We received news this week that our Y4 team won the recent Festival of Hope Indoor Athletics tournament against all of the other Trust schools. The children had to take part in a variety of running, jumping and throwing activities with the points from all events for the whole team totalled. Well done, to all who took part! On Friday, the rest of the school had the wonderful experience of watching the Years 3 and 4 dress rehearsal of their Oliver production. We all enjoyed it enormously and are sure you will too. The performances are on Monday at 4pm and Tuesday at 6pm and all parents should have received their ticket confirmations on Friday. Little Beacons, Year R and years 1 and 2 all thoroughly enjoyed a visit from the North Dartmoor Search and Rescue team earlier this week. Little Beacons children enjoyed looking at the Landrover and lots of interesting equipment. They then used maps in Preschool to plan their own rescue missions. They also learnt about the Coastguard, made their own rescue boats and mixed red and yellow paint so they could paint their Lifeboats orange. Mr Wilkins took the children from tag rugby club to the recreation ground on Friday afternoon for a very wet and windy tag rugby tournament against other local schools. The children played brilliantly and had lots of fun. Message from Mel Holyoak, Chair of LSBThree Hares Local Stakeholder Board Many of our pupils will have participated in the Festival of Hope week, organised by the Dartmoor MAT. We had children attend sporting and art events, amongst other things. Part of our role as governors is to gather pupil and parent voice, so that your feedback can be provided to the Trust via us. With that in mind, may I ask you for your and your children’s feedback in relation to the Festival of Hope? It can be as detailed or as minimal as you wish, but to be able to provide something from the Three Hares schools would be really great. If your child attended an event, did they get value from it (and if so, what?), did they enjoy it (why?), did they understand the connection between the Trust and them as individuals? Did they love the Festival of Hope song and video? Anything along those lines would be enormously useful. Please send any comments and feedback to me at mholyoak@dmatschools.org.uk. Thank you! Mel Chair of the Three Hares LSB PTA NewsPTA news The PTA are organising raffles for the two year 3/4 shows this week - so don't forget to bring a pound or 2 to be in with a chancing of winning some great prizes!! Decorate an Easter egg competition It's not too late to buy an egg from your teacher, decorate it and return it to your teacher on Wednesday 29th March! Also you could buy and decorate more than one egg if you wanted to! Decorate them however you like - let your imaginations run wild! Mrs Marvin and her team of judges will pick the best one from each year (including pre-school!). The winning decorated eggs will then be displayed in South Zeal village shop window...plus the winners will win a chocolatey treat!! Egg hunt The PTA are providing small chocolate eggs, so that each class can enjoy and Easter egg hunt this week! Pop up tuck shop We will be having a pop up tuck shop to celebrate the last day of term - Friday 31st! Don't forget to bring some money to pick up! Dates to remember Monday 17th April - Our next meeting via teams. Tuesday 6th June - Bags to School collection Thank you all for continuing to support our fundraising efforts. Upcoming EventsMonday 27th 4pm and Tuesday 28th March 6pm - Y3/4 performances of Oliver Thursday 30th March - Festival of Hope football tournament at Okehampton College Thursday 30th March - OCRA Futsal tournament for years 3/4 Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential at Okehampton College Friday 21st April - Final round of Cross Country competition at Chagford Cricket Club. Monday 8th May - School closed for Coronation Tuesday 9th - Friday 12th May - Year 6 SATS week Sunday 14th - Friday 19th May - Year 6 residential to France Monday 29th May - Friday 2nd June - Half term Monday 5th June - Friday 16th June - Year 4 Multiplication Check Monday 12th June - Friday 16th June - Year 1 Phonics screening check Tuesday 23rd June - Trust Rainbow Day. Details to follow Wednesday 5th July - proposed Sports' Day TBC Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th July - proposed Y5/6 production Friday 21st July - Year 6 Leavers' assembly Friday 21st July - Last day of the academic year. 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. South Zeal BeaversFree Courses for staff and parentsThe AIM Group are working together with DMAT schools to support staff and parents access FREE children's wellbeing support courses (already helped 55 people this year) How does this work? By using government funding, they offer free learning resources designed to learn and complete in your own time on a laptop of tablet What is involved? You will learn all about the subject, and answer a number of questions to show your understanding (only requires a few paragraphs) Courses available to start in March/April? Adverse Childhood Experiences, Distressed Behaviour in Children, Specific Learning Difficulties, Understanding Autism, Children's Mental Health Funding Criteria? Aged 19 or over on or before 