Getting to grips with everything.

Hello and welcome back to the Year Five Blog!

Well, we now have a whole full week under our belts and we continue to be impressed with how well your fabulous children are settling in. They are also an extremely polite bunch, I have never had so many 'Thank Yous' for opening a door. Ever!

The step to Middle School is an enormous one isn't it? Some children take it all in their stride and other children find it all a bit overwhelming and intimidating. Please be assured that we are always here for the children and if you have any worries or concerns then please do get in touch.

Anyway, on to this week's Blog...

Golden Time

I am delighted to report that only 7 children missed their Golden Time this week which is pretty impressive considering it was our first 'proper' week. The main issue was getting the Home/School Diary signed in the right place and adults signing the Reading Record. Please see last week's Blog for more information about what the children need to do to earn their Golden Time.

This week, the children have homework (Cobweb Cafe) which is due to be handed in by the 23rd September. We hope you enjoy the task and can't wait to see what the children come up with!

CHAT

Every Monday and Thursday lunchtime, the lovely Ms Seymour runs a drop in session called CHAT in the Year Five Quiet Room. All children are welcome to attend, they just need to remember to eat their lunch first.

CHAT gives the children an opportunity to share any worries or concerns that they may have about school with Ms Seymour in a supportive, caring and friendly environment. They can also share things that are going well or if they need a bit of clarification when they are unsure of anything linked with school.

After School Clubs

Many apologies if there has been a certain degree of confusion surrounding after school clubs. Thank you for your feedback and patience.

A list of clubs should have been emailed to you, if not, please let your child's Homebase Tutor know as soon as possible and a paper copy can be distributed pretty swiftly!

Just to clarify the protocol for children attending After School Clubs at DMS:

• Parents must give written permission for the attendance of clubs either in the Home/School Diary or on a reply slip if that is the member of staff's chosen way to gain permission. 
• Only when the member of staff running the club has received parental permission the child may start to attend the club.
• Staff will take a register at the beginning of the club and this register will be taken to the office so we have a record of who is attending specific clubs.

I hope that this makes sense. If not, please do contact the office for clarification.

Buddens 

Hopefully you would have received the letter outlining three main events in the Year Five calendar.

Our first trip of the year is to Buddens Scout Centre near Wareham as part of our Ecology topic in Science but we will link a lot of our curriculum to it.

5ER and 5CW are going on Friday 25th September.

5AD, 5PC and 5KD are going on Monday 28th September.

If you have kindly (or should that be 'bravely'?!) volunteered to accompany your child's class on the trip then your child's Homebase Teacher will be in touch with you shortly.

... and finally!

Many, many congratulations to Mr and Mrs Duffy on the arrival of Ruby Isabella born on the 10th September weighing a very respectable 8lbs 4oz. What fantastic news! 
We can't wait to meet her... 

So, that's it for another week. I hope you all have a great week and I will look forward to 'seeing' you back here next week. If you are feeling brave, please do write a comments in the comments section below. It's always good to hear from you!

Mrs Ray

(who must remember that it's the start of the school photograph ritual on Monday!)