Please click here to read the second edition of our Reading Roundup publication, or view the version below.
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Please click here to read an update from Dan Morrow to all parents and carers across the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust.

The first half term break has arrived and we wish you all a lovely, restful week. The children have made a fantastic start to the school year and will hopefully enjoy a little time off. This term, as always, has been a whirlwind of activity, events and education and I'd like to say a very big thank you to the entire staff team for always going the extra mile to help the children feel safe, valued and cared for. 

On Tuesday 18th October, 36 girls from Years 3-6 travelled to Tavistock to take part in the OCRA Girls' Football Tournament. Almost 270 girls took part during the day and there was some fantastic footballing skill on show. 
The South Tawton teams showed incredible team spirit throughout the event, and all enjoyed the experience. Well done to everyone who took part! 

Well done to Year 2, who had the highest percentage attendance this week and also to Y3 who have a fabulous 99% attendance for the whole half term. 

Why is it important for children not to miss school?
All parents want the best for their children and for them to get on well in life. Having a good education is important to ensure that they have the best opportunities in their adult life. Children only get one chance at school, and your child’s future may be affected by not attending school regularly. If children do not attend school regularly, they may struggle to keep up with school work and will miss out on the social side of school life. Poor attendance can affect children’s ability to make and keep friendships; a vital part of growing up. Setting good attendance patterns from an early age, from nursery through primary school will also help your child later on in their life. 

What might the impact of poor attendance be on your child?
In primary schools, less than 65% of children achieve good results in English and Maths with an average of 15 days absence a year compared to almost 90% where the average is less than 8 days. Parents can be very surprised at how quickly their children can accumulate 15 days absence within a year. 

Thank you to everyone who helped with our winter clothes and cake sale this week, we are so grateful for those that are able to give up time to help at events. Not to mention that there are some very talented bakers amongst you! Of course we want to also thank those who came along to spend some money. We raised a brilliant £135.00!
We hope you all have a wonderful half term break and look forward to more exciting events as we head towards Christmas, including the ever popular wreath making workshop which will be back in the school hall.
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We are very grateful to South Zeal in Action for asking us to provide refreshments for their upcoming Family Theatre event, which comes highly recommended. All profits from refreshment sales will be going to the PTA. If you are able to bake any goodies for the event please do let us know. (details below)
Our next meeting is the first week back after half term on Wednesday 2nd November at 8pm via teams. Please feel free to email us at [email protected] if you would like to receive the link.
Best wishes
Hannah and Liz

South Zeal in Action are once again bringing professional children's theatre to The Victory Hall. First up is the Story Explorers…
Meet Nellie Natinski and Nathaniel Nautilus! Intrepid explorers and guardians of their intriguingly ingenious Story Generator. Watch as they crank the starter handle and bring their much loved machine to life. From out of its secret compartments, like The Cabinet of Curiosities, The Book of Wishes and The Box of Disasters, story ideas combine to create tantalising tales, monstrous myths, and flabbergasting fables. And through the bedazzling power of The Transmission Helmet the Story Explorers will offer these up for your delight. And if the Story Generator overworks itself, the ever-helpful Mr Mender is always on hand to tighten a nut and put things right!
 A dynamic, vibrant and original family performance. The Story Explorers is a fiesta of engaging tales, colourful characters and captivating puppetry to amaze and ignite the imagination.
Tickets £5 children, £7.50 adults – see South Zeal in Action Facebook page to reserve. Doors open at 2.30pm with refreshments available to purchase from South Tawton PTA.

​Bags to School
We have another Bags to School collection on Tuesday 29th November 9am.
We accept the following ‘good quality’ items for RE-USE:
●      Men’s, Ladies’ and Children’s clothing
●      Paired shoes (tied together or elastic band around)
●      Handbags
●      Hats
●      Bags
●      Scarves and ties
●      Jewellery
●      Lingerie
●      Socks
●      Belts
●      Soft toys
●      Household linen
●      Household curtains
●      Household towels
●      Household bedding (bed sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers)
 
We DO NOT accept:
●      Duvets and blankets
●      Pillows and cushions
●      Carpets, rugs and mats (including bath, shower and toilet mats)
●      Soiled, painted, ripped or wet clothing
●      School uniforms with and without logo
●      Corporate clothing and workwear
●      Textile off cuts, yarns or threaded material
The amazingly supportive Kings Arms have said that we can use their Phoenix room as a drop off point on Monday 28th November all day and Tuesday 29th November before 9am.

