| 10 January 2025
A Note from Our Head
Dear Parents,
It has been wonderful to welcome the children back to school this week. Seeing the children so excited to catch up with friends and share their holiday news always fills me with joy and reminds me what school should be about – joy, friendship and a sense of belonging. We also have 10 new pupils joining us this term. I therefore wanted to extend a very warm welcome to all our new families, and I hope you enjoy being part of this very special Castle Court family.
As adults, we have the tendency to talk about the month of January as a rather depressing month, with its dark mornings and long nights, bad weather and lack of anything to look forward to. However, as with everything, if we simply change our perspective, we soon notice the joy and wonders that this month can bring.
In assembly on Monday, I shared with pupils the story of the snowdrop. The snowdrop is a very delicate and often underestimated flower, yet one that has the strength to push through the hardest of winter ground to be a first symbol of hope for the Spring to come. I therefore challenged the pupils to be their own beacons of hope to others this term, to dream big and have the courage and resilience to realise those dreams.
There is certainly lots to look forward to this term with our Year 3 and Year 4 plays, music festival, Children’s Mental Health Week, Performing Arts Presentations, numerous trips and sporting events, as well as our Easter Service. Do take a look at the parents’ calendar so that you are aware of the dates of all these key events. As the weather has certainly turned colder, please also ensure that your child comes to school with a coat to enable them to continue to enjoy being outdoors.
I am really looking forward to the term ahead and I hope it will be full of wonderful memories for both you and your child.
With best wishes,
Katie
Mrs Katie Johnson Head
Head’s Awards are given out every Friday morning in assembly to children nominated by their class teacher or form tutor; the reasons for these are many and varied, including outstanding effort, overcoming difficulty, or helping a friend in need.
The Head’s Awards for this week will be reported in next week’s Newsletter.
Save the Dates: Spring Term 2025
CCSCommunity Choir
EveryTuesdayfrom14 Januaryat8:35amin theFamilyLounge!
World Book Day: This will be on Thursday 6 March
Red Nose Day: This will be on Friday 21 March
Keep an eye out for more information!
Parent Social Committee Meeting
This will be held on Thursday 23 January at 8:35am in the Family Lounge and is for any parent who wishes to be involved in any way with our social events. Please confirm your attendance using this link.
Year 8 Scholarship Assessment Days
Please see dates of these below and check your emails/post carefully for exact timings, which will be confirmed to you directly by the schools themselves.
Sport – 27th January
Music – 28/29th January
Bryanston
Art/IT/DT – 29th January
Performing Arts – 30th January
All Rounder – 30th January
Academic – 31st January
Academic – 10/11th February
Art – 12th February
Design – 6th February
Canford
Drama – 5th February
Music – 27/28th January
Sport (boys) – 31st January
Sport (girls) – 3rd February
Clayesmore Week beginning 27th January
Parents’ Evenings
Nursery: Weds 12 February
Reception, Years 1 and 2: Thurs 13 February
Years 3 &4: Thurs 27 Feb
Year 5: Tues 4 March
Year 6: Thurs 13 March
Year 7: Mon 17 March
Year 8: TBC
Trips
Performances
The Year 3 Play (‘Animal Antics!’)will be performed on Thursday 13 February at 9am.
Year 4 will perform ‘Wind in the Willows’ to parents on Wednesday 26 March at 2.30pm.
The Senior Play will be held on Thursday 3 July at 6pm.
FebruaryHalf-Term:Pleasenotethatthiswillrunfrom childrenMonday17February.AllshouldreturntoschoolonMonday24February.
Easterbreak: ThiswillrunfromMonday31 returnMarch.Allchildrenshould toschoolonTuesday22 April.
Year 7 - Hampton CourtThursday 30 January
Year 8 - Canford Resource
Centre - Thursday 13 February
Year 4 - Tutankhamun MuseumThursday 27 February
Reception - Compton AcresThursday 13 March
Parent Information
The school diary for the next two weeks is as follows:
Monday 13 Jan Reception Swimming begins
08:30 Year 1 Topic Exploration Session (with parents)
Tuesday 14 Jan
08:35 CCS Community Choir, Family Lounge
14:00 Boys' Hockey & Girls' Netball vs Sherborne - Yr3&4
Wednesday 15 Jan Charlie's Chimps begins
08:30 Reception Topic Exploration Session (with parents)
14:00 Boys' Hockey & Girls' Netball vs Sherborne - Yr 5-8
08:30 Year 2 Topic Exploration Session (with parents)
Thursday 16 Jan
14:00 Years 5-8 Cross Country, Kings Park
Triple P Parenting Programmes will be running in the evenings at Longfleet Primary School in Poole. If you are interested in exploring new parenting strategies or considering a paediatric referral, please do click on the image for more information.
