Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, We have had a fun filled last two weeks of term! Here are our highlights: Sports day After a very disappointing rain-off earlier in the month, we were finally able to have a wonderful Sports Day. The children were competitive and celebrated each other’s achievements with the spirit we have promoted and praised in our lessons and school ethos. The final scores were incredibly close, 1st place: Okement 2nd place: Taw 3rd place: Creedy 4th place: Dart There was very little difference in points between the teams and all children should be very proud of their achievements. Normandy Residential Our Year Six had a wonderful time in France! On Monday they told us all about it in an assembly. Unfortunately, they had a particularly rough ferry crossing back and many were sick, but apart from that they had a great time! They learnt all about the D-Day Landings, used their French and experienced opportunities to learn more about history and modern French life. Please see the blog here for photos and details of their adventures! https://dartmoormat.org.uk/news-type/trust-normandy-residential/ This was paid for through a grant the Trust were able to secure. Massive thanks to Madame Jordan, Mrs Underwood for organising and leading this trip and all the staff, including our Miss Radbourne, Mrs Tingle, Miss Ruby and Mrs Ware for giving their time and care to our children for the trip. Cinderella Rockerfella Our KS2 classes treated us to a wonderful performance of Cinderella – musical style. The acting, singing and comedy timing were outstanding. Such a lot of hard work and passion were put into this play, and it really paid off. The audience were highly entertained and so very proud of them all. Music Concert From Beethoven to ACDC, drumming, piano and violin solos to xylophones, claves, and of course phenomenal singing. Our children really are a talented bunch! Our music teacher Miss Boyce and our tutors have worked hard and wow, does it show! Celebration of Learning Our early Years pupils had a wonderful afternoon celebrating their learning with their families. The Ted Hughes Centre for Outdoor Learning We are so very excited to officially open our Ted Hughes Centre for Outdoor Learning. Ted Hughes was a very famous poet and writer who lived right here in North Tawton! He used to visit our school and read his books and poems to the children here, many of our children’s families will remember him well. Mrs Hughes told us he loved to be outside, many of his poems are about animals and the natural world. When the weather was wet, he liked to sit in a shed and look out at the world. She encouraged us to be out in all weathers to notice the differences the seasons and weather. In assembly I read the children one of my favourite poems The Thought Fox and asked them to think about what it is about. We are so very grateful to Mrs Hughes kindness and generosity. This space is going to be well used and loved for many years to come. Who knows, maybe this will inspire a future Poet Laureate! A message from our Hub Principal I hope you are enjoying the end of term and engaging in some positive activities with your school communities. I was hoping to come and see you this week to say hello. I have been supporting children in another of our schools and have not been able to pop in. Sorry, this has not happened but I am very much looking forward to starting as your Hub Principal after the holidays. I am excited about the work we are all going to do together as we move into the next chapter for North Tawton Primary School. Have a lovely break over the summer. Best Wishes Lisa Paton Class News Please click on the links below for class specific news. · Sycamore Class · Hazel Class · Ash Class · Willow Class · Beech Class · Chestnut Class · Oak Class · Acorn Class Our Highlights of 2022 – 2023 In our review assembly, we all said what our highlights of the year have been. Sophie and Rebecca wrote down what the children said. Leaver’s Assembly
In our Leaver’s Assembly, we shared many laughs and tears as we said goodbye to our wonderful Year Six. It is tradition for our children to share their memories and each child receives an award for their contribution to our school. The British Legion have special awards they give as well. We also said thank you and farewell to Emma MacDonald, who has been teaching our reception class this year and to Natasha Birnie – sort of! She will be a teacher at Exbourne, but will also have a role here as she and Jason Foreman work together across the two schools as Lead Teachers. After 15 years of dedicated service, we said a very sad farewell to Nicola Shaw. She has worked with many hundreds of children here at North Tawton, she will hold a very special place in the memories of our current year six as she has been with them for the last four years and been as they put it ‘our school mum.’ The staff will miss her friendship, support and wickedly dry humour! To all our leavers, farewell and don’t be strangers! Wrap Around Care Premier Education are set to run breakfast club and after school club from September. Please make sure you have registered your interest so this can go ahead. https://forms.gle/c8FuEo4M9wsf94bj9 School Uniform Please make sure you have your orders in for school uniform for next year. And please, please, please write names in clothes! There are some brilliant, personalised stickers and stamps available online – do talk to other parents for recommendations. Thank You Thank you to all of our staff here at school and across our Trust, they really do go above and beyond to give our children the very best opportunities. From teaching the curriculum in exciting ways, looking after children when they are hurt or sad, feeding them each day, keeping our school clean and safe, to organising trips, events and workshops, I thank you. Thank you to FONTS for supporting the school by organising wonderful events for us to enjoy and raising much appreciated money to support our children. Thank you to our Governors and Trustees and our school volunteers who all play their part in giving our children the wonderful year they have had. Thank you to parents and families for working with us to nurture your children and help them thrive at school and at home. And a huge thank you to the children, they have been a pleasure to teach and always bring me joy when I am here at North Tawton. I am so very proud of their achievements this year. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. With very best wishes, Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Summer Fair Thank you to our FONTS leadership team Philippa, Vanessa, Katie and Evie for all of their hard work organising our Summer Fair! Thank you to all of the parents, staff and local community for helping set up, run stalls and activities and to set down. And of course, a huge thank you to all who came! Unfortunately, the bouncy castle was cancelled due to the high winds, but at least the rain stayed away! I know many of our children were very excited by the surprise visit from a tank and lorry! Local businesses once again generously donated their wares for our raffle. All proceeds will go towards new playground markings the children have chosen to make their play times more active and fun. Events like these take a huge amount of work. Sourcing prizes, buying refreshments, advertising, and persuading others to get involved all takes a lot of time and effort. Volunteers were on site from 8am until 3pm on the day to make this happen. Thank you all! The Ted Hughes Centre for Outdoor Learning Have you heard about a new and exciting development in our orchard? We are so excited that we have a brand-new space to enhancing our outdoor learning environment. The official unveiling will be on Thursday 20th July. Watch this space… Calling Local Gardeners I am really keen to have a team of volunteers to keep out plants watered, our beds weeded and to help further develop our grounds. If you can commit to a few hours a week, please let me know. Rainbow Day On Friday 23rd June, all Trust schools celebrated Rainbow Day. At North Tawton, we wore rainbow-coloured clothes and in our classes and in assembly, we learnt more about diversity and acceptance. Move Up Day Last Thursday, our children spent time in their new classes with their new teachers and teaching assistants. September 2023 Staffing Nursery - Karen Tingle, Lucy Lamb and Mel Sercombe Reception – Gina Ruby, Jo Ware and Rachel Grant Year 1 – Rebecca Budiman and Abbie Luxton Year 2 – Hannah Ahmad, Sarah Keen, Lauren Bond and Gemma Cooper Year 3 – Sophie Wallis, Juliet Boyce and Jess Westcott Year 4 – Jason Foreman, Juliet Boyce and Kerry Davies Year 5 – Marnie Collins, Jo Ware, Penny Bowles and Verity Heffer Year 6 – Beth Radbourne and Verity Heffer Juliet Boyce and I will be covering teachers when they have their non contact time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) Sarah Keen will continue her role as SEND teacher and Jason Foreman will be our Lead teacher. Adam Newland our Hub SENDCO has visited the school and will be visiting again before the end of the school year. Sophie Maxam and Jess Nuttall are enjoying their maternity leave and we look forward to welcoming them back when they return. Our 6 children have all had transition days in their new secondary schools which they all say they have enjoyed and are very positive about. Wrap Around Care Premier Education are set to run breakfast club and after school club from September. Please make sure you have registered your interest so this can go ahead. https://forms.gle/c8FuEo4M9wsf94bj9 Awe Project On Thursday, Melissa, Gary and Rob painted benches and revitalised our rainbow memorial. Why are school staff striking, again? The National Education Union, NEU, have called their members to strike as a pay deal has not yet been