It was such a pleasure to see so many children having such a great time with their friends at the disco on Friday evening! Amidst the excitement of the event, I was delighted to see that what I notice in classrooms during the working day, still held true: namely that the relationships between the children are strong and positive, and that South Tawton pupils are good friends to one another. In class, I notice the children being quick to help and support each other - lending equipment, offering help and treating others with warmth and respect. On the playground, we see pupils looking out for each other and making sure that no one is left out, sharing the craze box equipment and playing together across classes. As ever, I'm proud and so happy to be part of this school. 

On Tuesday, we went to St Andrew's Church for our Harvest Festival. It was so lovely to be able to do this again after many years of Covid restrictions. Years R and 1 walked to and from the church with their Year 5 and 6 buddies amid much chatter and smiles. Big thank yous to Rev Paul for leading the service, Mrs Dunn who has taught the whole school such uplifting and lovely harvest songs and Y6 for delivering the readings and prayers. 

Thank you also to all those of you who have donated items to our collection for Okehampton Food Bank. 

It is lovely that so many children wis to bring in gifts for their classmates on their birthdays. However, please help us to limit the use of single use plastics and promote healthier eating but not bringing in bags of sweets. 

Please ensure that your children have PE kits (white t-shirts and black/navy shorts in school every day for PE lessons. Stud earrings should be taped over for every PE lesson and sports club. 

Well done to Y3 who once again had the highest attendance this week at 99.3%.

Please help to maximise attendance by arranging medical and dental appointments for outside of school hours whenever possible. 

Dear Parents and Carers,

As part of our work with our community we would like to establish a comprehensive directory of opportunities available to our young people and their families within the town and villages covered by the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust. With this in mind, I would be very grateful if you would be kind enough to complete the below survey to help us with the development of this directory. The information you share will be anonymous and the survey should take no more than 3 minutes. 

Please include information for all your children on one survey.

Thank you in advance for your support with this project.

Derrick Brett, Executive Director of Civic Leadership

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=kG0HO7J4vUqeBcIPJiicRivAgEf75BVHtZHFCAI-fPFUQjdERThQRUI2RU5CSTJJMVJSVDJIR0M4WC4u

The University of Exeter are once again offering primary enrichment workshops. Details of the events taking place can be found here.

If you would your child to attend one or more of these workshops, please use the following booking link: https://store.exeter.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/graduate-school-of-education/primary-enrichment-programme-autumn-2022
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Every child in receipt of Pupil Premium funding is eligible to attend two free places each, per term. You will need to checkout via Option B on the website, and enter the access code: AU22/PP

Transport to and from Exeter will be the parents' responsibility. 

If you would like your child to attend any workshops, please complete a Request for Absence form. These requests will authorised as 'Educated offsite' and will not count against your child's attendance.

We had a fantastic time at this Friday’s School Disco -  hope the children enjoyed getting their glad rags on and dancing shoes boogying! A huge thanks to everyone who came along to help set up, keep an eye on the revellers and tidy away! We made over £400 so a great fundraiser as well as the children having fun!​

Don't forget 22nd October South Zeal Carnival.

The afternoon parade starts at the Kings Arms at 1.30. Then the evening parade moves off at 7pm and will take in the South Zeal and Sticklepath. 
It is not to late to enter, come along and support this event!

Beacon Arts will have a walking group in  South Zeal carnival on Saturday 22nd Oct  with  a Garden theme. All are welcome to join us, dressed up as something you find in the garden or carrying a flower  themed paper lantern. 
Email Sarah on [email protected] to register an interest. 

Beacon Arts are  running two drop in workshops this weekend for anyone who would like to make a costume, prop or  lantern   for South Zeal  carnival, Halloween or just for fun.
Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th October, 10-3 Sticklepath Village Hall. 
Families are very welcome to drop in, kids should bring a grown up with them as there will be tools and glue in use. 

This week, we've had times of warm sunshine and times of torrential rain. Luckily, we've made the most of the sunny parts and had plenty of outdoor learning and PE sessions whilst we can. We welcomed the Devon library bus to school and children from each class were able to go into the bus and choose books for their classes. Year 2 and year 6 are now going to Okehampton Parklands each week for swimming (Y2) and survival (Y6) lessons. We had another visit from Devon Wildlife Trust who worked with the older pupils this time. We also welcomed Rev Paul Seaton-Burns into school for his regular Tuesday assembly. 

Special mention and thanks is due to the parents and children in year 2 for always having their lunch bookings completed on school gateway. Please could all parents make the lunch bookings in advance of the children coming to school in the mornings. If the children are having home packed lunches, we still waste valuable time each morning checking this if it is not recorded on school gateway. 

