Newsletters

Dorchester News - 2nd October 2026

Newsletter

2nd October 2026

Dear Dorchester Families,

October already - and it is lovely to see the children becoming increasingly settled in their classes, building friendships and taking pride in their learning.

Harvest and helping others

Thank you for your generous donations for Sutton Foodbank. Harvest gives us an opportunity to appreciate the food we have, think about the people who grow and produce it, and consider how we can help others in our community. Your support is a wonderful example of our school values of Empathy and Togetherness in action.

It was lovely to welcome parents and carers to our Harvest celebration. Thank you to our Year 6 speakers for leading us so confidently, and to Reception for their cheerful rendition of “Big Red Combine Harvester”. We were very proud of everyone who took part.

Taking responsibility

Our pupil leadership roles give children opportunities to contribute to school life and make a difference to others. From welcoming visitors and supporting younger children to promoting reading, sport and care for the environment, there are many ways for our children to put our values into practice. Our Junior Leadership Team have visited the Houses of Parliament today – a great way to begin their year of working together.  Applications for our Year 6 Leadership Roles close on Monday.  We look forward to sharing their ideas and achievements with you throughout the year.

Learning around school

It has been fabulous to see the breadth of learning going on in school this week - from science practicals about the digestive system to long division, with some wonderful writing and fantastic PE lessons - please do make sure you look at the Peek of the Week for your child's year group to find out more.

Do ask your child what they have enjoyed learning this week—and whether there is something they found challenging but persevered with. These conversations help children recognise that effort and practice are an important part of learning.

Reception open morning

Our next open morning is on Tuesday 6 October at 9:30am. If you know a family looking for a Reception place for September 2027, please encourage them to come along and find out more about Dorchester. It is a lovely opportunity to see the school in action and meet members of our school community.

Have a lovely weekend.

Cathy Bell
Headteacher

 

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Friends of Dorchester School

 

 

 

 

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Learning Highlights

& Peek of the Week

01 Oct 2026
Nursery: Can you practise your Dough Disco moves?
This week in Nursery, we have continued to learn all about the Zones of regulation and how they help us to understand and talk about our emotions. We have been focussing on what excited and angry feel like and different things that can make us excited or angry. Please see the pictures from our Zones...
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01 Oct 2026
Reception: How can we ask if we want to play with the same toy as our friend?
This week we have been continuing to explore how to build relationships with our friends and play together. We have talked about how we can share toys and wait when someone else is playing with a toy we want. They are now consolidating their knowledge of the School Rules - Ready, Respectful and Safe...
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02 Oct 2026
Year 1: What happened in Dear Dinosaur?
This week in English, Year 1 have been reading the wonderful book ‘Dear Dinosaur’. The children worked together to invent actions for each part of the story and then created their own story map. Ask your child to show you their actions and retell the story of Dear Dinosaur to you at home...
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30 Sep 2026
Year 2: What is an abstract map?
In Art this half term, we have been exploring different ways of creating art inspired by maps. This week we have used cellophane to create ‘stained glass’ maps. 
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02 Oct 2026
What can fossils tell us about prehistoric life?
It has been another exciting week of learning in Year 3! In History, we have been learning about how people in the Stone Age discovered and used copper and tin. We explored how these metals could be heated and melted, or smelted, and combined to make the stronger metal bronze. The children have been...
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02 Oct 2026
How does the digestive system work?
We’ve had another wonderful week of learning! In science, we took a fascinating hands-on approach to the digestive system to see how our organs process food. We’ve also been busy researching and planning our writing in English, building our website knowledge in computing, and explor...
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01 Oct 2026
Year 5 – What happened during the first Viking invasion on Lindisfarne?
In History, we have been learning about the first Saxon and Viking raids, and reasons why they invaded Britain at all. We have discovered that the land is the wealth that they were looking for – for growing crops as well and mining for precious metals. We have used a version of a story about t...
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01 Oct 2026
Testing Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection
In Year 6 this week, we have been developing our learning on evolution by testing Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. We used Darwin’s theory of finches to test how a birds beak can impact the food they eat. We used different types of beaks (clothes pegs, toothpicks, scissors and spoon...
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Safeguarding and Pastoral Care

23 Sep 2026
Parents Power Up! How you can help your child stay safe while gaming online
For Parents and Carers – Online Harm Groups CEOP Education has produced new guidance to help parents understand online harm groups and how children can become drawn into them. These groups may initially appear friendly or supportive before introducing secrecy, pressure, harmful...
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Local events and clubs

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Lunch Menu

Our new Autumn menus are available here.

Allergen Free Menu


Upcoming Events

To view the school calendar click here.

Parliament visit - JLT - 11.30am
All Day
02
October
Year 5 Swimming
12:30pm – 3:15pm
from 11 Sep and on Friday each week except for 23 Oct and for 30 Oct
02
October
Open Event
9:30am – 11:30am
06
October
Amber Class Assembly
8:55am – 9:20am
09
October
Year 5 Swimming
12:30pm – 3:15pm
from 11 Sep and on Friday each week except for 23 Oct and for 30 Oct
09
October
Book Fair and Parents’ Evening
All Day
from 14 Oct until 15 Oct
14
October
Year 5 Swimming
12:30pm – 3:15pm
from 11 Sep and on Friday each week except for 23 Oct and for 30 Oct
16
October
Flu nasal spray Reception to Year 6
All Day
22
October
Inset Day - School Closed to Children
All Day
23
October
Half Term Break
All Day
from 26 Oct until 30 Oct
26
October
Open Event
9:30am – 11:30am
04
November
Year 5 Swimming
12:30pm – 3:15pm
from 11 Sep and on Friday each week except for 23 Oct and for 30 Oct
06
November
Lavender Class Assembly
8:55am – 9:20am
13
November
Year 5 Swimming
12:30pm – 3:15pm
from 11 Sep and on Friday each week except for 23 Oct and for 30 Oct
13
November
Anti Bullying Workshops
All Day
16
November