School Improvement in the Three Hares

I am delighted to say that this week, we managed to conclude our meetings with parents of all three schools. Members of the Three Hares Local Academy Committee (governors) and I, joined with Heads of Schools and representatives from the DMAT and Trustees to share our vision with parents, for the continuing development of each school. Parents welcomed the opportunity to ask questions and receive immediate answers from school leaders.

Together, we have been able to share information about current school improvement plans, as well as our aspirations for some more ambitious projects, known as 'legacy' projects. While school leaders are driving improvement plans on a daily basis, we are also keen to keep our sights on the bigger picture, to ensure that we always aim to achieve the absolute best for our children of the Three Hares. These projects may look different in each of the three schools, depending on the needs and issues arising, while some aims will share common themes.

This year, we have a number of overarching focus areas within all 3 schools.

• To ensure that catch-up plans are implemented and all children are back to meeting expectations according to their individual potential, following lockdown.
• Having re-worked our Three Hares curriculum, we are working hard to develop teaching and learning planning across the range of national curriculum subjects, exploring new resources, visits and visitors (when and where restrictions allow).
• Development of an online learning platform is also a significant area for development and training and resourcing to achieve this goal is already underway. All teachers have had training on the use of Google Classroom, which will enable children to access their learning in school and at home, facilitating a blended learning approach. Work can be submitted to the teacher within the online classroom and feedback can be provided, which is essential for learning and improvement.
• Fundraising to make our growing wish lists and aspirations a reality - to provide enrichment in abundance. We want our children to grow up through their primary years, experiencing a wide variety of opportunities which will make learning exciting and memorable. These years with us are the foundations on which their adult lives will rest.

We also have individual aspirational goals for each school which include:

• At Chagford, we are working to develop the grounds to enhance the outdoor learning opportunities for the children.
• At North Tawton, developing the premises with a focus on library and early years is key, in addition to developing an outdoor learning environmental area.
• At South Tawton, work to improve the 'old building' with new doors and windows as well as repair the Year R/Y1 front facia is planned and will be evident imminently. We have also undertaken a feasibility study to explore how we might bring the pre-school onto school site so that our whole school is united. Provision of a school kitchen is high on our wish list too.

I am pleased to say that we are well supported by our governors and the DMAT. 

Mel Holyoak, our Vice Chair, is driving a fundraising strategy across the three schools and their communities, which it is hoped will support some of the more ambitious projects. Our PTAs are also supporting this work with an Amazon wish list for each school, in addition to their usual excellent fundraising events.

We have been happy to have welcomed a good number of parents to each meeting across the schools and I hope that enabling parents to join us via Teams has been helpful. We look forward to our next occasion.

With very best wishes,
Elizabeth Underwood
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