Meeting for Parents It was lovely to see so many of you at our meeting for parents on Thursday evening. Thank you to everyone who attended and were so supportive! More information about the meeting can be found on our new Three Hares Blog: Three Hares News. The PowerPoint presentation for the evening can be found here. A summary of the points covered will be sent out next week. Christmas cards I'm starting to get enquiries about whether the children are able to give each other Christmas cards this year. I have taken advice on this from our Health and Safety lead and have learnt that, whilst we will be unable to have a central collection box for cards which will be delivered to all classes, children are still able to distribute cards to their friends within their own class bubbles. Tempest Photos We now have confirmation from Tempest that you can order pictures from either of the two photography sessions. Please order online wherever possible. Key Stage 2 Hot Dinners From Monday 30th November, we will be offering hot meals to Key Stage 2 pupils. You will receive an email when the menu is live and open for bookings on School Gateway. Virtual Assembly On Friday, we trialled our first virtual assembly with several classes across the school. We had some problems with the audio connection, but it was lovely for the classes to all see each other. Hopefully, we will get the sound issues sorted out this week and the Friday celebration assembly can once again take place weekly. Well done to all of our certificate winners - many of whom won certificates for their acts of kindness during Anti-bullying week. Congratulations also to the Green Team who earned the most team points in the last two weeks. Ventilation As stated on our risk assessment (here), we are keeping the classrooms as well ventilated as possible with doors and windows open to reduce any spread of the virus. This does mean that the classrooms are colder than usual, please encourage your children to wear plenty of warm layers with their school uniforms. Resources from Devon libraries The school library service have produced the lovely advent calendar below. More downloadable resources to link to this advent calendar can be found here. PTA NEWS
All you need to know this week are the following key dates: - You only have until tomorrow (Monday 23 November) to order your wreath ahead of the virtual Zoom WREATH-MAKING CLASS on Friday 27 November! - Please buy and design your balloons for the exciting VIRTUAL BALLOON RACE ahead of the big launch from Harrods on Tuesday 1 December! Click here for more information. - Don' forget to sort out your wardrobes and cupboards ahead of our BAG2SCHOOL collection on Thursday 3 December. (Details of what to/not to include are on last week's newsletter) Please don’t bring items to school this week - we cannot store them. Year 5 Climb up Cosdon Beacon Despite the very changeable weather conditions (lots of rain!), the Year 5 pupils displayed an amazing attitude and determination on their walk to the top of Cosdon Beacon. What we particularly admired in them, was their support and encouragement for one another. Well done everyone for being such supportive friends and for walking brilliantly. Our Ranger, Ian Brooker, provided us with really interesting facts about the history and geography of Dartmoor. We found out about the creation and moulding of it's granite rocks and about it's mining history. Ian also pointed out Dartmoor's mountains - do you know the name of the highest tor on Dartmoor? Meeting for Parents of South Tawton Primary School We would like to invite you to a meeting on Thursday 19th November at 6pm, where parents of the school will be able to hear from various school leaders. We would like to explore with you, our vision for the school, both in the short term and for the years ahead, as well as share some exciting new projects for school improvement. School Leaders attending include:
In current circumstances, the meeting will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams. You do not need to have an account, merely clicking the link to 'join the meeting' will enable you to participate in the session. Please be aware, that by joining the meeting, your name and or email address may be visible to other participants. The joining link was sent out by email earlier this week. There will be a 'chat' facility which will be monitored in order that your questions can be raised during the Q&A session. We will also ask you to 'sign in' with your name and child's name on arrival, in order that we have a register of attendance. If you have a question that you would like to raise in advance, please email the school administrator, who will collate a list in preparation for the meeting. I hope that you are able to join us and we look forward to seeing as many parents as possible on this occasion. Remembrance Day On Wednesday, Mrs Leslie lead a 2 minute silence and then members of Year 5 read Flanders Fields, whilst the other classes stood and observed the silence. We marked the 11th hour with a bell and heard the Last Post being played from the village Anti-Bullying Week This week (Monday 16th November