31st August 2022 / UK/EU residency for 3+ years / Not already on a free online course (Apprenticeship for example) Application Deadline [31st March] funding changes expected so we want to make sure as many people get on before that happens. If you are interested, click the link below Chris Greenfield will be in touch once you have registered interest so he can explain more and confirm if you would like to go ahead DMAT Schools [March applications] - link to register course interest Looking forward to hearing from you all Palm Sunday Church ServiceHere's some of the news from across the school this week: Little Beacons - Last week in Preschool, we enjoyed a visit from Police Officer Matt as part of our 'People Who Help Us' topic. We turned into detectives for the day on Friday and solved the mystery of the missing number 3's. We followed clues to find a naughty Scarecrow had taken them and hidden them in the Forest School! We also had lots of fun playing in our own Police Station in the role play area. Year 3 - We are authors! This week in English, we have been writing our own versions of the story ‘A River’ by Marc Martin. The children have worked hard to think of their own mode of transport and where they would travel to. We use storyboards to plan and map out our journeys. The children have spent today writing and editing their stories. You can watch the original story below and, if you are lucky, the children may give you a sneak peak to their version! Year R - This week we have planted three trees in our school field. The children learnt about the differences between the Silver Birch, Hazel and Oak trees. To accompany them, we made our own signs in the woodwork area. We look forward to watching them grow as the children move along their journey through school. Year 6 have had a full set of practice tests this week which they have taken very calmly and successfully. Ten children from Year 4 took part in the Festival of Hope Indoor Athletics tournament at Holsworthy Community College - photos and results to follow. Year R and Little Beacons had a visit from an Early Years consultant who praised the good practice and children's behaviour in both settings. The whole school wore red on Friday to raise money for Comic Relief. Upcoming EventsMonday 20th March - Years 1-6 Pupil reports to parents Thursday 23rd March - Festival of Hope netball tournament at Tavistock College Friday 24th March - Tag Rugby competition at South Zeal Recreation ground Monday 27th 4pm and Tuesday 28th March 6pm - Y3/4 performances of Oliver Monday 27th March - 2nd round of Cross Country competition at Sleekers' Farm, Sourton. Thursday 30th March - Festival of Hope football tournament at Okehampton College Thursday 30th March - OCRA Futsal tournament for years 3/4 Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential at Okehampton College Friday 21st April - 3rd and final round of Cross Country competition at Chagford Cricket Club. Tuesday 23rd June - Trust Rainbow Day. Details to follow 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. Attendance UpdateWe seem to have been hit by a variety of illnesses this year and the whole school attendance for the year to date is a little below our target of 96%. As the days become longer, lighter and (possibly) warmer, we hope to see this figure rise. Please help your child to maximise their learning by ensuring that they are attend school every day they are well enough. Y1-6 Reports to parents - we're hoping to send home your child's report tomorrow. Please look out for large envelopes coming home in book bags. Alongside the report will be an attendance certificate showing your child's attendance for the year so far. Later in the week, we will also be sending home letters about attendance to the parents of children whose attendance is causing concern. The purpose of these letters are to ensure that parents are aware when attendnace is dipping so that we can work together to improve this where possible. School UniformSchool uniform can be purchased from Schoolwear Direct, Mole Avon and Thomas Moore. The links to the uniform available at Schoolwear Direct are below. Don't forget that our PTA also sell a large range of pre-worn school uniform in great condition for just £1 per garment. Little Beacons https://www.schoolweardirect.co.uk/product-category/find-my-school/little-beacons-preschool/ South Tawton https://www.schoolweardirect.co.uk/product-category/find-my-school/south-tawton-primary-school/ PTA News
Decorate an Easter egg competition Eggs have been so popular we sold out last week. A fresh supply will be back with the teachers tomorrow. Decorate them however you like - let your imaginations run wild! Hand them back to your teachers by Wednesday 29th March and then Mrs Marvin and her team of judges will pick the best one from each year. The winning decorated eggs will then be displayed in South Zeal village shop window...plus the winners will win a chocolatey treat!! Dates to remember…. Monday 17th April - Our next meeting via teams. Tuesday 6th June - Bags to School collection Thank you all for continuing to support our fundraising efforts. Summer Term Clubs from SAINTs SouthwestGreat news, our Summer Term Extra-Curricular Clubs are now available for parents to book on to!
