Flourishing!
It has been a very busy and challenging term this last few weeks - for many reasons. Thank you to all our teachers, teaching assistants and other staff who have worked so hard to keep the show on the road with smiles on their faces and the childen at the heart of everything we do. What an inspiring team. Thanks also to all the parents and carers who have supported us. I loved to see the many cards and gifts that Elaine received for her birthday yesterday - a real sign of how appreciated she is by the whole community.

Year SIx have been writing about HIghwaymen for the last few weeks and presented their writing in assembly on Thursday. WOnderful, wondeful language and phrase making. Reading thier work before the assembly, I laughed till I cried. Well done Year SIx.

Cornelia played beautifully in assembly on Friday. She played with real delicasy and musicality. We were very proud of you Cornelia.

Break the Rules Day
I've been flat our today and didn't get time to take any photographs to share but, I can tell you, Break the Rules Day was a real joy. There were some great outfits, some great 'bags' and a lot of very well loved cuddly friends on show. I adored Emily's mascot 'thing', Otto's 'Puss in Boots' outfit and much much more. The Year Five's Bear Dance in assembly was one of the finest things I've seen in a long, long time.
Elaine was nearly buried under a mountain of goods for the Tombola. It will be well worth a punt at Summer Fayre!

CHAGFORD SWIMMING POOL CONCESSIONS 2023
CHAGFORD POOL LOYALTY CARD
This is aimed at rewarding local people who swim regularly. Pick up a Chagford Pool Loyalty Card at the gate (each card will be designated either adult or child). Collect a stamp for each swim and get your fifth swim free.
DISCOUNT SWIM FOR LOWER INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
If your household is in receipt of state means tested benefits, you and your family will be able to swim at half price. You will not need to fill out a form but will need to show us documentary evidence of your Benefit Status (e.g. an Award Letter for Universal Credit or Housing Benefit). This could be a screenshot from your device or a photo/scan of a paper document and will need to show your name (+ your children's names if applicable), address and the benefit you are receiving. Claims for this discount will be processed online, and will be dealt with in strict confidence, and discretion maintained when paying at the gate. Those in possession of a current Student's card or a Disabilty Living allowance will also be eligible.
If you wish to apply, please e-mail Marion at [email protected] attaching your evidence document, and we will then send you cards to start the season. Please note that unlike the full price cards, these are not transferable.


Gate prices 2023
Adult (18+) £5.50
Child £3.00 (under 5s are free)
GDPR regulations require us to keep all details secure. Your information will be stored securely on the Pool icloud database and deleted at the end of the 2022 season.

Benjie's Pond
A few months ago we gathered together on a frosty saturday morning to dig out a pond.
Benjie had been campaigning for months and had worked with frineds to raise the money for the pond liner. It was great to see the hole ddug and to see the lioiner go in.
After a dry, dry winter the pond filled up in spring and we are now ready to plant it up.
If you have a healthy wildlife pond in your garden, would you be able to donate a clump of floating oxygenating plants or a couiple of marginals so we can get the pond working as a habitat for minibeasts and ambhibians?
We can organise a work party for a saturday morning if there is an appetite for that or you could just drop donations off at reception and we will work with volunteers to get the pond planted up.
If, by any chance, you had a few turfs available that we could use to cover over the edges of the liner, that would be extra amazing!

Attendance
Once again, attendacne is a game of two halves.
On one hand, our attendance this week - and for the whole of the past year has been above national average. 94% across the year to date against a national average of 93%. 
On the other hand, we still have a big proportion of the school - nearly 20% - whose attendacne is causing concern. Nineteen pupils have attendacne below 90% - meaning they have missed more than half a day each week on average. This isn't just lost learning itme - it's missed lessons. If you miss the lesson when we plan our stories, it's pretty hard to catch that up and have the satisfaction of writing a brillaint story along with your class. If you were here for the first lesson when we learned how to do dividing, but missed the next lesson where we practiced it to get it stuck in our heads, then, chances are, that learning won't stick.
We are really worried about this and while we understand that families have different circumstances, we really cannot hold off from taking clearer action. We will always wnat to discuss attendance and how we can support it, but when we see children missing ten or more sessins in a half term period we will be passing this on to county for investigation and action. Action from county may include a fine.
In the graph below you can see that our attendance profile is very 'bumpy', Those very low dips you see are associated with school holidays and relate, I think, to familes taking extra holiday either side of the school break. I would remind parents and carers that, as head, I cannot statutarily authorise absence for any reason other than sickness or emergency. As mcuh as I might understand the attraction of an educational trip or an enriching experience, it is simply not withn my power to authorise this absence. I'm gratefulk to be infomred so that I know that the child is safe and that there is no concern I need to act upon but I cannot authorise it. 

