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Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, It’s been quite a challenging week for the staff at NT as we have had colleagues off sick with Covid and other illnesses. However, with support from caterers from other Dartmoor Trust schools and the fantastic staff here at NT we managed to provide lunch, cover supervision for lunch and playtimes and teach classes! The children had a great week with no noticeable change to their learning and routines. I’m delighted to report that the children and staff with Covid are all isolating and recovering from their symptoms. I really do hope this is the end of the local outbreak, but I fear that might be wishful thinking. Please be aware that we have children with ringworm and with hand, foot and mouth disease. So far these have been isolated cases, but please do be aware of the symptoms. www.nhs.uk/conditions/ringworm/ www.nhs.uk/conditions/hand-foot-mouth-disease/ Community Links I was really pleased that so many parents came to the second FONTS AGM on Thursday after school. It was great to see so many of you come to support the school. I am relieved that all roles have now been filled so FONTs can continue - more detail in the FONTS update from Philippa and Julia below. Thank you! Jo Ware (our fabulous Y6 teacher) will be our school and community liaison and work with FONTS, the local community and the school to rekindle the links we had before Covid and establish new ones too. FONTS – Update A huge thank you to everyone who came to the AGM (part 2) yesterday. We are very pleased to confirm that FONTS has a new committee in place ready to continue FONTS fundraising after half term. Chair – Kate Keast Vice Chair – Vanessa Perri-Khoo Treasurer – Sarah Packham Secretary – Katie Hillier Please give the new committee all your support! Thank you FONTS Committee Email [email protected]/ message FONTS on ClassDojo Harvest Thank you so much for the kind donations for our harvest collection. Year five children have taken the goods to the church where they will be transported to the Okehampton Food Bank. Your generosity is much appreciated and will be gratefully received by local people in need.  Staff News
We look forward to welcoming Kerry Davies to our learning support team after the holiday. She will initially be working with children in years 3 and 4. Our teaching assistants make up a fantastic learning support team and are integral to the social, emotional and educational development of our children. We are blessed to have such a dedicated, knowledgeable and talented team working with our teachers and our SENDCO to help each child reach their potential and be the best they can be. KS2 MFL Update (Modern Foreign Languages) Children in Year 3-6 have been receiving weekly 30 minute lessons from our French specialist, Madame Jordan. Class teachers follow up lessons with short activities to reinforce the weekly lesson. Madame Jordan teaches French across the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust and has been very impressed with our pupils’ enthusiasm for language learning as well as their knowledge of France and the francophone world. Year 6 can name numerous countries across the globe, where French is the official language. Year 3 and 4 can name the 4 countries in Europe that speak French. We have started our French curriculum with introductions. All children can introduce themselves and ask other people what they are called and how they are. Many children in Y5 and 6 can also introduce others. Our older pupils have been learning about French heroes such as Victor Hugo, Marie-Curie and Joan of Arc. Pupils have learnt some classroom instructions in French so that Mrs Jordan can use more French during lessons. We have also learnt some key French phonics through numbers 1 to 10. You could ask your child to teach you the ‘ninja numbers’ to see phonics in action! The French curriculum supports children with their learning in other parts of the curriculum, especially English. Children examine the French grammar and compare it to what they have learnt in English. This term we have discussed imperative verbs (commands), adjectives, cognates, and intensifiers. Year 5 have also been learning about Benin (a French speaking country) as part of their History learning and in Y6 as part of their Art we have been studying Claude Monet’s Japanese Footbridge painting, and talking about him as a French hero in our French lessons. French truly has been across the curriculum! Thank you, Madame Jordan and Miss Ruby (MFL Coordinator) Halloween If you celebrate Halloween, I hope you have a fun time. I have spoken to the children about keeping safe if you allow them to take part in Trick or Treat