Congratulations to years 2, 3 and 4 who all achieved 98% attendance this week. 

On Tuesday morning, we will be taking the whole school to St Andrews church for our annual harvest festival. We are looking forward to watching Year 6 lead the service and listening to all the classes singing. Please ensure that all children have a coat in school on Tuesday in case we have rain, wind or cold. Unfortunately, due to the size of the church, we are unable to invite parents to join us for this service. 

To celebrate the harvest, we are asking families to contribute a donation to Okehampton food bank. More details about the food bank and how you can help them can be found here: okehamptonfoodbank.co.uk/

This month, rather then foodstuffs, the foodbank particularly need the following items:

• Tooth paste
• Toothbrushes
• Deodorants
• Kitchen cleaners
• Soap
• Shampoo

Please bring any of these, or other items you are happy to donate, into school by Friday 14th October and we will arrange for them to be delivered to the foodbank. Many thanks.

18 children from Year 5 and 6 attended the football tournament, at Okehampton Primary School, on Friday. They all played brilliantly and were excellent role models for the school! The B team also came away with silver medals - a fantastic achievement. Well done to all of those children who took part and a big thank you to the Mrs Watts and Mrs West for accompanying the children. 

Week commencing Monday 10th October - Parents' evening appointments by telephone
Week commencing Monday 24th October - Half term holiday
Monday 31st October - Y5 Dartmoor Ranger Walk
Tuesday 8th November - Tempest Individual Photos
Thursday 10th November - Open afternoon for September 2023 intake
Week commencing Monday 14th November -  Anti Bullying week  
Friday 18th November -  Children in Need day 
Monday 28th November -  Flu immunisations
Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th December - YR and KS1 Xmas play 
Wednesday 14th December -  Whole School trip to Northcott Theatre
Thursday 15th December -  Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
Friday 16th December -  Last Day of Autumn Term
Tuesday 3rd January - Non Pupil Day
Wednesday 4th January - First day of Spring term

Many calendar and term dates can be found in the calendar at the bottom of our website home page.
2022 23 Term dates can be found here.
2023 24 Term dates can be found here.

This week, we would like to introduce James Warner.  James, who has seen two generations passing through Chagford Primary (sorry James!) is the most experienced governor on our LSB, having been a member of the Board in its various guises for about eight years. He is the Safeguarding Lead, and this role is key to understanding the effectiveness of safeguarding for everyone in the schools. He has to understand the requirements of safeguarding guidance and legislation and is ‘confident in his challenge to executive leaders on strategies for monitoring and improving the behaviour and safety of pupils.'  He supports the work of the Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), reports back to the LSB about how effective safeguarding is, and ensures that the school is compliant with statutory guidance, with all the appropriate policies in place and reviewed in a timely way.  He also checks whether there is a consistency in safeguarding across the whole school (approach and reporting), and ensures that there are effective systems in place to keep vulnerable children safe.
 
It is an extremely important role, and with his impending retirement from the Board (having served two full terms), we are seeking to replace him.  If you have an interest in exploring this governor role further, please do contact me or Liz (details below).

We have recently welcomed a couple of new governors to the LSB and will introduce you to them, once all the mandatory training has been completed.  All governors annually revisit their training needs to identify any gaps that could be filled.  For example, we have all recently ensured our Safeguarding Young People, The Prevent Duty, and Data Protection training is up to date. 

We are looking forward to seeing you all at our impending Community Forums, and the principals of each school will let you know when those are to be held.  Parent voice is incredibly important to the schools, so please do try and attend if you are able!  It is an important opportunity to let your voice be heard.

Best wishes,

Mel & Liz
[email protected]
[email protected]

With rising costs for food and fuel, many families will be worried about their finances this winter. It is always worth checking if you are eligible for free school meals as this funding means we may be able to help with the costs of trips and activities as well as lunches. Please check the Devon Citizen Portal to see if you are eligible even if your child is currently in Year R, 1 or 2. 

Year 6 parents can use the same link above to apply for their child's secondary school place. Please also note that the Devon admissions team have a new facebook page all about school admissions which you may find useful:
https://www.facebook.com/DCCSchoolAdmissions/  ​

​We had a very successful AGM last month and wanted to introduce you to the PTA team for the year. From left to right we have our co-chairs, Hannah and Liz. Then on the right we have our new treasurers Ruth and Matt who we’d like to welcome to the team!