met. School staff have not had a pay rise in line with inflation and schools remain underfunded. Our school will be closed on Wednesday for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and closed to all classes on Friday. These decisions have not been taken lightly. Staff care deeply about our children and their end of term events; this is why we will be open Wednesday for KS2 to rehearse and later perform their play, Cinderella Rokerfella. Year Six will enjoy their adventure day with staff on Friday. NEU members who strike, are not paid. If you want to understand more, please see the NEU website. Pay up: Strike action FAQ | National Education Union (neu.org.uk) Sunny days As our sunny weather continues, please can I remind you that children need sun cream, sun hats and a bottle for water every day. They do still need to be wearing uniform, including our PE kit uniform. Thank you. Class News Please click on the links below for class specific news · Sycamore Class · Hazel Class · Ash Class · Willow Class · Beech Class · Chestnut Class · Oak Class · Acorn Class We have lots of exciting events in the next three weeks. Parents, please keep an eye on dojo so you don’t miss any information. I have a medical procedure on Thursday 6th July and will be away from work for a few days for recovery. In my absence, safeguarding concerns can be raised with Mr Foreman or Miss Keen who are both trained and know what support to get if need be. Tara Penny Principal Key Dates Monday 3rd July and Friday 7th July – Year 6 adventure days Wednesday July 5th – 5.30pm performance of Cinderella Rockefella by Y3,4,5 &6 Thursday July 6th – 1.45pm performance of Cinderella Rockafella by Y3,4,5 &6 11th July – 15th July - Y6 Residential to France Monday 17th July – Reports to parents Tuesday 18th July – Sports Day Wednesday 19th July – Music Concert 1.30pm Wednesday 19th July – Parents meetings to discuss reports Thursday 20th July – 2.15 EYFS Learning celebration and unveiling of our new outdoor centre. 21st July – Leavers Assembly Last day of Term Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, The sun is shining, and our children are enjoying being out on the field at play times. Please can I remind parents to send children in with hats, sun cream and a bottle for water every day. Classes have had a fun packed return to school with new topics to get excited about, a fabulous KS2 performance to rehearse and lots of opportunities to them all to shine! As always, please look to the class blogs for class updates and news. Welcome In my assembly last week, we looked at what ‘welcome’ means. Where do we see this word, and how do we show that others are welcome? I have challenged the children to learn how to say ‘welcome’ in other languages. Well done to Ivy for researching eight different languages. Wildlife Champions Yesterday, our Wildlife Champions enjoyed a day at Meeth Quarry with Wildlife Champions from other local schools. They took part in identifying plants at the quarry, pond dipping and insect hunting and identification. They also learnt about features of creatures from the ocean. Classes for next year
As you are aware, there have been some changes in staffing across the Trust. We will be letting you know our staffing for September as soon as possible. We have planned a Move Up day on 29th June where pupils will meet their new teachers and spend time in their new classes. Stakeholder Consultation Process Summary Over the course of the consultation period and process, staff, parents and carers have posed a number of questions to understand the process and decision-making more fully. Please follow this link to find a summary of the process and also responses to a range of questions posed by stakeholders for openness and transparency. Thank you all for your support, as well as challenge, and for ensuring that we continue to improve and serve your children. Dan Morrow Trust Leader and CEO Safer Internet Support We are being brought increasingly more concerns about use of the internet and social media outside school. We urge parents to be aware of the platforms your children are using and the sites they are accessing. The internet is a wonderful space for information and entertainment, but I am sure you are aware that it is also a space where children can access inappropriate material and be at risk of harm. We also have children using social media to make unkind comments towards others and invite and uninvite other pupils from groups. This website offers some good advice which I hope parents find helpful. Homepage - UK Safer Internet Centre Rainbow Day Friday 23rd June is our Trust Rainbow Day. We are encouraging our children to wear their favourite colours to celebrate. This is an opportunity for us to reflect upon our similarities and differences so that all of our children learn to understand that there are people in the community and wider world with characteristics similar and different to