Dear Parents
The Remembrance Service held at school today was very moving indeed. After an Anthem sung beautifully by our 50 strong Senior Choir, the whole school congregated around our War Memorial. The youngest and oldest pupils in the Prep and Pre-Prep lay a wreath, whilst our Y8s read out the names of all the Old Dumptonians who had given their lives for their country during conflict. Alex G played the last post, and the children all observed an immaculate two minute silence. It was a solemn and moving occasion, but equally a time to be very proud of our pupils who showed their respect so impressively.
Thank you to Mrs Shaw for her organisation, and Mrs Mudd for preparing such beautiful music.
Odd Socks Day
As per the calendar, on Monday (14 November) we will be celebrating 'Odd Socks Day' alongside many other schools throughout the nation as part of our weekly theme of Anti-Bullying. We do hope all the children will enjoy the chance to wear some bright and colourful socks to school (girls wearing tights might like to wear them over the top). It will be lovely to come together as a school to support this very important message. Click here for more information about Odd Socks Day.
South West Regional Biathlon Championships
We were very proud of all the pupils who competed in the SW Regional Biathlon Championships. Every single member of the team did the school proud, with Magnus M, Thomas F, Annabel B, and Izzy B all achieving a top 10. A special mention to Maxie M who came first – the top Biathlete in the South West in her age group!
Bryanston Jazz Day
Five lucky children joined Mrs Mudd at Bryanston for a day exploring Jazz. They learnt the basics of Jazz, and built up to a performance at the end of the day, in which each child had the chance to demonstrate their newly learnt ‘improvisation’ skills for 12 bars. Huge congratulations to Ivory J, James B, Alex G, Austin W and Martha AI.
Hockey and Rugby v Sandroyd
Thank you to all the parents who supported our fixtures this week against Sandroyd – it is appreciated by all of us that you support the children so well. All the boys and girls who played should be very proud – do remember that match reports for every match can be found on the Dumpton Sports website.
Year 8 Exams
Our Y8 will all sit exams in the Sports Hall next week. It is a great chance to practise sitting papers in exam conditions, and see any strengths or areas of development for the remainder of the year. Our Y8s have started the year wonderfully – we do hope next week goes well for them.
Year 7 ISEB Test
Good luck to any Y7s sitting the ISEB pre-test on Tuesday. We hope everything goes smoothly and we will all be hoping for plenty of success.
Dumpton Lunch Experience
We welcomed Y3 and Y4 parents to lunch this week – it was a lovely occasion, and I think all the parents who attended enjoyed both Steph and her team’s food, as well as the lovely atmosphere in the Dining Room with the children. It’s the turn of the lucky chosen few Y5 and Y6 parents this coming Monday.
School Correspondence
Over the past few weeks some parents have informed us that they are not getting some of the emails that we send out. We use a system called School Post which sends out all the correspondence for the day altogether at the specified time slot. If you are due to receive more than one email in one day, then the system will send you one email, but all the messages for you will be in that single email – you just need to continue scrolling down to see all the messages. It will say at the top of the email: “The following X messages have just been sent to you”. We hope this helps ensure that no emails are missed.
Visiting Author: Keith Hatton
We’re so excited that children’s author Keith Hatton is coming into school next week to share one of his books and do a workshop with the children in Reception, Y1, Y2 & Y3. We feel sure they will enjoy it immensely, and it will hopefully continue to inspire that interest and love of reading that is so very important.
Dumpton Friends Updates
Following their very informative newsletter sent this week, please do see below some updates from Dumpton Friends:
Grotto Tickets on Sale MONDAY
If you would like to book a slot to see Santa at the Dumpton Friends Christmas Fayre on Friday 2 December, please find the volunteers on Monday 14 or Wednesday 16 November in the drop off area between 8am - 8.30am to purchase your tickets:
£10 for one child, including photo opportunities and a lovely gift
£7.50 for additional children in the family
We need your donations and help -
1. Christmas Jumpers
If you have any jumpers that no longer fit you or your children we would love you to donate them for our stall at the Christmas Fayre. Great for the environment and your pocket - you can purchase preloved ones at £3!
2. Tombola
We need bottles (drinks, toiletries etc) and boxes of chocolate or sweets for the Christmas Fayre! If you are able to donate a little something we would be very grateful.
3. The Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal
We also have a fabulous Christmas Present Appeal run by The Salvation Army. Catherine Oliver, a parent of a Year 7 pupil is kindly coordinating the collection for children who may otherwise not get any gifts. The Appeal works with Social Services to provide local vulnerable children in the Wimborne area with Christmas presents.
Please bring any NEW & UNWRAPPED toys or gifts to school reception by the end of November. It is important they are unwrapped as it helps the team make sure siblings get gifts of similar value and no family gets duplicates. Any size of gift is very welcome. They do not need to be expensive and we (and they) would be hugely grateful for anything you can contribute. For more information about the Appeal, take a look at https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/christmas-present-appeal
Please bring all donations to school reception by Monday 28 November.
4. Photographer
We are looking for a photographer to help at the Fayre. Please get in touch if you can help.
5. Volunteers
To make the Fayre a success we need a few willing volunteers to help us on the day. Please let your Year Group Rep know or email us if you can get involved.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions please contact friends@dumpton.com.
A message from Nursery
The Nursery are collecting corks for natural loose parts play. Please save your corks and put any for the Nursery in the small silver bins by the Nursery gate - many thanks! The Nursery Team.
Key Events Next Week: (please see sports site and calendar for all fixtures)
Week 10: Theme of the Week - Antibullying Week: Reach Out
Week B
Monday 14 November
All Day: Year 8 Exams
All Day: Odd Socks Day - Anti-bullying
1.00pm: Experience Dumpton Lunch! (Y5/Y6 Parents)
5.30pm: Governors F&GP Committee
Tuesday 15 November
All Day: Year 8 Exams
All Day: Year 7 ISEB Pre-Test
8.30am: Prep School Assembly (6M)
4.45pm: Governors Education & Safeguarding Committee Meeting
Wednesday 16 November
All Day: Year 8 Exams
Morning: Keith Hatton Book Workshop (R-Y3)
Thursday 17 November
All Day: Year 8 Exams
8.30am: Prep School Assembly - Performing Arts & Sports Reports
Friday 18 November
All Day: Year 8 Exams
8.15am: Y1+Y2 Parent Drop In Session
8.30am: Prep School Junior Assembly (3W)
With best wishes
Christian Saenger
Headmaster