OUR MISSION STATEMENT


Our school community will provide a caring, safe and supportive environment where everyone is encouraged to be creative, challenged and happy in their work and play, and where United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are respected and valued by all.

Language of the Month

Japanese

The school's Curriculum Intent has been updated for 2021/22 and can be found on the school website.

Dear Parents/ Carers,

This week’s Lower School assembly was focused on Alexis Deacon’s, Beegue all about respect and tolerance and Upper School was an anti-racist assembly where they listened to Horrible Histories about Black History focusing on Rosa Parks, Mary Seacole and Martin Luther King. Children are looking at their reading corner to ensure they reflect their cultural heritage in terms of authors and characters. We all also discussed discrimination.

See details below for this year’s Christmas dinner and how to sign your child up if they usually have a packed lunch. You can also sign them up for a hot lunch after half term by using this form. If your child is in Reception - Y2 they are in receipt of universal free school meals and Y3-6 is charged through ParentMail.

Please can you ensure all children are being respectful and safe when in the Recreation Ground we have had reports of disruptive and negative behaviour.

After half term we will be hosting Headteacher and Assistant Headteacher forums. Further details and how to book on will be shared next week.

I am still in the process of working out the best plan for scooters and bike to be brought back on site as it remains complicated with the multiple entrances and exits and we need to ensure it is safe for everyone. I appreciate your patience and understanding with this matter.

Have a lovely weekend,



Fiona Duffy

Harvest Festival for Trussell Trust

We are delighted to be supporting Wimbledon Foodbank again this year as part of our harvest festival.Please bring food donations to school on Monday 18th October. Current items needed are listed here. Please check back on their website as items might change. Make sure all donations are in date and non-perishable.

General News & Reminders

  • As of today all Lost Property will be in the Rose Garden every Friday from 15:00 - 15:45 (weather permitting) so please come along and have a search through if you are missing anything. If it's very wet we will have to roll it over to the following week.

  • Flu Vaccinations will be on Friday 5th November, a ParentMail was sent at the start of the week with the guidance from Merton. Please email the school office if this wasn't received.

  • There are still places on our Early Birds breakfast club, please complete the below form to sign up and email DEP@dundonald.merton.sch.uk with any questions. Click here to sign up to breakfast club

  • Christmas Cards - Children will be bringing their designs home today alongside the ordering information. You must order by 18th October and all cards need to be handed back to class teachers by 21st October.

  • If any of our families need support through food vouchers then please do not hesitate to email the office in confidence.

  • We are pleased to announce that we can offer free school meal vouchers over the October Half Term to those families and children in receipt of this. You will be sent your vouchers in the same way as you were over the summer break. Please email the office with any queries.

Parent/Carer Consultations

  • Please remember to book an appointment with your child's class teacher for next week's parent/carer meetings on ParentMail. Contact the school office with any issues.

  • For Nursery - Y5 these will take place face to face in the main hall & Y6 will be in the classrooms.

THIS WEEK AT DUNDONALD

Christmas Dinner - 7th December

If your child doesn't usually have School Meals but would like to have the Christmas Dinner please complete this form by the end of next week due to current food supply issues.

This year's Rights Respecting steering group are -


1P- Josie, Emma

1VC - Matteo, Sebastian

2C - Zoey & Phoebe

2B - Florence & Andrew

3M - Ivo & Eliza

3S - Edie & Charis

4D - Timothy & Darcey

4S - Ben & Victoria

5B - Avir & Zoe

5C - Yiannis & Sergey

6M - Dylan & Naia

6R - Joman

We would like to remind families of the possibility to apply for Free School Meals (FSM), if they believe they may be eligible.


If you have never applied previously and think you might now be eligible to Free School Meals due to a change in circumstances, please apply online here & find out more on our website here.

Show and Share Assemblies

  • 6R - Wednesday 20th October

  • 6M - Friday 22nd October

  • 1VC - Wednesday 10th November

  • 1P - Friday 12th November

  • 4D - Friday 19th November

  • 5C - Wednesday 24th November

  • 5B - Friday 26th November

All parents are welcome to attend their child's show and share assembly, please be at the Rose Garden for 9am on the day. Please note masks are optional, the hall will be well ventilated and windows will be open.

Absences

Please email absence@dundonald.merton.sch.uk with a detailed reason for your child's absence and/or symptoms to enable us to authorise the absence.

Please also advise whether or not your child has:

- a fever

- a cough

- loss/change of smell or taste

If your child has any of these symptoms, they must take a full PCR test before they return to school, which can be booked by following the below link:

https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

If we do not hear from you with full details on the day of absence, this will be recorded as an UNAUTHORISED absence.