Parents/Guardians need to simply follow the link below and find the correct school and day they would like to book on to. Class for Kids Booking Link - https://saints-southwest.class4kids.co.uk/term/87 Welcome, baby JudeGood Luck, Miss BennettChloe Bennett, our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator across the Three Hares Schools, has successfully applied for a new job and will be leaving our schools at Easter. Chloe has been part of the Three Hares for a very long time, having started her career as a teacher at South Tawton Primary School back in 2008. We are very happy for Chloe as her new job will be a step forward in her career - we wish her all the best in her new role. At South Tawton Primary School, Liz Davidson will be leading on SEND for the Summer Term, supported by the Trust SEND team. We know she will do an excellent job. From September, a new hub SENDCo will be in place. We know that parents and carers will want to join us in giving Chloe Bennett their very best wishes for this next step in her journey. South Tawton Primary School will not be closed due to strike action this weekFollowing on from previous correspondence regarding the National Education Union (NEU) calling their members to strike, in accordance with the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992, we are writing to inform you of our school plans should the industrial action go ahead as planned. To determine if there will be the need for a full or partial closure on some or all of these days, we have undertaken a risk assessment and I am writing to confirm our arrangements for Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March 2023. The school will be fully open to all year groups on both days. Staff Car Park Gate The wooden gates into the staff car park have recently been fixed and will now once more be closed during the school day. This is an important aspect of our safeguarding procedures and ensures that only school staff, pupils and signed in visitors are on the school site at any time. If you are collecting pupils from after-school clubs, please do not use the staff car park as having cars moving around the carpark when children are crossing it from the field presents an unnecessary risk. Children will be brought to the playground gates and handed over to parents at the end of clubs. Thank you for your help in keeping our pupils safe. Make Our Future BrightHopefully, your children will have told you about our Trust song for the Festival of Hope. Pupils across all Trust schools were recently recorded singing this song and the digital team have put together a wonderful video showcasing this. The video can be viewed on YouTube by following the link below. Watch here! Upcoming EventsWednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March - Possible NEU Strike Action. South Tawton Primary School will be fully open Friday 17th March - PTA Chocolate Bingo Monday 20th March - Years 1-6 Pupil reports to parents Friday 24th March - Tag Rugby competition at South Zeal Recreation ground Monday 27th 4pm and Tuesday 28th March 6pm - Y3/4 performances of Oliver Monday 27th March - 3rd and final round of Cross Country competition at Sleekers' Farm, Sourton. Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential Tuesday 23rd June - Trust Rainbow Day. Details to follow 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. PTA NewsThank you so much for everyone's support and participation in the Books Bingo! Not only did a lot of the children really challenge themselves by reading a variety of books, it raised £175 for the PTA ! And it is with great pleasure that we can announce that Saffron in Year 2 won the toy shop voucher!! Chocolate Bingo! Friday 17th March, in the school hall. Doors open 6pm and eyes down at 6.30pm. £5 for a book, refreshments will be available to purchase and of course a great raffle at half time! Please can we ask for donations of chocolate eggs - big or small - to be dropped off to the school office by pick up on Monday 13th! Decorate an Easter egg competition Blank eggs will be available to buy for £1, from your teachers from Monday 13th. Decorate them however you like - let your imaginations run wild! Hand them back to your teachers by Wednesday 29th March and then Mrs Marvin will pick the best one from each year. The winning decorated eggs will then be displayed in South Zeal village shop window...plus the winners will win a chocolatey treat!! Once again, thank you for your ongoing support - the PTA couldn't function without you!! Message from Okehampton Library