to Friday 20th November) is National Anti-bullying week. Classes will take part in activities and lessons to highlight the importance of this. The Anti-Bullying Week organisers have worked with over 300 young people and 100 members of school staff to develop the theme for this year's Anti-Bullying Week. The Anti-Bullying Week 2020 manifesto for change is as follows: "This year, more than ever, we’ve witnessed the positive power that society can have when we come together to tackle a common challenge. Anti-Bullying Week is no different. Bullying has a long lasting effect on those who experience and witness it. But by channelling our collective power, through shared efforts and shared ambitions, we can reduce bullying together. From parents and carers, to teachers and politicians, to children and young people, we all have a part to play in coming together to make a difference. We’re all a piece in the puzzle, and together, we’re united against bullying." Children in Need Day The children (and staff) all thoroughly enjoyed wearing their pyjamas to school on Friday to raise money for Children in Need. Some parents even joined in and wore nightwear to work! So far, we have raised an amazing £202.43 for the cause. Thank you to everyone who took part and donated. We also had some amazing entries into our yellow photography competition as can be seen on this link. New Playground Markings Many of you will have seen new playground markings being installed on Friday. I'm hoping that they will bring a new lease of the life to our playground and that the children will have great fun using them. A big 'thank you' must go to the PTA for all their fundraising efforts and their support in helping this project go ahead. The two men who installed the markings travel the whole of Great Britain to produce playground markings. I'm delighted to say that they approached several members of staff throughout the day to express their admiration for the behaviour, attitude and manners of our pupils. Well done, everyone! Tempest Photographs Please pay for your photos online wherever possible (the details are on the order form), rather than sending envelopes into the office.
Virtual Balloon Race Have you bought your virtual balloon yet? Remember that the balloons will begin their flights on 1st December and need to be bought and customised before then. Click here for more information. More PTA news A big thank you to EVERYONE for the funds recently raised by the non-uniform day, autumn trail and cookery book - as well as helping to fund the new playground markings (which the children will be able to have fun with from tomorrow!), the money raised has also paid for an exciting set of phonics resources for the KS1 and pre-school children, including sound and picture cards, magnetic letters, ditty books and get-writing books. As we won't be able to hold our usual Christmas Fayre this year, it would be great if you could continue to support our alternative upcoming fundraisers: Make a Christmas Wreath - if you or anyone you know would like to take part, we need your orders by Monday 23 November please, as we need time to prepare the kits ahead of the event on Friday 27th at 8pm. Here's a reminder of the details: Buy a fantastic festive wreath-making kit, then join us on Friday 27th November at 8pm for a virtual Zoom class with expert instruction to create your wreath. HOW TO GET INVOLVED... 1. Pick a style: Rustic, Glitzy or Traditional 2. Email [email protected] to order your kit by Monday November 23rd. Use the subject ‘Christmas Wreath’ 3. Pay £15 via PayPal (or cash by arrangement) 4. Your kit will be sent home with your child on Friday 27th November (or pick up by arrangement) 5. Join us on Friday 27th November at 8pm via Zoom! Bag2School - we are pleased to announce that we have organised a clothes and shoe collection on Thursday 3 December.
Bag2School is the UK's leading textile recycler and the scheme helps raise much-needed school funds but also helps the environment by diverting unwanted textiles away from landfill. As well as fundraising it also raises the awareness amongst the children of the benefits and importance of recycling and reuse. By getting involved in this collection, you have an opportunity to sort though your cupboards and wardrobes and donate unwanted textiles in a bin bag. As separate email will be sent out to list what to include and what not to include. Donations are welcome from anyone in the community, so please tell grandparents, friends and neighbours, so that they can have a sort out too! What a great range of photos we've received for our 'unusual yellow thing' photo competition. Thank you to all who took part. Our winners are: KS1 - Tilly, Year R, with 'Doctor Banana' KS2 - Joe, Year 5, with a yellow rhino! Here is a slide show of our entries, enjoy the yellow theme. Many of you would have seen new playground markings being installed today. I'm hoping that they will bring a new lease of the life to our playground and that the children will have great fun using them. A big 'thank you' must go to the PTA for all their fundraising efforts and their support in helping this project go ahead.
