Newsletter - 11th December 2020

​Dear Chagford Families,
 
Guess who came to visit us today?
 
Santa!
 
Ask your children all about his exciting entrance and transportation. He has very kindly given each class some games to play. Well done everyone, we must be on the good list!
 
Lantern Parade
 
Thank you to all who came along and enjoyed our simple, but moving Christmas event.
Thank you to all the people who helped make this a magical event:

• Our musicians; Tony, Laura, Mimi, Lucy and Tor for leading the procession
• Catherine and Chris at Blacks, Sarah and Vincent at The Forge café, the staff at the Three Crowns, and the Church for providing refreshments.
• The three inn keepers from The Globe, The Crown and The Ring o Bells.
• Flora and Lewis from the The Dartmoor Shepherd for providing the sheep, Christmas tree and hay bales.
• Lily May’s family for providing a pony for Mary to ride.
• Linda Lemiuex for helping us make the lanterns.
• The Chagford Parish Council, Chagford Business Association, Rev Paul and the Conservation Club for helping us make this safe and fun.
• Our Chagford school staff and especially to our brilliant Lisa Rowe for coordinating the event.

Chagford School is growing!
 
We are delighted to have 13 new children joining us in January. This has meant some movement across classes. We have spoken to families about this as we always want to make decisions in the best interest of children as well as school growth. We aim to become a one form per class school within the next few years. 
 
Christmas jumper extension!
 
It has been lovely to see children in their Christmas jumpers today. I will ask School Council to count the money and let you know how much we raised for Save The Children. Let’s keep the festivities going next week, and as a special end of term festive treat, wear our Christmas jumpers next Thursday and Friday too! (No additional donation needed!)
 
Premises Manager
 
We are delighted to welcome Steve Kiff, our Three Hares Premise Manager. He will be on site at Chagford on Wednesdays.
 
Contact Tracing during the Christmas Holidays
 
If your child has a positive test for COVID during the Christmas holidays, please inform me by email at [email protected] I will then follow the guidance as to whether I need to contact families of children in the same bubble. Where a child or staff member has tested positive for COVID but has not been in school in the time period 2 days before the onset of symptoms to 10 days after, there is no requirement for any contact tracing to be carried out with the school. 
 
Free School Meals over the Christmas Holidays
 
From Tuesday 8th December DCC will be sending a unique code per child to all families known to the Local Authority, that are currently in receipt of Free School Meals.  The LA will provide us with a list of all their students that are being issued a voucher early next week.  If there are children not on this list that we know to be receiving free school meals, we will notify the free school meals team immediately. Each code can be used once on a website called ‘Hawk Select’ to redeem vouchers to the value of £30 per child (£15 per week for the two weeks of school holidays) for Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, Asda, M&S Food and Waitrose.
 
The website requires families to provide an email address for the vouchers to be sent to once you have chosen your preferred supermarket. When received, you can save the vouchers to your phone or tablet to use online (depending on the supermarket) or show at the checkout in store. Alternatively, you can print the vouchers off to give to the cashier.
 
We are conscious that some parents may not have access to the internet or a mobile device to receive and store the vouchers on and so, in these exceptional cases, we can help you to complete the process on the Hawk Select website and print off the vouchers for you. In this event, would ask that parents come to school at a mutually convenient time and provide us with your unique code in order for us to redeem the voucher on the Hawk Select website on your behalf.
 
The education helpline is available on 0345 155 1019 for any questions about the distribution of the unique codes. There are also some useful FAQs on the Hawk Select website along with contact details for any technical support about using the codes and vouchers.
 
If you think your child may now be eligible for free school meals due to a recent change in your family’s circumstances, please help us ensure you can access this holiday voucher support over Christmas by applying online through the Devon Citizen’s Portal to check if they are eligible as soon as possible. This is the quickest and easiest way for your eligibility to be assessed and you will get an instant decision.  Alternatively, you can call the education helpline on 0345 155 1019.  To ensure that you receive the free school meals holiday vouchers for this Christmas period you must apply by Friday 18 December 2020.
 
Please go to the DCC website if you have any questions or ask myself or Miss Jackson.  
 
Finally, if you are worrying about money and struggling to pay for basic household essentials, you can also apply for help through funding made available via the District Council hardship funds. There’s more about what financial and food support is available for families in Devon on the DCC website. 
 
Virtual Festive Family Activity Challenge
 
HO, HO, HO! Active Devon and the Devon School Games Organisers are hosting a FREE Virtual Festive Family Activity Challenge. The challenge will open at 10.00am on Monday 14th December 2020 and will close at 10.00am on Monday 4th January 2021. Taking part in this fun challenge is a great way to keep your family active, moving and motivated over the festive season. This will help towards the whole family feeling happier and healthier.
The main challenge is made up of three separate challenges: the 7 Days Challenge; 14 Days Challenge or 21 Days Challenge. As a family you can choose which one you would like to do. Plus, which Certificate Award you would like to go for, either Bronze, Silver or Gold,
For full details or watch the promotion video here: https://www.activedevon.org/festive-family-activity-challenge/ 

As always, all the very best,
 
Tara Penny
Head of School