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It’s cold outside... why not spend the weekend decorating your wreath ready to bring back to school by the end of next week!
Congratulations to our November 100 Club winners -Kate Keast, Phil Woods and Lucy Barzotelli. Don’t forget the Virtual Christmas market is still running, if you haven’t had a look, don’t delay, you’ll be missing out. And make sure you get your raffle tickets too. Email hellopcrisp@outlook.com We’ll be selling tickets next Friday, before and after school, at the gates. The next few weeks are busy ones so here are some ‘December dates for your diary’
❄️January ~ Elf hunt winners announced Thank you FONTS committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com Or message FONTS on Class Dojo Dear North Tawton Families, It’s been another busy week for the staff and children at North Tawton, never a dull day, or minute here! Maths This week we had a school wide Maths audit by two of our Dartmoor Trust colleagues Adam Hill and Brian Simber. They saw lessons, spoke to children and staff, looked at work and concluded that we are doing very well in our maths across the school! Children have positive attitudes towards maths and staff have very good knowledge of the children they teach and their needs. We do need to keep stretching our most able and give all children more opportunities and encouragement to present their work neatly in their maths books. The White Rose programme is beneficial to all children and we have invested a lot of money in new resources and all children have access to counting aids to help them with number work. A huge well done to our children and to our teachers led by our maths coordinator, Mr Foreman. Safeguarding This week we were also visited by Simon Snell from the NSPCC who came with our Dartmoor Trust Safeguarding Lead Barbara Manning and our Governors Emma Neath and James Warner to audit safeguarding. They looked carefully at our training, record keeping and work with other agencies and they spoke to children and staff. I am delighted that they were all extremely impressed with the knowledge children have about how to be safe both on and off line, and that our curriculum is robust in teaching children to look after themselves and others. They were impressed that our staff are well trained and go above and beyond to make sure children are physically, psychologically and emotionally safe in school. Simon Snell said if his children were still of school age, he would want them to be at North Tawton. What a compliment! Early Years Suzie Stevens our DMAT early years lead also visited and enjoyed a morning with our youngest classes. She has been supporting Early Years staff across the Trust with the new curriculum and assessments. She is really pleased with how well our team have adapted to the new ways. We have lots of exciting new resources arriving each week thanks to the very generous fundraising FONTS have done over the years. The building work is progress quickly now and I am still hopeful we will have our new space in January.   Covid
Thank you for your ongoing support while we ride this Covid storm. Please do see the letters and information on the website. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have two staff isolating and as always, our fabulous staff team have stepped up to the plate to support where needed. Next week Don’t put the Christmas jumpers away! We have a fun run on Monday organised by OCRA. Children will need their running shoes and a warm jumper and coat. Next week is our assessment week, so we will be expecting children to do their very best work for our end of term assessments. We have lots of fun activities planned for the last week, do see the class blogs and Dojo to keep up to date with the hard work and fun! Christmas Lunch will be Wednesday 15th December. I hope to see lots of you tomorrow in North Tawton for the Christmas Craft fairs. Wishing everyone a super weekend Tara Penny This week your children should have taken home their wreath to decorate at home, have fun, we can’t wait to see them when they’re finished.
The next few weeks are busy ones so here are some ‘December dates for your diary’
❄️January ~ Elf hunt winners announced Don’t forget the Virtual Christmas market is still on!! And make sure you get your raffle tickets too. Email hellopcrisp@outlook.com Thank you FONTS committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com Or message FONTS on Class Dojo Dear North Tawton Families, Another week whizzes by! It’s been great to see children returning from isolation and we look forward to seeing the rest of our friends back early next week. Covid will not dampen our Christmas spirit! Unfortunately we can not put on a live Christmas show again due to our continued Covid measures. We do have a number of exciting treats up our sleeves! Watch this space for more information next week Children in Need I’m delighted to announce that we raised £246.01 last Friday for Children in Need. Thank you to everyone who took part, donated money and to our School Council for counting the money! On Tuesday I will be talking to the children about where the money goes. Internet Safety This week we have looked at how to be SMART on line. The children have thought about how they use the internet at school and at home, we all agreed that the internet is great for games, entertainment and research. However, we all need to be aware of the dangers and how to be safe on line. The SMART message is: never give personal information; never meet someone in person; don’t allow access; don’t believe everything on the internet is true and to always tell if you see something on a computer that shouldn’t be there. Do see the poster for the details  School Update
