Dear Parents
We should all be bursting with pride today: your children have been brilliant on their Global Citizenship Day. From a variety of workshops on ocean health and solutions to global issues, to litter picking in Wimborne, a visit to the oceanarium and a beach clean in Bournemouth and tree planting in the Cranborne Chase, and finally, some confident presentations in the Assembly Hall, there been a real sense of optimism, hope, and joy. The collaboration on show, the positivity and determination, the creative ideas and solutions, and the ‘you can because you think you can’ attitude has been wonderful to see. My thanks go to Mrs Cox and the wider staff team for putting on such a special day.
I am proud of our pupils, but also proud that we as a school are putting Global Citizenship at the heart of our education. We firmly believe that children will benefit from understanding their place in the wider world, and from nurturing a desire to help support our planet and all the people who live on it. Not only does this give them a sense of agency, purpose and fulfilment in the face of some of these global challenges (after all, as we know, the best antidote to worrying about something is to feel like you are doing something about it!), but I truly believe we are helping them grow into the change-makers and innovators of a future where our economy is likely to be driven by sustainability and environmental issues. As US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recently said: ‘the Green Economy is the future’ - and I hope we are giving the pupils at Dumpton a significant headstart in this regard.
I wish all of you could have been with us today. It’s incredibly energising spending time with your children on these important issues. Whatever doom and gloom you might read and see in the news I can promise you this: our planet is in the safest of hands.
Dumpton Talks - ‘A Bright New World’
Cindy Forde, who ran workshops with our pupils today, spent some time speaking with parents this morning. Her message was one of hope and optimism, a reminder that human beings are an incredible species capable of amazing things, and that storytelling and the education of the next generation are the key to success. I would recommend her book ‘A Bright New World’ for any parents interested in exploring positive and hopeful stories of a future world with their children.
National Finals!
For the second time this year, our U13 Boys have qualified for the IAPS National Finals! After a tough day of hockey at Cranleigh School in Surrey, facing, as usual, far bigger schools than little old Dumpton, we continue to punch above our weight. We’re very proud of the commitment of this group, especially as they were missing two key players, and wish them the very best for the National Finals at Repton School in Derbyshire in a couple of weeks. Well done to Mrs Clemmitt for her superb coaching as ever. We also had a number of teams competing in county and regional tournaments in netball and hockey this week - every team did themselves proud.
Swimming IAPS – from Mr Jeremiah
A team of 22 pupils took part in the IAPS Qualifying Swimming event at Bryanston earlier today. It was such a positive experience for all the pupils with some great individual performances. The fastest swimmers (from lots of qualifying events around the country) will be invited to swim at the finals which takes place in the summer term – we will receive the results in due course. For many of the pupils it was the first competitive swimming event that they had taken part in and the camaraderie and support for one another was fantastic.
DECA Talks – Dodge Woodall – From Mr Ashworth
Following wonderful contributions from Tony Pulis, Dr Alisha Azzopardi and Sarah Ayton OBE we were delighted to welcome Dodge Woodall to our DECA talks. He spoke to the children in DECA this week about his eventful life as an entrepreneur. His message to the children to be curious, take risks and find what you love and do it as well as you can, was well received by all. Thank you very much to all these Dumpton family members.
Spring Spectacular, World Book Day and House Music
Next week is another very busy one – do check the communications carefully, and we hope everything is clear. It promises to be a really joyful week – as well as some fantastic musical and dance performances, I’m already very excited to see the range of costumes on display for Thursdays World Book Day – including the staff!
Mary Poppins – Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th March
The Year 6 and 7 Production of Mary Poppins is fast approaching. Parents of the pupils performing will have received an email today with information on how to reserve their seats. We will be releasing tickets to the wider school community from the middle of next week, so that as many people as possible can enjoy these fantastic performances.
Summer Ball Tickets
An email has been sent today to officially launch the sale of tickets for our Summer Ball. We are so excited to bring the whole community together and we hope as many of you as possible will want to attend.
With best wishes,
Christian Saenger
Headmaster
Key Events Week Beginning 04/03/2024:
WEEK 9: Theme of the Week: Performing Arts Week
WEEK A
Monday 4 March
Pre-school Football training session with Tommy Elphick (Bournemouth Football Coach)
14.00: Spring Spectacular Pre-Prep Concert (Nursery to Y2)
15.15: Spring Spectacular Concert (Y3 to Y8)
Tuesday 5 March
Reception visiting Wimborne Traditional Shops
Netball - U13 County Tournament (selected pupils)
PM: Sports Fixtures (Y3-Y4) - please see Dumpton Sports Site for full details
Wednesday 6 March
Gulliver's Book Fair
Thursday 7 March
World Book Day - whole school dress up!
Gulliver's Book Fair
EYFS Book Reading by Lisa Muggleton "The Wonderful World of Wellies"
15:30: Lost Property Collection Table (at the gate – weather dependant!)
16.30: Y7 (7T) Parents' Evening (in person)
Friday 8 March
Prep School House Music Festival
Gulliver's Book Fair
15.15: Prep School House Singing Competition (pupils only)