Dear parents,
Apologies for the extreme lateness of this news. We have made the decision as a multi-academy trust to move to blended learning for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to allow us additional time to ensure our risk assessments and health and safety measures are comprehensive and up-to-date, in line with all of the latest guidance from Public Health England and the Department for Education. More information can be found in the attached letter. The school will remain open for vulnerable children and the children of parents classed as critical workers. Please see the letter for further details on these classifications. If you believe that your child should be classed as vulnerable and attend school, please email me at [email protected] If you believe that you child should attend school as you are a critical worker, please fill in the survey using the link below. Please complete the survey as soon as possible and by 7pm at the latest. You only need to complete the survey if you consider yourself to be a critical worker. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=kG0HO7J4vUqeBcIPJiicRq65m3QRRsxIl7MqPXy_mOVUOEFXOVZRRUY4WE1PSlpSOTcxMDFGV0hLMi4u Class teachers will be in touch via email and school blog pages with details of home learning for your children to complete. Please help your children to maintain their learning by ensuring that they complete all home-learning tasks. Kind regards, Sarah Marvin Click here for the letter from the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR The Autumn Term has drawn to a close and we have nothing but admiration for the way the children have embraced and adapted to all changes. It's not been the easiest of terms, but there's been plenty to enjoy every day and excellent academic progress has been made in all classes too. Thank you to all families for all the support and encouragement you have given; I know that the staff will also wish to join me in thanking you for all the lovely Christmas gifts and cards. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year however you celebrate and here's to a safe and less complicated 2021! ChristingleAs we approached the end of term, it became obvious that we wouldn't be able to go to church for our annual Christingle service. The school hall was also not an option due to needing to maintain distance between class bubbles. Not daunted, we decided to hold an outdoor service on the playground on Friday morning. By Wednesday, it was obvious that the weather on Friday was very much against us, so we changed plans again and brought the service forward to Thursday. The whole school gathered in their bubbles on the playground for whole-school carol singing and readings from the year 6 pupils. Rev Mark also joined us and gave a short address. All the children then returned to their classrooms for the lighting of their Christingles and to sing Away in a Manger. The classes were all connected via a TEAMs meeting so they could see each other on the interactive screens in their classrooms. It was a very different service but very special and the unaccompanied singing of carols on the playground was particularly beautiful. Flash Mob Carols
Behind the Stable DoorOur traditional KS1 nativity performance was another event which we refused to let Covid take away, so we had to adapt to the changes. Years R, 1 and 2 put on a spectacular show of Behind the Stable door which was shown to the KS2 children across two afternoons and recorded for parents to watch at home. Well done to all the children and staff for such a wonderful production. What's on at Okehampton Library? Okehampton library will be open and holding some lovely events during the Christmas period: Click here to find out more. Support for Families experiencing financial hardship over Christmas period A COVID Winter Grant Fund has been made available to local authorities and district councils to support families experiencing financial hardship over the 2020-21 winter. Children eligible for free school meals have been issued with food vouchers and district councils are able to support families through their hardship grants. In addition, Early Help will be able to help families with a grant of up to £100 per family to support them to buy food and pay utility bills over the winter. If you are experiencing financial hardship this winter, then please contact Early Help to receive this and other financial support to improve the situation. Hardship does not need to be COVID related or recently acquired. The criteria set by Early Help is as follows:
You can contact Early Help by contacting the following mailbox: Southern Devon: [email protected] Food Bank Collections A very big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the foodbank collections. These will now be dropped off at Okehampton foodbank. If you would still like to donate to the foodbank, there is a collection point at Co-op in Okehampton. A message from the Three Hares Governors The Local Academy Committee governors would like to wish all children, parents and staff a very happy, safe, joyful and peaceful festive break. We would also like to thank all the staff for their extraordinary efforts to keep the schools as safe as possible. Behind the scenes, they have been working under extreme pressure to ensure the children have been able to experience school life as normally as possible, and have had to respond quickly and efficiently when cases of Covid-19 have arisen. Our thanks also go to parents and carers, who have worked with the schools so willingly to comply with the various measures that have been put in place to minimise the risk of spreading the virus. Have a wonderful Christmas, and we look forward to continuing our work with each of the Three Hares schools in the new year. With our very best wishes, Three Hares Local Academy Committee governors PTA newsA huge congratulations to everyone for making the fundraisers this term such a success despite the difficult circumstances. We've had great feedback about the Lockdown Recipe Collection, autumn trail, online wreath-making class, Christmas activity packs and the virtual balloon race. These fundraisers together with the Waitrose hamper raffle and non-uniform day have raised well over £3000 - a truly amazing achievement - thank you!! Congratulations to Elsie in Year R who won the delicious hamper of Waitrose goodies. We will be in touch in the new year with details as to how this money will be given back to the school to benefit the children. If anyone has some new fundraising ideas for 2021 then please let us know. A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the PTA team! SAINTS SW After-School Football ClubsPlease see link below for parents to book back onto the extracurricular football clubs in the Spring Term. KS1 After School Club; https://saints-southwest.class4kids.co.uk/info/506 KS2 After School Club; https://saints-southwest.class4kids.co.uk/info/515 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing the children back in school on Tuesday 5th January.I wanted to thank you all so much for supporting our Lockdown Recipe Book so well! The feedback has been incredible! A huge thank you to Sue and family at Sticklepath Stores for selling over 10 copies for us too! We have sold 187 copies making a profit of over £720 (so far) for the school. Huge festive & foodie thanks, Peggy Chalcraft
Santa Dash The children fully embraced the challenges of rain, sunshine, mud and tarmac to take part in our Santa Dash today. There were Christmas jumpers, Santa hats, baubles, bells, antlers and tinsel and we all enjoyed some lovely, festive activity. If you'd like to join in the Santa Selfie competition, please click here. What's On Next Week? On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, KS1 will be presenting their wonderful festive performance to the children in KS2. Two classes will view it each afternoon to ensure that we can maintain social distancing. The performance will be recorded and made available to parents later in the week. Wednesday 16th December will be our Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day. Please let us know if you have not yet ordered a dinner for your child, but want one so that we can adjust our numbers accordingly. On Friday morning, we we hold our annual Christingle service. Unfortunately, we will not be able to visit the church as usual, but will do our best to maintain some important South Tawton traditions by sharing some carols and readings and lighting the Christingle candles. We will use TEAMs to help each class to see the others and feel part of a whole school celebration. Friday will be the last day of school before the Christmas holidays. Contact Tracing during the Christmas Holidays If your child has a positive test for COVID during the Christmas holidays, please inform me by email at [email protected]. I will then follow the guidance as to whether I need to contact families of children in the same bubble. Where a child or staff member has tested positive for COVID but has not been in school in the time period 2 days before the onset of symptoms to 10 days after, there is no requirement for any contact tracing to be carried out by the school, but we still need to know of any cases for our records. More information from Devon County Council can be found here. Waitrose Hamper PTA raffle Waitrose have kindly donated a wonderful Christmas hamper to the school. This is presented in a lovely wooden box and includes biscuits, chocolates, mince pies etc. The PTA are selling raffle tickets to win this hamper for £1 a strip. Children can give the money to their teacher who will then give them the raffle tickets. The raffle will be held during the school Christmas Dinner on Wednesday 16th December. Three Hares Update Please click here or visit the Three Hares blog to read an update from Mrs Underwood. The packs cost £3 - please put the money in a clearly marked envelope, and ask your children to give them to their teachers. They will then be given a pack to take home and enjoy! These packs are selling really well but we only have a limited number, so to avoid disappointment, get your money in asap! The packs cost £3 - please put the money in a clearly marked envelope, and ask your children to give them to their teachers. They will then be given a pack to take home and enjoy! Virtual Balloon Race The report from eco racing has been received and we are very proud to announce the winners of our first virtual balloon race! 1st Carolyn George - King Louie - 227.5 km 2nd Beth Burton - Go go Bobby - 206.2 km 3rd Louise Watts - Matthew - 193.1 km We will be in touch to arrange your prizes getting to you! The overall winner travelled 335.7km having travelled over Wales and into the Irish Sea (where it popped!) The distribution of balloons is fascinating and a great reason for making balloon races virtual rather than spreading plastic waste so far and wide Thank you so much for your support Virtual Festive Family Activity Challenge HO, HO, HO! Active Devon and the Devon School Games Organisers are hosting a FREE Virtual Festive Family Activity Challenge. The challenge will open at 10.00am on Monday 14th December 2020 and will close at 10.00am on Monday 4th January 2021. Taking part in this fun challenge is a great way to keep your family active, moving and motivated over the festive season. This will help towards the whole family feeling happier and healthier. The main challenge is made up of three separate challenges: the 7 Days Challenge; 14 Days Challenge or 21 Days Challenge. As a family you can choose which one you would like to do. Plus, which Certificate Award you would like to go for, either Bronze, Silver or Gold, For full details or watch the promotion video here: https://www.activedevon.org/festivefamily-activity-challenge/ On Friday 11th December, we shall be teaming up with OCRA to have a Santa Dash for all classes. It definitely feels like time for some festive fun this year, so we invite all children to dress up as Santa or to come to school in their Christmas jumpers and most festive clothes. Look out for some special photos in next week's newsletter. There is no charge for this non-uniform event. Please don't feel you have to buy a Santa suit or other Christmas outfit - add some tinsels and baubles to existing clothes if necessary. On the subject of baubles, we have many, many boxes of these in school. If you would like some or know someone who would, please let me know! Please also see the information below about a photography competition.
