Well, hello there!

Hello and welcome back to the Dorchester Middle School Blog!

It seems like an age since I last wrote a Blog post but here I am, nearly two weeks back into the new half term, ready to report back what has been going on in the wonderful world of DMS.

I hope you all had a good half term. Speaking to the children on the first day back, it sounds as though it couldn't have come at a better time. It's surprising how exhausted we were all feeling after the first few weeks after the summer break. We must never underestimate how much energy, concentration and hard work that we put into that all important first half term back.

Now that the batteries have been recharged, it's all systems go!

Return of the hedgehogs!

At the beginning of every half term, we are usually lucky enough to gain a new pupil or two but we we weren't expecting them in the form of baby hedgehogs aka hoglets.

The first visitor (named Maurice by Mr Watts) was very keen to join DMS and was very confident when crossing the visitor's car park much to the delight of the passing children. Miss Easton was able to direct him to the hedgehog shelter that we have in school. 

Sidney (another Mr Watts name) was found in the with the chickens and was brought up to The Hub where Miss Easton, who is an experienced hedgehog rescuer, wrapped him up and looked after him. She seems to have a hotline to the charities who rescue hedgehogs and he was collected fairly swiftly.

I will let you know how our new additions are doing in the next blog post.

DASP Training Day

Last Monday, all of the DASP schools came together for an excellent training day at Thomas Hardye. The theme was Diversity and Inclusion and, as teachers, we were given a fantastic choice of workshops to attend.

Mr Haigh and Mr Duffy happened to choose the same workshops as I did which was great fun. It was also lovely to see so many of our First School colleagues, especially the Year Four teachers that I work closely with when it comes to transition. 

I came away buzzing with lots of new ideas and strategies to bring into school. 

What a terrific day!

Worth a Mention Children

I am so impressed with the enthusiasm that is shown for these boards from the staff and children. The end of the half term was a bit hit and miss but here are the children who were celebrated that week. 

However, we are now back on track and here are our current superheroes.

Let's start with Year Five this week... 

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

Huge congratulations to each and every one of you!

Save our Planet

All my teaching is in Year Five this year so I am a bit of a nomad when it comes to classrooms. When I was in 5CWT on Friday, I spotted this rather marvellous poster that had been created by two boys in 5MR, Charlie and Alfie.

Isn't it fantastic? I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of this beautiful poster in the next few weeks. Watch this space...

Five Ways to Wellbeing

There are so many things in my life that make me happy: my family, my friends, my work. 

As you know, I always try hard to take on board the Five Ways to Wellbeing so here are a few recent examples...

My friend had a baby a week ago and I was privileged to be at the birth, this is me holding him when he was ten minutes old. Many of you know how much I love the furry members of our household, this is my selfie with Beryl the (male) Bunny. He did have a companion called Roy but sadly he died in the Summer holidays which was heart breaking. Finally, this is me and my friend Jenny, taking part in Parkrun last weekend.

From these pictures you can see that I have CONNECTED with babies, bunnies and buddies, I have been ACTIVE, I LEARNT a lot about having a baby, I took NOTICE of so many things I can't begin to tell you and I GAVE my time to make these things happen.

How many of the ways to wellbeing are you able to do on a daily basis?

Odd Socks Day

To mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, we are encouraging the children and staff to wear odd socks to school on Monday. There is no cost to this. 

Now, which socks shall I wear?

Children in Need

It's a busy week next week isn't it?

On Friday 18th November, we will be marking Children in Need by holding a Non Uniform Day. In exchange for £1, the children can wear their home clothes. Any official Children in Need merchandise can also be worn including Pudsey ears etc.

I must confess to purchasing an item of clothing from the Children in Need website but it all depends on the postal strikes if I will receive it on time.

I have a sneaky feeling that there may be the odd Pudsey onesie being worn (but not by me).

PTFA AGM

Just a reminder that the PTFA will be holding their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 16th November at 5pm in the Library.

We look forward to welcoming you to our merry band of volunteers.

Well, that's it for this week. Just in time for another blog post over the weekend (fingers crossed).

Take care and I look forward to welcoming you back here soon!

Mrs Ray