17th May 2024

Dear Dorchester Families,

You will have probably seen coverage in the news this week about the Government's consultation on revising the guidelines for teaching of Relationships, Sex and Health Education in schools.

Whenever this area hits the mainstream news, there are lots of headlines circulating which do not always reflect what is actually taught in the majority of schools.

At Dorchester, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive and safe space for all. We strongly believe that knowledge is power and that children should have respect and tolerance for everyone, both within and beyond our school community. Our children are taught how to keep their minds and bodies safe and healthy, and the importance of respecting others, in a way that is appropriate for their age group.

If you have any concerns about our curriculum, we are, of course, very happy to discuss these with you and answer any questions you may have.

We will respond to the consultation with our thoughts as a school, and would encourage you to do the same. Your views as parents will be important in shaping the final published guidance. The consultation can be found at

https://consult.education.gov.uk/rshe-team/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance/

_______________________________________________________________

On behalf of FODS, thank you for your donations today towards the hampers for the Summer Fair. The hampers are going to be amazing! Remember that next Friday is FODS 'Break the Rules' Day - one of the children's favourite days of the year. Please see the FODS section below for a list of rules that can be broken so you can get planning!

Enjoy the weekend.

Kind regards

Cathy Bell

Headteacher

News

17 May 2024

Class Ambassador Training

We had our second round of class ambassador training this week since our last training session was interrupted by the class photos. The children all had the chance to role play and practise how as class ambassadors they should greet visitors to their classes, how to proactively talk a...

17 May 2024

Music Ambassadors

Recently, the school acquired an entire class set of Djembe drums so what better opportunity for our Music ambassadors to meet this week for a special Djembe drumming session. We learnt about the different sounds the drums can make, like bass, slap and tone, and how to use our hands and fi...

17 May 2024

Junior Leadership Team Meeting

Today, we looked over and discussed some of the design entries for the proposed new outdoor area design competition. We saw a few physical models, a few emailed ideas and some written ideas from various children across the school. From looking over and discussing what we had, we came up with the fol...

11 May 2024

Boys' Football Matches.

On Friday 10th May our footballers went out to play Westbourne and All Saints Benhilton.

17 May 2024

Nursery: What facts can you remember about farm animals?

This week in Nursery we have been reading the story Farmyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andreae and learning about different animals on the farm. Did you know that cows only have teeth on the bottom of their mouth and chicks can talk to their mummy when they are still in an egg? We have been using differen...

16 May 2024

Reception: What happens at the Changing of the Guard?

This week the children in Reception have been continuing to explore London. They have made maps, built landmarks and a particular highlight was the changing of the guard, who were protecting their queen as she sat on her throne!

15 May 2024

Year 1: What is an imperative verb?

Our highlight of the week was making and trying our smoothies!

14 May 2024

Year 2: What have we learned about the Great Fire of London?

Firstly, we would just like to say thank you to everyone who helped out and supported us on the trip to the Tower of London this week. The children were very sensible and safe, and most importantly had a brilliant time. We even had comments from members of the public about their respectful behaviour...

15 May 2024

Year 3: What did we learn about Buddhism on our trip?

Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed our week with our special trip to the Buddhist Temple in Wimbledon. We were very lucky to hear a talk and we definitely learnt a lot. We are also coming to the end of our Fractions unit and we have been so impressed with how hard-working and dedicated the children have...

17 May 2024

Year 4 - Which is your favourite William Morris design?

Inspiration for our art work this week has come from William Morris. We have looked at his patterns and prints as well as his life. Did you know that William Morris lived and worked locally in Wimbledon?We will be using this inspiration to create our own batik printed fabric. Look out for...

11 May 2024

Year 5: What inventions were invented during The Victorian Era?

What a great week to be in Year 5! The children have started writing a blog in character as Archie from our wonderful class book 'Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow'.

17 May 2024

Well Done Year 6!

Well done to all the children who were able to be in and take on (and breeze through!) their SATS this week. A great achievement. Huge appreciation and thanks to the Year 6 staff for their tireless efforts supporting them through and beyond. Thanks also to all staff who supported...

FODS News

SAVE THE DATE – Summer Fair on 29^th June. We will once again be having external stalls. If you or someone you know would like to have a stall at the fair, please email us at dorchesterpta@gmail.com.

We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone for all the lovely hamper donations today; your continued support is greatly appreciated.

A big thank you to all Year 2 parents & carers for your cake donations & to those who volunteered to run the cake sale. We couldn’t do these events without you. The next cake sale is on Friday 24^th May, it will be year three’s turn to donate cakes & run the sale. Thank you for all your donations, please see details below on how to volunteer.

Volunteer opportunities for weekly cake sales are now open. Please click on the web link for your year group (or copy it into your web browser if clicking doesn't work) to go to the signup sheet:

Year 3: https://volunteersignup.org/LPETT

Year 4: https://volunteersignup.org/HBF74

Year 5: https://volunteersignup.org/E3CHH

To sign up, just follow the instructions on the page. It only takes a few seconds to do. Thank you for volunteering, all details of the upcoming cake sales can be found on the cake sale poster below.

We love to hear your feedback & suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at dorchesterpta@gmail.com

We have so many exciting upcoming events for the children. Please see event calendar below for full details. Thank you for all your donations & continued support.

Do you know about Your School Lottery? Dorchester Primary School is part of this fantastic lottery. This lottery has been set up specifically to raise money and make a difference for our children! It's a fantastic way to bring parents, carers, teachers, and the wider community together, in partnership with our school, and at the same time give something back. There are lots of amazing prizes to be won, your support is greatly appreciated, and we wish you good luck! To sign up or find out more information, please visit the website via this link: https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/dorchester-primary-school?fbclid=IwAR2UqkYQ4Yf79s9ZZul-tgcgLtJp9McVlXXqWutUrjklVom85O1EppaUonM

If you aren’t already, please follow us on Facebook where we keep you up to date on all things FODS! Find us at: Friends Of Dorchester School PTA

Safeguarding and Pastoral Care

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