowed to meet one other individual outside for exercise. A reminder of the current rules can be found here. We will be celebrating World Book day at home and in school on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th March. We will have live, virtual assemblies on both these days and World Book Day activities will replace all or most of your classwork for these two days. Assembly links will be sent out via email later this week. We will not be dressing up this year, but will ask all children to produce a 'book nook' (more details below) to show in assembly on Friday and bring into school with them on Monday 8th March. We have a new display board in the main reception area and I'd like to fill this board with photos, drawing, book nooks and other creations from World Book Day. Please email me your pictures ([email protected]) and bring anything else you make into school with you on 8th March. The rest of this blog post contains many, many ideas of things to do and enjoy on Thursday and Friday. You can choose the activities that you'd like to do, except for my top three items which I'd like as may people as possible to have a go at. 1. Book NooksThere are lots of guides to how to make a book nook on the internet and lots of different materials you could use. You will need a box roughly the size of a cereal box and an idea for how to decorate the inside of the box to show a scene or theme from one of your favourite books. You may use cardboard cut-outs to create characters and 3D textures; you may prefer to use small items such a Lego or Playmobil characters. The aim is for your finished book nook to look like an open doorway right into your favourite book. Good luck! 2. Extreme Reading PhotosWhere's the most extreme place you can read a book? There's no better day to do some reading than World Book Day, so please send me photos of yourself reading in usual locations or positions. Keep it safe and check with an adult first, please. We don't want any accidents! Reading PetsDo you have a pet or toy who likes to be read to? I'd love to see your photos of them reading or you reading to them. Please email them to me ([email protected]) and look forward to seeing them feature on next week's newsletter. Lots more ideas...In the rest of the blog, you'll find lots more ideas of things to do on World Book Day. There are videos to watch, stories to listen to, things to make, books to read. Have a look through the blog and choose your activities. Later in the week, I'll produce another blog with even more ideas of things to do. Have a wonderful two days getting really involved in books and reading. Your £1 vouchers will be with you soon. The first place you should look is the World Book Day website which has many, many lovely ideas. Ideas from the School Library ServiceLots of Resources from the Hay Festival including favourite authors reading aloud.Events for World Book Day, 4 March 2021 Here is a selection of uplifting Hay Festival events for pupils in KS 2, 3 and 4 chosen for you by Julia Eccleshare, the festival’s Director of Children’s Programming. Why not watch as part of your World Book Day celebrations to inspire reading for pleasure. KS2 Pamela Butchart Julian Clary & David Roberts Cressida Cowell John Dougherty Daniel Morden Onjali Q Rauf Andy Stanton Kate Dicamillo A competition from Coram Life (SCARF PSHE)World Book Day Competition - Coram Beanstalk & Very.co.uk Enter our World Book Day competition for a chance to win over £300 worth of Crayola arts and crafts goodies! With restricted opening for schools, World Book Day on Thursday 4th March 2021 is going to be a little different this year. Coram Life Education’s sister charity, Coram Beanstalk, is working in partnership with Very.co.uk to launch a new activity to engage and bring together children across the country on World Book Day. Rather than dressing up as their favourite book character we’re encouraging children to draw or make (using arts and crafts) their favourite book character. Parents, carers or schools can enter their children’s pictures into the competition via social media. There are some wonderful prizes for children up for grabs, thanks to support from Crayola. To enter the Coram Beanstalk and Very ‘World Book Day’ competition, just:
Harold the giraffe will be joining in with his school friends too – he just needs to decide which character to do! Remember to follow Harold's daily diary for updates. Links from the World Book Day website
Books That Make You LOL Wednesday 3rd March at 10:30am Words & Pictures: Bring Reading to Life Thursday 4th March at 10.30am Books and the Real World Friday 5th March at 10.30am |
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