July 10th, 2020

Dear Families, 
 
I do hope you are all keeping well. Now that many of the restrictions regarding traveling overseas have been relaxed, we are aware that some families will be planning holidays abroad. Please check government guidance about this, particularly regarding returning to the UK. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
 
Transition
Children in our current reception – Year 5 pupils will have received an invite to come to school for a morning or afternoon session on Tuesday 21st July.

 This is an opportunity for children to meet their class teachers, in a safe, socially distanced format. Unfortunately we cannot have all children in at the same time so we have arranged this in two halves. There is time in between for a thorough clean of desks before the next session. If you are a key worker, your children can attend all day as previously.
 
Year Six have been working through a booklet of activities to prepare them for the next stage in their school lives.  We also had a socially distanced visit from Derrek Brett, Principal of Okehampton College and Berni Hachipuka, the Assistant Principal, Transition Coordinator and Head of Year 7 to talk about transitioning to Year 7 which the children said was very helpful.

Year Six Photo
A big thank you to Sarah Clarke for organising the Year Six photo. We have a copy of the whole class and an example of an individual photograph in the school office if you would like to pop in and see.
Please don’t forget the order deadline is this Sunday!
 
School website
Have you seen our new website? The site is still under construction and over the following weeks we will be adding to it.  We would like to populate it with new photos and blogs, but of course with the school closure this has made this challenging. It is really important that we adhere to GDPR rules and only use photos of your children if we have your permission to.  Please check Parent SIMS to make sure we have the correct permissions.  
 
Reports
End of year reports will look very different this year. Due to the partial school closure, we do not have the end of year data we would usually share with you at this time. Reports reflect learning up until March, with a brief comment about the summer term. Reports will be ready for collection on Wednesday 15th July from 3pm, if you wish this to be posted, pleased let us know ([email protected]) . If you wish to discuss your Child’s report with their teacher, please call or email to make an appointment.
 
Planning for September
Mrs Underwood has been busy working with staff across the three schools to plan an exciting new Three Hares Curriculum for Years 1 to 6. The Early Years Team have also been busy re-evaluating and enhancing their curriculum to make it more challenging and engaging for our Pre School and Reception pupils.  We are also timetabling extracurricular clubs to encourage and develop specific skills and interests including sports, arts and crafts and drama for children to attend at lunchtime, and before and after school. More details about this to follow!
 
A message from Primary Times:
We have distributed Primary Times Devon to your families for a number of years now, the aim being to provide details of all the fun, exciting and educational events going on locally during the summer holidays. This year, things being as they are, we are unable to do so. Instead for the summer we would like to offer parents links to virtual things to do and learning for children.
The contributors will all be from the local community and economy. The idea being to offer a regular update and refreshed information throughout the summer as and when we receive it.
All we would ask please is that you load the link below for our first E-Newsletter onto your website and/or Parent Portal.
https://mailchi.mp/e6fba174f4c0/sign-up-to-the-primary-times-devon-newsletter
Parents can then choose to open the information should they wish and can also take an option to receive future emails direct from us.
Silly Squad Summer Reading 
Did you know you can borrow books from Chagford Library again? Simply tell us what you'd like ([email protected], 01647 433651) and collect your books from the library.  This year's Summer Reading Challenge is already up and running! Join the Silly Squad at www.devonlibraries.org.uk/web/arena/children-src and discover awesome books to read. Play games, earn badges and rewards and everyone who reads six books before 5th September receives a certificate and medal. A fantastic number of children in Chagford complete the Summer Reading Challenge every year... don't miss out on the 2020 Silly Squad!
 
Miss Penny’s Weekly Family Challenge – recognise the achievements of everyone at home!
What has each member of your family excelled in recently? It might be an academic achievement, a new skill or particular character strength. Write a certificate or even make an award for everyone in the family. Here are some examples: teaching another a skill; cooking a great meal; persevering with home learning; learning a new song; improved patience. You could even have a family awards ceremony!
 
I hope you all have a lovely weekend!
 
Keep safe everybody.
 
All the very best,
Tara Penny
Head of School