Flourishing!
Thanks to the team of volunteers who came to school on Wednesday morning to give the garden a jolly good clear up. It's looking ready for the start of the 'proper' spring. The whole school grounds are looking absolutely lovely at the moment. I spent some happy moments taking some pictures to share with you.

Rags to Riches
Thank you to everyonewho dropped off bags for 'Rags to Riches'.
We were paid forty pence for every kilogram we collected and made over eighty nine pounds for the PTFA to spend on enrichment for our children. My reckoning says that's over two hundred kilograms. There must be a lot more space in the wardrobes of Chagford and the area! Thank you to everyone who took part and especially to Zoe and the PTFA team for organisation.

King's Coronation Celebration
We will be having a Celebration for the King's Coronation next Friday 5th May between 2pm and 3.30pm.
All children are invited to wear something Red, white, or blue and in return we are asking for donations of cakes or baked goods for the children to enjoy at the celebration. Anything left over will be sold at the end of the day, so children are welcome to bring some money if they wish. 
All children will be given a crown making kit to make and decorate at school to wear to the celebration and the children will also receive a keepsake gift from the PTFA. 

All baked donations to be taken to the school office by 1pm on Friday 5th May.
Many thanks in advance. 
The PTFA Committee 

SEND Lead
Adam newland is settling in as our SEND lead. He has met with many of the parents and carers of children on SEND register and is quickly getting himself up to speed. If you have any queries or would like to discuss your child's provision, he is generally free on Tuesdays to meet. Speak to Elaine to make an appointment to meet with him.

National Education Union Strike Action
Members of the NEU at Chagford Primary took Strike action on Thursday of this week. Although the government had made an offer on pay, six sevenths of this pay offer were to be unfunded, meaning that teachers wages would be coming from existing school budgets. Teachers know that school budgets are already at, or beyond, breaking point. The unions refused the government's offer insisting that any increase in pay should be funded otherwise, they say, it would do more harm than good.
Another day of action has been called for May 2nd and this will go ahead unless the government and the union agree to talk.
Presuming that the strike day does go ahead, all pupils other than those in Year One will be away from school on that day.

Coronation Carriages
Children were challenged to design a carriage for the King's Coronation. They were asked to think about how they could include our school's vision - Challenge, Community and Care. The results delighted me.

Flourishing!
Wow! What a brillaint afternoon we had at the Cross Country Competition.
The children showed a great, great attitude and every one of them made us proud. I've been taking children on trips and fixtures for over twenty years and I don't think I've ever been as proud of a group of children as I was this afternoon.
We took twenty-three of the children from Years three to six compete on a cross country course laid out around the cricket pitch and up the side of Meldon. It was wonderful to watch them streaming up the hill and thrilling to see them coming back and to spot our children amongst the sea of different coloured t-shirts. We competed against four other schools.

In the Year Three and Four Race Chagfrod Champion Seth streaked away from the pack before they had got half way around the cricket pitch and I wondered if he could possibly hold on to his lead. I shouldn't have worried - he didn't hold the lead - he increased it until, some way out from home, he passed the pacemaker and got to the finish maybe two hundred metres ahead of the next finisher. 
In the Year Five and SIx race it was Max's turn to shine. He left the field holding a comfortable third place but looking like he could probably run forever.  He took the lead soon after and held it for the majority of the race. IN the final stages a keen pupilo from South Tawton started to gain quickly and we worried he would be taken just yards from the finsih - but once Max spotted the attacker he effortlessly shifted gear and romped home.

Other children who impressed me include Tabitha who ran so hard she nearly tore her lings out but never gave up, Rupert who put in the most extraordinary sprint to keep his place as he came into the final straight, finding new legs that I wouldn't have known he had at the start, Beth who carried on despite a remarkable nose bleed and Evan who took part in a thrilling battle in the closing stages of the race that only finsihed in the funnel.

When the organisers have worked out all the maths we will be able to tell you how we scored in the competion overall, and I think we have done very well, but it won't make me even a tiny bit prouder of the children, their attitude and their guts - I simply couldn't be any prouder.

​Special thanks to Chloe and James for coming along to support us at this event.

Coronation Party
We shall be celebrating the coronation next Friday May 5th with a Grand Party on the field.
The PTFA have purchased a 'Make a Crown' kit for each child so that we can all look suitably regal and a small keepsake for them to keep. We will be calling out for party food so we can recreate the great street parties of our youth (am I the only one with great memories of the SIlver Jubilee in 1977?).
The PTFA will be meeting to discuss this, amongst other things, on Monday after school. Do come along and get involved so we can make this an event for children to remember for many years to come.

Fantastic Mr Fox - July 5th, 6th, 7th.
Our school production this year is Fantastic Mr Fox. There will be performances on July 5th, 6th and 7th. There will be afternoon performances each day and an evening performance on the Thursday.
Every child in the school will be involved in the show; acting, singing, dancing or working behind the scenes if they do not have an appetite for performance.
We hope to have a really joyful performance full of music, fun and colour. I'm so excited!
Nearer to the time we will be looking for parents and carers to help us create costumes, strim and cliip the amphitheatre back into shape, build set, sell tickets and sell refreshments. There will be lots of ways to get involved.

Morning Routine
We have changed our morning routine and have already seen improvements in attendance and punctuality - thank you to every family who have been working extra hard to get children to school on time so the day gets off to a flying start.

The gate is opened at 8:40 a.m. Children come into school and come into classes from 8:45 with the intention that we take the register at 8:50. Children arriving after this time are marked as 'late' in the register.  The gate is locked at 9:00 and any remianing pupils should enter through the front of the school where Elaine will mark them in.

Over the past week we have had consitently high attendance and really improved punctuality. Children are getting into school more promptly and the day's learning is kicking off more effectively. Our attendance for the past seven days is over 97% - back to pre-pandemic levels and I am absolutely delighted to see it.

PE Kit
To save time and bother in the school day, children can attend school in thier PE kit on days that their class has a scheduled PE lesson. That means that on Monday when we employ a coach to take each class for a lesson the whole school will be in PE kit. Eachclass has oe more PE lesson in the week - your child will know or ask the class teacher for a reminder. By taking away the time changing at the beginning and end of each PE klesson, classes are getting up to twenty minutes more time having fun and being active in their PE lessons.