Flourishing Next Friday is our Rainbow Day. We will be celebrating the uniqueness of every child. I like to say - "We are all special, we are all unique, we are all welcome in our school." That means that irregardless of faith, race, gender, who we love, who we want to be, whether we ahave lots of money or not so much, whether we find learning easy or hard - we are all valued equally in our school community. We'd love to celebrate that with you - do come to our 'Rainbow Picnic in the Park' at 2:00 p.m. on Friday if you are free. At this time of ytear, as we prepare for Rainbow Day, we like to take just a little time to think about the nine characteristics protected under the equalities act of 2010 - that just sharpens our understanding of what we mean by equality and diversity. We will be using picturebooks in assembly to give children a really gentle and age appropriate introduction to each of the protected characteristics. You are very welcome to pop into school and have a look at these books which are displayed on the book selection at the front of school. Dartmoor Cup Cricket Competition Well done to the cricketing pupils who travelled to Simmonds park in Okehampton to represent us in the Dartmoor Cup against schools from all over the moor. We sent two teams to the competition who represented us beautifully both on and off the pitch. One team got through their pool but lost in the semi-final. The other team ended up as runners up after losing a nail biter to a very strong team indeed. Not bad at all. I love that our children can compete with such enthusiasm without ever losing their cool or their manners. They make me very proud. Wildlife Champions Conference Our brilliant Wildlife Champions were rewarded for their work this year with a whole day of activties at Meeth Quarry near Hatherleigh. The Champions take care of our environment here at Chagford Primary School - litter picking, looking after the composting, creating and caring for the new pond. The Wildlife Champions COnference, organised by Devon Wildlife Trust, brought them together with their counterparts from Lydford, Boasley Cross, Bradford, North tawton, South Tawton, Okehampton Primary and Exbourne - all schools from Dartmoor Multi Academy= Trust. The children got to search for insects, pond dip for invertenrates, learn about moorland plants and find out about the creatures that live in the deeps of the ocean. It was a VERY hot day and the sun was fierce but we had an ace time. The children were a delight to be with. I have never before had a minibus of children spontaneously break into The Chain by Fleetwood Mac before - that was a first. Well done Champs and thank you to Devon Wildlife Trust for a brilliant day. Stakeholder Consultation Process Summary Over the course of the consultation period and process, staff, parents and carers have posed a number of questions to understand the process and decision-making more fully. Please follow this link to find a summary of the process and also responses to a range of questions posed by stakeholders for openness and transparency. Thank you all for your support, as well as challenge, and for ensuring that we continue to improve and serve your children Dan Morrow Trust Leader and CEO Summer Fayre July 8th Don't forget to keep July 8th free for the PTFA Summer Fayre. The PTFA are plannign all sorts of great things. If you'd be interested in helpi9ng out - either setting up, helping on a stall, clearing up afterwards or in any other way, do have a word with Zoe Francis who will be glad to hear from you! Chagford Pool After a difficult few weeks we are very happy indeed to hear that the pool is open again. Do make full use of the pool - I'm very aware that they have weeks of income to make up for. The team have been working hard to get the pool open again after dealing with a set of circumstances entirely beyond their control. They deserve huge thanks for the enormous effort they have put in to get this resource open for the community. We are very happy that our pupils will start their swimming lessons on Tuesday of next week - 20th June. Fantastic Mr Fox - Workshops
A reminder that we have workshops to create props and costume for Fantiastic Mr Fox tomorrow - Saturday 17th June and the following Saturday 24th June. Come along to help make the show as fantastic as it can be. We will start work about 10:30 and work through to about 1:30. Do join us if you can. Flourishing Rehearsals for Fantastic Mr Fox are hotting up and several of the songs are now becoming even firmer ear worms than last year's 'This Is The Chagford Show'. It's going to be terrific. Tickets on sale very soon. I believe that Lydia has already been in touch regarding workshop days for costume and scene prep. If anyone has a good strimmer and/or hedge trimmer they will be especially welcome - the amphitheatre is badly in need of its annual haircut. Year Three were away at Meeth Quarry today enjoying their watersports day. I hear that it was just glorious. Both Mr Newland and Mrs Armstrong were absolutely beaming when I spoke to them after school - the children had had an immense time and were an enormous credit to themselves, to their families and to the school. I expect they'll be exhausted this evening but it will have been be worth it. Photos as soon as I have them I promise. Chagford Pantry ☕️ ☕️ 🍰 🍰 A message and update from us all at the Pantry. As from the 5th June we shall be having a once a week session in church, every Monday from 10 til 12 with