Daneshill Diary 08/05/15
Headmaster’s Notes
Here is the news from the Daneshill School Vegetable Election.
With a no show from the Green party it was left to the Carrot, Sweetcorn and Potato Parties to fight for the School’s vegetable of choice.
The Potato Party chipped away at the opposition appealing to the audience as the Party of versatility.
The Carrot Party came clean about the myth of seeing in the dark but claimed to be the ones you could trust on flavour.
The Sweetcorn Party were criticised for being low on nutritional value but after a highly entertaining address they demonstrated that they were more than just sweet.
In the end the Potato Party made a mash of the Pre-election polls (sounds familiar) and there will be no need for a coalition or potato salad after winning a majority vote.
After their crisp presentation the Potato Party can enjoy their sweet victory which was achieved without having to take off their jackets. They are definitely the Party of choice and hot to go. Let’s hope that none of their policies are half baked!
Well done to Year 6 for entertaining us all whilst at the same time reminding us that we have the good fortune of living in a democracy where our individual votes can be very important.
Mr Spencer
News from the Pre-Prep
The Reception children have been learning about ladybirds and dragonflies this week. We have been finding out about different mini-beast habitats and learning more about lifecycles. This has sparked great interest in the children, who have been asking and writing lots of questions. There was much excitement when coming into the classroom on Monday morning and seeing that our cress seeds had grown! Also our tadpoles are regularly observed and we note any changes that have taken place.
In Year 1 this week we have enjoyed many hands-on learning activities with money. The children shared experiences of going to the shops with their families and paying for special treats.? With a partner the children acted out going to the shop. One person had a 10p coin to buy an object and the other person had to calculate how much change they needed to give back. We also talked about how to make amounts of money using the fewest coins possible. Miss Rolfe and Mrs Moncrieff would like to praise the children for all their hard work this week and for producing some fantastic alphabet handwriting.
It was yet another exciting Thursday for Year 2 this week, as they were led off by the Year 8 House Captains to their very first House Meeting to start learning their House song for the Inter-House Music competition in two weeks. Much discussion has taken place on team spirit and how to support each other. The children are beginning to understand the pride and significance of receiving a house point; they are awarded them for both academic and moral effort. Our target for next week is that every child will have posted a house point into their ‘coloured box’ with a big smile on their face.
Pre-Prep Teachers
Nursery Corner
We have all been off on Safari this week – searching the African plains for all sorts of wild animals to view. The children have been enjoying the new topic and are extremely good at explaining the difference between the spots on a cheetah and those on a leopard!
Our ‘home corner’ role play continues to be a hit and we have witnessed some rather lovely conversations between our children. Who would have thought that the large buggy could make such an excellent lawn mower and the tall brush a leaf blower! “We will finish the front verge tomorrow as it’s a bit wet” and “I’m just going to spray the garden to make the grass really green” have to be two of our favourite quotes of the week!
We learnt the two sounds ‘ee’ and ‘or’ this week with all the children enjoying the story of the donkey and his flapping ears. Do encourage your child to spot these blends in their story books at home. They have been getting very excited when they come across them in the nursery stories.
Have a wonderful weekend and see you all next week.
Mrs Beeching
Weekly Sports Reports
The U.8 and U.9 teams played their first rounders fixtures of the season last Friday, 1st May. The girls had only had a couple of training sessions prior to the fixtures so both schools viewed the matches as training games with lots of coaching input from the teachers throughout.
Daneshill started their batting campaign well with powerful strikes deep into mid field. I was impressed with their risk taking and determination, understanding that every point counted. They also displayed good team spirit with lots of encouraging words and cheers as they struck the ball. The girls have picked up the basics of fielding very quickly and are already starting to show tactical play, showing a good understanding of the rules. All four teams had convincing wins over their opposition; a great start to the summer!
The Daneshill swimming squads attended their first swimming gala of the term at St. Andrew’s School on Tuesday afternoon. The team, consisting of twenty four boys and girls from Years 5-8, have been training hard for the event during their morning training sessions with Mr Turner. The competition was very close as St. Andrew’s fielded an experienced team of swimmers but Daneshill had the edge and won the overall competition with scores of Daneshill 220 and St. Andrew’s 204. Well done to all involved!
Miss O’Neill