Flourishing
This week, our production of 'Fantastic Mr Fox' seems to have stepped up a gear. I'm hearing the songs being practiced and seeing little groups of children working with Lydia on their scenes. The Year Six Rat Rap seems sure to be a highlight but every class will have parts to make their parents proud. We'll have performances on the 5th, 6th and 7th of July so make a note in the diary.
Splendid work from Chagford teams made a very happy trip to play cricket in Hatherleigh. Two teams accompanied by Mr Frewin played a round robin. In terms of the final scoreline we didn't make quite the impact that we are accustomed to, but, in terms of sportmanship and good attitude we topped the table. Plus a number of children were pleased to have beaten old friends from South Tawton. Well done everyone.
The weather has been just beautiful these last few days and has caused me to take another look at the school grounds - the garden at the front of the school is looking exceptional at the moment. Huge thanks to Nicky and to the party of volunteers who come along every Wednesday to keep it looking fantastic. The fennel is already wonderful. By the end of July it will be extraordinary.

Break the Rules Day
On Friday 26th May Children are invited to 'Break the Rules' for one day only! 

The Rules to be broken are:
1. You must wear school uniform 
2. Your hair must be it's normal colour and sensible style
3. You must use a proper school bag
4. You must not wear make-up 
5. You must not bring in any soft toys or mascots
(Children can break as many of these rules as they wish but these must not affect the ability to learn.)

In exchange we are asking for a donation of a tombola or raffle prize for the PTFA summer fayre. This can be as simple as a tin of baked beans or as elaborate as a magnum of champagne! 

Many thanks in advance.

The PTFA Committee

Celebrating the Earth - Ponies
Next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. we will be gathering in the church to celebrate the earth and, more specifically, to celebrate the ponies that share the morrs around us and, occasionally, our roads and front gardens.
Children from the school will be singing 'Widdicombe Fair'. Do please copme along to enjoy the event. It won't go on for long and, if it's like any of the foregoing events, it will be a real treat.

Woodland School
The children enjoyed their session with Kael and Chloe today. I enjoyed spending time with Year Five as they played 'Heads Dwon, Heads Up', played the great animal clue game to learn more about the mighty stoat and created art from found, natural materials to show some of the animals that live around us. Have a look at these pictures and see if you can work out what animals the children were thinking of.
Thank you to Kael and Chloe for the session and thank you to everyone who has contributed to fund this experience.

Thank you!
Thank you to all our parents and carers for making sure children are getting to school on time. Fewer and fewer children are arriving late and teachers tell me that they are able to get to learning much more quickly in the morning. Our attendance has been strangely variable this week with a high of 97% on Wednesday and a dissapointing 90% today.
Thank you to our brilliant teaching team - that's teachers, teaching assistants and HLTA's. Despite the challenging timmes that we are living in, I am moved every single day by the love and focus that they bring to their work at our school. 
Thank you to Elaine Lawson who works so hard in such a challenging and disparate role yet always has a smile for everyone and an instantly calming manner. I couldn't do this job without her.
Thank you children for making smile every day. Thank you especially to maddie who saw I was very tired at lunchtime and brought me a knitted blanket to nap under - we don't usually expect such kindness and empathy from our three year old pupils!

Flourishing
This week, a lot of the focus has been on the Year Six SATS tests. 
Firstly, let me say how exceptional the children have been. They have been calm and kind to each other and have shown great resilience and and focus. At the end of the day we can't control how the tests suited or didn't suit this child or that child, we can't control the preparation that other schools have chosen to make and we can't control the grade boundaries which are more or less a political whim. What we control is the experience the children have as they grow through our school and the experiencethey have of SATS week. Our children have shown such a lovely character and such a will to do what they can - it has been genuinely quite moving. 

A big well done has to go to Mrs Armstrong, whose belief in every child's potential really shines through at this time of year. Well done to her and to Mrs Ramoutar who have prepared the children so well and thanks to everyone else who has helped out this week - you know who you are.

Exams and tests are a part of our lives, for good or for ill, and it's important we prepare children to represent themselves as well as we can. At the end of the day, however, it isn't a result in a SATS test that defines our children. When I look at Year Six I see talented musicians , I see keen sports people (so many cross country runs), I see children who can write and tell amazing stories, I see children who can make me laugh even when I'm feeling down, I see children who spot when I'm feeling down and know how to ask me how I am, I see children who can play hilariously one minute then come into class and settle striaght down, I children who have learned to settle their own disputes with grace and help younger children to do the same, I've seen children who can speak up in front of the school and in front of other adults. And I remember that this is a group of children who missed so much of their school journey due to the pandemic. They are a special bunch of children and we love them three dimensionally.

Well done to every one of you, Year Six. Absolutely regardless of any standardised score, I want you to know that, to us, every one of you is a absolute champion.

