|
Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, What an end to the term! With so many children, and staff off with illness, we made the sad but sensible decision to postpone the nativity. Messages on Dojo have been sent to explain the exchange of tickets should you need to. Performing a nativity in January will be a first for me! I didn’t write a newsletter last week, so this is a bumper edition! Advent Candles Last week our assembly theme was peace. The second candle of advent. We remembered that Jesus was born to bring peace to the world. We thought about what peace means in our world today, but also how we can bring peace to our school, homes and our friendships. Children were encouraged to consider making peaceful choices over the coming exciting weeks when it can be easy to get over excited and not think about others as much as we should. This week we celebrated the third – Joy, by planning class parties for Friday. The last candle is Love – representing the love that Jesus, and all new babies, bring to the world. Father Christmas Last Tuesday we had a very exciting surprise, Father Christmas came to our school! He brought presents for the children and wished us all a very happy Christmas! Thank you to FONTS for booking him as we know this is an extremely busy time of year for him. Christmas Lunch A huge thank you to our brilliant caterers Mandy and Nikki who cooked and served a fabulous meal last Wednesday. We had crackers supplied by FONTS and all the staff joined in serving and eating with the children. We also collected money for Save the Children by wearing our Christmas jumpers! Carol Concert Last Friday we had our KS2 Christmas Carol Concert. We sang our favourite carols and songs, KS2 classes played the handbells, Jumbie Jams, sang in rounds and had piano and violin accompanist too. Even the parents joined in! Huge thanks to our Music tutors Miss Boyce, Mr Bryant and our volunteer tutor Mr Arnold – our children sounded great! Christingle Year Six led a very sombre Christingle service at the church, telling the story of the nativity and parading their Christingles. They really do see this as a rite of passage and enjoy the seriousness of the responsibility. It was very moving and enjoyed by the congregation of pupils and parents and locals. Year 5 joined in to make up numbers!  Winners of the Bauble Competition
This is always a hard decision! I looked carefully for baubles made by children who had worked alone, done something different or original or just caught my eye. Nursery – Felicity Reception – Henry Year 1 – Freddie G Year 2 – Charlie T Year 3 – Finley A Year 4 – Sofia Year 5 – Matilda Year 6 – Georgia A huge thanks to RL Taylor for supplying fabulous prizes, again! Community Fridge Did you see this article about the North Tawton Community Fridge? North Tawton celebrates opening its Community Fridge in time for Christmas | LiveWest The Community Fridge is in Merry Go Round and is open to all North Tawton residents to donate to and to take what you need. Lost Property We have rather a large collection of lost property collecting in our hall! Please pop in if you think some may be yours! And a reminder for the new year, please, please label clothes! A message from our Three Hares Local Stakeholder Board With the lead-up to Christmas, we have been quite busy these last couple of weeks, but in a really wonderful and positive way. Our thanks to our three schools for inviting us in over a frantic period in the school year, so we can appreciate the fruits of the children and staff’s labour! I have just returned from North Tawton’s Carol Concert at the school which was utterly joyful! I absolutely loved the mix of music and singing, and particularly loved “Oh come all ye faithful” when they started the chorus quite loudly (when it’s meant to be quite quiet) and I was thinking “Goodness, how are they going to get any louder?” but sure enough, by the third repetition, they were raising the roof! One of the best parts of being a governor is seeing the children being themselves in a safe environment at school, and it was so clear to me how much the kids were enjoying themselves. David Spence, our new governor based in North Tawton, also attended and was able to see the school “in action” (as well as applauding his own children!). Another great part of our role is being recognised by the children… Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited on the joint Chagford / North Tawton Year 6 school trip to the Energy for Waste plant in Devonport, Plymouth, so I spent all day with twelve of the Y6 North Tawton pupils. If you’re a parent of any of those children, I have to say what an absolute delight they were to hang out with. And it was even nicer to be recognised by them today at the school, as they called out to say “Hi!” to me. In the meantime, all of our governors have attended the “Ringfenced Funding” training, which helps us to understand what additional monies the schools receive for Pupil Premium, Sports Premium etc, and how that is spent for the benefit of the children. We are booking meetings with the Principals and Sports Leads for each school early next term to monitor how those funds are being spent in each school, and the impact of those spends. Liz has also managed to visit South Tawton a couple of times, where she was impressed with the great progress Early Years have made with their reading using the Read Write Inc platform, and this was reinforced by one of the children telling her how happy they were that they could “read words now!” We hope to see you at one of the school’s festive events – between us, we are hoping to get to as many as possible. Mel & Liz [email protected] [email protected] As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. Wishing all of our children, staff and families who are ill a very speedy recovery, With very best wishes for a happy and healthy Christmas Tara Penny Principal DMAT message regarding the snow warning
"We are closely monitoring the weather forecasts for the local area. With this in mind and the fact that bad weather is predicted, schools may make the decision to move to remote provision for tomorrow. The decision will be made by 6.30am Wednesday 14th December. Please monitor the normal school communication, including the school website and the Devon School Closures page to see the position for tomorrow." Dear Parents and Carers,
What a day! We have only 62% of children on site and 8 members of staff off. As always, the staff team have pulled together so we have been able to maintain ratios to keep children safe. We have had 3 confirmed cases of Scarlet Fever, one case of slap cheek, one with tonsillitis and several children with diagnosis of viruses, we also have 2 staff with Covid and potentially more children. At least the weather looks better for tomorrow! As roads have been gritted, we aim to open as usual at 8.45am. We are closely monitoring the weather for Wednesday and the rest of the week and will let you know of any changes as soon as possible. I have copied the advice I sent last week regarding Scarlet fever / Strep A. You may have seen recent news reports concerning cases of suspected or confirmed scarlet fever. This has also been referred to as “Strep A”. We are writing to inform you that there has been some increase nationally in notifications of scarlet fever to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), above seasonal expected levels. We would like to take this opportunity to provide some information about this illness, and to raise your awareness of the signs and symptoms to look out for. Although scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, it should be treated with antibiotics to minimise the risk of complications and reduce the spread to others. The symptoms of scarlet fever include:
