We are so excited about our Summer Fair, which is on tomorrow between 12 noon and 3pm. There is so much for everyone to do and enjoy. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to help at the Fair - some wonderful supporters have even agreed to fill gaps and run stalls throughout the event. Whilst this is commendable, it shouldn't be necessary with the number of families we have in school, and it's not too late to offer your support. Just speak to your class rep who will arrange for you to get involved.
I must thank our FODS committee members, who have worked tirelessly to make sure the Summer Fair is as brilliant as ever - they have been in school so much over the last few weeks, sorting out donations, checking resources and generally organising and being amazing. Thank you so much - you are an amazing team and we appreciate all you do so much - the children will certainly appreciate it when we raise enough to make the outside space even more incredible for them to play in!
I must make a special mention of our Year 6 Top of the Form quiz team who, on Tuesday afternoon, won the Final of the Rotary Club Top of the Form competition, against an equally impressive team from Avenue Primary Academy. Believe me this is no mean feat - they had questions ranging from Maths and English Literature to Nature - with some really tricky questions thrown in. As far as we can work out, it has been around 42 years since Dorchester last achieved this accolade so we are very proud indeed. Our congratulations go to Vihaan, Matheo, Minha and Mahnoor - just brilliant - well done.
This year's Top of the Form Finalists - a brilliant and close competition!
See you at the Fair tomorrow.
Kind regards
Cathy Bell
Headteacher
New Classes for Next Academic Year
You received an email earlier today regarding new classes for September 2024. The children were told who will be in their new class and who their new teacher will be earlier today.
We know that the thought of change can be upsetting for some children and so we have been really positive with them about the opportunities they will have to make new friends and get to know a new teacher next year.
and a goodbye...
We are very sorry to be saying goodbye to the wonderful Miss Hathaway (Fern Class Teacher) at the end of this academic year. Miss Hathaway has moved to Portsmouth, and, as much as she would love to stay with us at Dorchester, the commute is just too much. Miss Hathaway has made a superb contribution to our school community, both as a class teacher in years 5 and 4, as history lead and as our EAL (English as an Additional Language) lead, where she has overseen the introduction of Flash Academy, trained our Young Interpreters, carried out parent information sessions and so much more - we are truly grateful to her and will miss her enormously.
On an extremely warm Wednesday evening, our choirs and solo performers certainly did not let the heat get to them! The performances were beautifully moving and very impressive indeed. Well done to all the children who were part of the Infants and Junior choirs and Recorder club. Clearly much pr...
Another PB where the sun has shone and so has the work of all the children from Year 1 to Year 6.
Our PB Weeks give all our children an opportunity to think about their own ‘Best’ and how having personal goals can help us all move forward and progress.
This week, Year 1 and 2 have...
This was our last fixture of a very busy, and successful, year on the netball front.
It was with mixed emotions that I approached the games – it’s always great to have our teams on court, but this was the last time I would be part of a match with our committed group of Year 6 players...
Swimming Gala
It was a hot evening poolside – both in temperature and in the way the Dorchester swimmers performed!
It was a lovely example of support for each and other and encouragement, topped off by a collection of medals won by the end of the Gala!
Such gutsy swims from all our c...
Year 5/6 Borough Athletics
Due to work going on at The David Weir Centre, this year’s Borough Athletics was just open to Year 5 and Year 6 athletes. It was a hot afternoon to be competing, but our Squad of 16 runners and our Team Manager were excellent ambassadors for Dorchester, both with...
Our highlight in Nursery this week was when we made fruit kebabs. The children enjoyed tasting different fruits and counting how many pieces they could fit onto their skewer. We have been thinking about different foods that are healthy to eat. The children carefully cut the fruit and talked about ho...
We have been around the world this week. We have been to a few countries and learned some facts about them, such as major sports or landmarks. We were even taught some yoga by a yoga instructor. We have made flags from the different countries. We read the book Snail Mail by Sharon King Chai. Bi...
On our Wow Day, we investigated the different biomes of Southern Africa. We learned all about the weather, temperature, climate, wildlife and plants. We then used those facts to work together in teams to create a shoebox biome.
On a separate note, it's a very busy ti...
This week Year 3 enjoyed their personal bests challenges! We were very proud of how hard everyone worked and how supportive each team was for each other. Our new book, 'Dear Earth' has really inspired us to start thinking about how beautiful our planet truly is and how humans are starting to...
Year 4 have discovered that Eudaimonia is not a disease - which was one person initially thought - but it is in fact the state of happiness and joy that we feel when we are growing and flourishing. We all experience this at different times of the day, week or even year. As we have had succ...
We had a brilliant time at the Royal Observatory this week. The children loved sitting back in the planetarium and finding out more about our Solar System as well as learning more about sundials and shadows. They are all keen to make their own sundial back in our classrooms.
We have been really getting to grips with 'Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morgorgo this week and have been taking a cross-curricular approach. Atlases were in use to plot the journey that the family took around the world, as well as remembering Forest School lessons about shelter-bui...
This week all children from years 1-6 have had an assembly about the NSPCC “Speak out, Stay safe” campaign.
The NSPCC say if a child ever hears or sees anything that makes them feel unsafe, they can speak to a safe adult to get help.
The NSPCC describe all the ways a child can contact Childline and ask the children to say and sign the number. Children are reminded to keep speaking out until something gets better.
Please talk to your child about who their safe adults are, at home and at school.