their own. It is a day steeped in respect and inclusion. We call it Rainbow Day as the rainbow is a Christian symbol of God’s love for us all. The rainbow flag is steeped in history from a symbol of maritime peace, the cooperative movement, LGBT equality and more recently, support for the NHS. The colours of the rainbow are different but come together to make something beautiful. We will be asking children to think about equality and when people may be treated unfavourably. We anticipate they will think about people with different physical abilities, cultures, religions and families. We are careful to talk in an age appropriate way and give children space to explore questions and develop their own thinking. Carnival Due to a few complications, we are not going to have a carnival as was originally planned. However, we will have some festive activities and aim for something more public facing next year. FONTS Quiz Thank you to FONTS for organising Bring Your Fizz for the Quiz. It was a really fun evening with a twist on the usual pub quiz format, with cider and crisps to identify, antiques to age (no, not me!) and an extremely challenging capital city, spelling and maths round! A huge thank you to Lucy and Dan for being such brilliant quiz hosts. A great time was had, despite the power cut! Volunteers Afternoon Please come along to school on Thursday 29th June between 12pm and 3pm to help out with some outdoor jobs. We have bark paths to lay, weeding to do, a pond to tend and benches to paint. We also need someone with a very steady hand to repaint our memorial mural. Materials and tools will be provided, no experience needed, just your enthusiasm! Wishing all of our families a very happy weekend. Tara Penny Principal Key Dates Monday 29th May – Friday 2nd June – Half term Holiday Friday 9th June - 7pm FONTS Quiz 15th June – Wildlife Ambassadors to Meath Quarry Friday 23rd June - Rainbow Day – wear rainbow colours for the day! Friday 30th June – Sports day Saturday 1st July – Summer Fair Wednesday July 5th – Early evening performance of Cindrella Rockafella by Y3,4,5 &6 Thursday July 6th – Afternoon performance of Cindrella Rockafella by Y3,4,5 &6 11th July – 15th July - Y6 Residential to France Monday 17th July – Reports to parents Wednesday 19th July – Parents meetings to discuss reports 21st July – Last day of Term Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, HURRAH! The website is back on line! I will post the newsletter there and send the link via Dojo as usual. It was a lovely end to the half term to see so many parents at our celebration of learning afternoon. Thank you to all of you who were able to attend. We have lots of plans for the last half term, please see the dates at the end of this letter, and please do keep an eye on Dojo for details. Key Stage Two Performance I am so excited about the upcoming Key Stage Two performance! Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be performing a panto-style musical called Cinderella Rockerfella. Oh yes they are! Details to follow but please pencil in: Wednesday July 5th – Early evening performance Thursday July 6th – Afternoon performance After School Club I am delighted that we are going to be able to offer wrap around care in September. Please see the letter sent today via email. We will have a ‘soft start’ club on Wednesdays next half term. Please sign up via the link on the letter. Please also complete the questionnaire so we can plan for breakfast and after school for the Autumn term. Assembly focus We have continued thinking about what makes us unique, and that difference is something to celebrate. This week we have been thinking about how to be friendly to people we find it difficult to be friends with. Not an easy skill but one which will help the children in school and in their future jobs and social settings. It is ok not to want to be best friends with everyone. It is ok to have some people we all get on better with than others. We identified that we are usually friendliest with people our own age, and ones we have things in common with for example a sport or other interest. As we get older, we meet more people and start to make friends with people of different ages and with different interests. The difficulty of course is how to navigate getting along with people we are not so naturally friendly with. We shared this advice:
Class Blogs
