Dear Chagford Families and Staff,
 
Easter Trail
John Roberts has worked with local businesses to produce an eggciting Easter Trail. The children all have a copy of the sheet. Look out for letters displayed in Chagford shop windows and see if you can spell out the special word. Older ones can complete the crossword too. I yoke you have an eggselent time (Ok, I’ll stop the puns now!)
 
Covid Risk Assessments
We are not allowed to change our school risk assessments yet. This means after Easter we need to continue with maintaining our class bubbles in school and on the playground. Unfortunately, this means we are not yet able to have our extra-curricular clubs. Mr Finch will let you know as soon as we are able to resume these. However, our Saints sports coach Mr Strong, is running sessions on Monday and Craig is continuing Y6 football on Fridays.
 
If you wish to book in for Saints on a Monday am or pm, please follow the links.
Breakfast Club (Gymnastics); https://saints-southwest.class4kids.co.uk/info/671
After School Club (Football); https://saints-southwest.class4kids.co.uk/info/694
 
If you wish to contact Craig, please email or call Mrs Lawson in the school office for his details.
 
Your Views Matter
The Foundation for Education Development (FED) is dedicated to promoting a long-term vision and plan for education in England, and is launching their National Consultation Report at the end of April 2021. More information is available on their website here. As part of this consultation report the FED have launched a short survey which we would like to encourage staff, parents, and students to complete. Their plan is to capture '100,000 Voices' in the next 3 weeks from across the education spectrum. Please see the message below:
 
Do you want to help shape the future of our Education System? Please take 60 seconds to answer these simple questions and support The Foundation for Education Development https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/EducationSystem  or go straight to our website Fed Education – Foundation for education development. 
 
It’s a fond farewell from me.
I have been overwhelmed by the kindness that the Chagford community has shown me over the last 18 months, and particularly today. The staff and children arranged a special singing assembly outside, where I was presented with a tiara which I have enjoyed wearing all day! I have been inundated with so many beautiful gifts. You really have been incredibly generous. I have so many cards! I have not opened them yet as I want to enjoy reading them at home (and know I will shed some tears!)  
But most importantly I leave Chagford with lots of very special memories.  I have taught all KS2 classes and spent many sessions working in our KS1 and EYFS classes. I have done a gazillion break time and lunchtime duties and have been regularly visited in my office by children bringing me their work and sharing their news.   I have so many funny stories and heart-warming moments to remember and hundreds of ‘lightbulb’ memories to treasure - the joy we experience when a child discovers something, is courageous to try something new or understands something for the first time. There are also memories which are so truly ‘Chagford’ - shooing sheep off the playground, meeting the ponies in the carpark, and clearing their dung off the paths!
We will all remember where we were during the 2020 – 21 pandemic. I am glad I was in such a caring community, with amazingly supportive leadership, and with such great staff who really worked hard to go out of their way to make the situation as bearable as possible.  
I wish you all a Happy Easter and hope that while The Chagford Chicken song is ringing in your ears, and you are eating hot cross buns and chocolate eggs you pause for a moment to reflect on the great Christian message we have been learning about this term in school; kindness, of which you have shared with me, in abundance.

Thank you all.
 
With very best wishes,
 
Tara Penny
Head of School

Dear Chagford Families,
 
Staffing news
Mrs Robertson has slipped a disc in her neck! I know you will join me in wishing her a very speedy recovery. We hope to see her soon, but not before she is well enough.
Today we say farewell to Miss Fell, our fabulous student teacher who has been working in Hawthorn Class for the last four months. She has been a valuable hard working member of our team and we will miss her. We wish her all the very best in her carer ahead.  
We look forward to welcoming Mrs Lawson, our new office administrator on Monday. Please give her a cheery Chagford welcome! Miss Bryant and I will be in the office supporting her as she gets to know us and our systems.
 
A message for video makers in our community
Calling people with filming, sound and video editing skills. Lisa Rowe has a great idea for a collaborative covid compliant project. If you are able to lend a sanitised hand, we would really appreciate it. For more details, please contact Lisa at Lisa@chagford-primary.devon.sch.uk
 
 Plastic Free Thursday
We are all aware of the damage single use plastic is causing to our environment. At Chagford CE School we would like to become a fully plastic free school. We appreciate this is a massive change to the way we live our lives so want to take small proactive steps.
To start, we ask you to support a Plastic Free Thursday. On these days, we encourage families who bring in packed lunch and break time snacks to consider foods which are not pre-packaged. I appreciate this is something many of our families already do every day, but we would like to encourage all to try this. This would mean exchanging crisps, bars and yoghurts for homemade food, fruit and veg in reusable containers, such as Tupperware.
We will start with Thursdays, but we intend to increase this as we get used to this way of shopping and preparing food.
Car park reminder
Please can I remind all parents that the carpark is for staff, and for parents dropping off and collecting children with specific needs. There have been a number of times when some of our children have not been able to make a smooth start to the day due to congestion.  If you are unable to walk to school or use the bus service, and need to use a car, please do not use the school car park.  I’m sorry to nag, but this has been a very uncomfortable issue.
 
