This morning we had our beautiful Remembrance Service at St. George’s Church.
Our Form 8’s read 3 poems; ‘In Flander’s Fields’, ‘I went to see the Soldiers’ and ‘Peace will Come’. They read each poem with such poise and confidence which made me so proud as it is incredibly daunting reading in front of a full congregation.
Our Chamber Choir and our School Orchestra sang and played beautifully. Special mention must be made to Millie for her incredible dance solo, Freddie for his brilliant trumpet solo, Iris for her wonderfully moving harp solo and Kitty and Katy for their stunning duet. Mr Penfold’s ‘Last Post’ was also incredibly moving. I am sure I am not alone when my thoughts went to those who are currently suffering as a result of war, as well as those who lost their lives for peace and freedom.
My thanks must go to Mrs Nolan-Stone for putting this service together, to Revd Magee and our guests – the Dorchester veterans and our buddies from the Glencairn Residential Home.
November is ‘Cut your Carbon’ month, and Sunninghill are working with Eco Schools England to join their challenge!
Today, our assembly was led by our new Eco-Council and we are working towards becoming an Eco-School by the end of the year to try and earn our green flag.
The children presented the Eco Schools England challenge to the school – 9 tasks to achieve this month – including driving less, going meat free for a day, no food waste weekend and turning the heating down.
We are hoping every child and member of staff will take on this challenge this month!
On Monday, Nursery, Reception and Form 1 explored the beautiful gardens at Herringston House and had a lesson from Liz, our Head Gardener, about the different plants and trees growing there. A stunning Autumnal afternoon with some lovely photos!
Form 4 had a fantastic pizza making morning at Pizza Express as part of their PSHE unit on Food and Nutrition. Mrs Moss says; ‘We tasted many different ingredients, learnt about food hygiene and we all made our own classic pizzas. The deputy manager, John, was very impressed with our children’s knowledge and how polite and well-behaved the children were. Thank you Pizza Express!’
Form 3 had a lovely time exploring Durnovaria (Roman Dorchester) on Thursday. Miss Wake-Walker says; ‘They got to see the Roman wall and Roman Town House before being treated to a guided tour of the beautiful mosaics and locally excavated artefacts inside the Dorchester Museum. All the children were so enthusiastic and asked fantastic questions throughout. Well done Form 3!’
Form 2 also had a fantastic trip to Shire Hall this week! Some fabulous re-enactments and lots of input from the fabulous staff there. The children had a great time.
Yesterday we took 10 of our instrumentalists that are Grade 3 and above to attend an Orchestral Day at Bryanston. The day culminated with a concert for all parents, where they performed the pieces they had been working on throughout the day. Mrs Nolan-Stone said; ‘I was very impressed with the high standard achieved by all the pupils, thank you to Bryanston for organising such a fabulous day for our young musicians’.
This afternoon in enrichment, as part of our Compassion project, we have guests from the Dorchester Town Walking Football club come to teach walking football to some of our senior prep. We met them at the Activate event in Dorchester in September and the children loved joining in with them and so we invited them to come and see us. We are so thrilled that they have given up their time this afternoon – they sound like they are having a lot of fun!
Our School Council are very busy and making a lot of plans to improve the school and to raise money for charity.
Next week is Children in Need and they have arranged a sponsored run in PE lessons, a cake sale and ‘spotty’ home clothes day on Friday 17th. They are also collecting Christmas Boxes Appeal which will be going to an orphanage in Bulgaria. Please remember the final date for collection is Friday 17th November.
These are wonderful initiatives that the School Council have suggested, and we are very proud of the compassion they have shown – one of our core school values.
Finally, please remember that Monday we are celebrating Diwali by wearing colourful home clothes for the day!
I am just off to see some Nativity rehearsals – it is beginning to sound amazing with just a few rehearsals done!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Best wishes
David
