Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Have you been watching the sunflowers bloom? I love our sunflowers and really enjoy seeing them each morning! Ilness and attendance As you may well be aware, we do have a horrible sickness bug and Covid ‘doing the rounds’ at school again. To all who are poorly, I wish you a speedy recovery. Having had both recently, I can completely empathise! Of course, if our staff or your children are unwell, we do not expect them to be in school. I do have to monitor attendance, whether it be authorised absence or not, and I do have to make parents aware of their children’s attendance percentage if it drops below 95%, so please do not be alarmed if you receive a letter next week. As far as possible, please make routine medical appointments out of school time so children miss as little as possible. I urge you not to take children out of school for holidays, these are not authorised and may well result in a fine. FONTS AGM We had a very productive Friends of North Tawton Annual General Meeting meeting on Tuesday. Thank you to all who came along to support this vital part of school life. I am delighted that we have a full committee. Thank you to Philippa Kenny Crisp who is our Chair and Vanessa Peri -Khoo our Vice Chair, Katie Hillier who is our Secretary and a welcome to Evie Compton who is our new Treasurer. Julie Steward has kindly agreed to support Evie as she gets to grips with the role. We have lots of plans for the year ahead and I am excited to have such a dedicated, creative and enthusiastic group to work with. Book Fair Our Book Fair was buzzing after school! Thank you to all who came. I hope the children enjoy their new books. The teachers are looking forward to finding out how much commission was made as they have their wish lists of books for their classes! Thank you to FONTS who organised this for us. Harvest Next week Friday we have our Dingle Dangle Scarecrow Harvest Celebration! Children can come to school dressed up as farmers, scarecrows and other inventive costumes to celebrate Harvest. Please bring your harvest donations to school where we will collect them in the school hall. FONTS are organising sensitive ways in which to distribute our harvest gifts to people in North Tawton who will appreciate them. Please come to the church for 9.30 am where we will share a harvest celebration. Reverend Spence and I will welcome you, talk about Harvest and share a prayer of thanks. Miss Boyce will lead the children in singing three songs. I anticipate it will be about 30 minutes long. We will then head back to school. If you are able to attend, we look forward to seeing you there! Football’s Coming Home to North Tawton! Congratulations to our KS2 football teams who gained 2nd and 3rd places today at the Football Tournament. Coach Edwards was incredibly proud of the children’s attitudes as well as their football skills. Well done Team North Tawton! Defibrillator A huge thank you to the Town Council who have approved our request for having a defibrillator situated near to the school. We are lucky to have defibrillators in North Tawton, but unfortunately, they are not within the needed distance from the school. We are currently looking to see where it can be placed so it can be easily accessible to the school and community. Upcoming Dates Lots to look forward to! Friday 14 October Dingle Dangle Scarecrow: dress up day Friday 14th October – 9.30 am Harvest Celebration at the church – parents welcome Sunday 16th October – Harvest Service at St Peters Church Friday 21st October – 2.30pm R – Y6 sharing assembly –parents welcome Friday 4 November after school Fireworks Sparkler & Sweet Sale Friday 2 December Christmas Market –– after school in the hall and playground Monday 5th December 2pm Magic Martin treat from FONTS Wednesday 7th December –Christmas Jumper Day (raising funds for Save the children) and Christmas dinner (date changed to accommodate swimming) Friday 9th December – 2pm Carol Service at the church – parents welcome Tuesday 13th December 2pm – Christingle at church – parents welcome Nativity performances: Wednesday 14th December at 2pm and 4pm and Thursday 15th Dec at 5pm As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. I love this display of portraits of The Queen by Willow Class. With very best wishes
Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families,
A short week, but a busy one! As always, please look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about this week. A few reminders- Jewellery and Hair styles In the interests of safety, we do not allow children to wear jewellery in school. If ears have been pierced, studs may be worn. These should be removed/taped over before swimming. We encourage children to be independent individuals, however we request parents to consider the impact of fashion on their child’s learning and social development and ask parents to ensure their children do not wear inappropriate hairstyles or fashion items to school. Long hair should be tied back for both safety and hygiene reasons. Healthy Snacks There is nothing wrong with occasional treats at home, however, at school we are promoting healthy lifestyles to our children. Please support us by making sure that if your children bring packed lunches or snacks for break time, they are healthy choices. A number of children are coming to school with very high sugar content foods such as chocolate bars, muffins and cakes which are not appropriate. Please help us with this so we have consistency across the school. Thank you! Homework We know that some parents and children love homework, for some families it is a struggle and cause for arguments at home. On Monday I will be talking to children about our expectations, and why it is important to get into good study habits. Teachers will provide spelling and maths homework weekly. We expect every child to read daily, and for this to be recorded in their reading diary. Teachers will suggest activities to compliment topic, but this will be optional. We recommend:
Upcoming Dates FONTS and school staff have been busy organising exciting events for the coming term. Please keep an eye on Dojo and Facebook for updates. I am meeting with the staff and with Rev Spence and Mr Cutler next week to agree dates for Christmas events at school and at the church. Some dates for your diaries- Friday 23rd September – 3.45 Y6 Class Meeting and French trip meeting Tuesday 27th September – Y6 Junior Life Skills Okehampton Tuesday 4th October – flu nasal spray Friday 7 October - Usborne Book Fair Friday 14 October Dingle Dangle Scarecrow: dress up day Friday 21st October – 2.30pm R – Y6 sharing assembly –parents welcome Friday 4 November after school Fireworks Sparkler & Sweet Sale Friday 2 December Christmas Market –– after school in the hall and playground Thursday 8 December –Christmas Jumper Day (raising funds for Save the children) and Christmas dinner More dates to be published next week! With very best wishes Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, It’s not been a great week for me, as I’ve been at home laid up with Covid ☹ However, as always, it’s been a busy and exciting week at school! Do look at the class blogs to see what the pupils have been learning about. French trip for Year 6 Pupils We are delighted to announce the details of our Year 6 residential next year to Normandy in France. We have secured funding to take all Year 6 pupils from Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust Primary Schools in the summer term. Following a rigorous and competitive application process, Mrs Jordan (Trust French Lead) and Mrs Underwood (Trust Executive Principal) received the news that all travel, accommodation and visit costs for 230 pupils and 50 staff will be covered by the government’s Turing Scheme funding. Year 6 pupils will deepen their knowledge of History, RE, Art and PSHE through a range of inspirational visits including; the Bayeux tapestry, Mont St Michel, the D-Day landing beaches and the magnificent new British Normandy Memorial. Pupils will of course also further develop their confidence to speak French through a shopping challenge at a market, as well as visits to partner schools in Normandy. This residential will also enable Year 6 pupils across the Trust to unite and develop friendships in preparation for secondary school. There are meetings planned for Y6 parents and pupils in all schools this half term. Our meeting will be on Friday 23rd September after school. If parents are unable to make the date and time of the meeting, please let us know as you may be able to join a meeting at another school. The Turing Scheme is the UK’s global programme offering opportunities in education and training across the world and enabling pupils to develop new skills and gain international experience. This year, the Turing Scheme received 513 applications, a significant increase on last year. Whilst most applications from universities were successful, Dartmoor MAT was one of only 4 schools in the South West which was awarded a grant through this highly competitive application process. FONTS
I am glad so many people attended the FONTS meeting this week. I am disappointed I couldn’t be there myself, but I have a copy of the very full minutes to read through! I am really looking forward to facilitating lots of events this year, not just to raise money (although this is much needed!) but also and more importantly to bring our community together and have shared experiences. Please watch this space for details of upcoming events. Cost of Living With the cost of living rising, it may be worth checking if you have any benefits you are not claiming. Government Benefits Calculator Check benefits and financial support you can get - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) As a school we are looking at ways to save money, and how to support all of our families. If you are struggling, please let us know so we can find sensitive ways to help. I know many of us will be watching the Queen’s funeral on Monday, so it seems inappropriate to say have a good long weekend, however, I do wish all our families, a healthy three days and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday morning. With very best wishes, Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families,