Now we can access the website, we will be updating our blogs Farewell, for now! This week we said farewell to Mrs Nuthall who is now on maternity leave. We wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her, and her new addition, very soon! Thank You Thank you as always for your support. We so appreciate the positive comments at the gate and doors in the morning and after school, the support you give the school via FONTS, and for sending us your wonderful children each day! Tara Penny Principal Key Dates Monday 29th May – Friday 2nd June – Half term Holiday Friday 9th June - 7pm FONTS Quiz 15th June – Wildlife Ambassadors to Meath Quarry Friday 23rd June - Rainbow Day – wear rainbow colours for the day! Friday 30th June – Sports day Saturday 1st July – Summer Fair Wednesday July 5th – Early evening performance of Cindrella Rockafella by Y3,4,5 &6 Thursday July 6th – Afternoon performance of Cindrella Rockafella by Y3,4,5 &6 11th July – 15th July - Y6 Residential to France 14th July - Carnival Friday Monday 17th July – Reports to parents Wednesday 19th July – Parents meetings to discuss reports 21st July – Last day of Term Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Today marks two years since we returned from the last Covid lock down, and two years since I became Principal at North Tawton. As I look back, I am so pleased and proud of the work we have done together. Welcoming volunteers back into school, the events organised by FONTS not only to raise money, but to also re-establish our community links, and the huge amount of work our staff have undertaken to ensure our children are happy, safe and learning. In two years our staff team have embedded our Read, Write Inc phonics programme, adopted and adapted a new history, geography and science curriculum, taken on new schemes in PE, music, and PSHE. Most importantly, we have spent a lot of time building our children’s resilience, cooperation and study skills, and assessing and addressing knowledge and confidence gaps after the disruptions to their learning and routines. Our Ofsted in June 2022, is evidence of the really hard work each and every member of our school staff team contributes to our children’s school experience. We are not complacent! We continue to go above and beyond each and every day so that all children strive to be the best that they can be. The children at North Tawton really are a pleasure to teach, their behaviour and attitude towards learning makes them a credit to you and a joy to work with. Festival of Hope Continuing our Festival of Hope, over the last two weeks of term we have taken part in a number of events to embed our Trust values. Year 7 pupils came from Okehampton College for an afternoon of reading with our Year 6 to introduce them to new texts and to support their transition from primary to secondary. We will have more events over the summer term so that our Year 6 pupils become well prepared for the next stage of their education. I have received lots of compliments regarding our school contribution to the Trust art exhibition which is now at Okehampton College. It was inspired by the book Window and is made with materials headed for the recycling bin. I have shared it before but I can't resist sharing again at the end of this newsletter! Unfortunately, we have had to cancel some sporting events due to the weather however we did take part in the football tournament this Thursday, and came second! I was so proud of our team who not only played well, but also played fairly and even lent a player to another team! (Thank you Jack!) We also had a collaborative Fun Fitness afternoon where all children took part in activities on the field. They had a great time and came home extremely muddy – apologies parents! Thank you to Mrs Ahmad and Year 6 pupils for leading this event. Swallow Project ShivDev explained to us in a special assembly that birds nesting in North Tawton, and across the country, has reduced as we use more and more plastic in construction. A way to help birds, particularly our swallows, is to put up bird boxes. She explained that Madewell in Hatherleigh produces these and it would be great if as many of us as possible could put up bird boxes in our gardens. If you are able to, please speak to the staff at MadeWell. They need to be put up high, facing between north and east. We learnt how to identify swifts, swallows and house martins. How to identify swifts, swallows, sand martins and house martins | The Wildlife Trusts Eden Project Continuing our science learning and environment awareness, Year 5 visited the Eden Project. They have been learning about biomes so what better place to go (other than on a world trip!) than the Eden Project where they could experience different climates and ecosystems. A biome is a large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife. There are five major types of biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra, though some of these biomes can be further divided into more specific categories, such as freshwater, marine, savanna, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, and taiga. The Five Major Types of Biomes (nationalgeographic.org) The class really enjoyed their trip and learnt a lot. Easter Art Exhibition A huge thank you to FONTS for organising the Easter Art Show. I was really impressed with the entries and did not envy our judges having to choose first and second places for each class. Nursery - Charlotte and Lucy Reception – Henry and Toby Year 1 – Freddie and