Newsletters

Dorchester News - 3rd November 2023

Newsletter

3rd November 2023

 

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term - and hasn't it felt autumnal?  Sadly, both of our sports matches had to be cancelled this week because of the rain, but it has still been a fun week, with the children thoroughly excited about their Hallowe'en activities on Tuesday and recovering from the number of sweets they ate on Wednesday!  Around all this, they have really embraced their learning - I have seen so much brilliant maths and inspired writing, using a great range of vocabulary and strategies to bring their pieces to life - just fantastic - as well as some really creative ways in to this half term's new topics.

On our Inset Day just before half-term we focused on our design of learning activities, ensuring we use a balance of written, practical, creative, active and tech-based activities, and selecting the techniques that will most inspire our children and support them in remembering key knowledge and developing their skills across each subject.  Our teachers really enjoyed the opportunity to have space to think creatively about how we teach and are looking forward to delivering some fantastic lessons this term and beyond.

As the days get shorter and getting out of bed becomes a little more difficult for us all, I want to remind all parents about the importance of good attendance and punctuality at school.  The vast majority of our children have excellent attendance and are here on time, every day.  We have a minority of families, though, where children's attendance is not good enough to enable them to reach their potential.  If you have any difficulties with organising your morning routine to enable your children to get to school on time, or any issues that prevent your child attending every day, please do speak to Julie, our wonderful Home School Link Worker (jenright3@suttonmail.org), who will be able to support you.  Currently, our school attendance is 91.39%; our goal is 98% so we have a long way to go, but there is a lot of support we can put in place to help families who need it.

Have a lovely weekend and a safe Bonfire Night.

Kind regards

Cathy Bell
Headteacher



Open Events for Prospective Parents

We have several Open Events running throughout the Autumn Term for parents looking for places in Nursery or Reception for September 2024.  If this applies to you please register for one of the events using the link below.  If you know anyone else who is interested in finding out about all we have to offer here at Dorchester, please share this information with them.  Thank you.

24 Sep 2023
Joining Us in 2024
Open Events for Admissions in 2024
Read more

ECO News

03 Nov 2023
Logo Competition
Congratulations to Harry from Amber Class who won the Design a logo competition within Eco Council. His winning design will become the logo we use at Dorchester for all things Eco.Well done Harry!
Read more
03 Nov 2023
Cut Your Carbon Month
This week our lovely Eco Council presented an amazing assembly to the school about Cut Your Carbon Month. 
Read more

FODS Update

Firstly, we would like to say a massive thank you to all who volunteered to help at the Sparkle Events. We hope all the children enjoyed the party & discos. Our next meeting will be held Wednesday 8th November at 7.30pm, please meet us at the main office if you can attend. All parents & carers are welcome so please come along if you can, it’s a great way to get involved and share your opinions.

We have lots of things coming up before the children break up for Christmas, like our Donkey visit on the 1st December; all children will have an opportunity during the school day to visit. Children will be brought in class groups to visit the donkey. On the 2nd December we have our Christmas Fair, we hope to see the majority of you there. We cannot run the fair without help from you all, so please watch this space for sign-up sheets for stalls. Thank you for all your ongoing support.

We are very excited to be holding an online raffle this year, this will make it easier to secure your tickets and we will be announcing the fantastic prizes soon. Toy & hamper donations are coming up soon, please see posters below for all details regarding what to donate and when. Thank you for all your donations towards the Christmas Fair. As announced in the last newsletter, we will be holding a Christmas tree sale this year, again, please see all details in the poster below.

As always, any questions please do not hesitate to email us at dorchesterpta@gmail.com