We had such fun on Thursday celebrating World Book Day. The children (and staff!) looked amazing in their costumes and many of them were able to talk eloquently about their characters and favourite books. Most of the classes got together for some buddy reading time which is always enjoyable. Thank you to everyone who has sent in photos of their children reading in usual places or to unusual friends. If anyone else would like to participate, please email photos to me by 4pm on Monday 6th March. Below is a sneak preview of some of the wonderful photos received so far. To keep the excitement and buzz around reading going a little longer, here is some information from the official website: World Book Day changes lives through a love of books and shared reading. Our mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. We want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them. World Book Day was created by UNESCO on 23rd April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. The first World Book Day in the UK and Ireland took place in 1997 to encourage young people to discover the pleasure of reading. As World Book Day founder, Baroness Gail Rebuck, recalls “We wanted to do something to reposition reading and our message is the same today as it was then – that reading is fun, relevant, accessible, exciting, and has the power to transform lives.” Spending just 10 minutes a day reading and sharing stories with children can make a crucial difference to their future success and it’s fun for all involved. That’s why World Book Day continues to encourage children and young people to read for pleasure through its work with authors, illustrators, publishers, bookshops and libraries. Use these resources to share stories at home or in schools, nurseries, bookshops and libraries:
Year 4 Trip to EscotOn Tuesday, we visited Escot to take part in their History program (Anglo-Saxon’s experience). The weather was fantastic and the members of staff had a full list of activities for us to participate in. We started by completing a maze before heading to the Anglo - Saxon village and engaging in the daily routines and jobs that the Anglo - Saxons would have done. These included: baking bread, metal work (making a roach), woodwork and writing by carving into wood. After lunch, we explored the park and learnt about the animals that were living in England at that time. As the children were so brilliantly behaved, we spent the last 20 minutes of the day playing and having fun in the park. The members of staff at Escot were amazed at the children’s behaviour and mentioned that they were a credit to the school. They also kindly gifted us the materials and artefacts that we had made which are now on display in the classroom. We'd like to say a huge thank you to the PTA for contributing towards the cost of our trip. It's very much appreciated and a good day was had by all! Upcoming EventsThese events are updated regularly and sometimes need to be changed: Monday 6th - Friday 31st March - DMAT Festival of Hope Wednesday 8th March - 2nd round Cross Country competition at Chagford Cricket club Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March - Possible NEU Strike Action Friday 17th March - PTA Chocolate Bingo Monday 20th March - Years 1-6 Pupil reports to parents Friday 24th March - Tag Rugby competition at South Zeal Recreation ground Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th March - Y3/4 performances (to be confirmed) Monday 27th March - 3rd and final round of Cross Country competition at Sleekers' Farm, Sourton. Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential Tuesday 23rd June - Trust Rainbow Day. Details to follow 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. PTA 100 Club There was excitement in Year R this week as they helped with February's 100 Club draw! The winners were: 88 Tom Powell 42 Fiona Passmore 66 Mike Mills Congratulations! Many thanks to all for supporting the 100 Club. If you'd like to join and be in with a chance to win then please get in touch via southtawton100club@gmail.com The Book Bingo draw will take place on Monday 6th March. Please bring any more slips and sponsorship money in to be in with a chance of winning the big prize.
