In this issue:
Year 4 Overnight Camp at school!
Our Reception classes welcome some very helpful visitors
Results of the DT Challenge Day at Bryanston A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Year 7 Dystopian Day and more!
I am writing this this morning having spent time in one of my favourite parts of the school: PrePrep. The smiles and excitement generated by Sports Day this morning were wonderful to see. Thank you to all parents who were able to attend; having you there to cheer them on from the sidelines really did make it a fantastic experience for them all To those who weren’t able to make it, please rest assured that all children were cheered on, and we will share photos in next week’s Newsletter.
Supporting others has been a real theme at school over this week and last With the ISI inspectors on site last week, it was such a support and reassurance to read the wonderful feedback from parents and pupils through the surveys: I really am so grateful to each and every one of you who managed to complete this despite the busy-ness in your own lives.
Our lovely Reception classes have been learning all about people who help others, and over the last weeks have welcomed visits from dentists, policemen and paramedics. Further up the school, Years 3 and 4 have supported each other wonderfully at their Summer Concert and at their Overnight Camps, which for some of them was the first time ever spending a night away from home. They were also ably supported by my (very tired!) colleagues - a huge thank you to them for making experiences like this possible for our children. In Years 5 and 6, the children have been looking at supporting the work of cleansing the oceans and what they can do now and in the future to help Meanwhile, Year 6 also supported each other and came together superbly as the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: what a wonderful evening that was, and simply magical with our woodlands as a backdrop. For our older children, Year 7 supported each other through Dystopian Day, with some coming to the conclusion that leadership is all about creating teams and garnering support; it was very rewarding to see them being so reflective as they prepare to lead the pupil body from September.
The focus next week shifts gently towards supporting our leavers as they celebrate all their lasts: their last lessons in each subject, their last co-curricular activities, even for some, their final bus journeys to and from school. We also have the Senior Play, leavers’ events, Prep Sports Day and Move Up Morning to look forward to
They say that it takes a family to raise a child, and I am so pleased and p of this supportive Castle Court family.
Thank you all once again for your continued support; it really does mea
With best wishes for a lovely weekend,
Katie
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 A huge congratulations for their efforts goes to
RECB Abigail
RECS Kaydon
P1D Harper
P1Z Ayla
P2A George
P2G Teddy
3D Barnaby
3M Lake 4D Overnight Camp
4M
5D Alexandra 5M Sam 6D Vivian 6M Alex 7D Mikayla 7M Michael 8D Carson 8M Sophie
Please note that these are the Head’s Awards that were given out lastweek
There has not been an Assembly today due to PrePrep Sports Day and the Year 3 overnight camp
Year 1 and 2 Trip to Studland
Monday 30-Jun-25
Tuesday 01-Jul-25
Wednesday 02-Jul-25
09:05 Senior Play Rehearsal
10:30 Senior Play Performance to Pre-Prep
14:15 Years 3&4 Matches v Walhampton
11:00 Senior Play Performance to Years 3-8
14:15 Year 5-8 Cricket v Walhampton
08:30 Move-Up Morning in Pre-Prep
Thursday 03-Jul-25
Friday 04-Jul-25
Monday 07-Jul-25
14:30 Move-up Sessions for Pre-Prep Parents
See email for more information
18:00 Senior Play Performance to Parents
Prep School Sports Day
Please see the email sent today for more information
16:15 No Activities: TEA and PREP available
18:00 Leavers' Event
08:35 Move-Up Morning (Yr 3-7)
08:35 Gideons Assembly (for leavers in Years 6, 7 and 8)
Tuesday 08-Jul-25
11:00 Speech Day Rehearsal / End of Term Prizes and Awards
14:15 Year 8 Fete
16:15 No Activities: TEA and PREP available
Wednesday 09-Jul-25 10:30 Speech Day (likely to finish at approximately 12.30pm. All children to have left the school site by 1pm)
Thursday 10-Jul-25 09:00 INSET Day - No children should attend on this day
Pleasebeawarethat BreakfastClubbeginsat 7.45am.Pleasedonotbring childrentothemainhouse beforethattime.Thankyoufor yourunderstanding.
Thank you to all parents who attended the Castle Court Crustaceans Cricket Team match against Dumpton on 17 June!
OldSportsKit
If you have any old sports kit at home, please do bring it in to the office; we have a home for it in Africa
The final score was CCS: 123 for 8 Dumpton: 127 for 4. Click on the image for a free parenting magazine!