Red Nose Day
Happy Red Nose Day all! Today in school, children have been learning about the work Comic Relief do in the UK and in Africa.  They have also been telling lots of jokes!
My favourite so far is from Emily Bibbins:
Knock, Knock.
Who’s there?
Repeat.
Repeat who?
Who. Who. Who. Who. Who.
 
We decided not to collect money in school this time, but if you wish to donate, or find out more about Comic Relief and the work they do, please see https://donation.comicrelief.com
There will be Red Nose Day entertainment on BBC1 from 7pm this evening.
 
With very best wishes,
 
Tara Penny
  
Head of School

Dear Chagford Families,
 
It has been so lovely to have the children back in school. We really have missed them!
We will continue our strong focus on positive mental health, friendships and inclusion over the following days and weeks to help everyone readjust to the formalities and social need of being part of school and class communities.  
I am delighted to announce that we have recruited an office administrator! As you know, we have not had someone in post since Philippa Jackson left in December.
Her name is Elaine Lawson and she really impressed us all in her interview. She has experience working in a school setting and brings a wealth of other skills too. She has a great bubbly personality which shone through, even when having an interview on line!
She met many of the staff on Thursday when she came in with her paperwork. We are hoping she will be able to start Monday 22nd March.
I am so incredibly grateful to Debbie Bryant who has stepped in and supported us while doing her own job too.
It was great to see the children and staff join in the fun of dressing up in onesies, fancy dress and book themed costumes today. I quite enjoyed wearing my bee onesie, but felt I had to wear my proper clothes when I meet up with colleagues on a Team meeting this afternoon!
Do have a look at the class blogs to see what your children have been up to this week.
Happy Mother’s day to all of the women who play a nurturing roles in the Chagford Children’s lives. You are very much appreciated.
With very best wishes,
 
Tara Penny
Head of School

​Dear Chagford Families,
It’s so nice to be writing this newsletter with the sun streaming in to my office!
The crocuses and daffodils are blooming, the days are longer and it really feels like spring is finally in the air.  
Next week I very much hope will be out last week of home school and blended learning.  The staff are really looking forward to welcoming back the children we haven’t seen in 3D since before Christmas!
Our risk assessments and safety measures are being agreed by our central team and I will share the details with you next week. School will feel very much like it was before Christmas with measures in place to reduce the potential any of us contracting the virus.

Word Book Day
Next Thursday is World Book Day. Some of the children in school have asked if they can dress up. What we are going to do is postpone Word Book Day to the following week and have World Book Week! We will have lots of activities in class and a dress up day on Friday 12th so everyone can join in.
We have £1 vouchers to give out which children can use in book store to buy a book.

I highly recommend that families support our new local book shop Astor’s.  Although closed for browsing, parents can ring with their book token number and which book they would like and then they can arrange a time to collect from the door of the shop. A click and collect scenario.
The tokens can be used towards the cost of a book of choice, or to buy a book specially written for World Book Day.
Astor’s Bookshop will stocking
•There’s a Wolf in Your Book by Tom Fletcher
•Protect the Planet by Jess French
•Skysteppers by Katherine Rundell
•Gigantosaurus Dino-Spot by Jonny Duddle
 
Screen Free Friday
Next Friday will be a screen free day. No work will be posted on Google Classroom or Tapestry. Children at home and at school will be encourages to read, draw, play games, invent, sing, dance, create and talk! On Monday when they all return they can share how they spent their day with their class.
 
I hope you all have a lovely weekend in the sunshine!
With very best wishes,
 
Tara Penny
Head of School

Dear Chagford Families,
 
Well done everyone! We have made it through another six weeks of a national lockdown. 

​Dear Chagford Families,
 
This week we have had a focus on learning how to look after our own mental health.
In assemblies and in our curriculum time in school and at home we have explored different feelings, emotions and how they show in our thoughts and actions. We have remembered that it’s ‘ok to not feel ok,’ and that no emotion is a ‘bad emotion.’