16th October 2026

Dear Dorchester Families,

It was wonderful to see so many families at Parent Consultation meetings this week. The partnership between home and school is so important to ensure the best possible outcomes, and it is lovely to see the children sharing the work in their books with their parents and carers so proudly. Thank you to everyone who bought a book at the book fair too – the school gets a good rate of commission on all books sold, so, not only does your child get a well-deserved treat, we are able to get books to enhance their reading experiences in school too.

Following my recent note about the Parent Governor vacancy, I am pleased to announce that Phoebe Holman-Hirst, one of our Reception parents, has been appointed to the role. Phoebe will bring lots of valuable expertise and experience to our Governing Board and we are very grateful to her for giving her time in this way.

We have another Parent Governor vacancy coming up from the beginning of November. If you are interested in finding out more or applying for the role, you can do so by following the links below.

To find out more information:

https://www.dorchesterprimary.com/attachments/download.asp?file=2030&type=pdf

To complete an application form:

https://www.dorchesterprimary.com/page/?title=Letters+to+Parents+and+Carers&pid=121

Have a great weekend.

Cathy Bell
Headteacher

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Latest News

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Learning Highlights

& Peek of the Week

15 Oct 2026

Nursery: Can you notice any signs of Autumn?

This week in Nursery, we have been learning our first Little Wandle focus nursery rhyme, ‘Round and Round the garden'. The children have learnt what the word round means and we have been exploring drawing circles to go round and round. We have also been going on adventures around the nurse...

16 Oct 2026

Reception: What ingredients did you put in your soup recipe?

This week the children are preparing to make their class pumpkin soup. They will make it next week so they needed to learn an important skill to help them prepare the vegetables. They practised chopping this week. They rolled out some (tougher than usual) playdough into sausage / carrot shapes and l...

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Year 1: How many ways can you make 5?

This week, Year 1 have been exploring all the different ways we can make the number 5. The children have used different resources such as bricks, counters and rekenreks to build, count and visualise their number bonds.

14 Oct 2026

Year 2: What did we see on our walk around Worcester Park?

In Geography, we have been learning about map reading, using directional language, and how to spot physical features (such as buildings and landmarks) and natural features (such as trees and rivers). We were able to identify lots of these features in our local area, as we navigated around Worcester...

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Year 3: Why were hill forts important?

Year 3 have loved learning about Iron Age hillforts and discovering why they were such effective places to live and defend! We explored how their position on high ground gave people a better view of the surrounding landscape, helping them to spot approaching enemies. We also investigated how feature...

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Year 4: How can we believe in ourselves?

What a fantastic week of learning in Year 4! In Maths, pupils showed incredible perseverance, finishing addition and subtraction before investigating 2D shapes. Science sparked plenty of discussion as we tested toothpaste to see how it protects teeth from decay. In DT, we put our senses to work tast...

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Year 5 - What is installation art?

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16 Oct 2026

In Art, which element(s) of protecting our world, did you include in your Street Art this week?

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GIRLS' FOOTBALL – WHAT A TEAM!

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For Parents - Gaming Safety for Neurodivergent Children

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