Merton School Sports Partnership

Last Friday Y3 took part in the Merton Sports Partnership Football Tournament on the Dundonald Rec which was enjoyed by all. Here are some comments from the children.


I enjoyed playing football against other schools and with my friends. Benjamin (3M)

The football tournament was fun! I liked being the goalie and saving goals. Benas (3M)


The football tournament was really good. I was really proud of myself when I was doing defending. Alisha (3M)


It was nice that all teams were playing fairly and everyone had lots of fun playing football. Freddie (3M)


I liked having fun playing football with my friends on my birthday! I tried my hardest to help my team and score lots of goals. Fred (3M)


It was very fun being a defender and I tackled a lot. We scored loads of goals and even drew against a very good team. Rachel (3S)

I had so much fun and I scored 3 goals. We won 6 games and our biggest win was 4-1. Fred and Ben played really well. James (3S)


PTA NEWS

Buy your Christmas tree from the PTA - December 3rd

The PTA will be selling top quality Christmas trees again this year!

We offer a great range of sizes from 3-4ft for somewhere bijou, to 7-8ft trees for anyone lucky enough to have high enough ceilings. As the PTA is able to buy in bulk, we can take a cut for the school fundraising pot and still keep the prices low for you. For example, a premium grade Nordmann fir 5-6ft (150-175cm) will be just £36.

Pre-ordering via the PTA website by November 22nd will be essential.


You will need to collect your tree between 4 and 6pm on Friday 3rd of December (we are unable to offer a delivery service). More details to follow about prices and ordering. (Ordering hasn't opened yet)

Please support the PTA by buying your tree from us this year.

Donations to the School Fund


The Dundonald Primary School parent & carer community are very generous and a large number of us donate to the School Fund each month.


If you are new to the school and haven't yet set this up but are able to give a small donation on a monthly basis, please visit https://www.dundonald.merton.sch.uk/Dundonald-School-Fund to find out more.


This money is spent at the discretion of the school to help improve the learning environment for our children. Please give whatever you feel comfortable with.

ONLINE SAFETY AT HOME

It has come to our attention that some older children talk about 'Squid Game', which is a Korean drama series on Netflix.

The show mimics children’s games however it ends with participants being violently killed if they lose.


'Squid Game' can also be viewed via other platforms such as YouTube and Tik-Tok, and given the popularity of the games in the show, developers have made various mini-games based on Squid Game on Roblox and other gaming platforms.


Please find advice from National Online Safety here.


Common Sense Media gives the drama series an age rating of 16+.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/squid-game


Parents/carers are advised to be vigilant about what children are accessing and make sure the content is appropriate. Parental controls are available on apps/websites and can help keep children safe.


You might find the following resources helpful to protect your child from harmful content:


https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/inappropriate-content/learn-about-it/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/parental-controls/

The DigiSafe Team at LGfL is a centre of excellence in safeguarding - online and beyond.

Helpful resources tips on talking to children about life online can be found here: https://parentsafe.lgfl.net/

A recent article in the First News (issue 798) promoted a FYI film with tips on how to stay safe online which also includes an interview with an Internet Matters expert:

https://live.firstnews.co.uk/i-dont-get-it/bfi/staying-safe-online/

Find Your Balance: A day in my digital life is an art competition, asking children to draw a picture showing how they find a healthy balance in their online and offline lives.

The top 50 entries will be displayed in the Houses of Parliament/London – and the winners will be invited to attend an event in Westminster to see their artwork on display.

Please find further details here.

Closing date for the competition is Friday 22nd October 2021.

CELEBRATION CERTIFICATES / HEADTEACHER AWARD


Congratulations to the following children for receiving a Celebration Certificate this week:

EARLY YEARS


CURIOUS GEORGE AWARD Felix & Jonathan (R2)
SMARTEST GIANT AWARDFrank (NAM) & Olivia (NPM)
ELMER AWARDDefne (R2)
BEAR HUNT AWARDUzay (NAM)

LOWER SCHOOL / UPPER SCHOOL


CURIOSITY AWARDBernardo (3M) & Hadia (6R)
CONFIDENCE AWARDEmily (1VC), Alexandra (1P), Selene (2B), Abhiram (2C), Luna (4S), Avir (5B) & Emilio (5C)
COMMITMENT AWARDImogen (2B), Flynn (2C), Yuan (3M), Sasha (5B), Thomas (5C) & Kaya (6R)
COMMUNICATION AWARDIha (1VC), Sean (3S), David (5B) & Jonathan (6R)
COLLABORATION AWARDJay (1P), All of 2B, Ruby (3M)
CREATIVITY AWARDAaryan (1VC), Raigan (1P), Charis (3S), Lisa (5C)
CRAFTSMANSHIP AWARDElla (2C), Claire (3M) & George (4S)

Edie (3S)