It has been lovely to see all the smiling faces at the gate and see children settling into their new classes and routines so quickly. We have welcomed new children to our school and I have been pleased to see them make friends and settle so easily; it’s as if they have always been here. Welcome to Reverend Spence It was an honour and a privilege to attend the inauguration of our new vicar Reverend David Spence on Wednesday evening. I am looking forward to working with him and Wez Cutler to further strengthen our relationship with the church and wider community. We are meeting next week to begin our plans together. He will be introduced to the children next week. Class Meetings We have arranged for class meetings so that you can meet the teachers and find out about the year ahead. They will be straight after school. If you are not able to attend, please don’t worry, class teachers will share the information on Dojo. Reception Wednesday 14th September Y1 Friday 23rd September Y2 Friday 16th September Y3 Tuesday 20th September Y4 Thursday 15th September Y5 Wednesday 21st September Y6 Friday 23rd September Nursery children attend on different days so staff will keep parents informed as they drop off and collect. Sad news Of course, our week has ended with the sad news of the passing of our Queen, Elizabeth II. It was right and fitting to change our plans and share a memorial assembly together this morning rather than our usual end of week praise assembly. Children in Nursery and Reception held their memorial in their classes, Years 1 – 6 were in the hall together. I was so impressed with the way in which all of the children engaged with interest and respect. Year six children went to the church to hear the toll at 12pm and stood quietly taking in the moment. One child told me that they have written the date of the Queen’s passing in the book they were was gifted by her for the Jubilee, another said they will write about how they felt today so they can remember this moment when they are older. I thought these were lovely ideas. We are going to give all our children the opportunity to contribute to a memorial book if they wish to. You will have noticed we, like other schools and organisations across the country, have chosen to keep our public communication solemn for the time being out of respect as we are in this period of mourning. As always, my very best wishes to you all, Tara Penny We express our deepest sympathies for the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Her dedication to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to her other realms and territories is unparalleled and we thank her for her service. Our school and Trust will observe the mourning period whilst continuing to support our pupils, families and staff. I am pleased to now be able to share the report from our recent Ofsted inspection with you all. To read the report, please click here.
The first line fills me with joy. To know that children love the school and are as proud of it as I am is music to my ears! As a staff team, we are delighted that the inspector’s findings matched our own assessment of the school. We have a wonderful school of pupils who are ‘keen and enthusiastic learners’ and are ‘well mannered and polite.’ The staff team have worked hard to ensure safeguarding and provision for SEND are of a high standard and that all children are being well cared for. I am particularly pleased that the Inspector saw the work we have done across the school to promote diversity and that children are well prepared for life in modern Britain. We are working hard on making sure all of our subjects, especially history and geography are appropriately challenging for all pupils. I would like to thank all parents for their support during the inspection and throughout the year. We look forward to continuing to work with you and having lots a great events together this year ahead. I am so proud of this school. It’s not just a ‘good’ school, but a great one! Tara Penny Dear North Tawton Friends and Families, Here we are at the end of an amazing year! In assembly I asked the children what their highlights have been, two of our year six pupils wrote down everything they said: My highlights have been the last few weeks when we have had parents in for our wonderful music concert, sports day, EYFS learning celebrations, Y6 leavers assembly and of course our amazing Summer Fair. It has been so lovely to have families in and feel part of the wider North Tawton community. Following on from Nick Bryant’s message last week about the North Tawton Community event at the Town Hall, I was delighted to receive an email from the organiser Billie Burnett at West Devon Community and Voluntary Services together with Julie Matthews of Navigate Charity, as partners within the Transitions Project thanking Miss Boyce. …our huge thanks and appreciation for everything you did to make our event in North Tawton so successful. We thought the children were simply outstanding, so proud and keen in showing their work and so curious and interested in the other stallholders’ displays and games (and very skilful in those!) The choir’s performance was just fantastic and clearly enjoyed by everyone in the Hall. Altogether the children gave us hope and inspiration for the future - they are a great credit to you and all the staff at the school. Well done to Miss Boyce, our music tutors, school choir and Year 4, this is a well deserved compliment! I am very much looking forward to next year and lots more community events and involvement. OFSTED Report I was really hoping I’d be able to share the Ofsted report before the end of term. Unfortunately, the draft has not yet been published so I am not able to. We should have it for the new school year. Final Farewells We had a lovely farewell assembly and cream tea with Year Six and their families this morning. We all wish our Year Six pupils all the very best at college and their exciting futures ahead. Brian