Dear Parents
Community is such an important part of school life, and this was perfectly illustrated last night at the Dumpton Friends Christmas Party. We had around 100 parents attending, and I think everyone really enjoyed the food and drink, the company, and the dance floor! Thank you so much to all involved for organising such a brilliant night.
That sense of community will build I hope as we enter the Christmas run-in: it is a time when staff, pupils and children all get to come together so often: from the various Nativity performances, to the very special Carol Service in the Minster, we hope the last few weeks of term will be sprinkled with plenty of Christmas joy. We know how busy it is for you as parents, so we have added the calendar for the next two weeks below to help you keep track of all the events. Do also look out for a letter from Mrs Shaw about details of the Carol Service early next week.
Perhaps the most important community event is the Christmas Fayre on Friday 6 December. I am so grateful to the Dumpton Friends team who have been working incredibly hard to make this event such a special one. It will also be a lovely chance to see our Year 8s involved as part of their Leadership Programme.
The school is going to be looking beautiful and festive by next week and the children are very excited. A copy of the programme for the Christmas Fayre will be heading home with your child this afternoon, so please do check school bags! It contains lots of information including performance times, a list of raffle prizes, details about stalls and suppliers and everything that you need to plan your afternoon at the Fayre! A link to the programme may also be found here: https://www.dumpton.com/dumpton-friends-christmas-fayre-2024
Christmas Fayre – Important Information
Timings: The Fayre runs from 1.00pm - 5.30pm. We hope you might have some ‘child free’ time to browse the Sports Hall before performances.
Entrance: The entrance is through Reception in the Main House – PLEASE DO NOT enter the Fayre through any other means.
Stalls: the Fayre this year will take place in the Sports Hall with some food stalls outside.
Parking: Please car share where you can. There will be parking attendants on hand to help manage busy parking.
Pick up: Pupils will be able to be collected from their performances. They must be signed out with their Form Tutor.
Prep School: If not collected from performances, teachers will bring pupils to the gate at 4.15pm. If collecting after 4.15pm please go to Stay Late which will run in the ICT room from 4.15pm until 5.45pm.
Supervision: Children are not allowed to be in the Fayre unless collected by an adult. There are no hobbies, but children will be supervised by staff in Stay Late or After School Club. Please note that once collected, pupils will not be supervised by Dumpton staff. Once you have them, they are yours to keep! Please be vigilant, especially as it will be busy, and dark.
As visitors to the Fayre, please remain in Fayre areas: the Sports Hall and Assembly Hall. All classrooms are out of bounds to any collected children.
Belongings: When you collect your child, please either put school bags in cars, or ask children to put them in their lockers in the Changing Rooms and then collect them as you leave. Pupils only please in changing rooms.
Grotto: Prebooked Grotto slots only went on sale last week. Please contact Dumpton Friends on Classlist for more information.
Finally, please make sure you share any necessary information with your child’s form teacher regarding picking up if it is not straight forward. We hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and thank you to the wonderful Dumpton Friends for their efforts, which have, once more, been enormous.
From Dumpton Friends
The Christmas Fayre is set to be an amazing event. There is still time to help, here's how:
Fayre Donations - Please donate generously! Our Christmas Fayre needs your help to be a success.
*To make the Tombola a success we kindly ask for new items such bath/gift sets, toys, beauty products, sweets, chocolates or bottles of drink.
*Having a clear out before Christmas? We'll find a new home for your toys, books and teddies.(These items will be sold at the fayre for other children to enjoy, so if they are complete, with all parts and accessories and suitable for reuse, we'd love your donations)
*Can you donate a raffle prize? (Can be anything from a voucher, product, service or experience)
Next week donations can be left on the trolley by pre-prep drop off or brought to the school office and placed in the Christmas Fayre donation box.
* Can you give up half an hour of your time at the fayre to man a stall? Take a slot alone or join up with a friend to help. Speak to your class rep or drop us an email for more details.
Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal: Back by popular demand this year. Please bring any donations of new toys (unwrapped) for this appeal to the school office and place them in the labelled box. For further information about this appeal please look at https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/christmas-present-appeal
As always get in touch with any questions either through your Year Group Rep or via email: Friends@Dumpton.com
Sporting Success
After another busy week of rugby and football fixtures against Port Regis, we are delighted to report that the U11 girls hockey team won the Girls In2 Hockey County Championships today. We are so proud of this team who have made such amazing progress over the course of this term. Next stop the Regionals!
Missing Kit - From the Sports Department
We are aware that there are some missing items of sports kit in the Prep School right now and are very keen to be able to track them down. We have this afternoon completed a kit check at the end of our games session. Please can we ask that parents check their children’s sports kit over the weekend for any kit that doesn’t belong to them - thank you.
Sustainable Christmas Ideas
The Global Citizenship School Council have prepared a guide to a sustainable Christmas which is attached. Well done to this team who are really passionate about encouraging sustainability at Dumpton.
With best wishes for a lovely weekend.
Christian Saenger
Headmaster
Key events week beginning : 02/12/2024
WEEK A
Week 13: Theme of the Week - The Dumpton Way: Enthusiasm
Monday 2 December
9:00 - 9:30 Nursery Christmas Play - refreshments served from 8.30am (Dining Hall)
13:00 - 13:30 Team Photographs (Fraser Portraits)
Tuesday 3 December
8:30 - 08:50 Prep School Senior Class Assembly (8C) - International Disabilities Day
09:00 - 09:30 Reception Christmas Play (first performance) - refreshments served from 8.30am (Recital Room)
10:00 - 12:00 Dumpton Friends Wreath Making Workshop (morning)
14:15 - 16:15 Sports Fixtures (Y3-Y4) - please see Dumpton Sports Site for full details
19:30 - 21:30 Dumpton Friends Wreath Making Workshop (evening)
Wednesday 4 December
14:15 - 16:15 Sports Fixtures (Y5-Y8) - please see Dumpton Sports Site for full details
Thursday 5 December
09:00 - 09:30 Reception Christmas Play (second performance) - refreshments served in the Dining Hall from 8.30am
11:00 - 16:15 Y8 Trip to Southampton
14:15 PEDSSA Cross Country - please see Dumpton Sports Site for full details
14:30 - 15:30 Y1 & Y2 Christmas Play followed by festive refreshments served in the Dining Hall
Friday 6 December
13:00 - 17:30 Dumpton Friends - Christmas Fayre
(No Pre-Prep or Prep Hobbies. Pre-Prep After School Club will run as normal)
Key events week beginning 09/12/2024
WEEK B
Week 12: Theme of the Week - Learning from Mistakes
Tuesday 10 December
10:00 - 13:00 Y2 Outing to the Pantomime
15:00 - 16:00 Y3 Christmas Play: Assembly Hall, followed by festive refreshments served in the Dining Hall (Prep School siblings may also attend)
Wednesday 11 December
14:15 - 16:15 Sports Fixtures (Y5-Y8) - please see Dumpton Sports Site for full details
Thursday 12 December
14:00 - 15:00 Reception Visit to Residential Home
16:15 - 17:15 Final DECA of the Term
Friday 13 December
All Day Prep School Individual Music Lessons, LAMDA & Early Morning Tennis all end this week
10:45 - 11:15 Headmaster's Book Club
16:15 - 17:15 Final Prep School Hobbies of the Term