Newsletter - 15th May 2020

Dear Families,
 
I do hope you are all keeping well.  
  
A message from the staff
I hope you enjoyed our message to you. If you missed it, here it is again:
https://animoto.com/play/AVmMax5kOwjpWeB4cbYVhw
 
The latest Government announcement
I am sure you are aware that schools are being asked to plan to welcome back some of our year groups

from 1st June. This news has dominated my week; I have been carefully reading the cascade of guidance and meeting each day with The Three Hares Heads team to plan how we will do this safely and sensibly. Today I have met with the full Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust heads team and this afternoon there has been a The Three Hares Governors meeting to discuss this as well. Next week, the staff team will all meet to read and understand the risk assessments we will be adhering to and to further plan how we are going to proceed.  Our top priority is staff and children being safe.
 
Suffice to say, children will not be returning to ‘normal’ school. They will not be joining their whole class, and may not have their usual class teacher. There will be hygiene and socially distancing rules to follow. Our key workers children are now used to the rhythm of the days in school, and the restriction and limitations. With the increase of more children in the building, this provision will also change and look different again. Please bear with us as we put together our plans and think this through. Once we have a clear picture, we will be able to share this with parents and children.
 
 
Learning at home
Mr B shared a podcast clip with his class this week, I listened in this morning and felt it was really important to share with all parents. The podcast is called Free Weekly Timed and is aimed at those dedicated people who get up on weekend mornings to complete park runs (I am not one of these people!)
 
This particular episode includes an interview with an educational psychologist who gives some great advice for everyone who has children at home during this time. He echoes the message the staff at Chagford primary have been saying throughout this school closure, please do not worry about school work, do what you and your child can manage.  He refers to this as learning at home, rather than home schooling which I felt was a really important distinction. Do listen in and I hope you find it reassuring. There is also an interview with local Olympian, Jo Pavey, who talks about her experience of lockdown with her children which you may also find interesting. You can find it here (http://www.freeweeklytimed.com/all-podcasts/ - 8th May).
 
New Logo
What do you think of our new logo? Many thanks to all of the children, families and staff who had input into the creative process.
 
The Book of Hopes
The Book of Hopes is an on line collection of short stories, poems, essays and pictures from more than 110 children’s writers and illustrators, including Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz, Greg James and Chris Smith, Michael Morpurgo, Liz Pichon, Axel Scheffler, Francesca Simon, Katherine Rundell and Jacqueline Wilson.
The Book of Hopes aims to comfort, inspire and encourage children during lockdown through delight, new ideas, ridiculous jokes and heroic tales. There are true accounts of cats and hares and plastic-devouring caterpillars; there are doodles and flowers; revolting poems and beautiful poems; and there are stories of space travel and new shoes and dragons.
Find it here at https://literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone/9-12/book-hopes/
 
Miss Penny’s Weekly Family Challenge – send a hug!
In the podcast mentioned, there is a lovely idea to send a hug to a friend or family member. How about this week your family write or draw a ‘hug’ in whatever creative way you fancy and post it to someone who may be missing a cwtch (what my Welsh friends call a cuddle!)  Many of us are using Zoom, Facebook and Facetime to keep in touch with friends and family, but there’s nothing quite like receiving something in the post.
 
 
 
 
Keep well and keep in touch,
All the very best
Tara Penny
Head of School