By clicking on this image, you will be able to access a free copy of the UK’s largest parenting magazine, which has the backing of the NHS in improving the physical and mental well-being of families in England.
Tuesday 21 Jan
08:35 CCS Community Choir, Family Lounge 14:00 Mixed Hockey vs Salisbury Cathedral - Yr 3&4
14:00 Boys' Hockey & Girls' Netball vs Salisbury Cathedral Yr 5-8
Wednesday 22 Jan
14:00 Boys' U13 In2Hockey County finals - Timings TBC
14:00 U11 & U13 Girls' Netball tournament, Bryanston - Timings TBC
08:35 Parent Social Committee Meeting, Family Lounge
Thursday 23 Jan
14:00 Ken Bailey Cross Country races, Bryanston - Yr7&8 Friday 24 Jan 08:15 Parent Prayer Group, Board Room
Notices:
have received their first taught PSPQ sessions this week! Please do encourage your child to book visits and complete their booklets, and have a look at the information that was sent through.
Bikeability will run for Year 6 this term - please see the email sent if you have not yet booked on. There are still places!
Fabric Fiesta is our new textiles club for Years 7 and 8 and we still have places available! This is a great opportunity to extend the work on life skills covered in CAVE lessons, as children will be making their own accessories using the school’s sewing machines. If you would like to book your child on, please email activities@castlecourt.com.
The girls’ uniform for the winter is grey tights or socks; not black, please.
Karate: Mr Mills continues to run Karate & Self-Defence classes for children and adults aged 7 and up (Y3+) on Saturday mornings 9am–10:20am in the Sports Hall. For more information or to book a free try-out session, please contact him on bdemills@yahoo.co.uk or bmills@castlecourt.com. Please see the image for more details regarding the Little Ninjas sessions for Reception to Year 2 children.
Bushido Wado-Ryu Karate Club | https://bushidokarate. martialartsuk.org | Find him on Facebook/Instagram/ YouTube using: @dorsetkarate
Settling back in
It has been wonderful to welcome our children back this week! Here are just a few snaps of them settling back in to their daily routines.
Year 8 have been wonderful at stepping back in to their Leadership roles, spending time with the younger years and helping them get back in to school life, as well as allowing the little ones to show off what they can do!
The Library has been a salvation at break and lunch times; with board games, plenty of books and quiet nooks to work in, it has been lovely to see a number of children make use of the space that it offers.
The Week in Badgers…
Snow creates so many opportunities for learning, and brings so much excitement with it!
This week, we enjoyed making footprints, trails, shapes and snowballs!
We have started teaching our Winter topics, and as you can see, the children are hugely invested!
The Nursery team are always inspired by the children’s love of learning and hope to develop and build on this so that it lasts a lifetime.
Points of Contact
Class Teachers / Form Tutors:
Reception Mrs Brewer | Mrs Speer
Year 1 Mrs Dobson | Mrs Zachariades
Year 2 Mr Antell | Mrs Glenn
Year 3 Mrs Baugniet | Mr Bambrey
Year 4 Dr Lippiatt/Mrs Deards | Mr Laidler
Your first point of contact for day to day questions and enquiries related to your child(ren) is their tutor or class teacher.
Heads of Department:
English Ms Thompson
Maths
Science
Year 5 Mr Mills/Mrs Vivian | Mrs Miller/Miss Sinclair-Smith
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
Mrs Rule/Mrs Major | Mr Fermor-Dunman/Mrs Hoey
Mr Jordan/Mrs Harmer | Mrs Lea/Mr Cheadle
Mr Phillips/Ms Thompson | Mrs Gallop/Mr Smith
Section Leaders:
Pre-Prep Mr Antell
Years 3& 4 Mr Laidler
Years 5&6 Mrs Munns
Years 7&8 Ms Thompson
Nursery:
Badger Cubs Mrs Genge | Mrs Tomblin
Badgers Mrs Bartlett | Mrs Wilson
The Nursery Manager is Miss Hixson
To report an absence, please call the Office on 01202 694438, or send us an email.
If you wish to make an appointment to see Mrs Johnson, please email hmsec@castlecourt.com
Miller
Gallop
History Mrs Rule
CAVE
Hoey
Music Mr Smith
Geography Mrs Hoey
Sport Mr Fermor-Dunman
DT Mr Phillips
Art Miss Sinclair-Smith
SENDCo Mrs Harmer
Leadership Team:
Mr Dunsford Assistant Head (Pastoral)
Mr Edmond Assistant Head (Operations)
Mrs Hoey Head of CAVE
Mrs Munns Director of Teaching and Learning
Mr Norris Bursar
Mrs Robson Admissions and Marketing
