Daneshill Diary 06/06/14

Headmaster’s Notes

First impressions are supposedly significant so I am not sure what the parents attending the New Children’s Morning would have made of our visiting samba drummers and dancers. They were here to train our inter-house teams who will be competing against each other at the forthcoming World Cup Family Fun day.

At least the weather was bright and sunny to match the beat of the drums and also ensure all our pupils were able to enjoy their picnics outside.

The School is close to being full for September and we have an exciting bunch of new children who will complement our existing pupils and thereby strengthen the ambitions of our thriving school.

After a week of examinations there is both a sense of relief and delight after a job well done. Many of the senior pupils are now looking forward to an exciting programme of residential trips and taking advantage of all of the opportunities that they offer.

Mr Spencer

Art & Books in the Spotlight – Creative Writing Competitions

I am delighted to announce an opportunity to get those ideas flowing and pens scribing for our Creative Writing Competitions. All prep school pupils will be introduced to the idea of taking a piece of artwork to inspire them to write a poem or story of up to 500 words in their English lessons, but will bring these home to work on too.

I have also heard how creative many of our parents are too, so they are also invited to write a poem or story of up to 500 words, based on a piece of artwork. I can recommend the National Gallery website as a source of some truly beautiful paintings, but maybe you already have your own favourite. The final entry date is Friday 20th June.

Good luck – we look forward to reading them!

Mrs Dixon

News from the Pre-Prep & Nursery

WOW! What an amazingly creative day the Pre-Prep had on Wednesday with Jeanne Willis. The children were all so excited to meet this special lady who has written over 200 books. They were treated to a presentation of what inspires Jeanne to write. The children loved hearing about her special but rather unusual pets from a rat who sits on her shoulder when she is working, to a naughty rabbit who lives in her house and whose favourite treat is electrical cables, not very safe! Jeanne then read the children story ‘The Bog Baby’, which is all about a very special creature who lives in the magic bluebell wood.
 
Later in the day each class had a hands-on workshop with Jeanne making their own Bog Babies out of clay or creating sparkling creatures from card with feathers, sequins and lots of glitter! These very special creatures will be displayed in the children’s classrooms. Reception are specifically in charge of making a giant Bog Baby, which will go in our new hall display shortly.
 
The Nursery were treated to a visit as well, and Jeanne read a number of stories to them – Who’s in the Loo obviously caused lots of fun and laughter and after reading Hippospotamus the children played ‘Pin the Spot on the Hippo’ which they all adored. The winners definitely couldn’t see – or so we were told!
I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Jeanne for such an inspiring day and for making all the Pre-Prep children feel so lucky to have worked with a talented author. Many of the children also went home proudly clutching a signed copy of one of her books.
 
Miss Bull
 
Sporting Fixtures
Boys:                                                                              Girls:
CRICKET TERM                                                                ROUNDERS TERM
Wednesday 4th June                                                      Wednesday 4th June
U.13 vs. St. Neot’s                     Cancelled                      U.13 A vs. St Andrew’s              D 17.5 – 17.5
Colts A vs. St. Neot’s                 Cancelled                      U.13 B vs. St Andrew’s             W 22.5 – 10.5
Colts B vs. St. Neot’s                 Cancelled                      U.11 / 10 A vs. St Andrew’s      Cancelled
Colts C vs. St. Neot’s                 Cancelled                      U.11 / 10 B vs. St Andrew’s       Cancelled
                                                                                         U.11 / 10 C vs. St Andrew’s      Cancelled
 
Friday 6th June                                                                 Friday 6th June
U.9 A vs. Brockhurst                 TBC                                 U.9 A vs. The Oratory               TBC
U.8 A vs. Brockhurst                 TBC                                 U.9 B vs. The Oratory               TBC
U.8 B vs. Brockhurst                 TBC                                  U.8 A vs. The Oratory               TBC    
U.8 C vs. Brockhurst                 TBC    
                                                                                   

Weekly Sports Reports

On Saturday 24th May, twenty Daneshill pupils travelled to Aldershot Garrison Stadium to compete in the Pentathlon GB South Schools Biathlon Championships. Over 300 athletes from across the South of England took part in the competition, which required Years 4-7 to run a distance of 800m and swim 50m. The Year 8’s had to run 1,600m with a swim of 100m.

It was a well spirited day. Lots of spectators braved the rain to support their children and Daneshill pupils put on a gutsy performance, working extremely hard to gain the fastest times possible. The Daneshill team did incredibly well with special mention to the following pupils who all finished in the top ten in Hampshire in their respective age groups, Anna Swart (7th), Alex Spiers (7th), Charlie Miller (8th), Matthew Ruffell (9th), Billy Pocock (10th), Holly Smith (2nd), Georgia Lea (8th), Tom Swart (3rd), Sam Jefferson (3rd), Jack Pocock (6th), Guy Stevens (4th), Archie Beresford-Davies (7th). Huge congratulations to all involved.

The U.13 rounders teams did very well this week against a strong St Andrews side. The U.13 A team performed some outstanding catches with some brave running round the bases. They fought hard to secure a draw of 17.5 all. The U.13 B’s did brilliantly; fielding safely and batting long hard balls into deep field. The girls dominated the game from the start with a final score 22.5-10.5. 

Miss O’Neill

Disappointingly, the weather has impacted negatively on this week’s cricket again. All of the fixtures against our local rivals, St Neot’s, were cancelled as grounds at both schools were unplayable. We have managed to get some training in during the week, however, and we have been focusing on our decision making when batting. Topics have included where to look for ‘ones’, what balls to hit and how to pace our innings in order to ensure our eye is in and we can maximise any run getting opportunities. Next week will see some different fixtures in the Colts as Year 5 are away at Heatree so we will be playing two Year 6 teams against St Piran’s.

Mr Baldwin