Good afternoon!

Celebrating Pride 2025
Pride Month is celebrated every year in June to honour the LGBTQ+ community and commemorate the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, which was a key event in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

Throughout the month, people around the world take part in events, parades, and educational activities that promote visibility, equality, and acceptance.

Celebrating Pride month and diversity at Dawn House School is vital in creating an inclusive, respectful, and supportive learning environment where every student feels valued for who they are. Recognising and embracing the diverse identities within the school community fosters a culture of acceptance, promotes self-confidence, and helps students understand the importance of equality and empathy. By celebrating Pride, Dawn House School not only affirms the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ individuals but also educates all students about the value of individuality and the strength that comes from a diverse and united community.

During our assembly children and staff discussed what we might do to celebrate this and there is a small pupil led committee who are already planning! Watch this space!

Schools Advisory Board
We were delighted to be joined by members of the pupil leadership group (PLG) at the board meeting yesterday. Luke, Jess and Elly joined the beginning of our meeting to talk about the important work of the group who are currently working on a Charter for pupils and staff and also talking about our Dawn House School Uniform, ready to share information with parents. They were so confident talking in front of the Board and made me very proud!

Lunchtime changes next week
Given the growth of pupil numbers at Dawn house School, there are various things that we are having to rethink. Lunchtimes are already very busy times so we have decided to trial a more ‘moveable’ lunchtime, where pupils will have specific times to come in but will not have to sit and wait for the others to finish before they go outside. There will still be quiet spaces for some children to eat and we are also encouraging the use of the outside dining room space. Tutors have talked with the children about this so they should all be aware of this change.

Sports Day and Summer Fair – Friends of Dawn House
Plans are afoot for this day on the 11th July. Parents are joining us today to help us plan the day, think about who we can contact for prizes and contributions ( please do let us know if you can offer anything here, even if you can’t join us today) and how they can help on the day.

As we start to plan, each week we will be asking for specific contributions from you during next week.
This week’s ask is for BOTTLES (preferably full)! Of any kind- toiletries, sauces, cordials, wine, spirits ( these please to be handed by an adult straight to the office) etc

More information about the event to follow.

The Fathers day stall will run next Friday for your children to buy gifts for all of the important men in their lives- all gifts under £3. You will be sent a message next week about this.

Friends Of Dawn House also remind you about the clothing collection ( bags you would usually send to the charity shop) on Tuesday next week. The more it weighs the more money we get!

Coming up…

Duke of Edinburgh Award
We are delighted to announce that we will be offering the Duke of Edinburgh award to students as an option next year. We are very excited that Dawn House has been given the go ahead to become a Duke of Edinburgh centre, meaning that we can run the whole scheme in house without using external providers. We will begin by offering the award at bronze level with progression to silver and gold levels in the future. There will be two options groups, one for students who would like to do their expedition on mountain bike and the other for students who would like to do their expedition by walking.

Mansfield Town will be running an exciting penalty shootout competition as part of our upcoming Sports Day! To kick things off, they’ll be delivering a special assembly on Monday to introduce the event. Throughout this half-term, representatives from the club will also be joining PE lessons to help pupils practice their penalty-taking skills in preparation for the big day. Pupils will be bringing home a sponsor form, as the competition will help raise money towards our new minibus. The money raised is split 50/50 between school and then going towards some fantastic prizes on offer—including footballs and shirts—for those who raise the most sponsorship.

Finally, I’d like to hear your voices…

School staff and pupils have been asked to share their thoughts about the future development of Dawn House School. They were asked, ‘If money were no object, what would you like Dawn House School to look like in 5 years time?’

I’d like to ask you the same question….
Please email me directly with your thoughts. Next week I will share some of the ideas… [email protected]

Have 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.