COLYTON: Community gets behind school safari project

Giraffes, monkeys and snakes - not your usual East Devon wildlife but they can all be spotted in Colyton this week!

The town has been getting behind a safari theme project to ensure children who are learning from home still feel part of their school community.

Colyton Primary School has been sending out weekly 'topic grids' to pupils who are remaining at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, with themed activities the whole family can take part in.

This week's theme was 'safari' and it's not just pupils and parents that have been taking part - the whole town has got behind the project.

One of the activities was to make an animal 'scarecrow' to put in the garden so other children could spot them when passing by, and imaginative animal creations have been popping up all over the town.

"It's really taken off and we've been blown away by the response from the Colyton community," said headteacher Aerfen Mills.

"The great thing about it is that we still want the children who are learning from home to feel part of their school, and part of their community."

A similar project was held in May to mark VE Day with Colyton pupils decorating their homes in red, white and blue.

Colyton Primary School has remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for children of key workers and has recently welcomed back some pupils from reception, Year 1 and Year 6 in line with government guidelines.

Mrs Mills said the children had returned with a "really positive attitude" and were coping well with the changes.

She added that teaching staff had worked incredibly hard to run their normal lessons as well as keeping in touch with pupils who remained at home, with daily emails, the weekly topic grids, regular phone calls and Zoom meetings.

Mrs Mills added: "It's been a really positive experience in terms of learning but we are missing the children very much."

You can scroll through photos of the Colyton safari above.