Dear Dorchester Families
We have had a wonderful first couple of days back at school. It is always lovely to welcome the children back after the summer break – and even better to see them so enthusiastic about returning!
They are already settling well into their new year groups, showing positive attitudes to learning and beautifully demonstrating our school values. They have welcomed new children with open arms, helping to ensure that they experience the strong sense of belonging that is so important to us here at Dorchester. Well done, children!
In other good news, we began the term with a visit from the Environmental Health team. They realised as soon as they walked into our kitchen that it would not be a long visit: they described our hygiene practices as exemplary and awarded us the highest possible food hygiene rating of 5. Congratulations to Kim, Laura and the whole kitchen team!
We are looking forward to seeing you at our Meet the Teacher meetings next week. These will be an opportunity to hear about what is planned for the year ahead, along with expectations for homework and other ways in which you can support your child.
Children benefit enormously when school and families work closely together, so this partnership is extremely important to us. Please let us know if you are finding any aspect of supporting your child difficult – whether that is finding them a quiet space to work, structuring homework, managing screen time or anything else. We are always very happy to help.
The Meet the Teacher meetings for Years 1, 5 and 6 will take place on Monday at 3.30pm. The meetings for Years 2, 3 and 4 will be held on Tuesday at 3.30pm.
Each meeting will take place in one of the classrooms in your child’s year group, and staff will direct you to the correct room. A crèche for children and siblings will be available in the Butterfly Room, between the Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, so that parents and carers can focus fully on the meeting.
In the meantime, have a lovely weekend.
Cathy Bell
Headteacher