Margo Year 2 -Laiton and Isla Year 3 – Evie-May and Radley Year 4 – Izzy and Ashton Year 5 – Isobel and Jessica R Year Six – Lola and Jack These will be on show at The Ruth Smith Gallery this Easter. Thank you to Ruth Smith, Philippa Simms and Carol Hughes for being our judges and thank you to all who took part. Active Body, Active Mind KS2 children have been enjoying a very active start to their mornings by attending our Active Body, Active Mind sessions in the hall. A 10 minute 'wake up and shake up' to start the day in a positive frame of mind. Thank you to Mrs Day and her keep fit team for leading this. Parking and Stopping Outside our School A number of parents have taken to regularly dropping children off outside the school gates. Please can I ask you not to do this. The only exception is of course our school bus. Please park and walk like many of our parents do. I would much rather you are a little late than we have an accident outside our school. Safe inside, Safe outside In assembly last week I spoke, carefully so as not to worry children, about when it is safest to be inside and when it is safest to be outside. Children are very used to practicing fire drills and know when that hear the alarm that adults will tell them to line up quietly and sensibly so that staff can lead them outside to safety. We have practiced listening out for a whistle which lets us know it is safest to be inside. EYFS have practiced listening to instructions and coming inside quickly and KS1 and KS2 to ducking down under our tables. As with fire drills, we hope we will never have to actually use this system for real, but obviously it is worth practicing. Assemblies Of course the main them of our assemblies this term has been Easter. From learning about Lent and having pancake tossing competitions, to learning about the sacrifice Christians believe Jesus made on Good Friday and him being resurrected on Easter Sunday. One theme has been symbolism and how symbols are important in world faiths and many other areas of communication, literature and advertising! Symbols are particularly important in the Easter story, and I have enjoyed working with Y4 to explore this and why Christians call the day Jesus died 'Good Friday.' We enjoyed making our Easter Gardens which include symbols representing life, death, miracles and resurrection. Assemblies led by Rev Spence, Mr Cutler and myself, will end with a reflection and an opportunity to pray. We also have music assemblies and mental health assemblies led by Miss Boyce and Miss Keen and an end of week Praise Assembly where staff lead a celebration of learning where children receive Learner of the Week certificates, and we find out which house has won the house cup for the week. This term we also trialled a writing sharing assembly where children shared their writing with children from other classes. It was really successful, and Mrs Ware will continue these termly. Miss Bennett This week we said farewell to Miss Bennett our SENDCO. We thanked her for all of the work she has done to support children and families at North Tawton and we wished her all the best n her new role as an Assistant Principal. Parent Meetings Thank you to parents for attending parent’s meetings with teachers over the past two weeks, these are such important times to talk so we can best meet the needs of your children together. Also to the Year 6 parents who came to the SATs meeting. Mrs Ware has posted the PowerPoint and revision timetable on Dojo so parents can access this. End of Term Assembly Thank you to all who came to our end of term assembly. Each class shared some of their learning highlights of the term, we had some excellent singing of our Price Tag / Flashlight mash up by our choir, piano playing from our accomplished pianist Rebecca and we all enjoyed singing Proud, I’ve Got the Power in Me and our Festival of Hope song Future Bright. I hope the reception class Spring Chicken song becomes an annual feature! North Tawton pupils really are great singers! Thanks to Miss Boyce and Nick Bryant for all their hard work leading and promoting singing. Class Blogs As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. I wish you all a very happy Easter holiday and look forward to seeing you in two weeks’ time for the start of our summer term. Tara Penny Principal Key Dates for Summer Term 17th April – First day of Summer Term 1st May – Bank Holiday – school closed 2nd May – Normandy Parent Meeting 5pm at school 8th May – Bank Holiday – school closed – Volunteers at school 9th May – 12th May – Year Six SATS 15th May – 26th May – Year 2 SATS 29th May – 2nd June – Half term Holiday Friday 9th June 7pm FONTS Quiz 15th June – Wildlife Ambassadors to Meath Quarry Friday 23rd June - Rainbow Day Saturday 1st July – Summer Fair 11th July – 15th July - Y6 Residential to France 14th July - Carnival Friday 21st July – Last day of Term Our Festival of Hope Collaborative Art Work - I love it!
Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, This week we held a Science Week at North Tawton. This was particularly to promote the sciences in our school and to also raise the profile of women in scientific jobs. We want all children to know that they are scientists! On Monday Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 went to Newquay Zoo. We learnt about habitats and endangered species. We spoke to zookeepers about their jobs and found out more about climate change and how we need to protect the natural world. The highlight was of course seeing the animals! On Tuesday many children dressed up as animals to celebrate World Wildlife Day. We had amazing face painting, children wearing cosy animal onesies, some impressive masks and so much animal print, Mrs Budiman would have been proud! We learnt all about veterinary care from Mrs Cutler, our local vet. She showed us how to listen to heartbeats with a stethoscope, apply bandages and the importance of looking after our pets. Key Stage Two classes learnt all about composting in our recycling workshops run by Don’t Let Devon Go to Waste. They were impressed with how many insects they found in the compost and learnt how they play an important part in decomposition. Today we all had a visit from our local police officers who talked about forensic science, showed us how to take finger prints and we all got to hear the police car siren! In our classes, the children have been taking part in investigative and competitive science experiments! It has been a great week. Thank you for organising all the activities and visitors Mrs Budiman. We are scientists! As if that wasn’t enough, today we wore red and raised money for Comic Relief as it was Red Nose Day and some people wore green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. In assembly children shared their best jokes. Do ask them which ones they remember! (They were all vetted!) Sporting News Last Friday, our Netball Team travelled all the way to Horrabridge to play in the West Devon Finals. They had qualified by winning our area tournament a few months ago, expertly led and coached by Mrs Edwards. The team faced tough (and tall!) competition at Horrabridge, eventually finishing third overall. Mrs Edwards and I were extremely impressed with the way the team worked together and supported each other on and off the court. We have some very skilful players at North Tawton and the children should be really proud of themselves. They were particularly brilliant in their last match, which they won in style! The children represented the school superbly and were an absolute pleasure to spend time with. Mrs Ahmad Festival of Hope
Our art work is on display at Tavistock College. It will be moving to Holsworthy and then Okehampton. Our Year Two children took part in singing our Trust song for the Festival of Hope. You can see and hear it here! Festival of Hope Song Wishing you all a very happy weekend Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Staffing News Chloe Bennet, our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator across the Three Hares schools, has successfully applied for a new job and will be leaving our schools at Easter. Chloe has been part of the Three hares for a very long time, having started her career as a teacher at South Tawton Primary School. We are very happy for Chloe as her new job will be a step forward in her career - we wish her all the best in her new role. At North Tawton, Sarah Keen will lead on SEND in the summer term and will be supported by the Trust SENDCO team. We know she will do an excellent job. In September 2023, we will have a new Three Hares SENDCO. We know that parents and carers will want to join us in giving Chloe their very best wishes for this next step in her journey. Festival of Hope We have been inspired by the picture book ‘Window’ Jeannie Baker to create our own window of North Tawton for the Festival of Hope art exhibition. The view was made using items from around the school which were headed for the recycling bins. A huge thank you to Miss Boyce for coordinating this. Do zoom in and notice the church and children. The wool on the sheep comes from local sheep!
Zoo Trip Children need to be in school uniform on Monday. Please make sure they have a waterproof coat and comfy shoes or trainers. Please remember they need a packed lunch. Please be in for 8.45 so we can leave promptly and make the most of our exciting day. We aim to be back for 3.20. Class Blogs As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. Don't forget that children can dress up as an animal on Tuesday to mark World Wildlife Day. Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Ready Respectful Safe We revisited our behaviour expectations in assembly on Monday. Behaviour in classes is very good, all visitors comment upon this and our Trust learning audits and Ofsted report evidence this! However, we do have some occasional unwanted behaviour at lunch and playtimes. Our Young Sports Leaders are doing a grand job modelling turn taking and sportsmanship and our staff are working hard to praise the positive and continue to have high expectations of all of our children. Please do support this at home by talking about being ready and respectful and safe in your daily routines. World Book Day Once again the children, and staff, looked amazing dressed up as inspired by their favourite books! Lots of popular classics such as Where’s Wally, Disney princesses and Roald Dahl characters, but also some new costumes including Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie and a chess piece! Head to the school blogs, Dojo and our FONTS Facebook page for more photos! Our bunting winners were: N Amelia Jane R George Y1 Margo B Y2 Margo W Y3 Natan Y4 Marnie Y5 Laura Y6 Jessica R Thank you to FONTS who organised this and provided prizes. Children were engaged in lots of activities in classes to celebrate the love of reading. There are lots of good videos and advice on line to support parents reading with children at home. Such as https://youtu.be/iRPNPCAf84E Dressing Up We are aware that some children do not like to dress up, and it can cause additional strain on families. I would like to remind you that this is never an expectation. However, for those who do like to dress up, our next non uniform day will be on Tuesday 14th March for World Wildlife Day. Children are allowed to dress up as an animal, or plant! Mental Health Physical health, and to an extent spiritual health, have been taught in schools for a long time. However, mental health is something which has only recently become part of our school curriculum. I strongly believe this is of huge benefit to our children that they are learning from a young age how to look after their bodies and their minds. This is a wonderful poster made by Year 4.