The packs cost £3 - please put the money in a clearly marked envelope, and ask your children to give them to their teachers. They will then be given a pack to take home and enjoy!
I'm very happy to tell you that Year 6 have now finished their period of self-isolation and will be back in school tomorrow morning. Happily, we have not had any further cases in this or any other year group. Year 6 have worked hard from home whilst they've been off and you can see some lovely examples of their work on the year 6 blog here. The other staff who have been isolating and I will also be very happy to be back in the morning and we are all hopeful for a lovely couple of weeks run up to Christmas and the end of term. We will be having our Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day on Wednesday 16th. More information on how to book a Christmas meal will be emailed out this week.
Contact Tracing during the Christmas Holidays If your child has a positive test for COVID during the Christmas holidays, please inform me by email at [email protected]. I will then follow the guidance as to whether I need to contact families of children in the same bubble. Where a child or staff member has tested positive for COVID but has not been in school in the time period 2 days before the onset of symptoms to 10 days after, there is no requirement for any contact tracing to be carried out with the school, but we still need to know of any cases for our records. Free School Meals over the Christmas Holidays DCC have now put in place arrangements to provide supermarket vouchers to nearly 15,000 children across Devon who currently receive free school meals, to help their families buy groceries over the Christmas holidays. They have asked me to share the message below which is relevant to families in receipt of free school meals, but not those in years R,1 and 2 who receive universal infant free school meals. We don’t want anyone to miss out on this vital support so we are asking for your help in ensuring parents and carers know about the scheme and ensure they look out for a letter or email from us next week for details about how to access their vouchers or an alternative food box. Further details are provided below: From Tuesday 8 December we will be sending a unique code per child to all families known to the Local Authority, that are currently in receipt of Free School Meals. The LA will provide every school with a list of all their students that are being issued a voucher early next week via Anycomms. If there are children not on this list that the school know to be receiving free school meals, please will you notify the free school meals team immediately by emailing them at [email protected]. Each code can be used once on a website called ‘Hawk Select’ to redeem vouchers to the value of £30 per child (£15 per week for the two weeks of school holidays) for Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, Asda, M&S Food and Waitrose. The website requires families to provide an email address for the vouchers to be sent to once they have chosen their preferred supermarket. When received, they can save the vouchers to their phone or tablet to use online (depending on the supermarket) or show at the checkout in store. Alternatively, they can print the vouchers off to give to the cashier. We are conscious that a few parents may not have access to the internet or a mobile device to receive and store the vouchers on and so we are hoping that, in these exceptional cases, schools will be prepared to complete the process for the parents on the Hawk Select website and print off the vouchers for them. Parents will need to provide the school with their unique code in order for you to redeem the voucher on the Hawk Select website on their behalf. Our education helpline is available on 0345 155 1019 for any questions about the distribution of the unique codes, and can be used by schools or parents. There are also some useful FAQs on the Hawk Select website along with contact details for any technical support about using the codes and vouchers. I will share with you a copy of the letter we will be sending to parents next week for your information, as it also provides details about the vouchers and an alternative food box should they not be able to access the supermarkets listed. In addition to the letter, we also have information about the scheme on our website. If you think a child may now be eligible for free school meals due to a recent change in their family’s circumstances, please help us ensure they can access this holiday voucher support over Christmas by encouraging them to apply online through the Devon Citizen’s Portal to check if they are eligible as soon as possible. This is the quickest and easiest way for their eligibility to be assessed and they will get an instant decision. Alternatively, they can call our education helpline on 0345 155 1019. To ensure that they receive the free school meals holiday vouchers for this Christmas period they must apply by Friday 18 December 2020. We would be grateful for your help in promoting the scheme to parents and carers as soon as possible, so they know to look out for our detailed letter or email next week, and please direct them to our website if they have any questions in the meantime. Finally, if you are aware of a family who are worrying about money and struggling to pay for basic household essentials, please let them know that they can also apply for help through funding that we have made available via the District Council hardship funds. There’s more about what financial and food support is available for families in Devon on our website. PTA News Bag2School: Thank you to all those who had a chance to clear out cupboards and wardrobes. We collected 320kgs worth of unwanted clothes and textiles which converted to £96 for PTA funds! As it was so successful, we plan to do another collection again next year but will aim to get a later collection time (drop off by 9am was difficult for some) and have the collection point somewhere else in the village that is more accessible. Virtual Balloon Race: A huge thanks for making this race such a success! 148 balloons were purchased for our cause which has raised £444! The balloons were virtually launched from Harrods on 1 December and the race will finish at midday on Tuesday. At first the balloons travelled south of London to Crawley before heading west to Lyme Bay and are now near Glastonbury, some having travelled nearly 200km! We will announce the 3 winning balloons mid week. Cinderella Pantomime: The PTA have paid for a 'virtual pantomime' of Cinderella as a Christmas treat for the children. This will be screened in classes during the last week of term.