came from the British Legion and told us about his role and presented the prestigious awards. It is lovely for me to learn about the traditions of North Tawton and honour these. It is so important for us all to know who and what has gone before us, paving the way and making the world the place it is today. Yesterday we bid Mrs Jelley and Mrs Squires our farewells, both of whom have given above and beyond of their time, expertise and kindness to our school for many years. Mrs Jelley and Mrs Squires have taught many parents and staff too, they are fountains of local knowledge and are valued and valuable to our community. They are our colleagues and friends, don’t worry, we won’t let them become strangers! We wish them both a very exciting and fulfilling retirement, focusing on family, hobbies and new adventures. We also bid farewell to Miss Prince who has been teaching reception class and leading on developing our outdoor learning environment. Over the year she has worked with all classes developing their skills through forest school activities. We wish her all the best in her new school. We also say Farewell (sort of) to Emma Neath. She has been the Chair of our Governors / Local Stakeholder Board since the Three Hares were formed. She was a local governor before then, and is now going to become a Trustee for the Trust. I am delighted that she has been recruited for this this very important position as she will still be with the Trust, just in a very different role, however I will miss her as our chair hugely. She has been of great support to the Three Hares Schools, doing lots of behind the scenes work. She is incredibly knowledgeable about school policy, finance and HR and has played the leadership role of a ‘critical friend’ by holding the Three Hares Principals to account, while also being hugely supportive. She has been extremely generous of her time, supporting the three schools with our recruitment, Ofsted preparations and during the pandemic with all of the additional policy and risk assessments we needed to do. She has aided us in gathering parent and pupil views to inform our priorities and progress. I am sure you join me in thanking her for her dedication to our school and wish her all the best in her new role. Breakfast Club and After School Club In follow up to our discussions and survey, I have been in negotiations regarding how to provide the right wrap around care for the right cost and quality of provision. I am hoping we will be able to set up provision for after October half term. Watch this space… Kids Eat Free Here is a list of places children can eat free, or for just £1 this summer: .
And here's a great reminder of top tips for healthy eating at home: top_tips_for_kids_leaflet_2018.pdf Thank Yous! As always, there are so many thank yous to say! Thank you to FONTS for raising an amazing £2,169.52 at our Summer Fair! That's an amazing amount of money and will be spent wisely. Thank you to all parents for their support over this year, to the amazing staff team who go above and beyond every day for our children, and to the children themselves for always striving to 'be the best they can be.' The children here make me feel very proud and privileged to be their principal. I hope you all have a wonderful summer holiday, have fun, keep safe and make lots of precious memories. School starts again on Wednesday 7th September at 8.45am With very best wishes Tara Penny Principal Dear North Tawton Friends and Families,
And so we reach the end of our penultimate week of the school year! Do have a look at Dojo and the class blogs to find out about some prickly visitors, a trip to Rosemoor and meet our local celebrity; Waddle! Reports Parents should have received their child’s report this afternoon. If you have not, please let us know. We have included the attendance certificates for the year. Attendance this year has been very low. While a lot of it is due to Covid and other unavoidable illness, we do have some children with sporadic attendance and some families taking holidays during term time. Holidays are not authorised absences. We do ask families to fill out an absence request from for appointments and any planned time off so that we know where you are and do not become concerned for the safeguarding of the children. When pupils have more than ten sessions of unauthorised absence, I am required to contact families to let them know that attendance has fallen below the required level. When necessary, I may request the involvement of an education welfare officer to support improved attendance. Fines can be issues if attendance does not improve. Next year we are aiming for at least 95% attendance. Year Six SATs We finally got the results of our Year Six SATs papers! Unlike the assessments we do in other year groups which we mark ourselves, Year Six papers are sent off to be graded by external markers. You many have read in the press that many papers were not marked in time. We did not have all of ours returned by the deadline last week, but we did just in time for the reports! We are very proud of our Year Six results, well done! Each child has met their target, and some have exceeded. We are proud of their achievements and hope they continue to work hard into Year 7 and beyond. Hot Weather Warning! Please remember that all children need to come to school with a water bottle, hat and applied sunscreen. Please send them with cream to apply at