Dear Dorchester Families,
Parent Consultations
The children continue to produce some wonderful work, and we are looking forward to sharing their learning and progress with you at Parent Consultations next week. These meetings are a valuable opportunity to celebrate successes, discuss next steps and work together to support your child.
The Scholastic Book Fair will be in the hall on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, with plenty of books to browse and buy. Many families enjoy choosing a book as a reward for a positive report—a lovely way to celebrate effort and encourage a love of reading.
Some parents choose to bring their children to consultations, particularly as they get older, while others prefer to speak with the teacher on their own. Please choose whichever approach you feel will be most helpful for your family.
Members of the school team will also be available in the hall if you have any wider concerns or queries. We look forward to seeing you!
Trips and visits: please contribute promptly
Trips, visits and workshops bring children's learning to life, and we want to continue offering these valuable experiences to our children. With school budgets extremely tight, however, we rely on voluntary contributions to make many of them possible.
If you intend to contribute to a trip or visit, please do so when the letter first comes out, rather than waiting for a reminder, and always by the stated deadline. Chasing contributions takes considerable staff time away from other school priorities. Prompt responses help us confirm bookings, avoid unnecessary administration and make timely decisions about whether an activity can go ahead.
Contributions are voluntary, and no child will be excluded because their family is unwilling or unable to contribute. However, the school cannot now routinely cover shortfalls from its budget. If insufficient contributions are received and we cannot fund the shortfall, the activity will have to be cancelled for everyone. Once that decision has been made, “I was going to pay” may come too late to save the booking.
We recognise that some families face genuine financial hardship. Please speak to us confidentially as soon as possible if you need support; we will help where we can. Thank you to everyone who responds promptly—your support saves time and helps protect these opportunities for all our children.
Allergy awareness: a reminder for every family
Please revisit our reminders about Benedict’s Law and allergy awareness with your child. This week, a child told a member of staff that sharing snacks was acceptable because he did not have any allergies. This highlights why we need to keep reinforcing the message together.
Children must not share or swap food at school, whether or not they have a known allergy. This rule helps protect everyone. A child may not know about another person’s allergies, and having no known allergy does not guarantee that they could never develop one.
Please remind your child/ren to eat their own food, keep snacks and lunchbox items to themselves, and ask an adult if they are unsure. They should also tell a member of staff straight away if they feel unwell after eating.
Being allergy aware is part of caring for one another. Thank you for helping children understand that these simple rules apply to everyone and can make a real difference to someone’s safety.
Come along to the FODS AGM!
Our Friends of Dorchester School (FODS) PTA AGM is coming up, and it would be fantastic to welcome some new faces. Please see the poster below for details.
Whether you are new to Dorchester or have been part of our community for years, you will receive a warm welcome. You are very welcome simply to come along, listen and find out more at your first meeting—there is no expectation to take on a role or commit your time. Ideally we would like all class reps to attend or ask a representative to attend on their class' behalf if they can't attend themselves.
Getting involved with FODS is a lovely way to meet other parents, support our school community and give something back. Every contribution, whether an idea, an occasional helping hand or a little time, helps enrich the Dorchester experience for all our children.
We would love to see you there on Monday 19th October at 7pm at school.
Have a great weekend.
Cathy Bell
Headteacher