Census Day Special Menu
Next Thursday, May 18th, is the summer census day. We have three census days each year and they are an important snapshot used by the government to monitor the number of children in attendance at our school. They use the statistics generated by the census to decide elements of funding.

Amongst other things, the number of children who take a school dinner on that day is used to define how much funding our catering receives in the following year. More dinners on the day means more funding to provide dinners.

To encourage as many pupils as possible to take up the school meal on that day, Marie is offering her all time most popular menu. That's hot dog and wedges for mains and Chocolate Cracknel for dessert. As an extra special treat to entice you to use the service we will be permitting the children -  for one day only - to eat their pudding before their mains!

Three Hares Local Stakeholder Board Chair’s update
I would like to pass on my thanks to everyone who took the time to contact me in relation to the Trust’s proposed restructure.  I have collated all of the various stakeholder voices – those of parents, staff and communities – and this has been submitted to the Board of Trustees for their consideration.  I would like to assure you that every voice has been heard.  This is a key role of the LSB, and we recognise the importance of that.  Whatever the outcome of the Trust’s decision, as always, the LSB will continue to work to support the schools, the principals, the staff and the pupils as best we can. 

As you know, SATs have been taking place this week.  I was fortunate enough to see a couple of schools “in action”, and I must commend your children on their resilience and the coping mechanisms they demonstrated.  All of the pupils I saw remained calm, and observed the rules of the test situation perfectly.  They were a real credit to you as parents and carers, and to the staff that have nurtured them over their school journey.  I hope they all enjoy their well-deserved “end of SATs” treats!
Mel Holyoak

Celebrating the Earth - Tuesday 23rd May
Our next 'Celebrating the Earth' event is on 23rd May at the Church of St Michael the Archangel. We be thinking about the ponies that live on the moors around us - what we can learn about them and what we can learn from them.
We hope to take a good party of children along so do get it in your diary now. We shall be singing 'Widdicombe Fair' and we'll be practicing the song in assembly a few times each week until then so that every single child is familiar with it and can join in confidently.
The event will start at 5:30 and go on no later than 6:30. There is generally a more formal part of the event for about half an hour at the start followed by an opportunity to stay in the space to reflect - this means that anyone who needs to leave a little early can do so without disturbing anyone.
You can listen to Widdicome Fair here - we will be singing the first three verses only!

Chagstyle - Designer Clothing and Accessories Sale
Freinds of the school are putting on this brillaint event to rasie funds for Cancer Research  - a cause very close to many of our hearts. I'm told there have been some very cool donations so it will be worth going along to havea fun time and maybe pick up a special bargain or two.

Story Spaces  - Storytelling Events in Okehampton and Moretonhampstead

​Story Spaces — Skylarker

Flourishing
It was brilliant to present medals from the Cross Country competition. After all the numbers from all the races were in we found that Max Hutchings was overall champ for the Year Five and Six competition and Seth Davies was number one in the Year Three and Four competition. Not only that but Joe Thorn got himself a bronze medal as overall number three in the Year Five and Six contest.
As a school we placed fifth in the Three and Four contest and third in the Five and Six contest.
Good work everyone.​

Chagford Pantry 
The Chagford Pantry food banks, located in the church and in the school foyer, are proving very necessary and are very well used. We owe a debt of grsatitude to the team who are organising and maintaining them. Remember, the Pantry is there for whoever needs it - you don't need to be signposted or referred and you don't need to be on benefits. Check out what's there and don't be shy to use the service.

At times in the week stock runs low so the team have decided to run a 'Full Pantry' at the church every Monday from 10:00 till 12:00 O'clock. There will be a fuller range of goods there at that time - including essentials - there will be membrs of the team to talk to and tea and coffee will be available. If times are hard, that would be a grewat time to go along and make sure you're stocked up for the week.

cCoronation Party
The PTFA and the staff team worked together to run a party fit for a king this afternoon.
With the weather being unhelpful, Foundation unit and Key Stage One got together to have thier party in thier Foundation Unit while Key Stage Two and our friends form the Memory Cafe set up a street party in the hall.
Thanks to the generosity of the PTFA, every child had made a crown to wear and they all came dressed in red, white and blue.
We were joined by friends from the Memory Cafe making it a real community celebration.
​As you would expect from Chagford parents - the cake baking game was on point.
There were songs and games and a good time was had by all.
Each child has taken home a keepsake of the Coronation and, we hope, that as they grow older they will remember this historic occasion - this is the first coronation in over seventy years after all. Like many people of my generation, I have very strong and happy memories of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, it would be nice to think that our wonderful Chagford Champions will have similarly happy memories of King Charles' Coronation.

School Photo Day
The photographer will be with us on Tuesday 6th June to take photos of classes. We will ask everyone to make sure uniform is tip top and hiar brushed till it shines so we can all be proud that we are looking our best!