Happy half term to all of our friends and families. I look forward to seeing you on Monday 1st November at 8.45am. Don’t forget the clocks go back an hour, so on Sunday 31st October enjoy an extra hour in bed! With very best wishes Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Parents and Families, We have rising covid cases in our North Tawton community and the surrounding area, with many of our pupil’s older siblings contracting the virus this week. At school presently we only have one child, from year 3, who has had a positive PCR test. They are isolating and keeping safe and well. We do have rather a lot of people with coughs and colds this week. It is a good idea to have a PCR test just to be sure, so thank you to those of you who have done this and let us know. We would have loved to have held a school service in the church next week to celebrate Harvest, however, this is just not a wise idea. We will have a special sharing assembly on line for you to watch from home. You can only access this via your child’s log in. I will send the link out on Dojo on Thursday. Black History Month This week I have read the children a story written by Floella Benjamin (people around my age will remember her from Play Away and Playschool!) She came to England from Trinidad when she was a child and was quite struck by the differences in food, climate and welcome. In her story she talks about how she always wanted to meet the queen, and when she was an adult, she did! In class children have been learning about a range of important history makers, including Michelle and Barak Obama, Rosa Parks, Mary Seacole, Mo Farrah and Usain Bolt. Photos on Monday We will have our photographer in on Monday for school photos. If you have a nursery child who is not attending on Monday, but would like an individual, class or family photo, please come to school at 9am and we will accommodate you. This will take some organisation, so please be patient with us! Clubs A huge thank you to the staff running clubs after school. I have really enjoyed the buzz of activity in school between 3.30 and 4.30! I have heard excellent singing from our choir (I’m delighted we are raising a new generation of Bon Jovi fans!) seen creative ideas in craft club and art club, budding actors in drama club, watched children develop their sporting skills and cooperative behaviours in our sports clubs, and seen the muddy footprints from forest club adventures! Next week Craft Club will be for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. I will let you know next week the arrangements for after half term. An Invitation from FONTS Please come along to the AGM (part 2) on Thursday 21st October. We’ll be in the school hall, straight after school pick up. FONTS are still looking for a new Treasurer, a role that’s needed to ensure that fundraising can continue. Looking forward to seeing you there! Thank you FONTS Committee Email [email protected]/ message FONTS on ClassDojo Craft and Community Recreational day at Okehampton College Sports Hall and Pavilion in the Park.  This is set to be a fantastic event, and we are being joined by organisations providing activities, crafts and promoting local services with a focus on mental health.
Come along and do a spot of early Christmas shopping, reconnect with local groups and find out what is going on in the local area. This is set to be a fantastic event, and we are being joined by organisations providing activities, crafts and promoting local services with a focus on mental health. Come along and do a spot of early Christmas shopping, reconnect with local groups and find out what is going on in the local area. Dates for your Diary Monday 18th October - School Photos Thursday 21st October 2.30 Harvest Assembly (on line) Saturday 23rd October – Craft and Community Recreational day at Okehampton College Sports Hall and Pavilion in the Park. I hope you have a lovely weekend, Tara Penny FONTS AGM – Thursday 21 October
Straight after pick up in the school hall At this meeting we will be voting in a new Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary. The committee is still looking for someone to take on the Treasurer role. Please message FONTS or come to the AGM to find out more. The AGM is open to everyone. Please come along if you can, especially if you’ve volunteered to be a Class Representative – it would be great to get everyone together. Thank you to everyone who has come forward to take on roles, it means a lot to the school to have FONTS supporting it. Dear North Tawton Parents and Families,
Do ask your children what the highlights of their week have been. The highlights of my week have been taking Y4 to the church for a ‘real’ baptism and joining in with netball club after school on Thursday. Gate Opening Times We open the gates at 8.45 so there is plenty of time for the children to come in to class, settle in and start their early work. All children should be in school and learning by 9am at the latest. Please support us so all classes have an easy transition in to the day. Thank you! Black History Month This week in assembly, I told the children we would be learning about important people who have changed the world for the better. I asked the children to draw what an important person who has made history might look like. The children had some time to think about this and draw what they might look like. I then asked what kind of person they had drawn: male or female: older than me or younger than me; a person from a very long time ago, or someone living now, and if their person had light skin like mine or darker? The vast majority of children drew very old, white men from long ago. While there are many white men from long ago who have been important people in history, I told them this month we would be learning about lots of different