If you think you, or your child, have scarlet fever, please take the following actions:
Children who have had chickenpox recently are more likely to develop more serious infection during an outbreak of scarlet fever and so parents should remain vigilant for symptoms such as:
You can find more information in the guidance: Scarlet fever: symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Further advice can also be obtained from the Health Protection Team during office hours. Please see below for links to further information and FAQs. In school, staff will continue to be vigilant about looking for symptoms and encouraging pupils to maintain good hand hygiene. Hand washing remains the most important step in preventing such infections. Staff and pupils will be encouraged to wash their hands at the start of the school day, after using the toilet, after play, before and after eating, and at the end of the school day. Hand sanitiser is available. Yours sincerely, With best wishes Tara Penny Principal Further information: Scarlet fever: symptoms, diagnosis and treatment Scarlet Fever Frequently Asked Questions Health Protection Team for UKHSA South West Centre Health Protection Team Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, TQ9 5NE [email protected] Phone: 0300 303 8162 option 1 then option 1 Dear Families,
In response to the Met Office yellow weather warning and the forecast of temperatures well below freezing tomorrow morning, I am delighted that the Trust have made a decision to authorise a start at 10am, this should allow for roads to be gritted / ice melted for those staff and parents driving in. The school will be open at 8.45am as usual for those of you who need to get to work, but please be aware there may well be a skeleton staff until 10am. Please take great care coming in driving and on foot. I have not heard from the bus company, so those who come by bus please let me know if you are not collected. If you are unable to come in for 10am, please ring the school to let us know. Please leave a message if we are not able to answer the phone. I anticipate lots of calls and stretched staff! Your cooperation and understanding will be much appreciated. Many thanks Tara Penny Dear Families,
Although North Tawton is clear at the moment, I am concerned about later this evening and tomorrow morning. I have put down more grit and will do so again in the morning. My village is treacherous with icy patches on the road, as I'm sure many local villages and farms are too. After a lot of thought, I have decided not to come this evening for the carol concert at the church. Families are welcome to attend as it will be carrying on as planned, just without our choir slot. For those who drive in, please be very careful tomorrow morning. Take your time, I'd rather your children were safe, even if a bit late. with best wishes, Tara Penny 7.12.22
Dear Parents and Carers, Further to my email yesterday, here is some more guidance regarding Scarlet fever / Strep A. You may have seen recent news reports concerning cases of suspected or confirmed scarlet fever. This has also been referred to as “Strep A”. We are writing to inform you that there has been some increase nationally in notifications of scarlet fever to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), above seasonal expected levels. We would like to take this opportunity to provide some information about this illness, and to raise your awareness of the signs and symptoms to look out for. Although scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, it should be treated with antibiotics to minimise the risk of complications and reduce the spread to others. The symptoms of scarlet fever include:
If you think you, or your child, have scarlet fever, please take the following actions: • see your GP or contact NHS 111 as soon as possible • make sure that you/your child takes the full course of any antibiotics prescribed by the doctor • stay at home, away from nursery, school or work for at least 24 hours after starting the antibiotic treatment, to avoid spreading the infection • inform the school if it is a confirmed case of scarlet fever/strep A by your doctor Complications Children who have had chickenpox recently are more likely to develop more serious infection during an outbreak of scarlet fever and so parents should remain vigilant for symptoms such as: • a persistent high fever • cellulitis (skin infection) • arthritis (joint pain and swelling). If you are concerned for any reason, please seek medical assistance immediately. If your child has an underlying condition which affects their immune system, you should contact your GP or hospital doctor to discuss whether any additional measures are needed. You can find more information in the guidance: Scarlet fever: symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Further advice can also be obtained from the Health Protection Team during office hours. Please see below for links to further information and FAQs. In school, staff will continue to be vigilant about looking for symptoms and encouraging pupils to maintain good hand hygiene. Hand washing remains the most important step in preventing such infections. Staff and pupils will be encouraged to wash their hands at the start of the school day, after using the toilet, after play, before and after eating, and at the end of the school day. Hand sanitiser is available. With best wishes Tara Penny Principal Further information: Scarlet fever: symptoms, diagnosis and treatment Scarlet Fever Frequently Asked Questions Health Protection Team for UKHSA South West Centre Health Protection Team Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, TQ9 5NE [email protected] Phone: 0300 303 8162 option 1 then option 1 Dear North Tawton Families and Friends, Our week started with an assembly all about Advent, and ended with our Christmas fair, with lots of exciting events in between including our Year 3 singing at Castle Drogo and our Wildlife Champions meeting with Sarah from Devon Wildlife Trust! As always, please look at our class blogs to see details about what goes on in our fabulous school! North Tawton School Christmas Fair A huge thank you to the staff and FONTS for al of the hard work organising this event, to all the children for making crafts, games and treats, to our traders and of course to all who came along! Upcoming Dates
Wednesday 7th Dec –Christmas Jumpers and Christmas dinner Friday 9th December – 2pm Carol Service at school (not the church) – parents welcome Sunday 11th December – 6.00pm Carol service at the church – families welcome Tuesday 13th December 2pm – Christingle at church – parent s welcome Nativity performances: Parents can attend Wednesday 14th December at 4pm or Thursday 15th Dec at 5pm – tickets available from Lyndsay or Marina in the office (we will have a dress rehearsal in school so all children can watch) |
Categories |
RSS Feed
