12 September 2025

Headmaster's Newsletter - Friday 12th September 2025

Dear Parents

It’s the end of the first full week of school, and how lovely it’s been - for all of us I am sure - to slip back in to those school routines. Nobody benefits more from routines than children though, and we hope that the structure and consistency of life at Dumpton can really help them all feel settled, calm, and underneath all that, safe.

We have been embedding our routines this week. From how we come into the classroom, to how we get changed for games or swimming, to how we move around the school, to how we can work quietly and focus when we need to in the classroom. The routines not only help us establish the ‘aim high’ culture at the school where excellent behaviour and hardworking, calm classrooms are the norm – but they help children form the positive habits that will hopefully have a lasting impact on their futures. As Aristotle, perhaps the first and most famous proponent of character education famously said - ‘we are what we repeatedly do – excellence then, is a habit, not an act.’

However, the most important habit we form by far is kindness. ‘Be Kind’ was our Theme of the Week this week, and in assemblies and form times we have explored what kindness looks like at Dumpton, and why it is such a treasured part of life here. Using RULER, our approach to Emotional Literacy, children have established their class charters, and Miss Goodhew has reminded us all about the Mood Meter and how we can use it to support our own wellbeing, and our empathy for others. Most importantly, it has been a chance for the children to hear, loud and clear, that this is a school where we take care of one another. And really, what could be more important than that?

Y8 Trip
Bravo to our brilliant Year 8 who are returning soon from the Leadership Trip in Snowdonia. They have achieved some pretty remarkable things, challenging themselves in a landscape of stunning beauty. They may have missed a week of lessons, but rarely will they have learnt so much about themselves, and about how they can effectively collaborate with - and lead - others. We can’t wait to see the impact it has for the remainder of the year.

Sports Fixtures
Well done to all the pupils who took part in football and hockey fixtures this week against FSM – especially our Y3s who made their competitive debuts for Dumpton! Weekly match reports are produced and can be accessed on SOCS – we also share these in assembly every Thursday, and it is so lovely to read the coaches positive comments about the pupils each week.

3G Assembly
Thank you to all the pupils of 3G who gave us the most wonderful assembly this morning based on their hopes and dreams for the year. They spoke beautifully and had huge smiles on their faces. What a courageous thing to do so early on in their Prep careers. It was lovely to have so many parents supporting the event too.

The Year Ahead Evenings
We had over 150 parents attend over the two nights earlier this week, and I do hope everyone who came found it useful to find out a little bit more about this year, as well as the lovely informal chance to catch up with staff and parents for drinks afterwards. As we said, education works best when it is a close partnership!

From the Dumpton Friends Team
We’re really looking forward to seeing many of you at the Dumpton Stroll on Sunday 21 September – it’s always a wonderful community event!

We are still on the lookout for a Year 5 Representative. If you’re interested or would like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Kate, Zara or Nina via Classlist.

The Senior Disco is just around the corner – mark your calendars for Friday 3 October! Tickets will be available soon via Classlist, so keep an eye out.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the first Dumpton Friends meeting of the year – it was lovely to see so many new and familiar faces.

Lastly, we’ll soon be sending home details about this year’s Christmas Card designs – a fun and festive way to support the school.

Open Week and Early Years Experience Morning
We’ll be welcoming prospective families to Dumpton from Monday 29 September as part of our upcoming Open Week If you know anyone who may be interested in joining the Dumpton community, please do encourage them to come along – we’d love to meet them! Details may be found on our website.

At the end of that week (Friday 3 October) we invite families with children due to start school in September 2026 or 2027 to join us for a morning of discovery. It's the perfect opportunity for parents and children to explore life at Dumpton and meet our dedicated team. Again, full details may be found on our website, and current Nursery families are very much welcome!

Individual School Photographs
Fraser Portraits will be in school on Tuesday to take individual school photographs of each of the pupils. They will endeavour to photograph sibling groups too. If you do not want your child to be included in this process, please do let the office know by Tuesday morning.

With best wishes for a lovely weekend.

Yours sincerely