Principal’s message to families – 24 April 2026

It’s been a lively week here as usual, children out on trips and lots of planning starting for the term ahead and the next school year. SLG are out today on a strategic planning day- I’m sure it will be a busy one! Additional leadership, with 2 new Deputies joining our Senior Leadership Group will be fantastic for the school. Mary Kirby starts after half term and we hope to appoint the second Deputy on Monday for a September start. We had a great field of applicants; I think our wider reputation goes before us. I’ll keep you posted with this and any other upcoming recruitment.

Will all this change in mind, do please bear with us if we haven’t responded to your queries as we are all covering slightly different things in addition to our usual roles. If you haven’t heard from us and need a response please do call the school office who will pass your message onto the right person.

On Monday May 11th there will be some changes to staff and timetables for some groups. Miss Mitchell will be joining us as  the tutor in Primary 1. Mr Gething will be the tutor in Juniors, Mr Annia will be tutor in KS4LC and teach Food Tech and Miss Hudson-Scott will be teaching KS3 performing Arts. There are changes to who teaches some of your childrens lessons, and some subjects may be at different times. Adults will help, and children will know all of the adults in their group. Children will be provided with a social story to support these changes.

In our “Oceans in a Jar” experiment, students explored how liquids of different densities form layers, just like the real ocean. By carefully pouring liquids with varying densities, they created visible layers that stayed separate rather than mixing. This helped demonstrate how the ocean is structured, with denser, colder, saltier water sinking below lighter, warmer water. The activity gave students a hands-on way to understand ocean layers and the science of density in an engaging and memorable way.

Learning in its broadest and most creative sense! Mrs Caroll was delighted to take a group of KS4 students to Alton Towers to research and learn about gravity, centrifugal force, speed and all things physics related. They had great fun, conquered some fears, were a credit to the school and brought lots of ideas back to school for their ongoing topic about speed and how to make a roller coaster go faster, ready to make their own in school!  Like I said, a very creative and experiential trip!

As part of Life Skills, students have been having lessons with our Medical Support Co-Ordinator, Emily, to learn about first aid. These sessions are open and discussion-led, allowing students’ curiosity to help guide what we explore together. By asking questions and talking through real-life situations, they are building their understanding of how to respond to things like asthma attacks, seizures, allergic reactions, and injuries. Alongside this, they are developing important life skills, including basic first aid knowledge, CPR, and the recovery position. The relaxed and flexible approach helps each child feel comfortable, engaged, and more confident in knowing what to do in an emergency.

Dawn House School is a ‘no mobile phones’ school. Whilst recognising some pupils find use of these devices helpful on the journey to school we would encourage the use of non-internet enabled devices e.g. an MP3 player that do not have cellular data. Parents are advised that Dawn House School accept no liability for the loss or damage of any device brought onto the school grounds. Parents must ensure that any such items are insured on their personal insurance.

Whilst on site, for safeguarding reasons, phones are not accessible and children MUST hand them in to their tutor team on arrival to school for collection at the end of the day.

KS1-4 should put their devices in their bags during breakfast or ICT club, pupils should switch off their devices and hand them in to their form tutor as they enter the tutor base where they will be locked away.

Where a pupil is found to have a mobile phone during the school day it will be confiscated until the end of the day. If the pupil refuses to hand in their phone a parent may be requested by a senior leader to come in and collect the phone from their child at school. If this is repeated behaviour the child will not be able bring their phone into school at all for a given period.

If a pupil is found taking, distributing or receiving photos or video footage with a phone or portable device this will be regarded as a serious matter, and the principal will decide on an appropriate response. In certain circumstances this may lead to a referral to external safeguarding agencies or to the Police. If images have been taken of pupils or teachers the mobile phone or device will not be returned until they have been removed by an appropriate person.

Where a pupil has not followed the rules around the use of personal phones and portable devices they must engage with a further discussion and training to support their understanding of the benefits, risks and responsibilities involved in the use of such items.

If a child needs to contact their parents or carers they will be allowed to use the school phone. If a parent needs to contact children urgently they should use the school office so that a message can relayed. This method of communication means that pupils can be supported to communicate effectively if necessary and reduces anxiety.

Pupils at Dawn House School receive information about safe use of personal phones, mobile devices and the internet through the ICT and PHSE curriculums. However, it is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure that they monitor the privacy, security settings and use of their children’s personal phones and mobile devices. Children and young people with communication difficulties are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and need support in using social media even if they are old enough to join such sites. The school’s filtering systems will not work for devices that use 4G.

Where issues arise outside of school due to communications through mobile phones, social media or gaming, parents will be invited in to work with senior leaders to resolve them. These are NOT a school issue to resolve.

All of the above also applies to Sixth form pupils, except in the case of pupils travelling independently offsite to work experience/placements, on independent travel training activities or to partner colleges. In these cases pupils may take their own phones if their number is recorded in school and this has been approved by the Head of Sixth Form.

Increasingly students (KS1-4) are not conforming to our school uniform. We deliberately keep this flexible as we know some children find certain clothes and fabrics difficult to tolerate. HOWEVER we do ask that children wear school colours, do NOT wear hoodies and tops with logos on other than the DHS logo or  football shirts etc. Please contact us if you are unsure or would like a uniform list (also attached to this parentmail) and do not be surprised if you have a call from your child’s form tutor about any inappropriate clothing worn to school.

Uniform is a great way for children to feel part of their school community and to feel proud of their school, so please support them, and us, with this.

We would like the voices of everyone to be heard, so please come along and join us. We have attached a “your voice” sheet for anyone to fill in from the children and young people, parents/carers and all staff. These can be brought on the day, sent with someone else or even posted to our Facebook event page https://facebook.com/events/s/save-send-legal-rights-nationa/1478538303648051/
Location- Speakers Corner, Brian Clough Statue Nottingham City Centre
Date- 9th May 2026
Time-11:30am -13:30pm

Wishing you a great weekend,

Jenny 😊

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.