Dorchester St Birinus Primary School

It has been another busy week here in school as we head towards our well-earned half term break. Our Hedgehog class have made some beautiful spiders and webs this week using a variety of different materials.
Squirrel class are working hard on writing stories and it’s pleasing to see the progress they are all making. They’ve also been thinking about number bonds this week to 20 and to 100.
Fox Class are rightly proud of their Australian Aboriginal style artwork and they’ve been working hard to develop some poems this week.
Owl Class have been working on persuasive writing and are learning some new hymns to sing at the annual service for the Diocesan board at the Abbey in November.

As time marches on we are very proud of what our school is achieving at the moment. The atmosphere is calm and purposeful and children are working very hard. They are displaying some amazing resilience and are making great progress.
Hedgehogs have been learning more about numbers this week. They have been talking about what different numbers look like and thinking of different ways to make the numbers. They’ve also been retelling the story of the gingerbread man using puppets that they’ve created.
Squirrel class have been investigating the story ‘The Way Back Home’. They have learned about the order of the planets and have been fact finding about some of the planets.
Fox Class are producing some incredible diary entries and have been finding out about Australian animals. They have also started a class blog and are linking this to how to stay safe and make appropriate contributions online….

Hard work continues in the classrooms. Hedgehogs are well underway with their phonics and have been trying really hard to retell stories and create patterns.
Squirrels have been learning about the moon landings and are becoming Neil Armstrong experts.
Fox class are really enjoying their recorder lessons and are so proud of the progress they’re making in Latin.
Owl class have worked hard this week to finish the poems they started with James Carter and have impressed me with their mathematical skills.
Well done everyone!

Our sponsored walk yesterday was a huge success. The children showed remarkable resilience, determination and positivity throughout the day. The rain (mainly) stayed away and a fun time was had by all. I am very proud of our school community. Squirrels, Foxes and Owls completed about 8km around and up the clumps. Some even went up and down a few times! Hedgehogs walked about 5km and even did some kite flying.
Thank you so much to the PTA who provided some much needed energy boosts in the form of jelly sweets and chocolate. Thanks also to the Earth Trust who let us use their toilets. A huge thank you to all our parent helpers who braved the elements alongside us. So far, we have raised over £1000 which is amazing. There is still some cash to come in and be counted and our fundraising page remains open. 
 You can donate…

Another week here has flown by and it has been wonderful to see children all working so hard now that they are properly settled in their new year groups. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere around school and it is a place full of joy and happiness as new friendships are being forged.
Hedgehogs have been learning the story of the three billy goats gruff. They are also enjoying their phonics sessions and are proving themselves to be a creative group who love building things with the wooden blocks in their construction area.
Squirrels have made biplanes which are amazing and they visited forest school where they have ‘adopted’ an oak tree to keep an eye on as the seasons change.
Fox class have taken part in some hot-seating drama work this week, considering what life as an explorer was like. They are also working really hard to learn…