This week Karen Tingle and Kaydee Prince, our Early Years leaders visited St James School in Okehampton to share expertise and ideas with the leaders there. This is an advantage of being part of a Trust; the opportunities to visit other schools and collaborate with other practitioners. Next week Simon Snell a representative of the NSPCC and our Trust safeguarding leader Barbara Manning are visiting our school to audit our safeguarding procedures. We also have Trust staff Brian Simber and Adam Hill coming to see how well the children are progressing in maths across the school. Class Blogs As always, please do see the class blogs to find out what children have been learning this week. Among many things, you will find out about our Mini Police, learn about constellations and recycling and see some ambitious constructions. Talk Homework We have been working hard to promote oracy skills across the curriculum in school. To enhance this, each week I am going to pose a question or topic for discussion at home. We encourage children to always give reasons for their answers and give as much detail as possible. This week’s question: What makes you happy? Follow up for older children – is happiness your responsibility, or other people’s? There is no need to record this, please do join in and give your answers too. Upcoming Dates Lots of exciting dates for you diaries! More to be announced next week! Friday 3rd December – another dress up Friday! Why not wear a Christmas jumper? Please donate £1 to FONTS Monday 6th December – OCRA Fun Run at school – please bring a Christmas hat if you have one! Friday 10th December – 9am FONTS meeting in the school hall – all welcome Friday 10th December – please bring back your decorated wreaths Sunday 12th December – 6.30 Carol Service at St Peter’s Church Wednesday 15th December – wreath judging! Winners will be announced Friday 17th December – Last day and a class Christmas film treat Sunday 19th December 11am Christingle at the St Peter’s Church Friday 24th December 4pm Christmas Eve service at St Peter’s Church Tuesday 4th January – Staff training day Wednesday 5th January – Children back to school. Do look at the FONTS update for more news All the best for the weekend, Tara Penny Thank you for returning your Christmas wreath slips. Wreaths will be ordered next week and once labelled with the children’s names and classes they will be distributed for decoration.
Don’t forget the Virtual Christmas market is still on!! Do take a look, there are more fabulous stalls joining selling lots of lovely items. Please look on Dojo or Facebook for posts and links or search ‘FONTS virtual Christmas market’ and start your shopping from the comfort of your own home. Also, Don’t forget to get your raffle tickets too. There are some amazing, generous prizes up for grabs from the stall holders. £1 a ticket, all proceeds go straight to FONTS. email hellopcrisp@outlook.com to be part of the fun 🤞🎅 Thank you FONTS committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com Or message FONTS on Class Dojo Dear North Tawton Families,
We have had an increased number of staff and children test positive for Covid 19 this week. In school we are reducing the mixing of classes, not meeting as a whole school for assembly and we are cleaning tables and work surfaces down during the day as well as at the end of the day. Staff are wearing masks in shared areas and all continue to test at least twice a week. Clubs are going ahead if you wish to send your children to them. The children will be distanced as much as possible. Please do continue the handwashing, ‘catch it, kill it, bin it’ regime at home to help reduce the spread. Children in Need It’s been fun to see the children and staff dressed up today. Thank you for your donations to this worthy cause. School Council will count up the money and let us know how much we have raised. It is so important that we bring our children up to think of others, not just their selves. Although Children in Need is a fun day of dressing up, it is also a time for us to consider other children who may be in a situation where they need some help. It may be due to a disability, illness or a change in family circumstance. Do have a look at the website www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk to see how the money we have raised will be used to change young lives across the UK. On Tuesday, I read the book The Magic Pencil written by Malala Yousafzai to the school. Although it’s a picture book story, her book is a reflection of her own life and what she did and still does to advocate for children in her origin country, Pakistan. It is exciting to think what great things our children will do for themselves and for others as they flourish in our community. School Dinner News A number of parents and children have raised concerns and disappointment regarding the new school menu. I have raised this with our Executive Chef and he has made amendments including increased portion sizes according to the age of the children, fruit or yoghurt available daily as an alternative to the dessert, and the availability of jacket potatoes. We will move to ‘Best of Both’ bread for sandwiches and offer 4-quarters per sandwich meal. As from next week we will decrease salads and increase vegetables & potatoes. While we adapt to the new menu, there may be some changes so we can sensibly use up stock we already have and not have any food go to waste. Do check on School Comms for any changes. I have a small group of children who have become my ‘school dinner committee’ and let me know their opinions and suggestions! Road Safety Today PC Young spoke to us about road safety. He reminded us to always look both ways when crossing the road, to listen carefully especially as some cars are now very quiet, and for our younger children to cross with an adult. He has been concerned about children playing in the road and has reminded all of them to find safe places to play. Dog Poo Please can I remind fellow dog owners to ‘poop scoop.’ We have had some unfortunate incidents at school and in family homes with mess being walked inside. Please look at our class blogs where you can find out more about what the children have been learning this week. With very best wishes Tara Penny Dear North Tawton Families, As always, it’s been a busy week at North Tawton. It is a pleasure to walk around our school from class to class seeing our pupils hard at work and hearing the happy buzz of learning. Out and About Our local area has so much to offer. You may have seen a group of Year Six orienteering around the surrounding paths with ordinance survey maps and Willow Class exploring the town as part of their geography learning. Our Cross Country team enjoyed a thankfully dry day for their 1.5 mile run around the grounds of Castle Drogo. Well done to the team for their positive attitude and tenacity. Lest we forget The children at North Tawton have been an absolute credit to our community with their thoughtful discussions about Remembrance. They have written powerful poetry, imaginative diary entries as soldiers and produced stunning artwork. The displays in our school corridors looks so much better than the pictures give credit for. I was impressed with the respect our children showed on Thursday when we stood together outside and observed the silence at 11am. We have a very heavy collection box for the British Legion, thank you for your generosity. Many of our community will be at St Peters Church on Sunday, do go along, even if you are not a traditional church goer. You will be more than welcome. Class Blogs Do look at the class blogs to see more about each class and their learning this week.