Thank you to everyone who came and signed up for the 100 club this week. We hope you were entertained by our lovely PTA banner threatening to take off in the wind! We were so pleased to be able to use our card payment machine which worked, thanks to Alex's tech support ! We will endeavor to bring this along to all future events.
We want to say a huge thank you to Saffron O’Neil and family who have been selling their surplus homegrown produce this summer. This raised £39.35 and has kindly been donated to the PTA. Thank you!
You should have received a letter regarding the Disco on Friday 14th October. If you are able to come and help at any of the sessions please do let us know by dropping us an email or come and find us at drop off or pick up.
We are still seeking winter clothes donations, there is a box in the school office for you to drop them in. Thanks to those who have already donated. If you have clothing you are keen to get rid of but it isn’t suitable for the winter clothing sale, never fear we have another ‘bags to school’ collection booked for Friday 25th November. More information to follow!
If you have any questions or would like to get involved please don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] or speak to one of us at the school gate, now that you can see who we are!!
Don’t forget our next meeting will be on Wednesday 2nd November at 8pm via teams.
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Winter Clothes Donations
We are seeking pre-loved winter clothes.
We plan to run a winter clothing sale on Wednesday 19th October after school. We thought this would be a great way to help everyone with rising costs, reuse items to reduce our impact on the environment and raise funds for our children all at the same time!  To make this even sweeter we will have some cakes for sale as well. If you'd like to donate some cakes please bring them to the school office on the morning of Wednesday 19th October.
If you have any of the items listed below in good condition and would like to donate them please send them into school to be collected in a box in the school office.
•       Hats / ear muffs
•       Gloves
•       Coats
•       Fleeces
•       Jumpers
•       Gillets
•       Christmas jumpers and clothing
•       Dressing up clothes (halloween / world book day)

D.I.S.C.O
It is time to get your groove on! Back by popular demand, we are holding a disco on Friday 14th October. Please remember to return permission slips and payment by Wednesday 12th to allow us to make arrangements.
It will be the same format as we have done before, £2.50 per child to include a snack and drink. 
2.30pm - 3.15pm Preschool 
3.30pm - 4.30pm Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
4.45pm - 5.45pm Year 3 and Year 4.
6pm - 7pm Year 5 and 6.
If you are able to help out at one or more of the sessions we would be grateful if you could email us at [email protected]
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​PTA 100 club
There is still time to buy your number for Octobers draws! We only have a few remaining to contact Emma at [email protected] 
 Many thanks for your support!
 
 
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 2nd November at 8pm via Teams.

This week, several classes enjoyed visits from The Devon Wildlife Trust, Year 6 travelled to Okehampton to take part in Junior Lifeskills, YR dodged the showers to go blackberry picking and all classes enjoyed the full primary curriculum. 

On Thursday evening, all of the teachers joined in with virtual Subject Communities of Practice meetings virtually with teachers from across all the Trust primary schools. This gave subject leaders the chance to discuss and shape the curriculum in each subject area, to share good practice and resources and to establish professional networks for discussion and support. 

As we enter the 5th week of the term, we have made the decision to postpone the parent information evening and meet the teacher sessions for now. Every date we planned clashed with another event such as the tutor meetings or open evenings at Okehampton College, or our own phonics meetings for children in Year R, 1 and 2. After-school clubs start this week and this also effects the teacher's availability. Instead, we will go ahead with individual parents' evenings over the next few weeks. Please also remember that the staff are present on the gates every morning and will also ring you back for a discussion if you ring or email the school and ask to speak to them. 

Thank you to everyone who has already signed their children up to after-school clubs. There are still some spaces available at all clubs. Please sign up through your School Gateway accounts if you would like your child to have a place. Please note that choir will start after October half term and run until Christmas to prepare the children for some Christmas events. 

Next Thursday is census day and there will be a menu change:

Hot Dog or Veggi Hot Dog served with chips and Baked Beans 
Bonfire Toffee Cake 

It really helps our school meals funding if as many children as possible have school dinners on census day. If you would like to change your child's booking for Thursday, please ring the school office on 01837 840242 or email [email protected]

The children of Year 3 will be holding a cake sale for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 during their break times on Thursday 6th October . Cakes will be 50p each. If your child would like to buy a delicious cake, please send in 50 pence (with your child) on Thursday. 

The money will go towards some activities that Year 3 would like to take part in before Mrs Everett takes maternity leave.

Congratulations to Year 3 who achieved the highest weekly attendance this week of 98.5%. Please help your child to succeed academically and physically, and to build strong friendships with their classmates by maximising their attendance.

