A Note from Our Head
Dear Parents,
This week we have enjoyed British Science Week which has given us a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the joy of discovery and exploration with our pupils. Science, at its heart, is all about curiosity — asking questions, seeking answers, and embracing the excitement of the unknown. This aligns beautifully with one of our 7Cs values: Curiosity.
Curiosity is the spark that fuels learning, and it’s something we strive to nurture in every child. Whether it’s experimenting in the lab, observing the wonders of nature, or asking 'what if' questions in the classroom, curiosity drives our pupils to explore new ideas and expand their horizons. This week, we have been encouraging all our pupils, from our youngest explorers to our senior scientists, to embrace their natural curiosity and dive into the world of science with enthusiasm. At Castle Court we want all our pupils to develop a lifelong love of learning. We believe through encouraging them to ask questions and explore the world around them, they not only gain knowledge but also the confidence to think critically and approach challenges with an open mind.
This morning, we had the privilege of welcoming families to our Open Morning. It was wonderful to have parents with children from a wide age range, ranging from Nursery to our senior years, and to welcome back some Old Castellans. Preparing for my speech enabled me to reflect again on what I love most about this school. My answer is simple: it is the Castle Court family. I am incredibly proud of the way the whole school came together today to showcase all that Castle Court has to offer. A special thank you to our senior pupils, who were excellent ambassadors for the school, taking parents on their tours. They showed outstanding leadership skills and embodied all that we ask our Castellans to be. As one parent remarked ‘They were superb ambassadors for your school and engaged brilliantly with my child.’ I feel truly blessed to be leading this wonderful community.
Finally, I am delighted to announce further scholarship success to Canford School. Huge congratulations go to the following pupils:
Sophie G – Academic
Amber H - Academic
Felix J - Academic
Elodie O- Academic
Hattie P – Sport
Seb C – Sport
Whilst it is always wonderful to celebrate those who were successful, I am equally proud of all those who have had the courage to attempt these scholarships and the resilience and determination they have all shown. Well done to you all.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Mrs Katie Johnson Head
Monday 17 Mar
Tuesday 18 Mar
School Diary
The school diary for the next two weeks is as follows:
09:00 ABRSM Music Exams
16:45 Year 7 Parents’ Evening
08:35 CCS Community Choir, Family Lounge
08:45 Year 2 Trip to Wimborne: ‘Experiencing Easter’
09:40 Year 1 Trip to Museum of East Dorset
14:00 Boys’ Hockey and Girls’ Netball vs Port Regis - Years 3&4
14:15 Year 2 Easter Arts and Crafts with parents
16:30 Years 5-8 Spring Concert in the Hall
Wednesday 19 Mar 14:00 Boys’ Hockey and Girls’ Netball vs Port Regis - Years 5-8
Thursday 20 Mar Year 2 Trip to Marwell Zoo
Friday 21 Mar Red Nose Day - MUFTI Day for Comic Relief
08:15 Parent and Staff Prayer Group Meeting in the Boardroom
08:35 CCS Community Choir, Family Lounge
11:00 Year 4 performance of 'Wind in the Willows' to Year 3 and below
Tuesday 25 Mar
14:00 Mixed Hockey/Netball vs FSM - Years r3&4
14:15 Year 1 Easter Arts and Crafts (with parents)
14:30 Sugar Craft Workshop for Parents with Mrs Glenn (please book)
09:00 EYFS Easter Egg Hunt
Wednesday 26 Mar
14:00 Boys' Hockey & Girls' Netball vs FSM - Y r 5-8
14:30 Year 4 performance of 'Wind in the Willows' to Parents
11:00 Final Assembly and Prizegiving (Hall)
Friday 28 Mar
14:30
Easter Service: parents are warmly invited to attend Refreshments will be on the patio from 13:30
16:15 End of Term: no TEA, ACTIVITIES or LATE BUSES
Parent Information
If you need to visit Bartletts for uniform over Easter, please note that they will be operating by appointment only. To book an appointment, please email bartletts. schoolwear@hotmail.co.uk
Wimborne Wayfarers are looking for players in the Under 10 and Under 12 categories. Training is on Tuesdays from 6-7pm (U10s) and from 7-8pm (U12s) at QE School. Please have a look at their website.
Easter Sports & Crafts
Paul Manning will be running a Sports and Crafts Camp at school from 31 March to 4 April. For more information and to book, please contact him on manning_paul_ @hotmail.com.
Mr Mills runs Karate & SelfDefence classes for children and adults aged 7 and up (Y3+) on Saturday mornings 9.50am–11:20am in the Sports Hall. He also runs Little Ninjas for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 from 9am-9.45am. For more information or to book a free try-out session, please contact him on bdemills@yahoo. co.uk, bmills@castlecourt.com or on 07801730097.
Love Productions are looking for contestants for the next series of the Junior Bake Off. This is open to all children aged 9-15 years, with filming taking place in July. Please note that applications should be in by Sunday 23 March. Call Hannah on 02070674833 with any questions!
Wimborne Rugby Club still has a few places in some of their youth training sessions.If your children have been inspired by the Six Nations, they might like to join the club for a few end of season training sessions. The club has sessions for children from U6 to U12 and is offering reduced training fees to join for the rest of the season. If you would like to know more, please click HERE.
We have updated our Parent Privacy Notice. Please click HERE to view it. It is also on the policy page of the school website.
Wimborne Cricket Club have organised two taster sessions for girls, on 20 March and 3 April, 6-7pm, in our Sports Hall. Please email Michelle on michellehwimbornecc@outl ook.com for more information.
