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Dear North Tawton Families and Friends, Miss Chauhan and I both thank you all for your support over this year. What a year it has been! Another two lock downs, remote learning, critical worker groups, restrictions, cancelled events and a change of school leadership. The staff have been amazing in dealing with all of the changes, making each day as exciting as possible, finding new ways to teach and organise classrooms and resources so the children enjoy their learning and make progress. We are so very grateful to all the parents and local community members who have supported us both and the school during this challenging year. Thank you!  Farewell Year Six
Yesterday was an emotional day as we said goodbye to our Year Sixes. They had a good send off with a Graduation Ball, lots of special assemblies, a forest day, water fight, an award ceremony, and a wall of applause from the staff as they left the school. We wish them all the very best as they go on to their secondary schools. Mrs Ware gave a final piece of excellent advice just before they left ‘don’t try to be cool, the coolest people are the ones who are themselves and don’t follow the crowd trying to be cool.’ Class Leaning Do see our class blogs for weekly updates of class learning and news.
FONTS Update Phew! A scorching end to the school year! And its been a busy one! Covid restrictions, meant we took fundraising online and ran our first Virtual Christmas Market and two Virtual Balloon Races. But it wasn’t all virtual, with 100 Club, a Fancy Dress Competition, a Bauble Trail, a Wreath Competition, Bag2School collections and another fantastic Christmas card order with the childrens’ brilliant art work. Wet Play boxes were refilled in every class early in the year, and FONTS treated the children to an online Pantomime, and gave all the staff at the school a huge hamper of Christmas treats and gifts on behalf of all the school families. We’re really looking forward to the new school year (not wishing the holidays away!) and being able to get the school community back together again. You don’t have to be on the FONTS committee to raise funds for the school, just let us know your plans… Would you like to be the Chair, Treasurer or a Class Rep? without these roles FONTS can’t continue and a valuable source of support for the school will be lost – if you would like to know more, please contact FONTS (as below) or message Julie Steward. 2021 / 2022 100 Club – numbers are selling quickly, so don’t forget to let FONTS know on facebook or Dojo if you’d like a number / numbers in the draws. There’s more info on the FONTS page of the school website. Wishing you a lovely summer break, see you soon, FONTS Committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com/ message FONTS on ClassDojo (emails / messages will be picked up during the holidays) Our Runners A reminder for our runners and their supporters; please meet this Sunday at Simmonds Park at the OCRA pavilion. 9am to register for a 9.30am start. Good luck to you all. I hope the weather is kind! Staff News Today staff are here for a day of phonics training, we will be in school on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th September for training, planning and preparation for the year ahead. Teachers will be spending time over the summer holiday looking at new resources and planning for the year ahead. Please don’t be fooled into thinking this is a 9 – 4 term time only job as the media often portrays! School staff work above and beyond their hours, either staying behind in classes or the office to finish work we just can't get to in our 'official' hours, setting up and running clubs and school events, or doing extra work at home. For this I am very grateful although never expectant. Olympics and Paralympics On Monday I talked to the children about the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games. Do get involved in this spectacular sporting event by following the news, watching the highlights and keeping track of our medals! The Olympic opening ceremony is in Tokyo today and events will be televised until 8th August. I am particularly looking forward to the gymnastics, track and field events. https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/olympic-schedule.htm The Paralympic are 24th August – 5th September https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/paralympics/ Team GB is strong and I am hoping we will equal and better our previous medals. Go Team GB! Uniform I would like to remind families of the uniform policy. Children can wear: a white or green polo shirt, a green sweatshirt or cardigan with school logo, with grey or black trousers, or grey or black shorts. A grey skirt or pinafore dress or green and white check dress. Grey or white socks or tights with black shoes. Black, low-heeled boots may also be worn in Winter/adverse weather conditions. https://www.ntcps.co.uk/parent-information-hub.html Jewellery is not permitted. I will be reminding children and families of these expectations in the new school year. Breakfast Club and After School Club I have been in talks with a company who run breakfast and afterschool clubs in many schools across the country. I was hoping they would start in September, but it looks like there will be a delay. I am still in conversation with them and will let you know as soon as possible. School Building Update We have lots of building work and decoration happening this summer and in the October half term. Staff have been brilliant moving furniture and clearing spaces for the work to be done. Extra day off We have an extra day off next year – Monday 6th June! Please add this to your new calendars and diaries! Covid 19 Update I really do hope you all enjoy the summer holiday, please do be careful and look after yourselves, particularly as restrictions have been lifted recording Covid. The government recommends the following:
People are still urged to get vaccinated and to self-isolate and get tested if they have symptoms. It will remain a legal requirement for people to self-isolate if they test positive or are told to do so by NHS Test and Trace. They also want everyone to continue to download and use the latest version of the NHS COVID-19 app to help reduce the spread of the virus. You may choose to limit the close contact you have with those you do not usually live with in order to reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19, particularly if you are clinically extremely vulnerable. It is important to respect and be considerate of those who may wish to take a more cautious approach as restrictions are lifted. With very best wishes for a wonderful summer holiday, I look forward to seeing all of the children on Wednesday 8th September, Tara Penny Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
