Making Connections

 Hello and welcome back to the Dorchester Middle School Blog!

There were so many highlights from the last couple of weeks but my personal favourite is when Ms Pluck met Dorchester's Town Mayor whilst waiting for his Rickshaw ride to take him to last week's Streets Alive event. 

Isn't it a great picture!

Anyway, lots to report so on with the show.

Streets Alive!

The build up to the event was very exciting. Two of the organisers, Giles and Julie-Ann came to school to speak to Key Stage Two and Key Stage Three children in their assemblies.

It's not every day that you spy the Mayor sitting in your school's Reception Area is it?



Here are a few of the children just before we assembled on the playground to meet the Prince of Wales Cycle and Scooter Bus.

Chloe and her Mum did a fabulous job of blinging her bike!

Pre Event briefing from Dilys.

Here come the Prince of Wales children!

Although the Rickshaws did not look like the most comfortable mode of transport, our Mayor declared that it was very comfortable indeed!

The Prince of Wales and DMS Cycle Bus made their way to the event.

When we all arrived, we were approached by Bryony of BBC South Today who interviewed a few of our children.

Even though not every child was included in the 6.30pm programme, they did a magnificent job. I have posted the news item on our school Facebook page.

The joy of an event where all  the Dorchester Schools were invited is that you bump into a few familiar faces along the way. Here is Miss Farn who taught at DMS for many years - some of you will recognise her. She hasn't changed has she?

There were loads of activities for the children to get stuck into...

Mrs Whiting was having a lovely time with the big chalks!

Mr and Mrs Martin came down to see what was going on and were impressed with the chalks too!

Street Football was fun and yes, I did manage to score a goal even if it was a penalty shoot out and the goal keeper was being kind!

The Bike Agility was also popular amongst 

It was great to see so many DMS children attend the event after school. The Crazy Bikes were a particular favourite!

It was great to hang out with Mrs Whiting for the afternoon. We went and had a well deserved cup of tea and saw many, many pupils, past and present. It was so lovely to see them all!

I would like to say a huge 'well done' to the organisers of the event. They worked incredibly hard to not only raise awareness of International Car Free Day but to provide the local community with an event that was not only fun but thought-provoking.

See you same time next year?

Worth a Mention Children

Huge congratulations to all of the children who found their names on the Worth a Mention Boards over the last couple of weeks.

Let's start with Year Six...

Now the turn of Year Five...

Well done everyone - I can't wait to see who will be mentioned next week!

Never forget those Five Ways to Wellbeing

Last Sunday, I took part in the Blackhill 10km at Bere Regis. I genuinely couldn't remember entering the race but apparently I did so off I went to the start line.

I was so pleased that I did it. Although I wasn't terribly prepared, I hope I showed that I demonstrated ROARS but not the ready bit!

I love 'racing' locally as you bump into familiar faces. Here is Oscar in Year Six's Dad who finished in a very impressive time. Let's put it this way, I will never be running with him!

I am pretty convinced that I managed to achieve all the the Five Ways to Wellbeing. I connected with my fellow runners, I learned that I need to remember that I have entered races, I was active (!), I took notice of the stunning scenery and I gave my entrance fee went to the Bere Regis Scouts.

Not bad for one run!

Next Week

We have a busy old next week (well, give me a week that isn't busy!) but one of the highlights is definitely going to be our second our School at Work morning on Thursday 5th October. The school will be open again to parents of Year Four children who would like to see the school in action. The morning runs from 9am - 11am and parents will be shown around by our sparkling new prefects!

Here is Mr Roberts making sure that his classroom is in tip top working order!

We look forward to welcoming our prospective parents to our fabulous school.

We also have our first official trip of the year with Year Five heading to Stonehenge on Friday. I will report back in the next Blog.

Google Classroom

Technology. When it works is brilliant and we don't know what we do without and when it doesn't work it feels like the sky has fallen down and every single bit of pent up aggression that is in your system comes out like a tsunami!

We hope that the children have been able to access their Google Classrooms. If you are having issues please let your child's subject teacher know so that they can help and support where possible.

PTFA AGM

At Dorchester Middle School we have currently have a small, but perfectly formed PTFA. The work the PTFA does in our school is incredibly valuable. Not only do they raise vital funds for our school but they also run events that involve members of our school community.

Our AGM is being held on Tuesday 10th October at 5.15pm in the School Library.

We look forward to seeing you then.

School Photographs

Here is a sneaky peek, behind the scenes picture of the photographers in action last week.

The children looked so smart.

I have a feeling that several Christmas presents are in the pipeline!

European Languages Day

On Tuesday, it was European Languages Day. I was very impressed with the variety of languages that were spoken on the day. I was even more impressed with 5MW's mobile assembly. It was brilliant!

Keep Reading!

The children in Key Stage Two are expected to have a minimum of three reads signed in their Home/School diaries every week. The reads need to be signed by an adult.

I love reading and so do the children in 5KD. There is a cracking display of them reading outside their classroom. This is one of my favourite pictures...

Mrs James, who is our Reading Guru, was very impressed. Her cat, Flitwick, is also an avid reader!

I hope Mrs James has recorded his reads in his diary!

Well, that's it for this time.

I hope that you all have a good week and I'll see you on the other side of the Year Five Stonehenge trip!

Mrs Ray 

(aka Frau Ray!)