This week, we've been delighted to welcome Miss Emily Coleman to the school to teach Year 3. We are eagerly awaiting baby news from Mrs Everett and will share this with you as soon as we can. Despite being cold, we have had some lovely sunshine and dry weather and have noticed flowers and new plants appearing around the school site. These are very welcome signs of Spring and we look forward to warmer weather and more opportunities for outdoor learning. Unfortunately, we have had a number of children absent from school this week with a sickness bug. In order to help us to limit the spread of this, please keep your child at home for 48 hours after the last episode of sickness or diarrhoea as they can remain infectious within this period. Thank you. Year 5 Trip to the Eden ProjectTo start our new Geography and Science topics of Biomes and Plants & Living Things, Year 5 visited the Eden Project this week. We learnt lots about adaptations and went on an exploration of the Rainforest Biome, trying to hunt particular species of plant. Jamie, the education officer, taught us about how plants protect themselves. One group particularly enjoyed watching touch-me-not plants close themselves to stop goats eating them! Pupils were impeccably behaved, Eden staff commented on the interesting questions that were asked & their eagerness to learn. Well done Year 5; I'm delighted to hear how beautifully you represented the school. World Book DayThe school will be open to all year groups on Thursday 2nd March and will not be affected by NEU strike action. This means that our plans for World Book Day will go ahead and we would love the children to come to school dressed as a character from a book they have enjoyed. We would also like to make a display of photographs of our pupils reading in an unusual location or to an unusual friend (this friend may be furry....) Please could all photos be emailed to me at smarvin@dmatschools.org.uk and I will arrange for them to be printed and displayed. Thank you to those of you who have sent me these already. Cricket LessonsNiall from Devon Cricket visited on Tuesday and was able to give each class a cricket lesson. These were highly instructive and great fun. We are delighted that Niall will be returning to school to deliver a block of lessons in the summer term. Thank you, Mrs Dennis for arranging this. In other sporting news, Year 5 and 6 took part in an Futsal Tournament organised by OCRA on Thursday. All the children played matches and supported each other brilliantly. Apologies that they came home so muddy! Years 3 and 4 will get a chance to play in their own tournament later this half term. Upcoming EventsTuesday 28th February - Y4 Trip to Escot Park Thursday 2nd March - World Book Day (get those costumes ready!) Monday 6th - Friday 31st March - DMAT Festival of Hope Wednesday 8th March - 2nd round Cross Country competition at Chagford Cricket club Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March - Possible NEU Strike Action Friday 17th March - PTA Chocolate Bingo Monday 20th March - Pupil reports to parents Friday 24th March - Tag Rugby competition at South Zeal Recreation ground Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th March - Y3/4 performances (to be confirmed) Monday 27th March - 3rd and final round of Cross Country competition at Sleekers Farm, Sourton. Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential Tuesday 23rd June - Trust Rainbow Day. Details to follow 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. More cross country photos from OCRAGoodbye (for now) to Mrs EverettOn Friday, we had to say goodbye to Mrs Everett who is starting her maternity leave on Monday 20th February. I am sure that everyone will join me in wishing her and her family the very best. With only two weeks until her baby is due, Mrs Everett has been tireless in ensuring a smooth transition for her class to their new teacher, Miss Emily Coleman. We're looking forward to including some baby photos in a newsletter very soon! The days, weeks and months have flown and we find ourselves half way through the school year! We wish all our families a very lovely and restful half term break, and hope you all enjoy the lovely Spring sunshine. We look forward to welcoming all the children back into school on Monday 20th February. Some news from around school this weekJohn Muir Night Walk On Thursday, Year 5 and 6 took part in a night walk to Finch Foundry. It was amazing to listen to the birds at dusk and interesting to find out about the types of flora and fauna that are suitable to these temperate rainforest and woodland conditions. Year 3 said Goodbye to Mrs Everett Year 3 got to enjoy their class party this week as they said goodbye to Mrs Everett. They all had a great time with some bubbles, several games of musical statues and yummy food. It was a really lovely way to end the term with the class. Year R Zoo trip Year R had a super day at Paignton Zoo this week. We saw so many animals, found out what they ate and how endangered they are. Back in class children have made their own zoo maps, wrote and talked about their visit and worked together to make animal themed artwork. Upcoming EventsMonday 13th - Friday 17th February - Half term break Tuesday 21st February - Whole school cricket sessions Thursday 23rd February - OCRA futsal sessions Friday 24th February - Y5 Trip to The Eden Project Tuesday 28th February - Y4 Trip to Escot Park Thursday 2nd March - World Book Day (get those costumes ready!) Thursday 2nd March - Possible NEU Strike Action Monday 6th - Friday 31st March - DMAT Festival of Hope Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March - Possible NEU Strike Action Friday 17th March - PTA Chocolate Bingo Monday 20th March - Pupil reports to parents Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th March - Y3/4 performances (to be confirmed) Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential 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. Vacancies at South Tawton Primary SchoolEYFS Foundation Stage Practitioner
