Newsletter - 4th December 2020

Dear Chagford Families,
 
 

I am delighted to introduce you to our newest member – George, the Dartmoor pony! He is at Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust and you can find out more about him here:
https://www.dpht.co.uk/adopt-a-pony  A huge thank you to Sue Hutchings for adopting him for us, a lovely early Christmas gift! We look forward to visiting him in the new year.
 
 



​Winterlight Festival 
This week we have been busy preparing for the Chagford Winterlight Festival. The children have been making lanterns, practising their songs and designing window tableaus.​
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We are really looking forward to bringing a bit of joy to the town with our Lantern Parade on Thursday evening. We have to make sure this is a safe as well as enjoyable event, so as you can imagine we have compiled a thorough risk assessment to make sure we comply with our usual road safety and safeguarding measures as well as making sure the event complies with Covid-19 regulations. We will send a letter separately with timings and allocated gathering spaces for different bubbles to detail exactly how this is organised and the expectations for all children and adults to adhere to so we can have a fabulous event and all be safe and happy!
 
Calling all Michael Morpurgo Fans
Crediton Bookshop are hosting author, and Chagford friend, Sir Michael Morpurgo reading his newest book Owl or Pussycat? on Sunday 13th December at 6.00pm. This is a Zoom event with an interactive opportunity for question and answers. The event is free with book purchase or £5 a ticket. 
https://www.creditoncommunitybookshop.co.uk/an-evening-with-michael-morpurgo/
Those new to the area may not be aware that Sir Michael Morpurgo officially opened the school in 2018!
 
Thank you!
A huge Thank You to James and Liz Goodwin for donating their Clavinova piano to the school, this is a generous donation and much appreciated as our pianos are a little old! Lots of people helped make this happen – particular thanks to Mimi D’Apice and Marc Leaman. 
 
Clubs
We are delighted that we are able to run our clubs again. Please make sure you book in as there are limited places. If you have made a booking but your child is not going to attend, please let us know in advance. 
 
School Grounds
Our gardening group have been busy tidying the beds at the front of the school. Please do not let children play here as they have planted bulbs, and next week will be laying manure! We are really looking forward to the spring and seeing the results of their hard work!
Please have a look at the Gardening Blog on the website https://www.chagford-primaryschool.org/gardening-committee#
 
Three Hares update
Please follow the link to Mrs Underwood’s Three Hares update on our website https://www.chagford-primaryschool.org/school-news-652094 
 
Proposed Cycle Link
A local group are commissioning a feasibility study for a new cycle link between Moretonhampstead and Chagford.  This is a very exciting proposal and they need as many local people as possible to let them know what they think about this project.
 
Please clicking on this link and fill in the questionnaire - and please forward this link to anyone else who may be interested. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HD8DNC2
 
Hard copies of the questionnaire will also be available to pick up from local shops including
Sally’s Newsagents in Chagford
Zero Waste in Moreton
Baskerville’s cafe in Moreton
 
With thanks to The Project Team:  Rachel Short, Nicky Heyworth and Claire Ash Wheeler for leading on this and keeping us informed of progress. 
 
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. 
 
Message from the PTFA
Thank you so much for your raffle ticket returns and tote bag orders. Apologies if you’ve been trying to email; I put the wrong email address, it is in fact [email protected] 
It would be really helpful if we could have any remaining tote bag orders by Tuesday 8th December to ensure a speedy turnaround when they arrive, thank you.
 
It’s the perfect weekend to get your Winterlight displays up! Simply decorate your window/house front and post a picture to the ‘Winterlight Chagford’ Facebook group (you don’t have to live in Chagford!). There are further details there of how to be part of the walking trail and be in with the chance of winning a prize too. Huge thanks to Sally Tertini and the Chagford Business Association who are running the event and helping to raise funds for our 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, we would ask that parents come to school and provide us with your unique code in order for us to redeem the voucher on the Hawk Select website on your behalf. Please contact Miss Jackson (tel. 01647 432412) in the first instance in order to book a mutually convenient time.
 
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 18th 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.  
 
As always, all the very best
 
 
Tara Penny
Head of School

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