playtimes if they need it. If it is too hot, we will keep the children in at playtimes or go out in small groups to the shaded areas only. Children can wear PE kits of they will would prefer. Children are not to wear jumpers! I have been encouraging a few today to take them off, and keep them off. We know some children are body conscious, and we are sensitive to this, but wearing jumpers in this hear is really not healthy. Class Photos On Monday we have class photos kindly organised by FONTS. Children will need to come to school in uniform so they look smart for the photos, but can then all change into PE kits so they are cooler once they have been photographed. We will do the photos straight away, so they are done before it gets too hot. A message from Nick Bryant – Music Tutor On Monday 11th July, the school choir gave a performance at the Town Hall at a community event to raise awareness of Wellbeing in the community. We walked down together after a warm up in the school hall and made our way onto the stage for our second performance in four days. As choir leader, I have been blown away by the enthusiasm and hard work of our 20-strong singers of all ages. After their performance I was approached by many locals in the audience who were delighted and thrilled that we had shared our music with them and it was clear we had reached many people who would not normally have the opportunity to hear the school choir sing. Every member should feel very proud of their contribution. I'd like to especially recognise our soloists Grayson, Jade, Mia, Lily-Rose and Sophie and our reception singers Louie and Ruben, but a huge well done to everyone who took part. Thank you too to Juliet and our volunteer helpers. This Monday was the last choir of the term, but I'm very much looking forward to restarting next term and welcoming any newcomers who want to give it a try. More information to follow. Nick Bryant - strings, piano and singing teacher. Uniform During the colder months, we were allowing children to wear warm clothes as windows were open to reduce covid spread. Since then, uniform has got very lax here! In September we are going to be focusing on this and cracking down! I am forewarning parents now, so you have time to get organised for September. This is our uniform policy (taken from the website) UNIFORM We want children to feel proud of their school and wear our school uniform as it helps to give a sense of identity. 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. Green baseball caps with our school logo on are also available from the office. The school keeps a stock of sweatshirts in various sizes and these can be obtained from the school office. New parents will receive a copy of the current uniform requirements with prices attached. Further copies are available from the office. PE Kit The PE kit is a white T shirt, black or navy shorts, white sports socks, and trainers or pumps. You can purchase a t shirt in the colour of the house they are in. KS2 children will have swimming lessons at the pool in Okehampton. For this they also require a swimming costume and hat. We would prefer these to be a one – piece swimsuit for girls and trunks or swimming shorts of a sensible length for boys. Swimming hats can be purchased from the school office. Please ensure that all your child’s school uniform is labelled with their name. Jewellery/Hair styles/Fashion In the interests of safety, we do not allow children to wear jewellery in school. If ears have been pierced, studs may be worn. These should be removed/taped over before swimming. We encourage children to be independent individuals, however we request parents to consider the impact of fashion on their child’s learning and social development and ask parents to ensure their children do not wear inappropriate hairstyles or fashion items to school. Long hair should be tied back for both safety and hygiene reasons. Farewells and celebrations Next week will be a busy and emotional one. We have lots of farewells to say next week, but also celebrations too! Please support us to keep our children calm and balanced. The hot weather and building emotions of moving on to new classes and new schools can be unsettling for adults and children. Please don’t let tempers get frayed - if there is an issue, please talk to us so we can sort it out together. Wishing you a great weekend, Keep hydrated! Tara Penny Principal A fantastic day was had by all! A huge thank you to FONTS for organising the fair, to our local businesses who donated prizes and to all the parents and staff who made it a tremendous success.
Dear North Tawton Friends and Families,
We have waited for so long to get together as a community, and like buses (a very London term!) they all come at once! Thank you to all who have support us by organising and attending our Sports Day and our Music Concert this week. The children have been superb and a credit to us all. It was lovely to share with you their sporting prowess and their musical talents. And thank you for your generosity today, we raised £95.71 to go towards tuning our piano! Please look at class blogs and Dojo for lots of photos. Tomorrow we have the Summer Fair and we really need lots of help to run stalls, games and particularly the BBQ and refreshments. Please email [email protected] if you can help. See you tomorrow! With very best wishes, Tara Penny |
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