LittleNinjas
Do you have a child in Reception, Year 1 or 2?
We have a few spaces remaining in our Little Ninjas class on Saturdays at 9am in the Sports Hall. Call Sensei Ben on 07801730097 to arrange a free try out!
To complement work being undertaken by the Ancient Dead Languages Department, Mr Edmond is keen to encourage interested pupils (in any year-group) to visit the BournemouthUniversity'BIGDIG'OpenDayon Sunday29thJuneatNorthWestFarm,WinterbourneKingstonDT119AT - where they'll be able to see firsthand the latest finds from a month-long archaeological dig right on our doorstep
Guided tours are available from 10am: there's parking available on-site, but the actual dig is a good 25 minute walk uphill (there is a shuttle-bus service available as well!) Any Castellans who bump into Mr E in the refreshment area afterwards will be able to claim their free thirst-quenching lemonade from him
For further details, check out @durotrigesbigdig on Instagram and @durotrigesdig on X (but, be warned: it's a worm-hole from which you will never escape) If you'd like an idea of what it looks like, please see this short summary from Dr Miles Russell (Bournemouth University) a few years ago: The Durotriges Big Dig 2021
Well done to Trixie in Year 5, who not only took part in a Biathlon event with her friends for the first time, but also wrote to a magazine to tell them all about it. It was great to celebrate this success with Trixie in Celebration Assembly last week. Well done, Trixie!
A huge thank you to Mr Phillips, who took a group of pupils to Bryanston on 12 June for their InterSchool DT Challenge Day. There were 60 pupils there from across Dorset and Hampshire, and our teams managed to place first, second and fourth We are so pleased for them and proud of them - well done all!
Years 5 and 6 were delighted to welcome Oly Rush from Project Planet Earth this week. They enjoyed a fantastic talk from an extreme wild swimmer with a passion for sharing how to protect the oceans.
The children are currently studying oceans as part of their geography curriculum, and this also links to their work on earth-care in CAVE
Year 5 went off to Durlston this week to learn more about the marine environment, followed by a talk from the RNLI on beach safety
This week’s Artist of the Week is Finley in Year 8, with this impressive skateboard design.
Miss Sinclair-Smith has been really impressed with the level of care that Finley has taken with his design and in particular, that he has had to use his time really well in order to be able to paint on both sides of the skateboard.
Wonderful work, Finley, well done!
The Artists of the Week for last week were Ottilie and Milla with their wonderful one-point perspective collages
Sinclair-Smith was so impressed with the level of precision and detail in the girls’ work.
Well done, Ottilie and Milla!
Our Reception classes have continued to enjoy their most recent topic'People Who Help Us'
They were visited last week by PC Georgios from Dorset Police. The children loved exploring his police van and watching him 'arrest' Miss Torevelle!! Sarah Parry came to talk to us about being a dentist and how we can look after our teeth We finished off the week with a visit to the RNLI, Swanage where we learnt how to keep ourselves safe near the water this summer.
Thank you to all our visitors!
What a week we had!!
MusiclessonscannowbebookedforSeptemberforanynewstart
The deadline for bookings for next term is TODAY. These will be allocated in date order of receipt of booking. The updated documents and booking form can be found in EdulinkLinks - Music Timetable - Music Documents for Parents.
New for this year is an online booking form which can be found by clicking HERE You do not need tocomplete a form if your son/daughter is continuing with the same tuition as this year.
As a reminder, music timetables can always be found on EduLink–Linkssection–MusicTimetable page
From there, search for the music teachers’ name – click on their timetable – find the letter next to your son/daughter’s name – find this letter in the yellow highlighted column and read across for the tim
A cast of 33 pupils from Years 6, 7 and 8 are looking forward to heading off down the Yellow Brick Road next week as they prepare to perform 'The Wizard of Oz' to the rest of the school on Tuesday and Wednesday, and to an audience made up of their parents on Thursday
Photos to follow!
TUESDAY15THJULYUNTILTHURSDAY17THJULY,9-3pm
(Early and late pick ups available on request)
As our new holiday course providers, Foundation Sports, are not able to offer holiday provision until Monday 21st July, our CCS team are excited to be able to host a three day holiday course during the first week of the summer holiday for children from Badger Cubs to Year 8.