Work Pattern: 18 hours per week, term time Salary: Grade B £20,441 full time equivalent (£10.60 per hour) Job Term: Fixed term to 31.08.2023 Closing Date: 20th February 2023 Teaching Assistant (temporary) Required as soon as possible Work Pattern: 17.6 hours per week Salary: SCP C4 £21,189 full time equivalent Job Term: Fixed term - 6 weeks Closing Date: 20th February 2023 For more information and to apply online, please click here. Love Yourself DayNext week is Children's Mental Health week. Across the UK, schools and colleges will be thinking about how we can help children to be in tune with themselves, in harmony with the people they are connected to and in good relations with the wide, wide world around and beyond them. We started this early at South Tawton with our Love Yourself Day. Alongside the children wearing their favourite clothes and bringing their favourite snacks and toys, they were also encouraged to think of things to celebrate about themselves. All pupils wrote their ideas on a pink heart and these are now displayed in the hall windows. Upcoming EventsMonday 6th February - Friday 10th February - Children's Mental Health Week. Theme - Let's Connect Monday 6th February - Netball match vs Bow Primary School Tuesday 7th February - YR trip to Paignton Zoo Thursday 9th February - John Muir Evening for Y5/6 Monday 13th - Friday 17th February - Half term break Tuesday 21st February - Whole school cricket sessions Thursday 23rd February - OCRA futsal sessions Friday 24th February - Y5 Trip to The Eden Project Tuesday 28th February - Y4 Trip to Escot Park Thursday 2nd March - World Book Day (get those costumes ready!) Thursday 2nd March - Possible NEU Strike Action Monday 6th - Friday 31st March - DMAT Festival of Hope Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March - Possible NEU Strike Action Friday 17th March - PTA Chocolate Bingo Monday 20th March - Pupil reports to parents Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th March - Y3/4 performances (to be confirmed) Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday Monday 17th April 6pm - French Trip meeting for parents about the Y6 French residential 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. Cross Country at Simmons Park30 pupils spent Friday afternoon at Simmons Park taking part in an inter-schools cross country event. For many of the children, it was their first race of this kind; others were looking to build on their successes from last season. We saw some amazing team and individual efforts and extremely gutsy running from all. We had some superb podium finishes and some excellent team work. Perhaps the best thing of the afternoon for me was the way every South Tawton child cheered and supported our teams in the other races. A fantastic afternoon. Thank you to everyone who made it possible by helping with transport and supporting. If our cross country runners need any further encouragement, then I'm delighted to share news of Luke. Luke was a very keen member of our school cross country team through his time at South Tawton and has continued to experience considerable success now he is at college. On Saturday, Luke represented Devon in the South West Schools Cross Country Championships. He had an excellent run, placing 29th overall and 4th in Devon. The Devon team were third. Well done, Luke! Message From Devon County CouncilSupport for families as food poverty risesThe number of households in Devon unable to access or afford the food that they need to ensure that they and their families stay healthy has increased by 70 per cent in 18 months. And more than a third of households say that that they plan to switch off their heating altogether this winter to help make ends meet. If your family is struggling to afford to eat healthily and keep warm this winter, please remember that support is available. We're working with local partners, including local councils, the NHS and the voluntary and community sector, on ways to support communities, and there are a variety of schemes on offer depending on your circumstances. These include the Household Support Fund, Free School Meals and Free School Meals Holiday Voucher scheme, The Holiday Activity and Food Programme and Citizens Advice Devon. For more information you can read the full story on the news page of our website, or visit our dedicated Cost of Living webpages. PTA NewsFriday was such an exciting and incredible fundraising day! Thank you for continuing to support our events and giving so generously. It was wonderful to see everyone embracing all the things they love on Love Yourself Day! And there are some brilliant things written on the pink hearts up in the hall – reinforcing all the wonderful things there is to love about themselves!! Then they topped off the day with another fantastic disco! Thank you to the teachers for staying late to help, to all the wonderful PTA volunteers, to The King's Arms for lending us lights and to your wonderful children for once again behaving beautifully! Thinking ahead to World Book Day - this week you will receive a sponsorship form for Book Bingo. The sheet has a number of book related challenges to complete - see how many you can tick off! We will collect in all forms and sponsorship money on Thursday 2nd March. All completed forms will go into a prize draw!!! Don't forget to put the long-awaited return of Chocolate Bingo night in your diaries - Friday 17th March in the School Hall. Doors open at 6.00pm, eyes down at 6.30pm! This is a really fun family event, not to be missed! More information to follow after half term. Our next meeting will be held on Monday 20th February 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 southtawtonpta@gmail.com Best wishes Hannah and Liz PTA 100 Club This week Year 4 helped with January's 100 Club draw. Congratulations to the winners: 1st 55 Sheena Vernon 2nd 83 Judith Smith 3rd 2 Ali Griffith If you're not already a member and would like to be in with a monthly chance to win then please email southtawton100club@gmail.com Friday Night was Disco Night!Dear parents,The home learning for tomorrow is detailed below.