Last week, we got the news we've been hoping to avoid: one of the pupils received a positive result for Covid-19. Since Wednesday, the year 6 class have been 'remote learning' while self-isolating. Four staff members, including myself, are also having to isolate. Wednesday saw a flurry of emails as we sent individual log in details for google classroom to each of the year 6 pupils and helped them to log onto the platform. Work for the children was published on the year 6 blog for Wednesday, but, since Thursday, Mrs Everett has provided all their lessons on the google classroom platform and the children have been completing their work and 'turning in assignments' for marking and feedback. Tomorrow morning, there will be a 'live lesson' at 9am for all year 6 pupils to attend. Before the children left school on Tuesday, we explained that they would need to be completing a full day of school remotely and would not be able to treat this time as a holiday. I'm delighted to say that the vast majority of pupils have risen beautifully to this challenge, are completing all work set each day and have handed in some excellent pieces of work. Well done, Year 6. We very much look forward to seeing you back in school on Monday 7th December. Until then, please keep up the good work. As always, if there are any problems with technology or the google classroom platform, please let me (Mrs Marvin) know. If you need support with the work content, please email Mrs Everett. Key Stage 2 Hot Dinners Just a reminder that all children will be able to have hot dinners in school from tomorrow. Please book these for the week in advance through your school gateway accounts. Please remember that dinner choices are no longer taken during morning registration, but should be completed by parents in advance. Thank you for your support with this. Please could all parents ensure that they have made a booking on the system, even if it is for a home packed lunch - this helps us to know that everyone's choices are made and to ensure that no lunches are missed. The menu can be found here.
PTA NEWS We are holding our next PTA meeting via Zoom on Monday 30 November at 8pm. Please email Katie ([email protected]) if you would like to be included in the Zoom invitation. WREATH MAKING A massive thank you to everyone who bought a kit and joined the online Christmas wreath-making class on Friday evening - it was great fun, the kits were amazing (thank you to Hannah and Nan Passmore for the huge amount of work that went in to them) and the results were absolutely beautiful! They raised a fantastic £370 for PTA funds. VIRTUAL BALLOON RACE There is only one more day to buy and design your balloons ahead of the big launch from Harrods on Tuesday 1 December. Only £3 per balloon and national and local prizes to be won! (http://bit.ly/stballoons). BAG2SCHOOL We hope you may have had/will have a chance to sort through your wardrobes for unwanted textiles ahead of the collection on Thursday 3 December. Please bring your items in a bin bag and drop them in the staff car park by 9am on the day (please do not drop off before Thursday as there is nowhere to store them). Collection will be made between 9am and 1pm. Please spread the word, as anyone in the community can contribute, so do tell friends and family. Just a reminder of what to/not to include: What IS accepted: Good quality clothing Paired shoes Handbags Hats Bags Scarves and ties Jewellery Lingerie Socks Belts Soft toys Household linen Household curtains Household towels Household bedding. What is NOT accepted: Duvets and blankets Pillows and cushions Carpets, rugs and mats (including bath, shower and toilet mats) Soiled, painted, ripped or wet clothing School uniforms with and without logo Corporate clothing and workwear Textile off-cuts, yarns or threaded material PTA 100 Club This month's winners of the 100 Club were 1st 40 Ruth Murray 2nd 35 Katie Wright 3rd 69 Zena Balson There is a double draw in December so there will be six winners! New members of the 100 Club are welcome at any time. Please email the school office for a sign up form and confirmation of the subscription payable if you would like to join.
