Dorset, Somerset &amp; Bristol

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="2152" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221.jpg" alt="Christian Saenger head teacher dumpton school wimborne dorset" class="wp-image-102214" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221-558x800.jpg 558w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221-697x1000.jpg 697w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221-279x400.jpg 279w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221-768x1102.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221-1071x1536.jpg 1071w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-Christian-Saenger-202221-1428x2048.jpg 1428w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



How long you have been at the school?



I&#8217;m coming to the end of my 5th year. 



What are the top 3 things to tackle in your inbox?  



Y2 class teacher interviews, some pre-reading ahead of our next Governors&#8217; meeting, and a review into our school’s approach to homework. 



30 second elevator pitch for your school – sell it!  



Yes, we have beautiful surroundings. And yes, we have outstanding facilities. But the biggest single difference a school makes to your child is what they see, hear and feel around them every single day from the staff and their peers: the school’s culture. This is what we work incredibly hard on, built upon our core values of ‘Be Kind and Aim High’. And I think it’s this atmosphere, more than anything else, that makes Dumpton such a special place for a child to spend those incredibly important and formative early years of their life.&nbsp;



Who would you like to star as you in a movie of your life?  



My wife would lobby strongly for the Belgian actor, Matthias Schonaerts.



You’ve been given a £1m donation for the school, what will you spend it on? 



Global Citizenship hub in our woodland, with outdoor classroom facilities that we can share with our local community.



Describe your own childhood school days



The very happiest of days. I attended Bedford School from age 7 to 18 and can honestly say my only memories are full of joy, laughter and fun. It’s perhaps why I have gone on to spend the rest of my life in schools.



What was the common theme of your school reports?  



Interested, competitive, enthusiastic but occasionally over enthusiastic.



Favourite/worst teachers at your childhood school and why? 



Mike Beale my biology teacher at Bedford. His enthusiasm was infectious, and he helped me succeed in a subject I found hard but incredibly interesting. He was also the first person to suggest to me that I might make a decent teacher one day. 



Best and worst subject at school?  



English my strongest… arguably Maths my weakest! 



Where did you go to uni and what did you study? 



University College London to do English.



What was your high and low of student life? 



My highs revolved around my friendships, all the hockey I played, and my involvement in the Drama Society. 



What’s the best school trip (childhood or current) you’ve ever been on? 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="715" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-ridgeway-adventure-school-275683346_349498070523511_7678844232519658347_n.jpg" alt="ridgeway-adventure-school scotland" class="wp-image-102222" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-ridgeway-adventure-school-275683346_349498070523511_7678844232519658347_n.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-ridgeway-adventure-school-275683346_349498070523511_7678844232519658347_n-800x381.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-ridgeway-adventure-school-275683346_349498070523511_7678844232519658347_n-1000x477.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-ridgeway-adventure-school-275683346_349498070523511_7678844232519658347_n-400x191.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/00-ridgeway-adventure-school-275683346_349498070523511_7678844232519658347_n-768x366.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Ridgway Adventure School, Scotland</figcaption></figure>



The Ridgway Adventure School in North West Scotland, where we take our Y8 each September, is hands down the best place I have ever taken a group of children. Incredible scenery, outstanding staff, and remarkable and meaningful experiences for children of that age.  



If you weren’t a Head, what would you be? 



I genuinely think I wouldn’t find another job that provided me as much fulfilment, or that I felt I was better suited to, and I feel so lucky in that regard. Whatever else I had done, I like to think I would probably have ended up here eventually!



Describe what’s on your work desk… 



A computer with two screens, a phone, a slightly messy ‘to do’ pile, and, most importantly, my coffee cup and coaster. 



And what’s in the top drawer? 



A veritable cornucopia of miscellaneous educational items… badges, pens, pins. Lots is put in there in, very little ever gets taken out again! 



Tell us your favourite books – in childhood, uni and now 



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" class="wp-image-102220" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/dumpton-head-collage.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/dumpton-head-collage-800x399.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/dumpton-head-collage-1000x499.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/dumpton-head-collage-400x200.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/dorsetsomerset/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/dumpton-head-collage-768x383.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



Childhood: George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl; Uni: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway; Now: D Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor.



What play, book and film should be on every child’s cultural bucket list?  



Play: War Horse; Book: Harry Potter. Film: Wonder.



If you want to hide from the kids and staff for half an hour, where do you go?   



With Herbie, our dog, for a quiet walk through the woods in the school grounds. 



The song you sing at full volume when everyone’s gone home?  



It depends what mood I am in – but there is a definite bias towards Disney songs at the moment given the age of my children! 



What advice would you give to your younger self? 



Be Kind and Aim High. They are our school’s values, but my own too – and I think it’s a powerful doctrine for getting the best out of your life. 



And your current students? 



My previous answer obviously applies. But I also think getting children to step out of their comfort zones and take on challenges is so important. Every time we do so, we get closer to unlocking that incredible potential within each of us.



<a href="https://www.dumpton.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dumpton School</a> is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 2 to 13 years on the edge of the Dorset market town of Wimborne. <a href="https://dorsetsomerset.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/dumpton-school-wimborne-dorset/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read our review </a>and contact them to arrange a visit via Lerryn Chaffey, the Head’s PA, on <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&amp;q=dumpton+school#">01202 883818</a> or <a href="https://www.dumpton.com/opening-morning-registration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">register for their next open morning</a>.

Head’s Up: Muddy meets Christian Saenger of Dumpton School, Wimborne

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