Dear North Tawton Friends and Families,
A taster of my week at North Tawton:
Find out more about our learning in our class blogs: Sycamore Class Hazel Class Ash Class Willow Class Beech Class Chestnut Class Oak Class Acorn Class Thank you FONTS For those who do not live in North Tawton and receive the parish magazine Roundabout, this is what I wrote this month: Thank You Friends of North Tawton Primary School This month I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our parent group ‘Friends of North Tawton School.’ Schools nationally, and in fact internationally, have parent and carer groups who work in ways to support the schools their children attend. Typically, they will organise a summer fair and run bake sales. Our North Tawton group do this, and a whole lot more! Friends of North Tawton School (FONTS) have two main aims: to raise funds for the school and to bring the community together. Throughout the year they organise events to do these two things. The funds they raise are used for enriching the curriculum, as you will know from my previous articles, we have less and less government funding for doing this. Hopefully you have seen the local media coverage of the North Tawton Santa Dash. This was the first time and I hope will now become a tradition. This year we had another Christmas first, a wreath making workshop, which was also well attended and enjoyed. In addition to our Christmas Fair and selling children’s Christmas cards, FONTS raised over £2000 this Christmas! Over the past year FONTS have organised a Bring the Fizz for the Quiz, Valentines Disco, Crown around Town and Scarecrow trail and an Easter art competition. They also organised a book fair, school photos and of course the summer fair and bake sales! FONTS have been of great support advertising and supporting school events such as World Book Day, volunteer days and encouraging the local community to collect resources for developing our grounds and welcoming new parents. So, who are these people? There are four named posts. The people who volunteer to take on these roles fulfil the vital role of organisation and coordinating events, and ensure we fulfil legal duties such as risk assessments and insurances for events and keeping the accounts. They work closely with the school, namely myself and Jo Ware, to agree dates and organise logistics. Chair - Philippa Crisp Vice Chair - Vanessa Peri - Khoi Secretary- Katie Hillier Treasurer - Wayne Arscott They don’t do all the work! They enlist support from the wider parent and carer group. All are welcomed to be members of FONTS! We welcome parents and carers to support in any way they can: running stalls, selling raffle tickets and of course, attending events! We also have members who have taken on the organisation of a specific event such as Evie Compton organising the Santa Dash, and Katy Robins organising the printing of Y6 hoodies and the Bag 2 School scheme. This year FONTS have raised money for to pay for our new and exciting playground markings, staging and microphones to enhance our performances, playtime equipment trolleys, musical instruments and subsidised the costs of class trips. From all of us at the school, we would like to say a heartfelt Thank You! To find out more about FONTS and the work they do, follow ‘Friends of North Tawton School’ on Facebook. Attendance Please see the letter from Miss Paton reminding parents and carers of the importance of great attendance. The class with best attendance this week was Ash Class (Year 4) with 96.9% Well done Ash Class, extra play on Monday for you! Farewell Farewell to Lucy Lamb who leaves us after 5 years of dedication to our nursery children. She has taught so many of our children to be independent and make a great start on their learning journey. We will miss her. And farewell to Pieta Merriott who has been conducting her teaching training in year 1 class, we wish her all the best in the future. Wishing all our families a great weekend, Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, As many of you will be aware, North Tawton lost internet coverage this week. While many homes were without for a day or two, we still didn’t have internet access on Friday. I sincerely hope we have it back for Monday! Three days of no internet at school has made me realise how reliant we have become on technology. We take registers online, arrange dinners online, use email to communicate with you and other agencies, and we use apps and websites throughout the day to keep records and seek information. Our lessons are greatly enhanced by showing video clips displaying diagrams, text and images. One child said: ‘in the olden days, they used blackboards and chalk at school!’ this made me feel very old as not only did I use these as a child, I did when I started teaching! Thank you for being patient with us, and thank you to staff for hot spotting and using their own phones so we could keep in touch and make important calls. Zones of Regulation In our Trust INSET training, we looked at the Zones of Regulation, how we can use this in school to help children recognise their emotional state, give the children language to discuss how they are feeling and ultimately, to regulate. You might like to use this at home when talking to your children. The aim is to know how to regulate back to the green zone where we are psychologically safe. Children often need support to recognise their zone – partially the yellow zone, and need advice to regulate, this called ‘co regulation’. We are making it clear that there are no ‘bad’ feelings, it is what we do with our feelings that matters. Anger is an emotion that can enable change, such as women getting the vote, workers having sick pay and children having protection and rights. Sadness is also something we should express and not be ashamed off.