Wray Valley Trail
Lookig for something outdoorsy to do at the weekends or in the Christmas holidays? Mrs Bonnett recommends the Wray Valley trail for a lovely bike ride or dog walk. https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/wildlife-and-heritage/dartmoor-story/dartmoor-story-pages/places/wray-valley Sarah Marvin and I were pleased to welcome parents to a virtual meeting on Thursday evening, where we shared our continuing aims for school improvement at South Tawton Primary School. Having already met with parents at Chagford and North Tawton, this was the third of our meetings within the Three Hares. I am delighted that our Chair and Vice Chair of our Three Hares Local Academy Committee (governors) joined us, along with Hazel Fox (DMAT Interim CEO) and our link Trustee, Morgen Witzel all available to take questions. Unfortunately, Dan Morrow the incoming CEO for the DMAT was unfortunately unable to attend at the last minute, due to a situation he needed to attend to in his current trust. However, he is very keen to meet parents and has promised to join us on another occasion soon.
If you would like to view the presentation, please click here. We are very proud of the excellent reputation that South Tawton has earned and continues to develop. The staff are really committed to school improvement and due to their hard work and professionalism, the children have made a happy and settled return to school since September. Current School Improvement Focus: Vision Over recent weeks, within our Three Hares leaders’ meetings, we have been discussing our Three Hares vision. We are keen to share our thinking with all stakeholders over the coming weeks in order that everyone’s views are reflected. Fundamentally, we aim to craft a statement which describes our goals for every child who makes the journey through one of our schools. Three Hares Curriculum Having introduced all of our children to the ‘Three Hares’ theme last academic year, lockdown gave us the opportunity to take a fresh look at our curriculum, together as a Three Hares staff. We have launched into teaching and learning this year, with some new themes which deliver a broad and enriching learning journey, as children make their way through our schools. Teachers and subject leaders are able to share good practice through our monthly Three Hares staff meetings, where over time, teachers will benefit from systems which will reduce their workload, enabling them to share, modify and develop plans and projects across the schools. We have shared training opportunities for leaders, teachers and support staff, providing not only value for money, but also the benefits of collaboration and shared discussion across a broader context. Partnerships South Tawton already enjoys a wonderful relationship with its parents and local community. We hope to continue to build upon this, extending our communications to ensure that we are able to welcome parents from beyond South Zeal and local villages to sustain our current number of pupils which ensures we can keep single-age classes in the future. Remote Learning One of our focus areas this term, is to develop our capacity for delivering remote learning. Staff are currently being trained in the use of Google Classroom, which will enable children to login with a Google email address allocated to them, from a device in school or at home. They will be able to access projects set for them and submit their completed work and receive feedback. We are also working on enabling teachers’ face-to-face online contact, should we need to close a bubble or even close the school at any point in the future. Catch-up Since our return in September, teachers have been carefully assessing children’s knowledge and understanding of key concepts. We have identified some gaps in spelling, grammar and maths. Our catch-up plan is already being implemented and with the benefit of government funding, we will be able to deliver individual and small group interventions. We have also purchased a variety of resources which will ensure any gaps in learning will be quickly and efficiently filled. Premises We are pleased that improvements to the fabric of our old building will be underway soon. Following the replacement of gates and fences over the summer holidays, we will soon see the gradual removal and sympathetic refurbishment of windows and doors, in line with the listed status of the buildings. Refurbishment of the front façade of the YR/Y1 building are also due to take place this year. Over recent months, with the support of the DMAT, we have undertaken a feasibility study, looking into the possibility of bring our pre-school onto school site. We will keep you posted in the progress of this project. I am delighted to say, we have been able to appoint a Three Hares Site Officer, Mr Steve Kiff, who will work across our schools to specifically support premises projects, repairs and maintenance. Three Hares Partnership In addition to the aforementioned benefits of working as a trio of schools, we continue to plan ahead for the time when we can physically bring our children together. We still aspire to have children working with their peers in other schools, getting to know new friends as they move up through primary school and into secondary education as a larger cohort. Other opportunities could include: joint day visits, residentials, inter-school events, festivals, music, clubs, competitions and matches, both sporting and other themed events. As our partnerships grow, we are keen to bring our communities closer together. Already, due to this partnership, we have seen children in Chagford and North Tawton benefit from the generosity of two sets of Chagford parents who have sponsored the first of year of a three year subscription to the school library service. This means that all three schools once again enjoy delivery of quality books each half term. We are currently looking into