Festival of Hope Next week we launch our 2023 Festival of Hope. This a collection of events linking us with other schools across our Trust. Today we completed our collaborative art piece for the Trust art exhibition. I will reveal it in next week’s newsletter! Class Blogs As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. With very best wishes for the weekend Tara Penny Principal Key Dates for your diaries Wednesday 8th March – Cross Country at Chagford Thursday 9th March 6pm LSB Monday 13th March – R, Y1, Y2, Y3 & Y4 Zoo Tuesday 14th March – World Wildlife day – dress up as an animal *Wednesday 15th March – Strike day *Thursday 16th March – Strike day Monday 20th March – Fun Fitness 2 – 3pm Friday 24th March– Author Visit Tuesday 28th March – Y6 SATs meeting 5pm Thursday 30th March – Y6 at Oke Football Comp Friday 31st 1.30 – 2pm Normandy Meeting Y6 Thursday 30th March – Art exhibition in the hall after school. Friday 31st March Parent Assembly 2pm 8th May – Bank Holiday following King’s Coronation – Volunteers at school Friday 9th June 7pm FONTS Quiz Friday 30th June - Rainbow Day Saturday 1st July – Summer Fair 11th July – 15th July - Y6 Residential to France 23rd July - Carnival Friday *not confirmed yet Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Welcome back! We have lots to look forward to in this short term ahead including our Trust wide Festival of Hope which will include music, sports and art events, World Book Day and our school Science Week. These are going to be great experiences for our children, please keep an eye out for emails and dojos for details. School Grounds During the half term week, Gary and Jamie from our Estates team swept and power washed the decking outside Y5 & Y6, the tables and area outside N & R and the playgrounds. They have done a great job and it really makes a difference to the look of the school. The daffodils are blooming and I am hopeful the new bulbs we planted last year will start coming through soon. We have had a donation of frogspawn in our pond so we will be on the look out for frogs! We have lots of plans in the pipeline for the memorial garden and the forest school, if you have an interest in gardening, or reading with children, please come along to the volunteers meeting on Monday at 9am. Lent In our assemblies this week we have learnt and thought about Lent, why Christians give things up, or take things up during the 40 day period and why many people enjoy pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. On Thursday, Mr Cutler led a pancake tossing competition! Fustal Year 3 and Year 4 took part in OCRA futsal games on Thursday – apologise they came home so muddy, I am sure washing machines were spinning across North Tawton! Class Blogs As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. Tara Penny Principal Key Dates for your diary Mon 27th Feb – 9 am Volunteer meeting in hall Wednesday 1st March – Book Day – dress up as a book character Thursday 2nd March - Strike day, school open for Nursery and Y6 only Wednesday 8th March – Cross Country at Chagford Thursday 9th March - 6pm Local Stakeholders Board Monday 13th March – R, Y1, Y2, Y3 & Y4 Zoo visit Tuesday 14th March – World Wildlife day – dress up as an animal *Wednesday 15th March – Strike day *Thursday 16th March – Strike day Monday 20th March – Fun Fitness 2 – 3pm Friday 24th March– Author Visit Tuesday 28th March – Y6 SATs meeting 5pm Thursday 30th March – Y6 football team at Okehampton Friday 31st March 1.30 – 2pm Normandy Meeting for Y6 Friday 31st March - Parent Assembly / Art show time TBA 8th May – Bank Holiday following King’s Coronation Friday 30th June - Rainbow Day 11th July – 15th July - Y6 Residential to France 23rd July - Carnival Friday *not confirmed yet |
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