Dear Parents
I am writing this in advance of the Christmas Fayre this afternoon, which promises to be such a special community event. I’d like to thank the whole community for their involvement – from those helping with stalls, to the mountains of donations, to all of you who attended and supported the event. A special thank you has to go to the Dumpton Friends team who have worked tirelessly to plan and undertake such a bold and brilliant Fayre. A number have spent hours and hours here at school in recent weeks, giving up so much of their time. We are all truly grateful.
We are rolling towards the end of term now, with one final Christmas show here at school (good luck Y3!) before the very special Carol Service in Wimborne Minster on Tuesday 17th December involving all pupils from Y1 to Y8. Do see Mrs Shaw’s letter from earlier today with more detail about this.
Christmas Nativities
Wow. Nursery, Reception, Y1 and Y2 – take a collective bow! We were blown away by the performances this week, and I do hope parents enjoyed watching the children have their chance to shine on stage, and how much enjoyment and confidence they showed. A special thank you to the teachers involved, but also to our Performing Arts team – what lucky children to have such inspirational and enthusiastic staff supporting their performing arts journey.
Podcasts
I am delighted that we launched our first ever Podcasts this week. It is part of our vision to build the strongest possible links with our parent community, and we hope these podcasts will be enjoyed by all. The Christmas School Run Drive Home is a joyous episode, with our incredibly talented performing arts team showing off quite how talented they are; Giving Your Child the Best Start will appeal to parents of our youngest children with all sorts of useful advice and insights about starting School, whilst perhaps the least jolly of the three, but still of interest to many parents I hope, is the discussion between Justin Perry and I about VAT on School Fees. All the podcasts can be accessed in the usual places, or on our website here: https://www.dumpton.com/dumpton-talks
A big thank you to Rebecca Harrison-Short, our excellent Head of Marketing, for pulling these together.
Canford Pre-Test Success
Congratulations to the 23 Y6 and Y7 pupils who passed their Pre-Test for Canford, and now head to the final stage of the admissions process to secure their place at Canford. We’re delighted that there was a 100% success rate this year, and very proud of the pupils who have all worked really hard. We look forward to helping them prepare for their interview days.
Netball at Dumpton
I am delighted to announce that Jess Ferrand joins the staff team next term to lead our Netball provision. Jess is the former Head of Netball at King Edward’s VI Southampton, and currently runs Netball Stars, which brings netball to primary aged children across Dorset. As a former National Premier League player, we’re delighted to add someone of Jess’s calibre to the staff team, and the pupils will stand to gain so much from her experience and expertise I am sure. Netball Stars will also begin at Dumpton on Monday evenings from January – do see the attached flyer if you are interested in signing up!
Outdoor Learning at Dumpton
Despite Mr Cox leaving us at Christmas, outdoor provision at Dumpton remains a key part of our offering. Our wonderful allotments, ducks, and other outdoor areas will now be looked after by our superb gardener Simon, all of our campouts and residential trips will continue, and the fortnightly outdoor learning lessons for Y3 to Y6 will be led in the interim by Mr Harris and other key staff, with Mrs Brown offering her amazing outdoor cooking experiences too. Excitingly, we’ll be searching for a new specialist to lead our Outdoor Learning programme in the new year, but in the meantime the pupils certainly won’t be missing out on any of those enjoyable outdoor learning experiences.
With best wishes for the weekend.
Christian Saenger
Headmaster
Key events W/B 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
Y8 Sustainable Fashion Show (details to follow on Monday)
Friday 13 December
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
Key events W/B 16.12.2024
WEEK A
Week 12: Theme of the Week - Learning from Mistakes
Monday 16 December
Christmas Jumper Day
11:00 - 14:00 Christmas Lunch
15:30 Final Pre-Prep Hobbies and After School Club of the term
16:15 - 17:45 Stay Late available for Prep School pupils
Tuesday 17 December
09:00 - 11:00 EYFS Christmas Party (Jamie Jigsaw followed by a Special Visitor!)
14:30 - 15:30 Carol Service, Wimborne Minster - all children invited. Children to be collected from the Minster at the end of the Service.
16:15 No Afternoon Buses