13th December 2024

Dear Dorchester families,

Christmas Fair

What an incredible day we had on Saturday at our Christmas Fair! Despite the storm outside, the atmosphere was magical, with festive cheer filling the air and smiles all around. It was wonderful to see so many families, friends, and members of the community come together to celebrate the festive season. The fair was kicked off with our amazing Junior Choir, led by Mrs Cucharo and Mrs Wyman performing a variety of Christmas songs and carols..

The fair featured a wide variety of amazing stalls, offering everything from second hand toys, handmade gifts and delicious treats to fun games and festive decorations. Whether you were browsing for the perfect Christmas gift or enjoying the delicious food, there really was something for everyone.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to the FODS team, for once again running such a successful event. A big thank you also goes out to all our volunteers, who gave their time and energy to ensure everything ran smoothly. We are also grateful to the external stallholders for supporting our school.

Thank you to everyone who contributed for your generosity and for making our Christmas Fair such a memorable occasion. We look forward to seeing you at future events!

Christmas Lunch Plans Are Underway!

Our Christmas Lunch plans are well underway! Thank you to everyone who has signed up—almost 400 children have chosen to enjoy a festive Christmas meal, and we can’t wait to celebrate together on Wednesday.

Year 2 Nativity

And I can't let the newsletter go by without a mention of the wonderful Year 2 Nativity, 'Hey Ewe'. Everyone who saw it will agree that the children did an amazing job - supporting one another, acting beautfully and singing with gusto. I've lost count of the number of nativities plays I have seen over my career and each one still manages to move me in unexpected ways! Well done Year 2!

Enjoy the weekend.

Cathy Bell

Headteacher

Sports News

13 Dec 2024

Netball League Fixtures

Netball League Fixtures Vs Westbourne – Dorchester Won 5-1 Vs Brookfield- Dorchester Won 5-0 Vs AS Benhilton – Dorchester Won 1-0 It was a fixture packed afternoon last Thursday with a round-robin between us, Westbourne, Brookfield and AS Benhilton to get...

Friends of Dorchester School

Friends of Dorchester Primary School Christmas Fair 2024 was a huge success. What a fantastic festive day last Saturday. Thank you to everyone who came along to support the school & have some festive fun. We hope everyone enjoyed the fair as much as we did! A massive thank you to all who volunteered to help out with setting up, running & packing up the fair. We couldn't do any of it without you all. All the help is extremely appreciated! A massive thank you also goes to Darren Altman for once again being fantastic on the mic, you kept everyone informed with all that was going on & announced all the lucky raffle winners! We'd like to thank all the local businesses that joined us on external stalls Mini Sleepers Sleepovers, J'adore Crafts UK, Little Bubs, Angelical gifts & creations, Lisha Chen & Crafty Cows. We'd like to thank once again everyone who donated a prize to the raffle, KWP Build By Design for the £200 for the two top prizes and all parents & carers for their continued support & donations. We'd also like to thank the wonderful kitchen staff who kindly let us use the kitchen for the fair. We're so grateful for everything. Watch this space for more exciting events!

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

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 to 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

We have been made aware of an error with Amazon & eBay while using easyfundraising, please ensure that your basket is empty prior to shopping, or it will not register the use of easyfundraising. Thank you for your continued support.

Learning Highlights

& Peek of the Week

13 Dec 2024

Nursery: What presents would you like from Santa?

This week in Nursery, This week in Nursery, we have been learning that Christmas is a special festival for Christians because Jesus was born; Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God. The children have enjoyed decorating the Nursery and they have been counting down the days to Christmas using...

13 Dec 2024

Reception: What have you learnt about donkeys this week?

What a week! A dress rehearsal for our Nativity. A visit for one class, from their Big Friends in Year 5 so they could make Christmas Hats (the other class does the same next week). Roasting Marshmallows on an open fire for one class (the other class does it next week!) and a visit from Finn a...

11 Dec 2024

Year 1: What did we see in the area immediately around our school?

Please enter an introduction for your news story here.

11 Dec 2024

Year 2: What was your favourite ‘Hey Ewe’ nativity song?

This week the children have worked so hard on their nativity performance, as well as keeping up with the learning of the week. We are proud of their attitude towards their learning as well as their performance. Well done Year 2! We are looking forward to one more week of learning together be...

11 Dec 2024

Year 3: What did you learn about the donkeys on Friday?

Year 3 were very excited to see the donkeys on Friday and learn about them! We have started to research different facts about the countries in Europe and have enjoyed learning new facts ready to present in our travel brochures next week. We were also very lucky to watch the Year 2 children perform t...

11 Dec 2024

What do "Jack and Jenny" have to do with donkeys?

This week we are excited about our visit from the donkeys. Donkeys first came to Britain with the Romans in AD43. Did you know that a male donkey is called a Jack and a female donkey is called a Jenny? In RE we have been thinking about the Christmas story and the journeys that were taken. Which jour...

11 Dec 2024

Year 5: What did you learn about The Tundra?

The children have been learning all about the world's biomes this week. They focused their learning on the Tundra and researched and made Slides presentations on this fascinating biome. They looked at the devastating effect global warming is having on this biome and what we as global citizens ca...

11 Dec 2024

How did the Maya form their writing?

This week, the children have been finding out about the Mayan written language. The children drew in ther books, one of the words and were fascinated to find out about how it could be read. We linked this to other areas of our History learning throughout the school, such as the Ancient Egyptians.

Safeguarding and Pastoral Care

December 2024,

Dear Parents/Carers,

Christmas is an exciting time of the year for children however it can also be overwhelming, out of routine and can cause a lot of anxiety.

To support the children through this wonderful time of year try to remember some of the following:

Structure – keep the schedule the same as much as you can even though it is really hard with the build up to Christmas day.
Preparation – Prepare them in advance of the different sounds and noises there will be, the food and the smells and if your child struggles with these then offer them a quieter space.
Opportunities – if they do feel anxious let them know they can have some time out and that is ok. Show them where that space will be.
Countdown – use a calendar to let them know when they might see grandparents or family/friends, when they might be going shopping so that they are aware of the different things going on.
Get them involved with putting up decorations, preparing food however be prepared if they do not want to do any of that and again reassure them that is alright.
Visitors – some children may need to know in advance who is visiting especially people they haven’t met before. Share pictures to prepare them in advance.
Prepare the children that Christmas will be over so when decorations come down they aren’t shocked and they know it is only short term.

We are not back till later in January next term so this will be a great way to get them back into a good structure and routine for when they get back to school on 6^th January 2025.

After New Year’s get back into the early bedtime routine so that the children are well rested for when they come back to school. For example – dinner, time together, bath, story and bed.
Have some structure on the days at the beginning of January so they are used to the routine again.
Remind them about school expectations for when they come back and to be ready, respectful and safe in school.

By doing all of this we can try and support some of the anxieties the children have and support them with it.

We hope this will be helpful in some way and do let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sheena Hindocha (SENDCo)