As always, it's been another busy week here at North Tawton! The good weather really did help to lift our spirits after our disappointment in not winning the football. Well done to our England team for coming second - that's an achievement to celebrate, and for their professionalism in the face of awful prejudice this week, what great role models they have been. Roll on the Olympics! I will be talking to the children about this on Monday. On Wednesday, Year Six had an amazing day of den building, climbing a ropes course, and making a fire to toast marshmallows. A big thank you to Miss Prince, our resident Forest School teacher for working with Mrs Ware to organise this. After school, the staff enjoyed the ropes course and toasting some marshmallows on the fire before we put it all safely away! Do see our class blogs to see what else the children have been up to this week. Last week, I was invited to the Annual North Tawton School Lands Trust meeting. The Trust kindly gave the school £500 to support financing exciting classroom activities and special events. I shall be attending next year to show them how well the money was spent. Staffing We are sad to be saying goodbye to Mrs King and Mrs Matthews next week. We know we will be seeing them in our school community, so it is not a farewell. We are delighted to welcome Mrs Tingle and Mrs Ahmad to the staff team. Mrs Tingle will join the Nursery team and Mrs Ahmad our Year Two team. The children have met their new class teachers this week and know which rooms they will be in come September. FONTS – UPDATE – 16 July 2021 Would you like to be the Chair, Treasurer or a Class Rep? Without these roles FONTS can’t continue and a valuable source of support for the school will be lost – if you would like to know more, please contact FONTS (as below) or message Julie Steward. Saturday 17 July 2021 - Virtual Balloon Race – Launching tomorrow!! FONTS have a prize fund of 10% of balloon money for the balloon that travels furthest…so don’t forget to buy your balloons. The money raised will be used for music and sports equipment at the school. See FONTS Facebook pages and Dojo for details. 2021 / 2022 100 Club – numbers are selling quickly, so don’t forget to let FONTS know on Facebook or Dojo if you’d like to a number / numbers in the draws. There’s more info on the FONTS page of the school website. Thank you for your continued support, FONTS Committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com/ message FONTS on ClassDojo Covid 19 Update Although restrictions will be lifted next week, we are continuing our systems here for the next four days which will bring us to the end of term. The government recommends the following:
You may choose to limit the close contact you have with those you do not usually live with in order to reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19, particularly if you are clinically extremely vulnerable. It is important to respect and be considerate of those who may wish to take a more cautious approach as restrictions are lifted. Reports Today, parents have received children’s end of year reports. Please share these with your children. In the reports we communicate what your child has learnt this year, and targets for next year. Please do celebrate your children’s successes. I have read every report and there is not a child in the school who should not feel proud of the achievements they have made this year. I always look at the effort score first. As long as children are trying their best, I am happy! Where children have not made as much progress as we had hoped, additional support will continue to be put in place. Over the summer we urge you to encourage reading, writing and maths games so that when the children come back in September they are ready to pick up where they left off. I hope you have a lovely weekend. Don't forget sun safety - it's going to be hot! I look forward to seeing you all on Monday for our last week of the year. With very best wishes Tara Penny Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
I would like to urge parents to step forward to continue the great work of our Friends of North Tawton group ‘FONTS’. The school really does rely on the support of FONTS for event planning and for the amazing fundraising they do. With school budgets stretched to the limit, fundraising and grants are the sources for us to pay for additional enriching resources, subsidise trip costs and host special events. In September we will relaunch the group with hopefully some face to face meetings and a welcome event. We need parents to step up and run this, it does take some time and commitment, but is an enormously rewarding and extremely appreciated role. If you would like to know more, please speak to Julie or Philippa or email Friends of North Tawton friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
As we hurtle towards the end of term the staff and children are busy as always! This week was assessment week, an important part of the teaching and learning cycle. Through a range of different activities, the pupils show us what they have understood and let us know where they need further consolidation or support. Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
It is with mixed feelings I tell you that our fabulous music specialist, Mrs Mathews will be ending her role as a music teacher as from the end of this term. I say mixed feelings because of course we want her to enjoy new and exciting projects and adventures, but we will miss her tremendously. Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
It was such a disappointment to hear the news on Monday that the government road map out of lockdown has been delayed. This means we remain at Stage 3 with our current school risk assessments and measures in line with the government policy Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
Welcome back to school after the half term break! It was lovey to see the children refreshed and ready for learning on Monday. School Review On Wednesday we had a school review by members of our Trust, two of whom are Ofsted trained inspectors. They looked at safeguarding, behaviour, teaching and learning across the school. They observed lessons, scrutinised school books, held meetings with subject leaders, our SENDCO, school council and myself. They examined school systems and record keeping and spoke with many pupils and staff during the course of the day. .Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
What a fun packed, fabulous half term! I have really enjoyed working with the brilliantly talented and caring North Tawton staff team, what an asset to the school they are. I have loved getting to know the children, seeing them work hard, achieve goals and grow in confidence. When I am not in classes with children or working with staff here at North Tawton, I have been in meetings and conferences working with colleagues across the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust co constructing and developing the ways in which we are working together to give every child the best education and welfare we possibly can. We are working in partnership across the schools to share skills so that every child in every school benefits from the rich and diverse expertise we have across the Trust. It is exciting work and I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming weeks. I have really enjoyed my first six weeks as your Principal and I look forward to the next half term, after a rest in between! Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
Thank you to all parents and families who have been saying hello to me at the beginning and end of the day. I am at the gate most mornings and after school. Please do speak to me and introduce yourselves. And please forgive me if it takes a while for me to remember names and match you to your children! Community is so important to me, and I am looking forward to getting to know you all properly. Dear North Tawton Families and Friends,
There is never a dull day at North Tawton! Today we enjoyed listening to stories, in our pyjamas! This was to raise money for the Book Trust and, of course, to share our love of books with each other. It was fun to see the children and staff relaxing with books in pjs, slippers, dressing gowns and onesies! Thank you to everyone who took part. |
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