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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. The great news is that she will not be breaking ties with the school. She will continue her guitar lessons and I’m sure she won’t be able to keep away from some other teaching here and there! I know you will want to wish her all the very best. She has led music here to an exceptionally high standard, is a great teacher and is well loved by children and staff here now and those who have long since left our school gates.
We are in the process of finalising our recruitment and we will be sharing our staffing structure for September later in the term. Coronavirus We have been lucky here in Devon with relatively low cases of coronavirus compared to other communities. However, we cannot avoid the reality that case numbers are now rising both across the country and in Devon. This week, schools in Devon, and within our DMAT, have had to isolate individuals, close bubbles, year groups and in some cases whole schools. The last thing we want to do is to increase the likelihood of this happening here at North Tawton. It is for this reason we have had to change our plans for the end of term and cancel our picnic and we will not be able to invite parents on to the site to sports day or assemblies. We just cannot take this risk. It would be awful to have to keep children at home, again. Especially our Y6. While some parents have shown their support for the decision, others have aired their concerns and disappointment. Please do accept that this decision has not been made lightly. I have considered the size of the school, and potential risk before making this decision. I appreciate you do not know me well yet, but please be assured that I am a very friendly community minded leader and my aim is to have you all in as soon as it is safe to do so. It is our intention to use our expertise and staffing to really focus on the children and ensure that they have a positive and enjoyable last few weeks here with safe events and celebrations. We are using distancing and technology so we can keep safe in our bubbles whilst still feeling part of the whole school group. This is of course under continual review. Roll on the end of restrictions and getting back to normality! Some parents have commented that they feel unsafe coming to the school gates when other parents are not wearing masks. If you are not wearing a mask for medical reasons, please be mindful of other adults and make sure you observe the 2 metre rule. Sharing Assembly I do love our sharing assemblies! Thank you to the children for sharing their learning today. Reception class showed us photographs of their forest school adventures and told us about overcoming fears. Y1 showed us the flags of the countries that make up the United Kingdom, and told us about some physical and human geographical features in each country. Y2 showed us how much sugar there is in different foods and demonstrated the importance of exercise (led by a formidable teacher in training!) Y3 shared their dramatic science experiments. They also taught us some French, and Greek! Y4 told us about life in Brazil and took us on a trip to a French restaurant where they demonstrated ordering a meal in French. Y5 described their newly invented contraptions (many gruesome) and life and traditions of the Mayans (only some gruesome) and sang a French song about pizza! Y6 showed us their DT models, told us about swimming and preformed a very catchy song for our house points. A particular mention to Kenzie for composing the lyrics for the song! Thank you to those parents who were able to join us. I have been told some were not able to use the link I sent. We are looking in to why. Class Learning Do look at the class blogs each week to see what the classes have been learning. Financial Worries Many families have been met with financial concerns during this pandemic. Do look to see if you are eligible for some financial support https://www.westdevon.gov.uk/article/935/Emergency-Hardship-Fund Are you eligible for free school meals? Check here https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals FONTS – UPDATE FONTS are looking for a new Chair and Treasurer – 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 about either of the roles, please contact FONTS (as below) or see Julie Steward. Monday 28th June 2021 – Bag2School – Please bring tied black bags of donations to North Tawton Rugby Club on one of the following dates / times – details of what can be donated are on FONTS Facebook pages. Sunday 27th June – 11am to 12pm (Julie Steward) Monday 28th June – 9am to 9.30am (Katy Robins) Saturday 17 July 2021 - Virtual Balloon Race - Don’t forget to buy your balloons for the virtual balloon race in support of FONTS. The money raised will be used for music and sports equipment at the school. See FONTS Facebook pages for details. Thank you for your continued support, FONTS Committee Email friendsofnorthtawton@gmail.com/ message FONTS on ClassDojo With best wishes Tara Penny Principal Comments are closed.
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