{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}

Class Notes

03 Nov 2023
Nursery: Where could the Naughty Bus go? What could he do?
In Nursery we have been reading the story of 'The Naughty Bus' by Jan Oke. In this story a young boy receives a toy bus as a present and has great fun exploring the world with his new toy which turns out to be quite a naughty bus. We have been thinking about different places where the Naught...
Read more
03 Nov 2023
Reception: What ingredients would you put in your soup?
In the story Pumpkin Soup, by Helen Cooper, Duck, Cat and Squirrel learn to share responsibilities when making their amazingly tasty soup. We made our own pumpkin soup this week, by chopping many vegetables and learning to use knives carefully. We also had a go at hammering golf tees into big pumpki...
Read more
01 Nov 2023
Year 1: What are the countries that make up the UK, and what are some of their unique features?
This week, we have started our new topic learning all about the UK. We learnt which countries make up the United Kingdom and looked at lots of landmarks that we might recognise. In PSHE, we discussed telling the truth and what this means. We looked at the story of the boy who cried wolf to help us u...
Read more
02 Nov 2023
Year 2: What are the careers we can have in medicine and how have they changed over time?
Our highlight of this week is that we started our History topic, which is all about how medicine and the roles of medical professionals have changed over time. We started this week by investigating what the role of a doctor would have been like over 100 years ago, compared to what it is like today...
Read more
03 Nov 2023
Year 3: Where is Europe? Describe the location of Spain, Italy and Sweden
This week we have started our new topic on Europe.  We have been looking at the location of Europe and some of the countries which are located within it.  Our focus this half term will be on Sweden, Italy and Spain and we will be learning to recognise differences and similarities...
Read more
03 Nov 2023
Year 4: Where in the world could we feel the earth move beneath our feet with an earthquake or a volcano?
This week we travelled around the world virtually with Google Earth and our atlases to discover where we can find Volcanoes and Mountains. We discovered where we might experience the world moving beneath our feet if there is an earthquake. There was lots of excitement and discussion as we disco...
Read more
30 Oct 2023
Year 5: Who were the Vikings and what was the impact of their first invasion?
This week in Year 5, we have started our Vikings topic. The children have been learning about who they were, why they were significant and how this links with modern day Britain. Our Literacy unit is based off the text 'Faith Over Ferocity', which is a recount of the Viking invasion of Lindi...
Read more
02 Nov 2023
Year 6: What made playing Pok-a-tok so difficult?
Learning to play the ancient Maya game of Pok-a-tok was tricky, but it showed how strong, dexterous, determined and competitive they were. This helped us to learn what type of people they were, as an exciting way to launch our History topic.
Read more

Safeguarding

{item_alt_tag}

Firework Safety

“I wouldn’t want another family to have to go through what we have. When I think how relatively minor her burns are, and how much pain she has been through, it’s terrifying.” 

There’s no substitute for good adult supervision when it comes to young children and firework safety.

But it’s never too early to start teaching them how to stay safe around bonfires, fireworks and sparklers.

Read our simple safety messages below. And download these child-friendly safety tips from Fireman Sam.

If you work with children download our safety messages and activity ideas for early years.

Safety messages

  • Fireworks are exciting, but they can be very dangerous and can hurt you. Listen to your grown-up about where is a safe place to stand.
  • Never touch a firework. Don’t pick up a firework after it has been used.
  • Wear your gloves when you hold your sparkler and keep it away from your body.
  • It’s not a good idea to hold more than one sparkler at once.
  • Keep your sparkly sparkler safely away from other people and don’t run around with it.
  • Don’t throw your sparkler in case it hits someone.
  • Once your sparkler is finished, put it into a bucket of water, don’t pick it back up. It stays hot for a long time and can burn you.
  • Leave your dressing up clothes at home on fireworks night, wrap up warm instead.
  • Stand well away from the bonfire and stay close to the grown-ups.
  • Don’t be tempted to throw things into the bonfire or poke at it with sticks.
  • If you’re going to a firework display, hold hands with your grown-up and stay with them all the time.
  • If you catch your clothes on a flame, don’t panic – STOP, DROP and ROLL:
    • STOP what you are doing.
    • DROP to the ground and cover your face with your hands.
    • ROLL over and over to put out the flames.
  • Practice your STOP, DROP and ROLL before your fireworks celebrations.

More information on firework safety

Find out how to buy fireworks safely and read our top tips for a safe firework display at home and start teaching young children how to stay safe.

Hear what can go wrong and find out what to do in an emergency, including how to react if clothes catch fire and first aid for burns.

Download and share a free firework safety leaflet.

Download child-friendly safety tips from Fireman Sam

 

Are you worried about a child? https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/spotting-signs-child-abuse/

If you think a child could be at risk of significant harm, you can call the children's social care team at the council in Sutton (Go to their website)

020 8770 6001 (Monday to Friday, 9am and 5pm)     020 8770 5000 (out of hours)

Always call 999 in an emergency


Lunch Menu

Our menus are available here.  Next week is week 3.

 


Upcoming Events

To view the school calendar click here.

Parents/children bringing in toys for Christmas Fair
All Day
From 06 Nov until 10 Nov
06
November
Scrapstore Class Introduction Sessions
All Day
From 08 Nov until 09 Nov
08
November
Junior Duke Launch Assembly
All Day
08
November
No Art Club today
3:15pm – 4:15pm
09
November