the FULL PANTRY. Please know, you will be VERY welcome. There’ll be coffee and cake too if you fancy a cuppa. Please let us know if this is a difficult pick up time for you and we could make alternative arrangements… The school pantry will continue still,in the term times. ☕️ ☕️ 🍰 🍰 Rainbow Day - Friday 23rd June Friday 23rd June is our Trust Rainbow Day. We are encouraging our children to wear their favourite colours to celebrate. This is an opportunity for us to reflect upon our similarities and differences so that all of our children learn to understand that there are people in the community and wider world with characteristics similar and different to their own. It is a day celebrating respect and inclusion. We call it Rainbow Day as the rainbow is a Christian symbol of God’s love for us all. The rainbow flag is steeped in history from a symbol of maritime peace, the cooperative movement, LGBT equality and more recently, support for the NHS. The colours of the rainbow are different but come together to make something beautiful. This year will be especially important to many of us as we remember our colleague, Suzie Stevens, headteacher at St James Primary School in Okehampton who started the Rainbow Day tradition at that school and who we lost earlier this year. We will be asking children to think about equality and when people may be treated unfavourably. We anticipate they will think about people with different physical abilities, cultures, religions and families. We are careful to talk in an age appropriate way and give children space to explore questions and develop their own thinking. We will start the day with an assembly led by Year Three, after that classes will take a day off maths, phonics and other 'normal' curriculum areas to work together looking at brillaint books that promote inclusion and respect. In the afternoon we will parade to the Jubilee Park where we we have a beautiful, colourful picnic. Children will be given a tasty snack and a drink and there will be some fun and games as well as a moment of reflection. Families are very welcome to join us from 2:00 p.m. to enjoy this with us. Zoe Francis is, I believe, looking for volunteers who will help to make this possible - do give her a shout if this would be something that would speak to you. Photo Day 16th June Please note that next Friday, 16th June, will be our Class Photographs Day. The etam of professionals will be in to try and capture your child and their class at their very best so if we can have the cleanest t-shirts and jumpers ever and the smartest of haircuts ready to roll we'll give you a lovely photo to treasure forever! Summer Weather Typing this will probably curse it, but here goes. It has very warm and sunny this week and maybe that will continue. We strongly advise you to slip, slap, slop. Slip on a light longer sleeved t-shirt or dress that really covers shoulder and uper arms, slap on a hat of some sort (named inside as those do go a'wandering), and slop on plenty of suncream. School staff cannot apply sunscreen but we are very happy to encourage children to do it themselves if you want to supply them with their own spray bottle. Sports Day Sports Day this year will be on Wednesday 19th July. The children will particpate in a carousel of activities culminating in some races. As always, the empahsis is on fun and participation but, nonetheless, the house cup will be hotly contested. Parents and carers will be welcome to join us for the afternoon session to watch the culmination of the events and any of them who feels up to it will be more than welcome to join in the relevant mums and dads (male carers and female carers) races. Year SIx parents won't want to miss the legendary Year Six Spectacular. Mrs Armstrong will be putting out a call for supersoakers for that special event before long I suspect. Chagford Show
We had a special assembly on Wednesday from some of the Horticultural Society Comittee Members who organise the children's section at the Show. They hoped to encourage as many young people as possible to take part in the competitions. There are lots and lots of classes for children and young people in the show and it's all about inclusion. There's everything from arrnaging flowers in a decorated welly boot to making a model animal out of vegetables. Your child should have brought a letter with all the classes on it home on wednesday. If they did not, just let us know and we will sort out a spare. 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 marionsymes@icloud.com 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. Free Lunchtime Concerts
Free lunchtime concerts spice up the Dartmoor town of Chagford every Friday this summer. Chagford’s Summer Music Series begins on June 9th and continues until the end of August with more than twenty musicians performing across twelve entirely different concerts in the historic parish church. Musical genres span classical, folk, jazz, world music, mediaeval, klezmer, and even sea-shanties! Last year’s inaugural series captured the hearts of audiences with its eclectic mix of exceptional musicians and its informal, convivial atmosphere. Tea and coffee is available and audiences are welcome to bring a packed lunch into the church. Many of the thriving cafés in the town offer a delicious choice of takeaway food for ‘munch and music’. Of course you can also enjoy lunch before or after the concerts in one of our many cafes and pubs. All concerts begin at 1.10pm and last about 45 minutes, they’re free to attend, and there's a retiring collection for those who wish to make a donation. Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and private individuals, Chagford’s Summer Music is able to present some top-notch professional musicians including rising star violinist, Joel Munday; international harpist, Elizabeth-Jane Baldry; popular local sea-shanty crew, ‘Mariners Away’ and long-established performers, Nigel Shaw and Carolyn Hillyer whose evocative music is inspired by the Dartmoor landscape. Full details of the Chagford Summer Music Series can be found online at chagfordmusic.com 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! 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. Woodland School Children had their Woodland School sessions with kael and Chloe today. It's a joy to see them out in our woodland area exploring, enjoying and experiencing together. Thanks to our wonderful PTFA for making this happen. The fundraiser is still open if you'd like to donate to make sure these sessions can continue to go ahead. 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. Extra Hands for a Garden Blitz needed - Wednesday 26 April and Wednesday 10 May. The sun is out, the birds are singing and the insects are buzzing. It’s time to get the school garden in hand! The garden gang would love extra pairs of hands to help on Wednesdays 26 April and 10 May from drop-off to 10.30/11am. It’s a lovely way to get to know what’s planted and help make a quick and visible difference to the school that everyone can enjoy as things start to bloom. You can turn up on either day and no further commitment is required. If you can, please text Gemma on 07465 692565 so we can have an idea of numbers. Thank you! Rags2riches4schools - PLEASE RETURN BAGS ON MONDAY 24th APRIL We have signed up to the rags2riches4schools recycling scheme, to help others around the world benefit from our good quality unwanted clothes and shoes. We get 40p for every kilo we collect of reusable items and would be most grateful if you could help us with this challenge at home. A rags2riches4schools bag should have been given to every child last term. Any additional bag(s) may also be used if needed. Please see the bottom of this letter for what can be donated. Bag(s) can be returned to the school by next Monday 24th April. (We cannot accept donations after this date.) if you’re unable to make a donation this time then please return the bag so it can be reused. Any questions regarding this please e mail Zoe Francis directly z-francis121@hotmail.com Please help us to help others and raise much needed funds for our school! 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. PTFA meeting.
The next PTFA meeting will be next Tuesday 25th April at 3.40pm in Mrs Armstrong's class. This will be to discuss the King's Coronation and events for the new term. We hope to see as many of you there as possible. PTFA Easter Bingo. A huge thank you to everyone that came to the Easter Bingo, we were totally overwhelmed by the amount of support and generosity from everyone. A special thanks goes to Lily d'Apice who made and sold her Bingo beany balls and donated some of her takings to the PTFA! We made a total profit of £677.52! Your School Lottery. Our School Lottery has been a real success so far. We have had 5 winners so far within the school community. Thank you to everyone who has already bought tickets, it is drawn every Saturday at 8pm so it's not too late to enter. It's an excellent way of raising money for the school as well as being in with a chance to win some money for yourself! Just go to www.yourschoollottery.co.uk and search for Chagford CofE Primary school. Flourishing! Thanks go to the Rev Harriet Every who stepped into the Reverend Paul's shoes to lead our Easter Service. With rain lashing down and wind taking limbs off tress we made the decision to hold the service here at school rather than at St Michael's. Harriet is a great new friend for the school. We will be invoting her back oftern I think. The children sang beautifully and I loved the Year Fours poem. They did a terrific job. Thanks also to the many parents and carers who came along to celebrate with us - it was lovely to have a hall full of people, we are so grateful for the love and support that the school recieves from the community. Easter Acrostic - by Hawthorn Class Easter is a time of happiness and sorriw As bright as the morning glow of the sun after the darkness of the night Sadness and joy Time to consider the life and sacrificae of Jesus Enjoy life filled with love and forgiveness Respect Jesus' commands. Festival of Hope Football Huge congratulations to our team who represented us beautifully at the Festival of Hope football tournament at Okehampton College earlier this week. They behaved impeccably, passed precisely and made a real impression on the competition. We think thatoverall we may have come second to Exbourne Primary but we really don't mind about the result - it was a terrific day. Special mention to MAx who scored the only goal in the sweet vitory overr our old rivals Okehampton Primary. School Lottery. Our Primary School Lottery had its first draw last Saturday night. Thank you to everyone who has bought tickets already. The lottery is drawn every Saturday night at 8pm so it's not too late to enter. This is a fantastic way to raise money for our wonderful school as well as being in with the chance to win some money for yourself! PTFA Bingo. The PTFA are holding a bingo