We would like to inform you that a member of our preschool has been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 on Thursday 12th November. Public Health England have confirmed that the school's leadership has taken all appropriate actions and has followed the recommended procedures. Children and staff within the affected bubble will stay at home for 14 days, and preschool will be closed until Monday 23rd November. I am sure you will join us in sending our best wishes to the pupil and hopes for a speedy recovery. Please be assured that we will remain in contact as necessary and will keep our school community informed as appropriate. Remembrance Sunday They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. This morning, I attended the outdoor and socially distanced Remembrance Service at St Andrews Church to represent our school and lay a wreath. Bethany, Archie and Reggie were also there representing their Brownies, Cubs and Beavers. On Wednesday, members of any of these groups (and also Rainbows) are invited to wear their uniforms to school for the day instead of their school uniforms. Remembrance will be discussed in classes and we will be observing a silence at 11am. Many thanks to Mrs Glover and Mrs Bonnett who have produced our fantastic remembrance display. Breakfast Club and SAINTs football club Through this period of lockdown, we are able to keep Breakfast Club open as it is for the purpose of childcare. Unfortunately, the current regulations mean that we will be unable to host the SAINTs football club until restrictions are lifted on December 2nd. The guidance from the Department for Education is printed below for your information. Out-of-school activities (including wraparound care) may continue to operate if their primary purpose is providing registered childcare, or where they are offering other childcare activities, where this is reasonably necessary to enable parents to:
Lockdown Recipe Book It is so lovely to see from these photos how many recipes are being explored, whisked, tried and tasted. There are super reviews coming in too. There are only 36 copies left of our second print run, so jump on in whilst you can! Consultation on our Admissions policy for 2022-23 Below you will see a link to our proposed admissions policy for 2022-23. We are consulting on this between 1 November and 8 January and invite any parent or other person with an interest in our admission arrangements to read the policy and make any comments you wish. You will see where there are changes, the text is in red – either something we propose to add or, if it has a line through it, something we propose to remove. One of the proposals is to add children who have been adopted from state care outside of England to our oversubscription criterion 1. This is in anticipation that the Department for Education will require this change for all schools as it has just consulted on changes to the School Admissions Code. It is possible that the Department’s timescales may mean that the Code is not amended before the end of February, when we have to formally set our policy. If that is the case, we may have to determine our policy without that change and then alter it later in spring or summer. We are bringing it to your attention though as a change in policy that we expect to have to introduce. Other than changes in red and dates moving forward a year, the way our policy will work is the same as in the previous year, 2021-22 which you can also see below. If you have any comments, you can make them to Devon County Council which is co-ordinating the consultation. Further information is at www.devon.gov.uk/admissionarrangements. You will be able to view the proposed policies for all state-funded schools in Devon and the Local Authorities policies there too. The Proposed Admissions policy can be found in the Devon CC folder below. Search for South Tawton: Click here South Tawton PTA presents… Make a Christmas Wreath! Buy a fantastic festive wreath-making kit, then join us on Friday 27th November at 8pm for a virtual Zoom class with expert instruction to create your wreath. HOW TO GET INVOLVED... 1. Pick a style: Rustic, Glitzy or Traditional 2. Email [email protected] to order your kit by Monday November 23rd. Use the subject ‘Christmas Wreath’ 3. Pay £15 via PayPal (or cash by arrangement) 4. Your kit will be sent home with your child on Friday 27th November (or pick up by arrangement) 5. Join us on Friday 27th November at 8pm via Zoom! Don't forget to check out the South Tawton PTA Facebook page for all our up and coming events, pre-loved uniform and much more! https://www.facebook.com/SouthTawtonPTA We are pleased to announce that the PTA have raised £160 from the non-uniform day last month and £120 from the Autumn Trail - a huge thank you! With these and other funds we are really pleased to be able to significantly contribute towards some new