Making the connections

 Hello and welcome back to the Dorchester Middle School Blog!

May I start by asking you a question? 

Where on earth did that week go? 

Answers on a postcard please!

I hope that you have all had a good week and that you enjoyed some rather glorious weather. With it being World Mental Health Day yesterday, I made the most of the glorious weather and tried my best to encompass those fabulous Five Ways to Wellbeing in the process. I won't bore you with everything that I did but needless to say, I think that everyday needs to be a World Mental Health Day, don't you?

There's a lot to report this week so I'll crack on with it...


The Library is back in business

I am delighted to announce that the Library is now ready for the children to borrow books!

Pupils can reserve books online at school or at home on any mobile device or tablet that supports the school's website.

If you click on the link below, you will be taken to a page where our fantastic Librarian, Mrs Sprackman, has very kindly created videos to show the pupils how to log in and use our DMS Reading Cloud.

  • Children can only take 3 books out at a time.  If they have already taken 3 books out, they won't be able to reserve any books until they have returned.
  • Pupils need to return any previously loaned books from before 'lock down'
  • If the children have lost or broken any books, they can message Mrs Spackman through Reading Cloud.  They will not be in trouble, but it would be nice to know so we know the books won't be coming back. 
  • If the children can't log in then please let the Homebase Tutor know.
  • Books will be delivered by Mrs Spackman after they have been quarantined for 72 hours, this will mean a slight delay in books arriving and books being handed in.
  • Pupils reserve a book for two weeks and can only re-reserve it once.
Here is the link for the children to access our Reading Cloud:


A massive Thank You to Mrs Spackman who has worked tirelessly to make this happen. 
This is very exciting and our wonderful children will benefit from this enormously!

Teacher's Pet


Here is our fabulous Mrs Ettling and her faithful companion, Widget.

This is them on the South West Coastal Path. They have covered over 320 miles together, which is about half way. 

Widget loves Mrs Ettling so much. During lock down he was constantly by her side, patiently waiting for her to finish what she was doing on Google Classroom so that they could then go out for their long-awaited walk!

Thank you for sharing this lovely picture with us Mrs Ettling!


Worth a Mention Children

As always, HUGE congratulations to the children whose names have been put on the Worth a Mention Board by the Homebase Tutors.

I am going to start with Year Five this week as they have been complete and utter superstars. 

I came out to the playground a few minutes late on Friday at the beginning of the school day and Year Five were lined up in virtual silence. 

When I appeared, the teachers all reported that the children moved into their lines on the bell without anyone saying anything to them. 

I was speechless (which is a very rare event indeed!). Well done Year Five!







Now it's the turn of our lovely Year Six children:





I love the fact that there is a mixture of academic and pastoral reasons here. 

Well done everyone - you are complete and utter superstars!


What's App

There is no doubt that Social Media is a mixed blessing and as a parent of a nearly thirteen year old, I have seen my daughter go through some incredible highs and incredible lows when accessing it.

Whilst we want our children to feel connected with the world around them, we also want them to feel safe and secure and always protect them.

Please remember that the minimum age of use for Whats App is sixteen years old. It was thirteen years old but this changed in 2018.


Golden Time

So, adding Homework into the mix for Golden Time proved to be a bit of a challenge for a few of our Key Stage Two children this week!

A HUGE well done to all the children who received their Golden Time this week, I hope you enjoyed the extra playtime in the glorious sunshine.

For those who missed getting it, please don't despair! Next week is a new week. We draw a line under last week and look ahead. Think carefully about the choices you make and don't leave your homework to the last minute!

I'm looking forward to seeing even more children enjoy their Golden Time next week!


Stripey children

The children have been working incredibly hard and earning lots of lovely Achievement Points over this half term.

To acknowledge this, we issue the children with stripes to sew onto their school sweatshirts (do I apologise now?) so they can show everyone how brilliant they are!

The stripes are on their way - brace yourselves!


Waiting in anticipation...


 Our corridors are looking very sad and bare at the moment.

There is some rather marvellous work in the pipeline. Before we know it, these walls will be brimming with exciting and impressive work from the children.

Watch this space...


Out of my comfort zone?

In our Year Five English lessons, we are creating our own shop keepers. This is based on the character of Mrs Pratchett who appears in Roald Dahl's autobiography 'Boy'.

This is the character that Mr Murray and I created with words and I have interpreted them through this attempt of a drawing.

 
Yes, yes, yes I know. I'm not one of life's natural drawers but I gave it a go.
Who knows, with a bit of practice I might get a bit better and grow in confidence.

Does that sound familiar?
Every day really is a learning day!

PTFA Meeting Reminder

Just a quick reminder about our PTFA Meeting.

We will be having our Zoom meeting on Monday 12th October at 8.30pm. If you would like to 'attend', then please do email us at:

ptfa.dms@gmail.com



Well, that's it for this week. At the time of writing, I'm off for a run as the weather is glorious.

I hope everyone has a good week and remember to stay safe and remember to look out for each other. Kindness costs nothing.

Mrs Ray

(who returned to Thornicombe Woods on Saturday and came across this chap who was doing his absolute best to hide from me! A camera shy pony?)



Comments