It’s that time of year again! South Zeal Carnival will take place on 22nd October. It’s not too late to create your entry.
The afternoon parade meets at Kings Arms at 1.30 - no need to enter just turn up.
The evening parade starts by lining in the village at 5.00 then moves off at 7pm.
We hope to see you there.

The committee are missing some trophies if you think you have one could you return them ASAP.

Dear Mrs Marvin ,

I am pleased to announce that I will be holding another of my annual Christmas card competitions this year.

I am asking primary school children in Central Devon to design a festive card inspired by their own interpretation of the Christmas celebration. The winning entry will be sent to well over a thousand constituents and fellow Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

This year, I will be sending out an electronic Christmas card. There will be one winner and two runners-up. The winner will have their Christmas design shown as the image upon opening the e-card and will also receive a small prize. The runners-up will also have their designs included in the e-card. All three children will have their name, age, and school displayed under their design.

Entries should be received at [email protected], or my Westminster office at the above address, no later than Friday 4th November. Submissions will preferably be in an electronic format (or if a physical card sized at 190mm x 130mm) and be accompanied by the name, age, and school of the artist responsible.

If you have any questions, please do let me know. I look forward to receiving the pupils' designs.

With best wishes,
 
Mel
 
Rt Hon. Mel Stride MP
Member of Parliament for Central Devon

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Annual General meeting on Tuesday, it was wonderful to see you all and welcome some new faces. Committee members were elected and we are pleased to continue as co-chairs for the year ahead. Ali will be stepping down as treasurer with Ruth and Matt taking on the role. We are so grateful to Ali for her tremendous efforts over the past 3 years, a huge thank you from us all. The role of secretary remains vacant. If you would like to join us, we would love to hear from you.
We have started planning some fun fundraising events for the term ahead! You will be pleased to hear we will be holding a cake sale and a disco!!
We agreed each class would receive £300 towards the costs of trips and £100 for resources to support the curriculum.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 2nd November at 8pm via Teams.
As ever if you have any questions or would like to get involved please don't hesitate to email us at [email protected]
Best wishes
Hannah and Liz

​September's draw has been rolled over to next month as we need to boost our numbers to increase the winnings! We will be outside school on Wednesday 5th October at 2.45pm. If you'd like to renew your membership or join the 100 club then please come and see us or contact Emma at [email protected]  
 Many thanks for your support!

Winter Clothes Donations
We are seeking pre-loved winter clothes.
We plan to run a winter clothing sale on Wednesday 19th October after school. We thought this would be a great way to help everyone with rising costs, reuse items to reduce our impact on the environment and raise funds for our children all at the same time!  To make this even sweeter we will have some cakes for sell as well. If you'd like to donate some cakes please bring them to the school office on the morning of Wednesday 19th October.
If you have any of the items listed below in good condition and would like to donate them please send them into school to be collected in a box in the school office.
•       Hats / ear muffs
•       Gloves
•       Coats
•       Fleeces
•       Jumpers
•       Gillets
•       Christmas jumpers and clothing
•       Dressing up clothes (halloween / world book day)
Secondhand Uniform Sales
Did you know we collect donations of school uniform all year round, if you have any out grown uniform, including PE kit please drop it in the school office.
We also sell second hand uniform all year round, It is £1 per item!! There is a rail in the school office and lots more can be seen on our facebook page. Christine does a wonderful job uploading pictures and you can message her on facebook if there is something you would like.
D.I.S.C.O
It is time to get your groove on! Back by popular demand, we are holding a disco on Friday 14th October. More details about payment and timings coming very soon!
It will be the same format as we have done before, £2.50 per child to include a snack and drink. 
Preschool (timing to be arranged)
3.30pm - 4.30pm Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
4.45pm - 5.45pm Year 3 and Year 4.
6pm - 7pm Year 5 and 6.
If you are able to help out at one or more of the sessions we would be grateful if you could email us at [email protected]
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Sport and Art
Breakfast & Afternoon Clubs
Mini Camps
Activity CampsOCRA’s half-term holiday programme is back with a fantastic range of activities for 3-14 year olds!
Sport & Art returns Tuesday 25th and Thursday 27th October with Breakfast Club, Afternoon Club and All Day tickets available.
Our Activity Camps will include Mini Camps for 3-5yrs (athletics, football) and activities for older age groups (athletics, create-and-craft, cyclo-cross, football).
To pay for activities, please click on the ‘Book’ link for your chosen camp. For each child attending, enter the name and age of the child, and select ‘Add to cart.’
You will be asked to complete a paper registration and consent form on the day.