Newsletter - 27th November 2020

Dear Chagford Families,
 
Christmas is coming!
 
There are only three weeks left at school and four weeks until Christmas!
Next week we will start our advent celebrations in school. Each child will have a special advent book with information, thoughts and prayers and activities to complete. We will be thinking about hope, love, joy and peace in our assemblies and getting excited about Christmas. 

On Monday the KS1 and KS2 classes each took part in a willow weaving workshop with Linda Lemieux where they started making their Christmas lanterns. It was harder than it looks and I was really impressed with the children’s concentration and determination to follow the instructions and create their structures. We are looking forward to our Lantern Parade on Thursday 10th December. Please be assured that we are planning this carefully so that it is a safe and enjoyable occasion for the school and local community.
 
We have Christmas Jumper day on Friday 11th December raising money for Children In Need and we will have Christmas lunch on 16th December. There will be lots of fun activities in classes over the next three weeks. Please see the school calendar on the website for all upcoming events.
 
School Lunches
 
Next week we have cooked school lunches back on the menu! Marie, Shirley and Janet have worked hard to make this possible under the Covid-19 restrictions. Children will be in staggered sittings and food will be brought to them by staff to reduce queuing and to avoid breaking bubbles. We will have additional cleaning between sittings. Please pay for school lunches the usual way through School Gateway.
 
Tor Challenge
 
Our SENDCO Chloe Bennet received a wonderful letter from former pupil Elvie Baker. As part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award, she has decided to walk 160 tors on Dartmoor to raise money for our school! What an incredibly kind and challenging undertaking. Please visit her Just Giving Page which we have on our Facebook page, and donate if you are able to. Every pound will be wisely spent. Good luck Elvie, we appreciate and support you 100%!
 
PTFA
 
The PTFA have been very busy organising the Christmas raffle and our exciting unique tote bags. Over to Chloe to tell us more!
 
Dear Parents/Guardians,
 
You will find a book of 5 raffle tickets in your child/ren’s book bags today. There are some brilliant prizes this year thanks to the generosity of local businesses and friends of the school. It would be great if you could buy/sell these tickets and return the slips along with cash or cheque to school reception by Tuesday 15th December, the draw will take place on Wednesday 16th December (winning tickets will be numbered with first drawn having first choice of prize, we will contact each winner in turn). If you are unable to use your tickets please feel free to return them to reception to be re-used. Likewise, if you feel able to sell more tickets please feel free to pick up more from reception! You can also e-mail [email protected] to pay by BACS and have tickets entered into the draw by us.
 
The Chagford School Tote bag is coming! The ‘must have’ accessory this season! ;) You will find a letter with all the information in book bags today and a form allowing you to pre-order these fabulous bags with the children’s hand drawn self-portraits on. Please return the form as soon as possible so we know how many bags we have left to sell.
 
All money raised by the PTFA goes towards complementing and enriching the education and experiences of our children and we really thank you for your support.
 
Chloe and the PTFA team.
 
Thank you to everyone who is supporting our PTFA, it really is appreciated. 

Fundraising
As we have previously communicated, we have been working on a Three Hares fundraising initiative, which we are delighted to officially launch at Chagford CE Primary School today.  Please see the attached letter chagford_letter_to_parents_-_fundraising_november_2020.pdf from our Chair and Vice Chair of the Local Academy Committee which provides further information, or visit our website: https://www.chagford-primaryschool.org/fundraising.html. 
 
Wrap up warm this weekend – it’s going to be a cold one!
 
As always, all the very best,
 
Tara Penny
Head of School

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