kinds of people who have contributed to world history. We started by learning about Nelson Mandela who led the fight for equal rights and freedom for black people in South Africa and eventually ended apartheid. Throughout their time at North Tawton, the children will be learning about women and men from different cultures, countries and traditions and the contributions they have made to world. Every October we have a particular focus on Black History. Clubs Due to no more covid cases, we are still able to run clubs next week. We will keep this continually under review. Next week Craft club will be for Year 3, 4, 5 and 6. Free neurodiversity, young people's mental health and wellbeing Training The Aim Group are able to support North Tawton parents with several Free online Level 2 Accredited Courses available to Parents and Staff to help better understand some key issues around neurodiversity, young people's mental health and wellbeing. Here's some of our most popular subjects available:
We also have some other fantastic courses around areas such as Mental Health First Aid, Safeguarding and Prevent, Equality and Diversity, Business Admin, plus many more. All courses are accessed online within a 6-week window and are completed on a laptop or computer at the learner's home. No Exams or endpoint assessments are involved, and the courses are purely detailed Q&A based with all the information needed provided, which is available to you 24/7. Once finished you can do as many as you like, however you can just do one course at a time. The only criteria the learner must meet to be eligible, is the following.. Aged 19 or over on or before 31st August 2020
The course is completely free, but the learning provider reserves the right to charge a drop out fee in the event a learner enrols but then drops out without providing a reason (please note this is down to the individual and will be highlighted when I call you once registered). That said, the college will grant extensions if the learner has a reason as to why they won't be able to complete it within the 6 weeks. Please note: under the college request a short zoom induction will need to be attended to ensure we get you successfully enrolled onto the correct course If you are interested in undertaking one of these Free Online courses, then please let me know so I can send over the relevant enrolment details. FONTS – UPDATE – 8 October 2021 Following the recent AGM, FONTS are still looking to fill committee roles. FONTS is a registered charity and as such is legally required to have a Chair, Treasurer and Secretary in order to operate and raise funds for the school. Unless there’s a full committee in place by October half term (Chair, Treasurer and Secretary), all FONTS activities will have to stop. This means no Christmas cards, no Christmas fayre, no book fair, no Bag2School collections, no summer event, and no leavers’ hoodies. Thank you to everyone who has already put their names forward to be Class Representatives. Oak, Chestnut, Ash, Hazel and Sycamore classes do not have two reps yet. If you can spare a few hours a month to take on a committee or class rep role, let us know. Thank you FONTS Committee Email [email protected]/ message FONTS on ClassDojo Dates for your Diary Week of the 11th October – Parent Meetings Monday 18th October - School Photos Thursday 21st October 2.30 Harvest Assembly (on line) Monday 25th October – Friday 29th October – Half Term holiday I hope you have a lovely weekend, Tara Penny Following the recent AGM, FONTS are still looking to fill committee roles. FONTS is a registered charity and as such is legally required to have a Chair, Treasurer and Secretary in order to operate and raise funds for the school.
Unless there’s a full committee in place by October half term (Chair, Treasurer and Secretary), all FONTS activities will have to stop. This means no Christmas cards, no Christmas fayre, no book fair, no Bag2School collections, no summer event, and no leavers hoodies. Thank you to everyone who has already put their names forward to be Class Representatives. Oak, Chestnut, Ash, Hazel and Sycamore classes do not have two reps yet. If you can spare a few hours a month to take on a committee or class rep role, let us know. Thank you FONTS The Saints South West Mutli-Skills Sports Club for Girls and Boys (KS2) takes place on Friday's afterschool 3.30-4.30pm. If your child is interested in attending or would like a free trial please click on the link below for booking and payment Our schedule | Saints Southwest | Powered by ClassForKids (class4kids.co.uk)
Booking is done online and although the club is currently full, places are 'first come first serve' for each new term, so just add your child to the waiting list to receive a notification when booking opens. Dear North Tawton Parents and Families,
Another week has come to an end, and as to date (Saturday afternoon) there are no more staff or pupil Covid cases. We do need to proceed with caution, as I have said in my emails this week, and maintain vigilance to reduce the likelihood of spread. Please continue to wear masks at drop off and pick up. We will not have whole school assemblies this week but will keep reviewing our situation. |
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