Glorious!

 Hello and welcome back to the Dorchester Middle School Blog!

We did it! We have five school days under our belts. I don't know about you but I couldn't believe that we had only been back a week - it felt so much longer didn't it? 

It was lovely to have everyone back - it certainly looks as though you all had a great break - there were lots of sun kissed faces on show.

One of the big excitements for me, besides seeing everyone again, was to receive the lists of the Year Four children joining us in September. It was lovely to spy a few familiar surnames including the children of children that I have previously taught. It certainly made me feel extremely old! 

We are in the process of finalising what transition will look like this year. Once we have our plans in place then we will look forward to getting to know our new recruits and their parents. 

Exciting times. 

Anyway, let's crack on with this week's Blog...

Shiny and New

The Queens Avenue side of the school is looking extremely smart isn't it? We are in the process of having new windows fitted and it has really enhanced our beautiful school. 

I will always remember the first time I came to visit the school (a very long time ago now) and it was this side of the building that impressed me the most. I just thought it was such a handsome looking school and now it looks even better.

Released into the wild!

With the warmer weather comes the opportunity to use the field which we were able to do on the first Monday back. Honestly, it was like letting caged animals back into the wild on the first day but I am pleased to report that the novelty is well and truly wearing off and everyone has settled into their groove, so to speak.

In amongst the chaos were the pockets of little oasis-type groups just chilling with their friends - it was lovely to see.

Now, when you are in a big space like the field, it is very hard to be heard. Mr Roberts had the genius idea or resurrecting the megaphone.

It certainly did the trick - calm and order was restored within seconds.

Well done and thank you Mr Roberts - you are brilliant.

Summer Tree

When 5CWT's tree finished accommodating Christmas, it was decided by the class to keep it in situ so it can be used to commemorate other times of the year. As you can see, paper butterflies have now appeared - it looks rather lovely doesn't it?

I was very lucky and was presented with my very own butterfly. I absolutely love it!

Worth a Mention Children

As always, huge congratulations to this week's Worth a Mention children in Key Stage Two. It was so lovely to read the reasons why various children have been selected this week.

Let's start with Year Five...

Now it's the turn of Year Six...

Well done one and all!

Earth Day

This week, Miss Clements and I held a whole school assembly on Wednesday. We had two very special guests: Ms Pluck and our very own Isla from 5MR. 

The theme of our assembly was Earth Day which was the following day.

Ms Pluck showed the children an acorn that she had found and that now had germinated into a sapling. You could still see the actual acorn - it was fascinating. This sapling represents the growth of  DMS as a school and sits in Ms Pluck's office as a constant reminder. 

Don't forget to enter the poster competition!

Wellbeing

The holidays were an excellent opportunity to look after our wellbeing weren't they? However, it's quite tricky to keep it going through term time. I managed to get out for a run with a few of my running chums and we ran around my dad's farm.

Ms Whiting and I were out and about on Friday for our now weekly run. Ms Whiting has been following the Couch to 5km programme and did brilliantly this week.  

Well done Mrs Whiting!

In each of the Zones, there is a Wellbeing Board. This has been added to each one.  

The words are so true aren't they?

Behaviour for Learning

We, quite literally, hit the floor running with our learning this week didn't we? I spied one of these completed hands in one of the Year Five classrooms that I teach in this week and thought it would be good to share.

Sometimes, we just need to be reminded of the expectations that we have as a school and I thought that this was a good way to do it.

My sparky partner

5CWT's Robyn has got quite an interesting partner hasn't she? He is called 'Pluggy' and although he doesn't say a lot, he can be very switched on. However, he also switches off very easily which makes him rather static. This talk partner can be quite negative as well as extremely positive yet he conducts himself well in lessons.  

Amphibian-tastic!

At the end of school on Friday, I spied Mrs Whiting walking through the corridor with a large glass tank in her hands. 

Inside, there was a wiggly little newt! 

Emilie and Florence were very keen to show Ms Pluck who was as fascinated by the latest addition to the DMS family. 

Be prepared!

Quite a few children have come back to school without a handwriting pen. Whilst we are always happy to help out where we can as a school, we only have a finite supply of pens. Unfortunately, biros are not an alternative so please make sure that you have handwriting pens in your pencil case ready to use.

Well, that's it for this week. 

I hope you all have a fabulous week and that the sun continues to shine.

See you next week!

Mrs Ray

(who thought she would treat you all with a picture of one of her Dad's cows. This is quite a young one and she was very curious or should that be nosey?!)