on Friday 14th April in The Jubilee Hall, Chagford. Doors open at 6.45pm eyes down at 7.30pm. There will be excellent prizes and meat hampers to win, a cash flyer, raffle and refreshments will be available. Children are welcome. Thank you to everyone who donated a raffle prize! Rags2riches4schools. We have signed up to the rags2riches4schools recycling scheme, to help others around the world benefit from our good quality unwanted clothes and shoes. We get 40p for every kilo we collect of reusable items and would be most grateful if you could help us with this challenge at home. A rags2riches4schools bag will be given to every child this week for you to recycle as a family ready for our collection day. Any additional bag(s) may also be used if needed. Please see the bottom of this letter for what can be donated. Bag(s) can be returned to the school by Monday 24th April. if you’re unable to make a donation this time then please return the bag so it can be reused. Any questions regarding this please e mail Zoe Francis directly z-francis121@hotmail.com Please help us to help others and raise much needed funds for our school! PTFA meeting. The next PTFA meeting will be on Tuesday 25th April after school. This will be to discuss the King's Coronation and events for the new term. We hope to see as many of you there as possible. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Easter from the PTFA Committee. Easter Themed Drawing Competition
A message from our friends at Whiddon Down Village Hall. The hall committee are holding a drawing competition to celebrate the coronation. Children might like to get busy over the Easter break and create a piece of art to celebrate the crowning of our new king. Why not work on this over the holidays. I'm sure they will give us more details including where to send entries and what we might stand to win after the break! Chagford School Blessing Our God, Lord of the high tors and the singing rivers, Lord of the farmhouse, the village, the town and the city, Be with us - In our hearts, In our friendships, and in the wide, wide world around and beyond us, On every step of our journey. Amen. Our school blesing reflects on the beauty and blessings of the natural world around us and then reminds us of the model of spirituality which we use in our Collective Worship every afternoon as well as in our class discussions. We think of spirituality as being that interrealtion of ourselves, those people we are connected to and the wider world of nature and whatever is beyond. Whenever we say our prayer we think of being settled and in harmony within ourselves, in our relations with others and in relation to whatever is beyond us. For a child with a home context of religious belief the 'wide, wide world around and beyond us' includes God and the spiritual world. For a child from a humanist or athiest household, that phrase can refer to nature and the sense of wonder and connection we have with our amazing, beautiful universe. Can your child remember the blessing? Can they say it to you? Can they talk about how the things you do as a family - enjoying time together, walking on the moor, playing games, eating together - relate to our model of spirituality? Fantastic Mr Fox Years 5 and 6 started the earliest preparatory work for this years production. Following on from last year's success with A Midsummer Night's Dream, our friend Lydia Frater is back again to direct the production. Every child in the school from Early Years through to Year Six will be in the show which, weather allowing, will once again take place in our beautiful auditoreum. One reason for last year's huge success once the invlvement of the whole community. Parents, grandparents and members of the community who don't currently have a child at the school came together and worked to help the children rehearse, to prepare the set, costumes, tickets, refreshments, to make sure the amphitheatre was as trim as can be and safe for our children to perform in. We could not have done it without them. After the Easter break we will start putting feelers out for people who would like to be involved - whether that's volunteering to take part in a costume workshop, to help out on the night, to come into school to help pupils rehearse or whatever other role they are fitted for. Mealtime Assistant Vacancy We will very shortly have an advertisment up on the trust jobs page for another Mealtime Assistant. This role involves coming into school a little before lunch break to help set up and to get the smallest children into the hall. The assistant would then go outside to supervise playtime. They wil also be asked to facilitate play for the children. After the end of break they stay for a few more minutes to help clear and clean the hall. I will message when the advertisement is live. The candidate must be compliant with all safeguarding regulations and will have to have a standard DBS check and undertake safeguarding training. They will have a full induction before starting the job. Easter Bingo - a message from the PTFA Dear Parents and carers. The PTFA are holding a bingo on Friday 14th April in The Jubilee Hall, Chagford. Doors open at 6.45pm eyes down at 7.30pm. There will be excellent prizes and meat hampers to win, a cash flyer, raffle and refreshments will be available. Children are welcome. We are asking for donations for raffle prizes. If you could spare a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates or something else suitable to put in the raffle