developing partnerships with schools in contrasting parts of the UK, as well as investigating more far-reaching links with schools in other parts of the world in the future. Fundraising Strategy Mel Holyoak, our Vice Chair of Governors has been instrumental in developing a strategy to provide additional financial support for our Three Hares primary schools. We are excited to launch a brand new fundraising initiative, asking for support from parents, carers, local businesses and communities to provide the children of our schools with access to the best possible school learning experiences. This initiative is being undertaken collaboratively with the PTAs of the trio of schools that make up the Three Hares. We also hope to forge stronger relationships between the schools and their local communities, not just for the children of today, but for those of the future. Within the Three Hares, we focus on providing local children with the best possible start in life, both from an academic and lifestyle perspective, to ensure that they are all given the tools and resources they need to be prepared to move into further education and their future workplace as well-rounded, skilled, confident and unique individuals. Our hope is that, as a result, they will grow up and continue to contribute to our community as adults. As you may already know, government funding for schools has been substantially reduced over the years, to the point that our schools are now spending up to 90% of their budget on staff alone. Historically, a school would have expected to spend up to 75% of its budget on staff. This is not bad budgeting on the part of the schools – it is the sad truth of the public purse, and the cuts that have been made in education. We have developed a wish-list has been separated into several categories that could be supported, as well as a legacy project, designed to be long-lasting for the school with a “Yours Today, Theirs Tomorrow” sentiment. Each category provides several examples of how your donation would be used, together with a target fundraising goal. The final decision in relation to how those funds will be spent (but strictly adhering to their specified category) would be made by school leaders, in conjunction with the Local Academy Committee. Donations can be made which will support projects within 5 categories: · Legacy projects – these will benefit current and future children of the school; · Teaching and Learning · Premises · Sports · General School Fund. More details of each category can be found on the PowerPoint presentation, and information will also be available on the school website soon. The DMAT has supported this venture with the purchase of fundraising software which will enable parents, relations, community and businesses to support South Tawton Primary School, or the Three Hares trio of schools. Rest assured, that any donations made for this school in particular, will be strictly restricted for use in South Tawton only. As a charity, all donations received will enable the school to claim an additional 25% of the value of the donation from the government, at no extra cost to the benefactor. Amazon Wish List In addition to our fundraising website and in collaboration with the PTFA, we have also created an Amazon wish list, which has been populated by the staff of the school, with all sorts of items to support and enhance teaching and learning. This will be updated regularly and ranges from the smallest of items to much bigger aspirational items. Whilst we recognise the obvious convenience and vast range of Amazon, we are committed to supporting our local community so, wherever feasible, please be assured that the school will endeavour to use monies raised to make purchases locally and use local businesses and trades. ANY improvements we are able to make enriches the children’s school experience, and adds value to the school environment, making them attractive to potential new pupils and families. In turn, this generates additional funding for the schools – the amount of funding the school receives from the government is dependent on the number of pupils. So the more pupils that are attracted to the schools, the better funded the schools become. The schools' leadership and staff are also eager to forge stronger relationships between the school and local communities and would love to hear from you with any ideas you may have about ways we might do this together. Our wish is to create a school where the saying, “It takes a community to raise a child” really holds true. Finally, it is really important that we stress that we appreciate that many families may not be in a position to offer anything. We would never ask or expect anyone to put themselves under any kind of strain to contribute. Three Hares Governance Emma Neath, our Chair of Governors will soon be contacting parents about two vacancies within our committee for the role of parent governor. There are vacancies for two Parent Governors to serve on the Three Hares Academy Committee, which is the governing body across Chagford, South Tawton and North Tawton Primary Schools, and part of the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust. We are very keen to encourage parents and carers of registered pupils to nominate themselves to become part of our Academy Committee. More details and nomination forms will be issued shortly. Thank you We are grateful to all the parents who were able to attend the meeting last week; whilst we look forward to meeting with parents face-to-face in school again one day soon, we hope that meeting virtually using ‘Teams’ invites was helpful means of keeping in touch with school leaders in the meantime; it also provided a great opportunity for a ‘Q&A’ session. Thank you for supporting this wonderful school. With kind regards, Elizabeth Underwood Sarah Marvin Executive Headteacher Head of School |
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