The Week in Brief…
The Pre-Prep children enjoyed an online reading and illustration workshop on Wednesday, hosted by Helen and Thomas Docherty. The children did some super drawings of characters!
We were privileged to see some wonderful performances on Monday evening - please do read on for more!
Year 8 went to the RNLI HQ to learn more about careers in Science and Technology, while Year 6 received a visitor on the same subject! Read on to see what happened!
It was British Science Week!!
Please read on for more news and pictures on this, and a huge thank you to Mrs Gallop and her team of scientists for all their hard work.
Our Sugar Crafters continued their very creative work - read on for more photos and details of a parent workshop!
Our Photographers experimented with Lego figurines…the results are amazing! Keep reading for more of their incredible photography.
Artists of the Week
This week’s Artists of the Week are Krishn and Hugo from Year 1 Our Year 1 children have been learning how to paint with watercolours, and Hugo and Krishn have demonstrated really well how to blend the colours to create sunset backgrounds. They’ve then used black paper to create silhouettes to complete their pictures. Well done, Krishn and Hugo!
Hugo Krishn
Careers in Science and Engineering 1
Mr Revill, from Fontis, came in to talk to our Year 6 children about his career; in support of British Science Week, they were excited to learn more about his very cool job! He was keen to tell the students, and let them try out, some of the products that his company has developed. Fontis have used 3D printers and AI to support surgeons and have also developed a weather forecasting unit in conjunction with the RNLI to support poor communities in Tanzania.
Careers in Science and Engineering 2
On Thursday, Year 8 went to the RNLI Headquarters in Poole, which was an excellent opportunity to explore careers in these areas.
Sugar Craft
On Monday evening, our Sugar Crafters made puppies - we think you’ll agree that they are absolutely adorable and incredibly intricate.
Calling all parents - do you fancy trying your hand at Sugar Crafting?!
Mrs Glenn will be running a Spring/Easter Parent Workshop on Tuesday 25 March from 2.30 to 4pm.
The cost of this will be £20 per person, to include hot drinks and biscuits plus all necessary resources. Places are limited!
If you are interested, please contact Mrs Glenn on lglenn@castlecourt.com for more details and to secure your place.
You can see more of Mrs Glenn’s work on her website HERE.
Red Nose Day 2025
This year marks a massive 40 years of Comic Relief.
We will be marking Red Nose Day at school on Friday 21 March, with a mufti day in return for a donation to charity (we suggest £1 per child).
Please also encourage them to wear a splash of red, as well as a nose if they have one!
Red Nose Day will be on Friday 21 March
Comic Relief are making a selection of noses from across their 40 years of work available this year!
Which one will you be wearing?!
Looking ahead to the Summer Term
The Summer Term starts for children on Wednesday 23 April. Tea and Prep will be available.
Years 5-8 Swimming Gala will be held on Monday 9 June at 2.15pm
Pre-Prep Sports Day will be held on Friday 27 June
The Senior Play will be performed to parents at 6pm on Thursday 3 July
Senior School Sports Day will be held on Friday 4 July from 9am
The Years 3 and 4 Summer Concert will be held in the Hall at 9am on Wednesday 25 June
Years 3&4 Swimming Gala will be held on Tuesday 10 June at 2pm
The Year 8 PSPQ Exhibition will be open to parents from 8.30am on Thursday 12 June.
The PSPQ Presentations will take place from 6pm that evening.
The Summer Term ends with Speech Day on Wednesday 9 July
Move Up Morning for children in current Years 2 to 7 will take place on Tuesday 8 July.
Activity Weeks
Emails have now gone out to parents regarding the Activities Weeks for pupils in Years 3 to 8.
If you have any questions about your child’s trip, please do contact the trip leader in the first instance - their name and email address are at the bottom of the email.
New Events for this year:
Friday 6 June - Summer Fest
Please save the date: tickets will be released soon!
Wednesday 11 June at 6pm
The Handlebards - a Shakespeare Company - are performing Much Ado about Nothing. More information will follow in due course.
Please note that the above dates and times are now CONFIRMED.
Contact Us
Class Teachers / Form Tutors
Reception Mrs Brewer | Mrs Speer
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
Mrs Dobson | Mrs Zachariades
Mr Antell | Mrs Glenn
Mrs Baugniet | Mr Bambrey
Dr Lippiatt/Mrs Deards | Mr Laidler
Mr Mills/Mrs Vivian | Mrs Miller/Miss Sinclair-Smith
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
Heads of Department:
English Ms Thompson
Maths Mrs Miller
Science Mrs Gallop
History Mrs Rule
CAVE Mrs Hoey
Music Mr Smith
Geography Mrs Hoey
Sport Mr Fermor-Dunman
DT Mr Phillips
Art Miss Sinclair-Smith
SENDCo Mrs Harmer
To report an absence, please call the Office on 01202 694438, or send us an email.
Nursery:
Badger Cubs Mrs Genge | Mrs Tomblin
Badgers Mrs Bartlett | Mrs Wilson
The Nursery Manager is Miss Hixson
Leadership Team:
Mr Dunsford Assistant Head (Pastoral)
Mr Edmond Assistant Head (Operations)
Mrs Hoey Head of CAVE
Mrs Munns Director of Teaching & Learning
Mr Norris Bursar
Mrs Robson Admissions and Marketing
Your first point of contact for day to day questions and enquiries related to your child(ren) is their tutor or class teacher.
If you wish to make an appointment to see Mrs Johnson, please email hmsec@castlecourt.com