we would be very grateful. Any donations can be taken to the school office by Friday 31st March. Many thanks in advance. The PTFA Committee. Festival of Hope For the second year, every school in Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust has taken part in our 'Festival of Hope'. Bringing together puipils from all our schools fro sports, arts and celebration. Mr Frewin has been very busy indeed ferrying children to various sporting activities including a great day of indoor athletics at tanistock College. The Festival of Hope is great idea. It is achance for our childen to come together and to encounter each other and become aware that they are part of something bigger than the one school that they are in. We hope that year by year, the festival will be more recognised by the staff, pupils and families of the trust and become something to look forward to. Festival of Hope Art Exhibition Children from Year Four travelled to Okehampton College to see the Festival of Hope Art exhibition featurng art created by pupils from every school in our trust. The children enjoyed seeing how different schools had responded to the prompt of depicting 'Hope'. Many of the pieces drew on the book 'Window' by Jeannie Baker and imagined a world in which people took action to repair our environment. As well as viewing the exhibition, the children had a workshop with an artist in residence who painted an amazing owl live infront of them then let them take the painting back to school - it has quite the stae! The childen also got to design and make their own shoes! They showed us theri work with great pride. Our Reading Journals Why do we have the reading journal? Acquisition of language has been proven to develop much more strongly through reading that through the comparatively much reduced vocabulary of conversational language. As a result we hold with the belief that frequent opportunities to read are essential for the development of basic reading skills, vocabulary and comprehension. We no longer have access to the Accelerated Reader programme but our library books will continue to be coded as per AR as this still enables the children to pick books that have been analysed to ensure a smooth progression in difficulty. The exact content of the journal will change slightly with the next print run but the essentials are as follows:
,Changes to the Daily Routine Starting after Easter, we will make a change to the way we run our morning routine. We expect children to be arrive at school between 8:40 and 8:50 a.m. Our day starts at 8:50 and we do expect all pupils to be on site by that time. After Easter, instead of gathering on the playground and lining up before entering the school building we will send children straight in. All children should therefore, be in the school building by 8:50. This means that teachers can complete registers by 9:00 and get on with the day. The gate will be closed sooner than it has been and children arriving after that time will enter school through reception. Children arriving after the gate is closed will be marked as late. We love to hear the children singing together and it's an important part of how we build a sense of community. We will continue to sing every day but we will do this in Collective Worship in the afternoon. Unauthorised Absence
Schools do not authorise absence for holidays within term time. We are simply not allowed to under national, county or trust protocol. It is our statutory duty to ensure that children are present in school to learn. Parents too have a statutory duty under the law to ensure children attend school regularly. When you sign up to send your child to school, one of the commitments you make is that you will ensure they attend regularly unless there are excpetional circumstances. Of course, for the vast majority of children, these exceptional circumstances amount to the ocassional illness - no one expects that your child will attend school if they are sick. I think that, due to the pandemic, lots of families had postponed holidays that they wanted to fit in, often including visits to family around the world. This was understandable but we, as heads, could not authorise them. Sessions missed from these holidays are marked down as unauthorised absences. Other unauthorisable absences can include trips the theatre or to relatives for special birthdays. Any children who have missed more than 10% of available sessions is coded as a 'persitant absentee' and this raises concerns which we have to look into. Currently, in our little school, 16% of our pupils are coded as persitant absentees - this is a good deal more than we would expect. One of the insruments we can use to show our intent in this area is fining parents who removing children from school for reasons that we cannot authorise. This is something that I have been reluctant to do in the past but which I feel I will have to do. I would always do this is consultation with the county Education Welfare Officers who can help families before it gets to that point. Even though we cannot authorise holidays, we are grateful to have the absence form filled out so that we know where they are - if we know in advance that you are visiting family overseas for a week in April, we don't panic when your child is away and the phone unanswered. as a school, we would like to see the persistant absentee figure fall markedly over the next few weeks and we hope to see all pupils attending such that they can make really good progress. |
Categories |