Questions were asked about being excited, and why this is in the ‘yellow zone’ and not the green. We do of course want our children to be excited about their learning! Adults will recognise the difference between eager curiosity and hypervigilance and over excitement. When we are over excited, our brain can’t focus on acquiring new knowledge and skills. Do see more information about this here: The Zones of Regulation | A Curriculum For Emotional Regulation Attendance Our attendance continues to be lower than the national average, and our attendance officer has highlighted this. Letters are going home regarding levels of absence, so you are aware of how much your child has missed. Unless they are too ill to be at school, please make sure children are in school on time. We all have days we feel a bit under the weather, especially this time of year, but the majority of the time we need to build resilience and overcome this. Teachers are always willing to support with advice, encouragement, praise and stickers! Holidays in term time are not authorised. I understand how frustrating this is as the travel companies hike up their prices during school holidays. However, attendance is important, there is a direct link between attendance and attainment and we really do need children in school so we can give them every opportunity to succeed. Maths Audit Last week, Mr Whitley and Miss Paton conducted an audit of maths across the school They looked at books, observed lessons and spoke to children. We have identified maths as an area we need to focus on this year and we were glad that there were lots of positives from the audit. However, we still have children who are less confident in maths than they are in reading and in writing. We have an action plan to focus on raising achievement and enjoyment of maths. We will talk to you about this in our next parent meetings. Mr Morrow Visit On Friday, Mr Dan Morrow our Trust CEO, visited. He was really impressed by the attitudes of the children and enjoyed talking to the staff about what progress the children they work with are making. He was particularly impressed with the French teaching in Reception - thank you Marion, how well the staff know the needs of the pupils in their classes, the classroom environments and the conversations he had with pupils about their learning. He will be visiting regularly so he becomes a familiar face, and we can benefit from his advice and support. Lost Property We have lots of lost property at school! I am going to put it out on the hall tables after school on Monday so please pop in and see what you can find! Uniform Link We are not going to continue to store uniform at school. Please use this link to order new uniform. https://www.brigade.uk.com/parents/school/NO4360PD/ Class News As always, please click on the links below for class news · Sycamore Class · Hazel Class · Ash Class · Willow Class · Beech Class · Chestnut Class · Oak Class · Acorn Class Farewell Sadly, we say farewell to Lucy Lamb this week. She has been at North Tawton for five years and has been an integral part of developing our nursery provision. She has been a wonderful practitioner and colleague and will be missed. We wish her all the very best in her new adventures ahead. Wrap up warm and take good care Tara Penny Principal Welcome back to school! We have had a busy three days sharing our Christmas news and getting excited about our new topics. We also welcomed new staff to Y2 and new children to Year 1 and Year 3. We excited that we have more new children coming later this month!
Did you see we were in the local paper? Dozens took part in Friends of North Tawton School Santa Dash | creditoncourier.co.uk A huge thank you to Evie Compton for organising this and to all of you who took part, supported and sponsored. Same again next year? Wishing all of our families a very happy New Year! Tara Penny Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Lots and lots of end of term news! Children in Need Last month the children danced to raise money for Children in Need. They raised £96! Well done all! ![]() Christmas Fair Thank you to all who came to our Christmas Fair. It was very busy and has made us rethink logistics for next year! Thank you to our choir, stallholders, and to staff and parents who made sure there were plenty games and refreshments. As always, thank you to FONTS for organising this event. Nativity Well done to our Year 1 and Year 2 children, and the staff, for a fantastic Barmy Bethlehem nativity. The children were fantastic actors and the staff worked hard to showcase them with great props, costumes and scenery. EYFS Concert, by candlelight! Our Early Years Foundation Stage pupils put on a wonderful performance of story, song and actions. They all dis such a great job. It was lovely to have parents stay and have a chat and a mince pie. Christingle Year Six led a very poignant service at the church. The read their Bible verses clesrly and confidently and paraded their Christingles with sobriety. Carols by Candlelight Thank you to those who came to St Peters Church for the Carols by Candlelight. Our school choir was small but really impressed the congregation and the church choir! Christmas Lunch Mandy and Nikki cooked a delicious Christmas lunch which went down a treat! Thank you to FONTS for the crackers. ![]() Carol Sing Along My favourite event was the whole school sing along. A wonderful get together to sing a medley of songs, from traditional carols such as Come all ye Faithful, to the debut appearance of a song about an Italian Donkey! A particular applause to our brave soloists singing Alleluia so beautifully. Nick Bryant and Miss Boyce have worked hard to continue the high quality and love of singing at our school. Santa Dash Good luck to all taking part and supporting the Santa Dash tomorrow! Uniform Link We are not going to continue to store uniform at school. Please use this link to order new uniform. https://www.brigade.uk.com/parents/school/NO4360PD/ Attendance Our attendance continues to be lower than national average. Unless they are too ill, please make sure children are in school on time. This could be a family new year resolution. Teachers are always willing to support with advice, encouragement, praise and stickers! ![]() Class News As always, please click on the links below for class news · Sycamore Class · Hazel Class · Ash Class · Willow Class · Beech Class · Chestnut Class · Oak Class · Acorn Class Parents and Carers can access Dojo for communicating with teachers and for reminders about events and even more class news and photos. Rev Spence shared this Christmas blessing by Robert Louis Stevenson at our Christingle service.
Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen Wishing our North Tawton friends and families a very gentle Christmas Tara Penny Principal Dates for your Diary Tuesday 2nd January – Staff Inset Wednesday 3rd January – Children back to school Holiday dates for 2024 – 2025 are on the website Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! The decorations are up, the children are practicing their nativity and carols, and there is a definite winter bite in the air. Will we have snow before the 16th? Thank you to everyone for making our Christmas Fair so much fun! As always, our FONTS team organised a great event. The children enjoyed selling their wares and our choir sang beautifully to the crowds. Please make sure you sign up for the Santa Dash, or sponsor someone who has! There is so much happening at school over the next two weeks, please keep an eye on dojo for specific details.
Wednesday 6th December 4pm - Y1 & Y2 Nativity for families Friday 8th December 1.45pm - Y1 & 2 Nativity for families Thursday 7th December 2pm - Y6 Christingle at the church Sunday 10th December 6.30pm – Carols at the church Wednesday 13th December - Christmas Lunch wear Christmas Jumpers! 2.30pm - Nursery & Reception Christmas show Thursday 14th December 2.30pm – Christmas Carol sing a long – all welcome! Friday 15th December – last day Sunday 17th December - Santa Dash Wednesday 3rd January - Welcome back to school Class News As always, please click on the links below for class news · Sycamore Class · Hazel Class · Ash Class · Willow Class · Beech Class · Chestnut Class · Oak Class · Acorn Class Parents and Carers can access Dojo for communicating with teachers and for reminders about events and class news All the very best Tara Penny Dear North Tawton Friends and Families,
Lest We Forget Rev Spence led an assembly for the children to learn about the meaning of Remembrance Day. Children wrote beautiful prayers which are displayed in school in our reflection area by my office. Thank you to all who contributed to The British Legion. Parent Forum Thank you to the parents who came to our Parent Forum last week. I shared curriculum updates and priorities for the year ahead and I listened to parent views and ideas. Parents said they would like more information and workshops to understand how we teach maths, more opportunities for children to pursue their own interests, and we agreed that we really want a minibus! I will be following up all the suggestions made and getting back to you on progress. Book Fair Thank you to all who came to our Usborne school book fair last week. Your purchases earnt the school excellence commission and we were able to buy books for the school. The books have now been delivered so please collect from classes if you didn’t get them on Friday. Happy reading! Wreath Making The school hall was transformed into a wreath making workshop on Friday evening! Thank you to all who came and especially to all who organised this. The wreaths looked amazing. North Tawton will have the best dressed doors in Devon this Christmas! As always, a huge shout out to our wonderful parent group who organise events throughout the year and raise much appreciated funds for the school. Christmas Fair Our next FONTS event is our Christmas Fair straight after school on Friday. There will be stalls in the school hall, and up the stairs left to Year 4 (Ash Class) and right to Year 3 (Willow) and the rooms next-door. Children have been making Christmas themed items in their Design and Technology lessons this term. Please come and collect them for a voluntary contribution of £1 to go towards FONTS funds. As our Christmas Fair is this week, we will be decorating the school a bit earlier than usual! Class News As always, 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 And parents can access Dojo for communicating with teachers and event specific news. Best wishes as always to our friends and families, Tara Penny Principal Dates for your Diary Friday 24th November - Christmas Fair, straight after school in the hall and Y3 & 4 classrooms Monday 4th December 2pm Y1 & 2 Nativity Dress Rehearsal for school children Wednesday 6th December 4pm Y1 & 2 Nativity for families Friday 8th December 1.45 Y1 & 2 Nativity for families Thursday 7th December – Y6 Christingle at the church 2pm Sunday 10th December – Carols at the church 6.30pm Wednesday 13th December 2.30 N&R Christmas show Thursday 14th December – Christmas Carol sing a long – all welcome! Friday 15th December – last day ![]() Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Thank you for your support and understanding regarding the school closure. I hope everyone was safe and well yesterday. Considering the reports of local flooding and trees in the roads, it certainly was the right decision to minimise travel and ‘batten down the hatches’ to keep our children safe. Our school was checked by our estates team to make sure it was safe for us today. Staffing news I am delighted to let you know we have Katie Curnow Clarke and Lizzy Squires joining our staff team. I know you will join me and the staff in welcoming them to our school community as staff (they are already part of the community as parents!) they will become familiar faces to our children in Reception and Y2 initially. I do have sad news too. Sarah Keen will be leaving at Christmas. She has been successful in being appointed to a new role and promotion which we are extremely happy for, but we will miss her greatly. I will let you know as soon as we have recruited both her class teacher and SEND role. Remembrance Day Poppies will be on sale