The cost of the course is £35 per child per day
BadgerCubstoYear2
This will be led by Mrs Speer and members of the Pre-Prep team. The three days will be full of creative fun, friendship and laughter
Year3toYear8
Led by Mr Fermor-Dunman, this will be a hockey training camp each morning mixture of multi-sport and fun activities each afternoon A chance for you to d hockey skills, tactical awareness and general hockey fitness.
Ifyouwouldliketoknowmore, please email: Mrs Speer (lspeer@castlecourtcom) or Mr Fermor-Dunman (afermor-dunman@castlecourt.com)
We are delighted to announce that Foundation Sports and Play will be managing our holiday provision from July 2025
They are a highly experienced company who currently offer before and after school provision, as well as holiday provision, in a number of schools across the local area
Their provision will run from Monday21stJulyuntilFriday29thAugust andwillbeopentoallchildrenaged3-13
The activities on offer will be varied: a mixture of sport (from multisports to swimming), dance art and crafts making full use of our lovely 50 acre estate. The children will be based at two locations in the school, with the older ones in the Jubilee block and the younger children in the Badgers/Badger Cub area
You will be able to book for ad-hoc days, or full time; whatever works best for your family.
Foundation Sports and Play will then run further provision eachhalfterm,plusduringtheChristmasandEaster holidays. They are able to offer wraparoundcarefrom8.00am,andifyouwouldlikeit,ahotlunch.
IfyouwouldliketoregisteryourinterestinthesummerprovisionthenpleaseuseTHISLINK.
We hope that this exciting opportunity will prove to be a great help to you as you plan your child care for the summer months.
This year’s task is to createanA3posterexploringatleastoneisland: its location its people its places its environments
The poster can be handmade (then submitted electronically using a scanned copy or photograph), or made electronically using PowerPoint, Canva, Word, Publisher or PDF.
WhataretheRoyalGeographicalSociety lookingfor?
Eye-catching, innovative, informative and accurate submissions.
A well-written and informative piece that demonstrates geographical knowledge and uses accurate geographical terminology
Any images used must be copyright free – you may choose to visit an island and take your own images
All images must be credited. Excellent attention to spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Original and independently produced - class sets of identical entries or entries which have copied information from other sources, such as the internet or AI, will not be accepted
Entries must be produced by single pupils – no group entries allowed.
If produced electronically, please use a minimum font size of point 10
Entries must not be 3D or have tabs or hidden information.
Ideasforislands:
Local- Brownsea Island, Green Island, Long Island, Isle of Portland
National- Isle of Wight, Isles of Scilly, Lundy Island, Scottish Islands, Islands on Lakes, Isle of Man
Global- Remote Islands (Artic/Antarctic), Tropical Islands (Pacific, Caribbean, Coral Reefs), Holiday Islands, Islands for defence...
Howtoenter:
All entries must be made as an online submission via the RGS website: https://www.rgs.org/ygoty2025.
The deadline for doing this is 3 October 2025; however, the RGS recommend submitting them in good time before this date.
Whocanenter?:
There is a category for Key Stage 2 (pupils aged 7-11) and for Key Stage 3 (pupils aged 11-14)
Badger Cubs
Class Teachers / Form Tutors
Mrs Genge | Mrs Tomblin
Badgers Mrs Bartlett | Mrs Wilson
Reception Mrs Brewer | Mrs Speer
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Mrs Dobson | Mrs Zachariades
Mr Antell | Mrs Glenn
Mrs Baugniet | Mr Bambrey
Year 4 Dr Lippiatt/Mrs Deards | Mr Laidler
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
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
Nursery Miss Hixson
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
Geography Mrs Hoey
CAVE Mrs Hoey
Music Mr Smith
Art Miss Sinclair-Smith
DT Mr Phillips
Sport Mr Fermor-Dunman
Yourfirstpointofcontact foranydaytoday questionsandenquiries relatedtoyourchild(ren)is theirtutororclass teacher.
Leadership Team
Mr Dunsford Assistant Head (Pastoral)
Mr Edmond Assistant Head (Operations)
Mrs Hoey Head of CAVE
Mrs Munns Director of Teaching & Learning
Mrs Robson Admissions & Marketing
SENDCo
Mrs Harmer
Absences:
Please report absences to the School Office on office@castlecourtcom or by telephone to 01202 694438
MrsJohnson:
To make an appoointment to see Mrs Johnson, please contact her PA, Hannah, on hmsec@castlecourt.com or use the telephone number above.