playground markings....coming soon! Virtual Balloon Race The PTFA have signed up for an online balloon race in order to raise much needed funds virtually as normal fundraising efforts are hindered by the coronavirus pandemic. The world’s only virtual balloon race system offers a 100% eco-friendly way to raise money. Mike Phillips, Managing Director of Ecoracing.co, explained, “It’s a seven-day computer simulation race where everything is real except the balloon. The software uses current live weather data to determine the progress of each balloon and each entry can be tracked on Google Maps and Satellites once launched. It has no negative environmental impact on all wildlife, climate change, plastic waste or litter.” He continued, “You can buy a virtual balloon for £3 and give it a name, colour, shape and pattern. In addition to this, you can select different features of your balloon, such as weight, which will determine its flight performance in order to enhance your chances of winning.” Mike added, “It’s a fun and easy way to raise funds for a cause, which kids and adults alike love.” Keep a lookout for more details being released over the coming week, building up to the launch on 1st December, and we hope you all enjoy this chance to raise funds, engage in some friendly competition and participate in some purposeful STEM based learning! If any members of our community would like to donate prizes for this, please let us know. PTA 100 Club
October's draw has taken place and the following numbers/people won 1st 45 Leonard Parker 2nd 83 Judith Smith 3rd 88 Jemma Greenall New members are welcome to join the 100 Club at any time throughout the year and there are still plenty of numbers left! The more members we have in the Club, the higher the monthly cash prizes and the greater the amount raised for our PTA funds. Please email the school office for a sign up form and confirmation of the subscription payable if you would like to join.
New Menu for KS1 The new menu for next half term can be found here. The KS2 sandwich options remain as ham, egg, cheese or tuna each day. Free School Meals Vouchers As you may have seen from the mainstream media and social media, the motion to extend the free school meals voucher scheme over the half-term was defeated this week. However, the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust is resolute that none of its children, eligible for free school meals during term time, should go without during their holiday next week. We would like to reassure you that all families eligible for free school meals in the Three Hares have been contacted and should now be in receipt of their food vouchers. If your child is in receipt of free school meals and you have not yet received your voucher, please do get in touch.
The South Tawton Lockdown Recipe Collection The thought process behind creating this delectable treat was inspired by all the wonderful photographs and art work that our pupils sent to us during lockdown. Our mouths were simply watering as the school blog posts were looking like something out of a plush foodie magazine or gallery visit! Peggy Chalcraft, the Yr4 Teacher, thought "I want to make those dishes and I'm sure others do too". So, she went about collating a super collection of Art, Poetry and Recipes to remember the rather different Summer term of 2020 for everyone to enjoy. Alex Thomas, a parent at the school and a Graphic Designer, volunteered his time and expertise to help produce our recipe collection in a very stylish manner! From the funds raised, we hope to buy a friendship bench with a difference for our playground. Thank you again to our school community for helping to make this happen. Bon apetit / ¡buen provecho! / Dig in! Peggy Chalcraft Have you bought your recipe book yet? Can't make up your mind? Here's some lovely feedback from families who have already received theirs: "I just wanted to say thank you for our recipe book It’s fantastic. Thank you for your hard work in creating this. My daughter has already book marked several recipe pages" "Just wanted to let you know how fabulous I think the children’s cook book is - such a lovely positive (and useful!) keepsake for us of our time in lockdown. Thank you for all your hard work in organising it for us." "Oh we are already enjoying the recipe book! We even cycled to Sticklepath stores to get the ingredients!! Lava biscuits 😋" "Our daughter has planned out our menu for Half Term already. Thank you!" "Just to say how amazing I think the recipe books are, they look great and have been so well put together, they will be such a great keepsake from such a difficult time. Thanks to all involved." "The recipe book is fantastic - the quality is great and it looks amazing so thank you and a huge well done for putting it together 🎉👏😊 " It's not too late! If you would like to purchase a copy, please email [email protected] with your