Children in Need Our School Council met with Mr Foreman to discuss what to do for Children In Need next Friday. They voted to dress up and sing the Children in Need song. They also decided that they would like each year group to do a little run for fun in their outfits, with different distances for different year groups. Instead of sponsoring the children, they suggest a donation of £2 to Children in Need, £1 for the dressing up and £1 for the run, you can certainly donate more to this very worthy cause if you are able to, or just donate what you can. FONTS I am very excited about the work FONTS are planning over the coming weeks and months. The Christmas Cards have been sent off to the printers. FONTS have organised a raffle, online Christmas market and a wreath competition. We will be having a non uniform day on Friday 3rd December to raise money for Christmas events. Do look at FONTS posts on Dojo and on the website. Local Stakeholders Board The Three Hares Governors met on Thursday evening and had a lively discussions about the Three Hares Schools and the significant progress and achievements we are making in our schools and as a Trust hub. Governor Recruitment Parents – Your school needs YOU! There is a vacancy for one Parent governor to join the Three Hares Primaries Local Stakeholder Board. Local governors are a vital part of the Trust’s connection with schools and community and parents are an important voice within the governance structure. To qualify as a Parent governor, you must have at least one child on the school roll and must be eligible under the national governing body rules. Applications are now open, until close of business on Friday 27th November. All nominations will then be put forward to a parent vote, which will take place electronically. The nomination form must be completed in full, and can be found on the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust website: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=kG0HO7J4vUqeBcIPJiicRgleRjEa8rtFmqDbcaa1oYlUNDVEQkJPNktORURPQTlSVk1KM1c5NlRPMyQlQCN0PWcu For an informal chat about the role of parent governor and the responsibilities of the local stakeholder board, please contact the Chair Emma Neath: eneath@dmatschools.org.uk or the Clerk to Governors: clerk@dmatschools.org.uk Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to receiving your applications Building Works The Early Years building project is really coming on with the builders beginning to lay the wood. I remain hopeful that this will be completed along with the Year 1 and 2 toilet refurbishment by the end of the Christmas holiday.  With best wishes for the weekend
Tara Penny Thank you so much for all of your Christmas card orders, what wonderful artists we have in the school. We will update you about delivery as soon as we can.
Please look out for the Christmas wreath competition letter. This is a lovely festive activity for the children to take part in, so make sure you get your order slips and £1 in by next Wednesday, 17th November. The Virtual Christmas market is on!! Please take a look, we have lots of lovely stalls with a variety of goodies on offer, you won’t be disappointed. Please look on Dojo or Facebook for posts and links or search ‘FONTS virtual Christmas market’ and start your shopping from the comfort of your own home. Don’t forget to get your raffle tickets too. There are some amazing, generous prizes up for grabs from the stall holders. £1 a ticket, all proceeds go straight to FONTS. email hellopcrisp@outlook.com to be part of the fun 🤞🎅 Thank you FONTS committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com Or message FONTS on Class Dojo We hope everyone had a fun filled half term. We saw lots of witches, ghosts and ghouls walking around our town on Sunday night for Halloween 🎃 We hope there were lots of treats and not too many tricks! So, now Halloween is over, it must be time to start thinking about Christmas (sorry!)
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