Newsletter 12 Summer Term 2021

24/7/2021

Goodbye and Good luck

Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful year 6 children. We wish them every success and happiness in the next stage of their education and beyond. They've risen admirably to the challenges of the last two years and have made us smile every day with their quirky humour and characters.

We also wished Ms Laybourn all the very best for her next endeavours and bid a fond farewell to Roman who is relocating during the summer holidays.

Good luck to you all from our whole community.

It's been a hot and hectic final week and suddenly it's the end of the year. Despite the obvious challenges of Covid19, it has been such a pleasure and a privilege to lead the school through this year. The warm relationships, enthusiasm, humour and care shown by all the children and staff to one another make me immeasurably proud and happy.

Thank you to every one of our pupils for your fantastic attitudes and behaviour. You are the reason why the school is such a happy place and we all love working here.

Thank you to all the staff. So many challenges have been faced, new skills learnt, new directives taken on board and tasks completed. There's been delight and despair, and you've shone through both. Thank you and enjoy a well-earned rest.

Thank you to all parents for your lovely messages of support and gratitude through the year. Thank you for riding through the changes and rules and regulations with us, and for your enormous engagement and encouragement through the home learning months.

Thank you to the PTA who have worked tirelessly to raise money and provide us with funds for enrichment activities.

Finally, thank you to our local stakeholder board who've been so supportive through the whole year.

Enjoy the summer holiday. Stay safe and well.

Road sign competition

I was delighted to award the prizes for the recent road sign competition run by Sticklepath Parish Council. Dorothy and Regena both won book tokens for their excellent designs.

Sports' Day Winners

Pictured above are the winners of our Sports' Day last week. The blue team won the KS1 competition and the green team won overall for key stage 2. Harry and Keira were both presented with shields as the year 6 pupils who won the most points across all events. Congratulations to everyone who took part and helped to make it such a lovely day.

Then and Now

It seems amazing how much our year 6 pupils have changed since they were in Year R, 7 years ago. As they move towards their secondary education, I thought they might like to see this photo of the current year 13 students both now and when they were starting school at South Tawton. These year 13 students are still close friends as they leave college and prepare for university; I hope you all will be too!

Breakfast Club

We really can't finish the year without a mention of our breakfast club! They have been such a wonderful, happy group of children and Ruth Elliott, the club leader, asked me to thank them all. Sometimes, it's hard to know whether Ruth or the children are enjoying the club more. Breakfast club is available to children from YR to Y6 and can be booked through school gateway accounts.

New Free School for Devon

Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust are delighted to announce they will be welcoming a new Free School to its wider network of schools.
Following a successful bid to Devon County Council, the Trust will manage the new Free School presumptive for Devon, which will open in September 2022.
The Free School will be for learners with SEMH (social, emotional and mental health special needs) from the Mid Devon region who will be allocated places by Devon County Council in conjunction with the Trust.
The new school will be located in Okehampton and have 40 places initially for Early Years to KS4 and will grow year on year up to 100 learners.
Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust is excited about welcoming the new free school into its community of family-oriented schools. As a MAT with a strong local identity, it is looking forward to using its strong local knowledge and strong local connections to support all young people – both within the Trust, in the wider area and in Devon as a whole – to reach the best possible outcomes.
The Trust is passionate not only about recognising and meeting needs in the region, but truly impacting the life chances of children and young people across Devon.
Dan Morrow, Trust Leader for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said:

“DMAT is delighted to have been successful with this bid and we are thrilled that such an important entitlement for our children and communities will be within the DMAT family. This will help us on our journey to be the transformational offer that we know our families so richly deserve
“As part of our Trust, the new free school will impact positively not just on the learners and young people who access it, but the schools, and communities from which they are drawn. We’re excited to get this process underway and continue to positively expand our family of schools.”

A message from Merryn

Hello, I’m Merryn from Year 5 and I am the youngest member of the West Devon Borough Climate Change Forum. I am very keen on looking after the planet. As part of my roll on the climate forum, I have been asked to help find out what people locally would think about having an electric car and bike club in this area. This would allow people to use electric vehicles without having to pay the often prohibitively expensive cost of buying one. I would therefore be very grateful if you could spare a few moment to follow the link attached and complete the survey so we can capture your views and gauge local opinion.

Direct link to the survey: https://bit.ly/ElectricWDevon

Link to more information about the survey: https://www.westdevon.gov.uk/article/8081/Community-Led-Electric-Car-and-Bike-Club-Survey-Launched

Thank you very much
Merryn