Newsletter 28th June

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was an absoolute joy from beginning to end. Parents, aunties, uncles, grandmothers and gramdfathers, friends of the family anf friends of the community thronged the school to see every child from Reception to Year Six performing on stage.
The weather was kinder than we had feared it might be and the first two shows went ahead in the amphitheatre - the big friday night show started off with all of us crammed into the hall as rain fell outside - and the children made an incredible effort in flexibility and resilience to adjust to that change - but then the sun came out and by the interval we decided we could safely head down to the amphitheatre to show off the play as we had intended it to be seen.

Our children had not had the opportunity to do anything like this for two and a half years so there was enormous weight for all of us watching this happen - to me school just isn't three dimentional if we can't fully embrace our community through the arts, performance and community involvement. This felt like a wonderful reset putting the school back in touch with what really, really matters.

Putting on a show isn't just about the fun of performance - it's about so much more. The children, especially the leads from Years Five and SIx, worked incredibly hard over several weeks and had to learn a lot about their responsibility to the each other and the shared respoinsibility of making sure the story is told. Lydia and Crispin worked many hours with them to help them reach the point where they could wow us all -natural talent is one thing but it has to be worked, hardnessed and guided and we owe a huge tdebt of thanks to Lydia and Crispin for helping the children to find out what they were capable of.
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So many people from the community worked together on the show that it is impossible to thank them all here in this space. Crispin who wriote the adaptation for the children and who rehearsed the cast, Lydia who directed, Ben who played a hundred roles in the background including strimming the performance area with Chris, Phillipa who was amazing and coordinated costumes as well as making Titania's astonish costume, Izzy who dressed the stage and made Titania's head dress, eveyone who turned out at the weekend to sew and glue, mthe team who built our maypole, Ione for the stunning Oberon costume, Todd for the brilliant puppertry workshop, Elaine for all the work in the office getting permissions and selling tickets and more, the PTFA who sold snacks and drinks - I genuinely could go on much longer. If I have missed you out please know how hugely grateful we are.

At the start of this year we redefined our school's values settling on 'Community, Challenge and Care' - I like to think that all three of those values were clearly on display in our schow but it's especially true that Community was writ large. It made me very proiud to be the principal of this school so thank you to every one of you. Do enjoy the slideshow below which includes photos from Chris Evans, Lucy Loveday and more. I will add to it as more photos come in so if you have a good photo of a moment that isn't captured below please email it to me and I'll pop it on.

Covid
Please be aware that we currently seem to be having an uptick in hte number of covid cases in the school. We currently have four members of staff isolating at home after positive tests. This is not enough to have a major impact on the running of the shool but reminds us to take hadnwashing and ventilation seriously and to leave a little room between ourselves and others. If you have symptoms associated with v=covid or feel that your children may be infected it would be wise to take a test if you can. We are advsing those who test positive to isolate for five days before returning to work if they feel well enough.

Summer Fayre
The PTFA will be running a Summer Fayre directly after school on Friday 8th July. There will be refreshments, entertainment from the smaba band and, hopefully, a mass rendition of the Chagford Show song from last week's production. There will be some games to play and a chance to buy raffle tickets. If we have enough volunteers we might also have the second hand uniform stall out. The grand finale may well be a huge soak the teacher frenzy - depends if we can get some teachers to sign up! We hope to see you there.

Leavers' Service
Our leavers service will take place in the church of St Michael the Archangel in the morning on Friday 22nd July - the last day of term. We hope to start a little after 10:30 and we will be done by 11:30. parents, carers and supporters of children in Year Six are warmly welcomeed to come along to celebrate their children's time at Chagford Primary and to mark their 'graduation' onwards to even greater things.

Sports Day
Parents are very welocme to attend our Sports Day on Friday 15th July. We will have a Key Stage One only sports event in the morning and a seperate Key Stage Two event in the afternoon before we welcome the younger children back out at the end of the day to join in the grand finale - not forgetting the Year Six Spectacular. Parents are welcome to come for the Key Stage One Event, The Key Stage Two Event or both. There will be a break between the two events.

Key Stage One event 9:30 till 11:30
Key Stage Two Event 1:30 till 2:45
Grand Finale 3:00 p.m. till 3:25

After last year's baking heat, we would be very grateful indeed for the loan of any gazebos or event shelters so children can sit in the shade when they aren't competing.

Government Assistance with the Cost of Living
The Department for Education have sent this through, please click on the link below to find out what government help there is available currently.   
​The government has now announced ‘cost of living support’ and any families struggling can contact their relevant LA. Parents and families can see what support is available, including information on the HAF programme, on the link that can be found here

After School Art Club in Moretonhampstead.

Ages – 7-9ish BUT children 4+ very welcome with a parent/carer present. STARTING IN SEPT 2022.
Term time, 7 weekly, 1 hour creative club at Green Hill.  Likely be a Wednesday from 3.45-4.45pm
£3 per child per week - FULL BLOCK BOOKING REQUIRED

Creative Carboard Sculpting Workshop for Kiddies
Saturday, August 13, 202210:00am – 12:00pm
A FUN two hour workshop with Sculptor James Lake. The session has been designed to give access to cardboard sculpting techniques for a range of abilities and ages and for those who want to explore a new medium.
Participants can make flowers/trees or whatever comes!  £8.00 pp
All materials provided. Session will run from Green Hill Arts. Age 7+. Parents/Carers welcome

All info at www.greenhillarts.co.uk​

Pool concessions for the 2022 season


The Swimming Pool Committee recognise that many households are facing increased financial pressures at the moment and they want Chagford Pool to remain accessible to all. Please find below more detail on our concessions for this season.


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 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 documental evidence of your current Benefit Status (e.g. an Award Letter for Universal Credit or Housing Benefit). This could be a screenshot from your device or a paper copy and will need to show your name, address and the benefit you are receiving. All claims for this discount will be dealt with in strict confidence and will be highly discreet when paying at the gate. To apply please email Marion at [email protected] with your request and we will forward further instructions to grant you this discount.


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.


We're very aware that the discontinuation of Season Tickets may be unpopular but we have not made this decision lightly. The costs of running the pool are soaring and we are facing a very uncertain financial future. We ask you to bear with us at this time.


Many thanks,
Chagford Pool Committee :-)