Many of you have contacted me to let you me know that you will be unable or unwilling to complete the home learning with your children. However, as an equal number of parents have requested work for tomorrow, I am providing it. Parents may decide whether or not they wish for their children to use the materials, Best wishes, Sarah Marvin Please watch any videos associated with the lessons, complete any work on paper and bring it into school with you on Thursday. History/geography Year R – separate plans emailed from Mrs Culverhouse and displayed on class blog page. Year 1 What is an explorer? Year 2 The Great Fire of London Year 3 Why was Alexander so great? Year 4 The arrival of the Anglo Saxons Year 5 What are the Earth’s Biomes? Year 6 Population: Lesson 5: What challenges do people face living in slums? https://teachers.thenational.academy/lessons/what-challenges-do-people-face-living-in-slums-c9j32e Maths Telling the time (These lessons only or continue and watch more if you’d like to) Year 1 Naming and ordering the months of the year Year 2 Identifying quarter past on an analogue clock Year 3 Understanding that clocks have more than one scale Year 4 Reading analogue and digital 12-hour clocks Year 5 Reading timetables Year 6 Decimals, Lesson 2: Place Value - Integers and Decimals https://vimeo.com/774363439 Complete Worksheet (handed out in class) English Year 1 and Year 2 – How butterflies came to be Listen and respond to a story Grammar Practice (First lessons only or continue and watch more if you’d like to) Year 3 English Grammar lesson units for Year 3 students - Oak National Academy (thenational.academy) Year 4 English Grammar lesson units for Year 4 students - Oak National Academy (thenational.academy) Year 5 English Grammar lesson units for Year 5 students - Oak National Academy (thenational.academy) Year 6 T2: Word level objectives: Develop Knowledge of Determiners https://teachers.thenational.academy/lessons/to-develop-our-knowledge-of-determiners-6gr6cr English Spelling Silent Letters, To investigate Silent letters https://teachers.thenational.academy/lessons/to-investigate-silent-letters-c9gk4r English Writing Imagine you have entered the English version of Camp Green Lake, write a chapter introducing some of your fellow campmates and the counsellors. Home Learning for Year R Please see below links and activities for home learning on Weds 1st Feb. Paper copies are in your child's book bag. year_r_home_learning_1-2-23.pdf jungle_maths-_roll_and_add.pdf wet_and_fed_up_reading_sheet.png NEU Strike ActionParents will know that members of the National Education Union voted to take strike action a few weeks ago, that the ballot surpassed the benchmarks required and that the NEU have called for members to take action on four days over the next few weeks. The first of those days is Wednesday 1st February. As the vast majority of the teaching staff at South Tawton Primary School are members of the NEU and intend to follow their union's call for action, we will be unable to fully open the school to pupils on Wednesday. Teachers regret the inconvenience to parents and carers and are very mindful of the disruption to routine and to children's education. They feel that issues in the state education system at the moment which are impacting on their pay and conditions are also impacting, perhaps with greater effect, on the education and wellbeing of the pupils that they care for. The teachers wish for you to know that the strike action is taken reluctantly but with clear intent. They hope that this action will bring the attention of the government and of the public to bear on the issues of funding in general which are making it more difficult for teachers to teach and children to learn. The school will only be partially open to pupils on Wednesday 1st February. Preschool will be open as usual. We will look at the other forthcoming dates for strike action as they come nearer. Home learning will be set for all pupils not in school and will be emailed out or available on school blogs by Wednesday morning. Please bear with me whilst this learning is set - striking teachers cannot be asked to set work for their classes, so I will be planning the activities over the next few days. Crazy