child’s surname/year/number of books in the subject line of the email E.g. Chalcraft/year4/2 books * Please also let us know how you would like to pay i.e. Cash or Paypal in your order. Autumn Trail Did you know that South Tawton PTA have a Facebook page? Please search for and like our page to keep up to date with all our PTA news and events. South Tawton Primary School PTA are running an Autumn Trail this half term holiday. It takes in the villages of South Zeal, South Tawton and Sticklepath and you can purchase a trail sheet for £2 from PTA members or South Zeal and Stickepath shops. The trail starts and finishes by the South Zeal shop and the questions on the sheet are about things you will see on a walk around the villages, so keep your eyes open! There are three sections to the trail so you can do as much or as little walking as you feel able to. Hand your completed sheets in to a teacher by November 9th to receive a reward and a Team Point! Update from Devon County Council You may find it interesting to read this latest update from Devon County Council about Covid-19 Click here One of the recommendations is that families do not go out trick or treating this year. The message is copied below: The Halloween season is fast approaching, and families may be wondering whether trick or treating is worth the risk this year. It’s really not. Please just stay at home and don’t turn Halloween into a COVID-19 “nightmare on your street. There are plenty of ways to enjoy Halloween safely at home, from spooky window dressings to ghostly film nights. This year public health teams in Devon are asking families to forget the usual trick or treat plans and instead celebrate safely indoors. We've got some 'low risk' celebration ideas on our website, along with a list of things to avoid doing this Halloween. Happy half term
Have a lovely week off and we look forward to seeing all children back in school on Monday 2nd November. Best wishes, Sarah Marvin Please click here to read the letter to schools with a coronavirus update before the half term holiday. To order please email: [email protected] with surname/class/number of books in the title line and how you would like to pay (either Cash or Paypal)
£10 for one / £18 for two / £28 for three / £36 for four. Be part of something really awesome and help raise money for your school.
Attendance Following the period of school closures through the last academic year, it is now more important than ever that children attend school whenever they are well enough to do so. Obviously, if they or anyone in the household has Covid symptoms, then please self isolate as a family and get tested. The children can return to school as soon as evidence is received of a negative test. I'm delighted that our attendance for the academic year so far is 96.8%. However, we have a statutory duty to monitor attendance very carefully at this time. Through this week, all children with attendance levels which have dipped below the average will be receiving letters detailing their attendance so far. Please do get in touch if, having received one of these letters, you have further questions or would like any support in maximising your child's attendance. PTA News
Proceeds from this term and next term's fundraisers will go towards some new playground markings! As we won't be able to pay for the usual trips, workshops and other events for the foreseeable future, we are contributing over £1500 towards some new markings for the Year 6 and main playgrounds. These will be for fun and fitness but also educational and can be used by the whole school during playtimes and as part of interactive lessons to enhance the children's outdoor experience when other play equipment is restricted. We are very excited that these will be in place really soon - either over half term or the following week! The PTA are running an Autumn Trail this half term holiday. It takes in the villages of South Zeal, South Tawton and Sticklepath and you can purchase a trail sheet for £2 from PTA members or South Zeal and Sticklepath shops. The trail starts and finishes by the South Zeal shop and the questions on the sheet are about things you will see on a walk around the villages, so keep your eyes open! There are three sections to the trail so you can do as much or as little walking as you feel able to. Hand your completed sheets in to a teacher by November 9th to receive a reward and a Team Point! It's dress down day the last day of term on Friday 23 October!! Wear what you like but don't forget to bring £1 each to your classroom to go towards PTA funds. Did you know that the PTA have a Facebook page? Please search for South Tawton PTA and like our page. Finally, recipe books have arrived! You should have received information via email about how to make payment. Distribution will begin once payments are received. |
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