Principal’s message to families – 23rd May 2025
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Principal’s message to families – 23rd May 2025
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Our vision: Working towards successful futures
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we head into the final stretch of the school year, we’ve got some wonderful news, gentle reminders, and community celebrations to share with you. So pop the kettle on and let’s catch up!
🎉 Join Us for Mikey’s Wish Foundation Fun Day! 🎈
We’re thrilled to be hosting Mikey’s Wish Foundation Fun Day right here at Dawn House School on Saturday, 21st June 2025, from 11am–4pm!
This special event supports Mikey, a remarkable young man who lives with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Through his foundation, Mikey has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and support for young people like him—and now it’s our turn to support him.
Expect fun, games, and a whole lot of heart. It’s a perfect family day out, and we’d love to see as many of you there as possible!
🎟 Book your tickets here: Mikey’s Wish Foundation event on TicketSource
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/mikeys-wish-foundation
📚 Our Relational Approach to Attendance
Here at Dawn House, we know that our pupils face unique challenges—and that their journeys to school are often long and complex. Our young people aren’t skipping school—they’re travelling in with parents or via local authority transport, and every day they arrive is a real win.
That’s why we focus on relationships, meaningful learning, and a nurturing environment. From tailored enrichment activities to specialist therapy support, everything we do is designed to make school somewhere our pupils want to be.
👏 A big thank you to you, our parents and carers. Your efforts in getting your children to school do not go unnoticed, and we’re so grateful for the teamwork.
📞 If your child is going to be absent, please give the school office a ring by 9.30am—and feel free to drop their form tutor a quick message too.
If you have any concerns about your child’s attendance, please have a chat with their form tutor. They can connect you with our Wellbeing or Engagement Team for extra support.
📉 Just a gentle reminder: our current whole school attendance is around 85%, which is lower than similar schools. Let’s work together to give our pupils the best chance to thrive. And don’t forget—holidays during term time are not considered exceptional circumstances and are unlikely to be authorised under government guidance.
This week ..
The STEM house event was a cracking success! New Teams, New Format, Same fierce Fun! Take a look!
Pupil Leadership Group
The ‘PLG’ have been busy starting work on creating the ‘Dawn House Way’ which will be implemented in September. They have made a great start this week and some will be presenting their ideas to the Schools Advisory Board in June.
🐦 Bird Box Bonanza!
What a week! Our Lower School pupils had a blast making and painting bird and butterfly boxes with the help of some fantastic volunteers from Breedons, Mansfield. It’s safe to say the local birds are going to be spoiled this summer. This is a volunteer link we hope to nurture in the future.
🎉 A Fond Farewell to Mr Andy Metcalfe
Lastly, an early heads up that at the end of the Summer Term we’re saying goodbye to a very special member of our school community. Mr Andy Metcalfe is retiring after years of incredible dedication to Dawn House. He’s been a true champion for our pupils and staff, and we know you’ll join us in wishing him all the best in his next adventure. We’ll miss you, Andy!
Your support please…A Quick Reminder About Mobile Phones and Online Conduct Over the Break
As we head into the half term break, we’d like to gently remind parents to keep a close eye on children’s mobile phone and online activity. Sadly, we have noticed a rise in negative communication between some children outside of school hours, particularly via messaging apps and social media.
Please be aware that if any incidents of inappropriate or unkind communication come to our attention over the holiday, we will be inviting the parents involved in for a discussion when school resumes. We want to work together to help children understand the impact of their words and actions — online and offline.
We’re also deeply concerned about a recent increase in the use of racist language. In some cases, children may not fully understand the meaning of the words they are using and may be repeating things they’ve seen or heard elsewhere. Even so, it’s crucial that we all reinforce the message that this language is completely unacceptable. We’d really appreciate your help in having age-appropriate conversations with your child about why this matters.
As always, thank you for your support. When home and school work together, we can make a real difference.
🥪 Lunchtime Notes
If your child brings a packed lunch, please remind them to take any rubbish home. Let’s keep our school site clean and green 🌍♻️—and maybe even a little more bird-friendly too!
Summer 2- Important dates…
- 21st July- Mikeys Wish Foundation Fun Day 11-4pm
- 26th June- Leavers party
- 30th June- KS4 YHA residential
- 11th July- Sports Day and Summer Fair
- 18th July- Showtime event
That’s all for now. Thank you for being such an important part of our Dawn House family. Here’s to a joyful June and beyond!
Warm wishes,
Jenny
PS….https://vimeo.com/1086087615/457726f30d?share=copy
Have a look!!
If your child leaves home in the morning a little unsettled and you want to quickly tell us, so we know to expect a tricky start to the day, a quick email (that we can follow up later) to the tutor and/or core team with ‘Handle with Care’ in the email title will ensure that we are aware.