Hair DayHi, It's Flo from Year 6 and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated on the Crazy Hair Day. Altogether in school, we raised a massive £290.06. Along with my Just-Giving page and some other wonderful donations, we have now raised a whopping £600.06 in total which more than covers the cost of a wig and fitting for a child with cancer. We still have a collection box in the Sticklepath Store which we have yet to collect. I will be getting my hair cut on Monday 30th of January and will be taking lots of photos to show everyone. Once again, thank you so much for the donations. I really appreciate it. Upcoming EventsWednesday 1st February - school partially closed due to NEU strike action Friday 3rd February - ❤️ Love Yourself Day and PTA disco (Wear something you love, bring a toy you love and a snack you love ❤️ ) Friday 3rd February - Cross Country event at Simmons Park. Monday 6th February - Friday 10th February - Children's Mental Health Week. Theme - Let's Connect Monday 6th February - Netball match vs Bow Primary School Tuesday 7th February - YR trip to Paignton Zoo Thursday 9th February - John Muir Evening for Y5/6 Monday 13th - Friday 17th February - Half term break Tuesday 21st February - Whole school cricket sessions Thursday 23rd February - OCRA futsal sessions Friday 24th February - Y5 Trip to The Eden Project Tuesday 28th February - Y4 Trip to Escot Park Thursday 2nd March - World Book Day (get those costumes ready!) Thursday 2nd March - Possible NEU Strike Action Monday 6th - Friday 31st March - DMAT Festival of Hope Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March - Possible NEU Strike Action Friday 17th March - PTA Chocolate Bingo Monday 20th March - Pupil reports to parents Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th March - Y3/4 performances (to be confirmed) Monday 3rd April - Friday 14th April - Easter holiday 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. PTA NewsCongratulations to Flo for a fantastic Crazy Hair day, what a great idea and a wonderful charity to support. You will get another opportunity to express yourself next Friday. To kick off Children's Mental Health week (6th - 12th February) Friday 3rd is Love Yourself Day! A non- uniform day with a twist. For a £1 donation come to school dressed in clothes you love, bring a snack you love and a small book or toy that isn't expensive or too precious. This means Year R, Year 1 and Year 2 children will not need a change of clothes for the disco. This Friday 3rd February is also the disco. The lights are ready, thanks to the King's Arms, and the playlists set. Don't forget to return your permission slips and money by Thursday 2nd February. We need to have time to check who is coming and ensure everything is in place for everyone's safety. We are very excited to be bringing back Chocolate Bingo on Friday 17th March in the School Hall. Doors open at 6.30pm, eyes down at 7pm! This is a really fun family event, not to be missed. Our next meeting will be held on Monday 20th February 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 southtawtonpta@gmail.com Best wishes Hannah and Liz D.I.S.C.O
Next Friday 3rd February it's disco time! You should have received a letter this week, please can we ask permission slips and payments are returned by Thursday 2nd February. Don't forget we will have a small tuck shop for children in years 3,4,5 and 6 and children can bring up to £3 to spend. They will be responsible for their money so a labeled purse or wallet might be a good idea. Disco times: Preschool - 2.30pm - 3,00pm- please collect your children from the school hall. 3.30pm - 4.30pm Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Please collect your children at 4.30pm from the School Hall. 4.45pm - 5.45pm Year 3 and Year 4. Please collect your children as usual at 3.30pm and bring them back for the disco at 4.45pm. They can then be collected at 5.45pm from the school hall. 6pm - 7pm Year 5 and 6. Please collect your children as usual at 3.30pm then return for the disco at 6pm. If you are able to help out at one or more of the sessions we would be grateful if you could email us at southtawtonpta@gmail.com |
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