Dear Dorchester Families,
As members of Sutton Education Trust, we are part of a national network of schools called 'Challenge Partners'. The aim of Challenge Partners is to enable collaboration between schools and trusts, and combine knowledge and wisdom in order to enhance the life chances of all children. One of the main ways this collaboration takes place is through the annual Quality Assurance Review. Each year, Mrs Hall, Mr Dennis and I go and visit another school to take part in a review of provision. Not only do the visiting team hope to share a lot of ideas to help that school, we also hope to come back with lots of ideas to continue to improve our own school provision.
Another aspect of Challenge Partners membership is the cross-school training element. Our teachers are currently taking part in workshops with local Challenge Partners schools with a focus on disciplinary writing, that is, enabling our children to understand the difference between writing in science, history, English, maths etc - it includes understanding the writing structure in different curriculum areas, as well as the use of technical vocabulary and appropriate punctuation.
Our children really enjoy rising to a challenge, and know this work will really support them in further developing their writing skills.
Enjoy the weekend.
Cathy Bell
Headteacher
