06 June 2025

Headmaster's Newsletter, Friday 6th June 2025

Dear Parents

This week, our theme of the week was safeguarding, with an emphasis on reminding children of all the ways to keep themselves safe here at school.

Of all the many wonderful things we do here at Dumpton, keeping your children safe is by far the most important – both physically safe, but just as importantly, from an emotional and wider wellbeing perspective too. I am grateful to Mr Moulton for his leadership in this area, but in fact every adult at Dumpton plays a vital role in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of every child - it is through our shared commitment that we create a secure and nurturing environment.

This is also a chance to thank you as parents for the role you play. The strong relationships and communication between home and school are fundamental to the work we do to take care of all the children at Dumpton. We are fortunate to have such an engaged parent body, and working alongside you to support your children’s development is, as ever, a privilege. As the old saying goes ‘it takes a village to raise a child’....

I do hope to see lots of you at events over the coming weeks as we reach the end of term, and perhaps even at the Dumpton Friends Summer Party later this month – more on that below!

Dumpton Certificate and Y7 End of Year Exams
We are so proud of all the pupils who have had exams this week. They have been brilliant! It can be a stressful and challenging experience for pupils – but the Dumpton staff do a great job at ensuring we take care of the pupils and coach them through this process. We hope it serves as great practice for some of the more important exams they take in the future.

Y8 Leavers’ Programme
When they finish their final exam on Tuesday, our super Y8 pupils will embark on the Leavers’ Course – a four-week programme of fun activities, stimulating trips and learning opportunities. As well as some of the usual experiences, including a few nights in Cornwall, we have some brilliant new activities, including a ‘Careers and Job Interviews Day’, and an overnight camp out here at Dumpton. We hope they have a blast – it is certainly well deserved.

Swimming IAPS
Best of luck to our brilliant team of 15 swimmers who are off to the Nationals on Saturday. Tomorrow will be a very special day - and regardless of the outcome we hope an inspiring opportunity for the children to swim at such an iconic venue in such a prestigious event. A huge thank you to Mr Jeremiah for all his efforts preparing the children and spending the day with them tomorrow.

Canford Entry Deadline and New Headmaster
We have been asked to remind families in Y5 or Y6 who are interested in applying to Canford that the deadline for registering for the Pre-Assessment process next year is the 31st July.

From Dumpton Friends
Parents of children in the Prep School have until Sunday to purchase a gift for Father’s Day. We will support your child to decorate the gift during school hours and send gifts home at the end of next week.

Don’t forget to buy your tickets on Classlist for our Summer Party on Thursday 26th June at South Deep (see attached).

We are having our next Dumpton Friends meeting on Thursday 12th June at 8pm online. Anyone is welcome to come and share ideas. Further information on Classlist.

Triathlon Training Day
Some of our pupils may be interested in a Triathlon Training Day which is being held at Leweston School on Sunday 15 June.

With best wishes for a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Christian Saenger
Headmaster

Key Events W/B 9.6.25

WEEK A

Week 7: Theme of the Week – Learning from our Mistakes

Monday 9 June

All Day Y8 Dumpton Certificate and Y7 End of Year Exams

16.25-17.15 Maths Session with Mr Smith (Y5)

Tuesday 10 June

All Day Y8 Dumpton Certificate and Y7 End of Year Exams