for a charitable donation from Monday. We will hold a silence at school on Thursday in our assembly led by Rev Spence. Attendance In assembly this week we thought about what we love about our school and the importance of having good attendance. Not only do we want all of our children to have a good education and every learning experience, we also what them to build and maintain friendships and develop resilience. This will help them foster good habits for the future. Many of the children admitted to sometimes not wanting to come to school, but when they get here that feel fine. Of course, if they are ill, we don’t want them here! We will always send children home if they are too poorly to be here. Attendance at North Tawton is low compared to other schools across the trust and nationally. Time off for holidays is not authorised and may result in a fine from the authority. Reflective clothing As the nights get darker, please consider what you and your children are wearing to be safe. This picture was shared with me and is a shocking illustration of how important it is to be seen. Reach Out
Life can be hard, particularly this time of year. If you are struggling financially, emotionally or health wise; please, please seek support. There should be no shame attached to asking for help. We encourage the children all the time to tell us if they are worried, say if they don’t understand something and ask for help. We adults need to be better at this! Here are some links you may find supportive: Legal support Home - Citizens Advice Devon (cabdevon.org.uk) Mental health support Devon Mind, leading the fight for mental health in Devon TALKWORKS | Mental Health Support for Devon (dpt.nhs.uk) Lots of other services can be found here: Pinpoint thousands of services and community groups across Devon (pinpointdevon.co.uk) Class News As always, 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 Parents can access Dojo for event specific news. Parent Forum To find out more about our plans for the future, and to have your views and ideas heard, please come to a Parent Forum on Thursday 9th November at 9am. Best wishes as always to our friends and families, Tara Penny Principal Dates for your Diary Friday 3rd November Usborne book fair in the school hall after school Week of 6th November – Parent meetings; please sign up with teachers Sunday 12th November 10.35am Remembrance Parade, 10.50am Church Service. Thursday 16th November - 9 - 10 Parent Forum Friday 17th November - Non-school uniform, please bring donation for our Christmas raffle. Friday 24th November - Christmas Fair, straight after school in the hall and classrooms Monday 4th December 2pm Y1 & 2 Nativity Dress Rehearsal for school children Wednesday 6th December 4pm Y1 & 2 Nativity for families Friday 8th December 1.45 Y1 & 2 Nativity for families Thursday 7th December – Y6 Christingle at the church 2pm Sunday 10th December – Carols at the church 6.30pm Wednesday 13th December 2.30 N&R Christmas show Thursday 14th December – Christmas Carol singalong – all welcome! Friday 15th December – Last day of Autumn Term It has been a busy and exciting term! Thank you all for making it such a success. Please ask your children what their highlights have been. It might be an event such as the author visit or Magic Show, working with the Devon Wildlife Trust, dressing up for Dingle Dangle Scarecrow, joining our choir or playing on the new playground markings, a book they have read such as The Explorers or The Fox and the Star or a particular lesson such as swimming or maths. We have been busy and have lots more exciting learning and events planned for the term ahead!
Respect This term our assembly theme has been Respect. We have been thinking about how we show respect for others, for our environment and for ourselves. We have heard Bible stories to learn how Jesus showed respect for others and how we can follow his example. I of course have been playing Aretha Franklin's classic banger R E S P E C T! Black History Month October is a month when we particularly focus of the achievements of black women and men from history. We have been learning about famous people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Junior, events including The Bristol Bus Boycott and we have found out about sports and music icons. We have also been enjoying some African and Caribbean tradition tales about a spider trickster called Anansi! Attendance Unfortunately, we have had a recent spate of illness and a lot of children away this term. I hope they are all well for the holiday, and of course for the return to school! We do have very low attendance in comparison to other Trust schools. We will be sending letters in the new term to keep you aware of your child's current attendance percentage and offer support where attendance is becoming a persistent issue. Please remember to make non urgent appointments for after school and in holidays where possible, time off for family holidays are not authorised. Farewell Today we sadly said farewell to Mrs Day. The children wrote lovely messages in their class cards and presented them to her in our assembly. She has helped so many of our children to overcome barriers to learning, administered first aid in emergencies, dried tears and tied shoelaces, supported children to develop friendships and resilience, and she has made us all laugh, a lot! We all wish her the very best in her exciting new role and thank her for all she has given to our school community. Wishing everyone a fabulous half term week, Tara Penny Principal |
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