Newsletter 8 Autumn 2020

Remembrance Sunday
They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. 

This morning, I attended the outdoor and socially distanced Remembrance Service at St Andrews Church to represent our school and lay a wreath. Bethany, Archie and Reggie were also there representing their Brownies, Cubs and Beavers. On Wednesday, members of any of these groups (and also Rainbows) are invited to wear their uniforms to school for the day instead of their school uniforms. Remembrance will be discussed in classes and we will be observing a silence at 11am.

Many thanks to Mrs Glover and Mrs Bonnett who have produced our fantastic remembrance display. 

Breakfast Club and SAINTs football club
Through this period of lockdown, we are able to keep Breakfast Club open as it is for the purpose of childcare.

​Unfortunately, the current regulations mean that we will be unable to host the SAINTs football club until restrictions are lifted on December 2nd. The guidance from the Department for Education is printed below for your information.

Out-of-school activities (including wraparound care) may continue to operate if their primary purpose is providing registered childcare, or where they are offering other childcare activities, where this is reasonably necessary to enable parents to:

• work or search for work
• undertake training or education

Lockdown Recipe Book
It is so lovely to see from these photos how many recipes are being explored, whisked, tried and tasted. There are super reviews coming in too. There are only 36 copies left of our second print run, so jump on in whilst you can!

Consultation on our Admissions policy for 2022-23
Below you will see a link to our proposed admissions policy for 2022-23. We are consulting on this between 1 November and 8 January and invite any parent or other person with an interest in our admission arrangements to read the policy and make any comments you wish. You will see where there are changes, the text is in red – either something we propose to add or, if it has a line through it, something we propose to remove.
 
One of the proposals is to add children who have been adopted from state care outside of England to our oversubscription criterion 1. This is in anticipation that the Department for Education will require this change for all schools as it has just consulted on changes to the School Admissions Code. It is possible that the Department’s timescales may mean that the Code is not amended before the end of February, when we have to formally set our policy. If that is the case, we may have to determine our policy without that change and then alter it later in spring or summer. We are bringing it to your attention though as a change in policy that we expect to have to introduce.
 
Other than changes in red and dates moving forward a year, the way our policy will work is the same as in the previous year, 2021-22 which you can also see below.
 
If you have any comments, you can make them to Devon County Council which is co-ordinating the consultation. Further information is at www.devon.gov.uk/admissionarrangements. You will be able to view the proposed policies for all state-funded schools in Devon and the Local Authorities policies there too.
 The Proposed Admissions policy can be found in the Devon CC folder below. Search for South Tawton:
Click here

South Tawton PTA presents… Make a Christmas Wreath!
Buy a fantastic festive wreath-making kit, then join us on Friday 27th November at 8pm for a virtual Zoom class with expert instruction to create your wreath.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED...
1. Pick a style: Rustic, Glitzy or Traditional
2. Email southtawtonpta@gmail.com to order your kit by Monday November 23rd. Use the subject ‘Christmas Wreath’ 
3. Pay £15 via PayPal (or cash by arrangement)
4. Your kit will be sent home with your child on Friday 27th November (or pick up by arrangement) 
5. Join us on Friday 27th November at 8pm via Zoom!

Don't forget to check out the South Tawton PTA Facebook page for all our up and coming events, pre-loved uniform and much more!  https://www.facebook.com/SouthTawtonPTA
We are pleased to announce that the PTA have raised £160 from the non-uniform day last month and £120 from the Autumn Trail - a huge thank you! With these and other funds we are really pleased to be able to significantly contribute towards some new playground markings....coming soon!

Virtual Balloon Race
The PTFA have signed up for an online balloon race in order to raise much needed funds virtually as normal fundraising efforts are hindered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The world’s only virtual balloon race system offers a 100% eco-friendly way to raise money. Mike Phillips, Managing Director of Ecoracing.co, explained, “It’s a seven-day computer simulation race where everything is real except the balloon. The software uses current live weather data to determine the progress of each balloon and each entry can be tracked on Google Maps and Satellites once launched. It has no negative environmental impact on all wildlife, climate change, plastic waste or litter.”
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He continued, “You can buy a virtual balloon for £3 and give it a name, colour, shape and pattern. In addition to this, you can select different features of your balloon, such as weight, which will determine its flight performance in order to enhance your chances of winning.” Mike added, “It’s a fun and easy way to raise funds for a cause, which kids and adults alike love.”

Keep a lookout for more details being released over the coming week, building up to the launch on 1st December, and we hope you all enjoy this chance to raise funds, engage in some friendly competition and participate in some purposeful STEM based learning! If any members of our community would like to donate prizes for this, please let us know.

PTA 100 Club

October's draw has taken place and the following numbers/people won

1st    45     Leonard Parker
2nd   83     Judith Smith
3rd    88    Jemma Greenall

New members are welcome to join the 100 Club at any time throughout the year and there are still plenty of numbers left! The more members we have in the Club, the higher the monthly cash prizes and the greater the amount raised for our PTA funds. Please email the school office for a sign up form and confirmation of the subscription payable if you would like to join.