09 May 2025

Headmaster's Letter 9th May 2025

Dear Parents

I am sure most of you have had the chance to read through our ISI Inspection report summary which we published yesterday – if you haven’t, please do take a moment to read it through. I hope it gives you all a sense of life at Dumpton through the eyes of some impartial expertise. We think our pupils are utterly superb, and truly live our school values day in day out – but how lovely to see that view confirmed by the inspectors who really were impressed by the children. As I am sure you can imagine, we have been fairly bowled over to be awarded the rare accolade of a ‘Significant Strength’.

It is worth reinforcing however that as positive as the inspection report is, we know ourselves that there is so much more we can do to improve Dumpton – and nothing is more important than every child’s individual journey. We remain utterly committed to our pupils – and to you – on that front, and look forward to working closely with you to ensure that every child can flourish.

Finally, thank you for your support. The Inspection survey that you completed was highly positive (96% overall) - which means a huge amount to us. Education is very much a team effort, and schools can only truly thrive when they enjoy such positive, supportive relationships with parents. We are incredibly lucky on that front.

Normandy and Skern Lodge Residential Trips
Welcome home Y6 and Y7, who have enjoyed incredible adventures in North Devon and Normandy this week. From surfing, to sinking sand, to eating snails, we hope they will have made memories that will last them a life time. Thank you so much to all the staff who attended and cared for them so well whilst away.

VE Day
A big thank you to Mr Tridgell for his excellent assembly on Tuesday, and also to Josh G, Toby F and Lucy S for sharing such poignant poetry and memories from family members of this very special day 80 years ago. We observed a beautiful silence around the war memorial with the rest of the nation yesterday to mark this moment. I was also delighted to accompany Toby F who read a poem about VE Day to the community on Wimborne Minster Green yesterday afternoon. Toby represented Dumpton extremely well, and we were proud of his wonderful poem, and his excellent recitation.

Nursery Staff News - Mrs Goodwin
I wanted to share more widely with the school community that Mrs Goodwin, our wonderful Head of Nursery, is retiring at the end of this academic year. She has been instrumental in the growth and success of the Dumpton Nursery for two decades, and has supported countless children (and parents!) in those all important years before children begin school. She will be greatly missed of course, but I am delighted that the wonderful Miss Taylor will replace her as Head of Nursery from September. I am sure you will join me in wishing Mrs Goodwin the best for her future, and Miss Taylor the best for her new role.

11+ and Pre-Test Support Sessions
In a new initiative this year, I am grateful to Mr Smith and Mr Morgan who are offering optional preparation sessions for the 11+/Pre-Test process – particularly some of the trickier maths and reasoning that pupils encounter. It has been very popular, and I do hope the children in Y5 are benefiting, alongside the optional weekly Atom Learning tasks too.

Prospective Parent Open Morning
We’d love your help in spreading the word about our upcoming Prospective Parent Open Morning on Friday 16 May. If you have any friends, neighbours, or family members who might be interested in joining our school, please do invite them to come along, meet our staff, and see the school in action. Details may be found on the school website.

Dumpton Family Afternoon – Friday 23 May
Our Family Afternoon takes place two weeks from today!

We are so excited to open our doors to you and close family members on Friday 23 May at 1.15pm. We hope you enjoy spending the afternoon with your children. They are looking forward to showing off their classrooms and their work and taking part in activities put on by various departments. The theme this year is Roald Dahl and there will be performances, sports, outdoor activities and much more. The afternoon will conclude by 4pm with a wonderful Afternoon Tea on the Front Lawn. I do hope you can all make it!

Pupils whose family are not able to attend will, of course, be looked after and will still have a fantastic time. On a busy afternoon such as this it is incredibly important that we are aware of all arrangements in place. Therefore, please complete this form to let us know if you will be attending or if perhaps you have arranged for your child to spend the afternoon with a different family. Please can forms be completed by Friday 16 May at the latest – thank you.

From the Head of Pre-Prep
Another fantastic week of sunshine and outdoor activities, playtimes have been full of smiles and laughter, and little piles of (thankfully named) jumpers and cardigans discarded in the heat! We are hopeful that the sunny weather will continue, so please ensure your child has a sunhat and water bottle in school each day and that suncream is applied before coming into school. Named suncream can also be bought into school.

Our Pre-Prep hobbies offer is incredibly popular, meaning that the EY garden is a busy place when children are starting and ending hobbies. A number of the hobbies also take place within the EY garden. Could we please politely ask that the garden is not used between 3.15 and 4.30 and that parents waiting to pick up remain in the area directly in front, outside of the gate to the EY garden. Many thanks for your understanding.

Year Group Photographs
You should have received an email earlier this week giving details of how to order these. Just a reminder to please place any orders by Thursday 15 May to have delivery back to school at no additional cost.

Parent Feedback Sessions Reminder
The Pre-Prep session will be held on Wednesday (14 May). If you’d be willing to attend—we’d be hugely grateful. The session is limited to 8 parents, and we’ll confirm places as soon as possible. There will be a joint Prep School session on Wednesday, 21 May. Please do click here to register your interest for either of these sessions.

With best wishes for the weekend.