Daneshill Diary 09/10/15

Headmaster’s Notes

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity of watching a football tournament on what was one of the drier afternoons of the week.

After two games in the group stages our boys were somewhat despondent and looked like they were going to throw in the towel even though they had won one game and lost one. Mr Bibbo gave them quite a stern lecture about their attitude and commitment. There is no disgrace in losing to a better team but there is no excuse for a lack of discipline and intelligence when facing stronger competition. Sport requires team work and the application, through effort, of skills learnt. Transferring these practicalities to the intensity of a game situation requires both intelligence and a belief in your own ability as a team to deliver through hard work and determination. The boys were clearly paying attention because three games later and they found themselves in the final. This turned out to be the best match of the whole tournament and although our team led one nil for most of the game they finally succumbed to a 2 – 1 defeat. Whilst they might have been disappointed in all honesty they lost to the most outstanding team in the tournament but they gave them a really tough test of their abilities.

Sport, like many things, is about learning through experience in order to improve. Our team that finished the tournament did bear little resemblance to the team that started it. Yes, they were tired and obviously disappointed but they had demonstrated how to play as a team in order to try and overcome the greater odds against them. There is certainly no disgrace in losing when you have tried your best and maintained the standards expected, especially sportsmanship, which also requires being magnanimous in defeat. A lesson that we all need to learn before we can achieve our best. Well done boys!

Mr Spencer

Year 5 Science Challenge

On Tuesday 6th October our Year 5 science team; consisting of Harry Aldred, Candida McNair Scott, Nick Legh-Smith and Emily Baugh, travelled to Bradfield College to take part in their annual Prep School Science Challenge. We were greeted by the Director of Science who welcomed us and informed us we were going to be watching a nitrogen bomb later on in the afternoon. Needless to say he had the attention of our children in an instant! The afternoon was spent working on team challenges in each of the three scientific disciplines. Our pupils mixed chemicals to try and identify some unknown samples, investigated whether maggots prefer the dark by creating, recording and concluding their own experiment, they viewed insect mouthparts down the microscope and even made their own loud speaker from some card and wire. It was a wonderful afternoon and a real privilege for me to sit back and observe the children; they should all be congratulated for their brilliant team work and ability to think their way through the various problems even if they were somewhat distracted by the maggots! The afternoon was rounded off with two impressive nitrogen bomb explosions in the quad followed by cake – a winning combination by most standards!

Mrs Blomfield

News from the Pre-Prep

This week in Reception we have been learning about shapes. We are beginning to name and describe them. It is amazing to watch the children develop in such a short space of time. One of the highlights this week has been to put out our new equipment; including a brand new basketball net. The children at Daneshill are always respectful and caring of their surroundings. They take responsibility for packing away neatly. In the classroom our iPads are in constant use and have definitely enhanced our learning.

It has been another action packed week in Year 1 and the children have been very busy preparing their beautiful artwork for the new hall display, based around the theme of ‘Up in the Air’. Due to this week’s weather the children have enjoyed practical tasks in the classroom that are linked to their shape work. The children have coped well with independent comprehension and word activities. We are looking forward to next week’s Science lesson where the children will be learning about materials and their properties.

The Year 2 scientists have been having fun and learning about their senses. We have looked at the eye and observed how the pupil changes size when standing by the window or in our classroom cupboard with the lights off. Last week they all enjoyed tasting various foods to see if they could feel where on their tongue they could taste sweet food or sour food etc. On Wednesday the challenge was set to try and recognise various smells hidden in pots. They all concluded that it is harder to recognise a smell when you can’t see where it is coming from. Everyone is looking forward to more experiments using their senses.

Pre-Prep Teachers

Nursery Corner

The weather has continued to surprise us and having had some super puddles to leap about in early on this week the sunshine in the latter half has allowed us to continue searching for autumn colours and bugs without being fully wrapped up! This has linked in nicely with our ‘i’ sound, which we introduced this week and we have all enjoyed exploring how different ‘insects’ move. What fun we have had crawling, sliding and flapping around our Nursery!

We have also been thinking about the different ways that we can get around and every child has made a fabulous Travelling Machine, all of which are up on display. Some have seats, chimneys and steering wheels, whilst others go zoom and puff and make all sorts of different and elaborate noises! Our role play has also changed to become a train station with tickets to exotic places from Cornwall to Spain and London to the moon.

Have a super weekend.

Mrs Beeching

Sports News

It was the turn of the U.10 netball girls to play in their first tournament of the season. They travelled to Alton Convent to play in the round robin competition against Churchers, Alton Convent, Frensham Heights, Sherborne House, Kings Court, Sherfield and Mayville. We were lucky with the weather once again and the team were excited to be sporting their new Velcro tops for the first time with their sticky bibs! The first game against Churchers was very closely matched and we managed a draw after some speedy passing down court. After some positional changes the team settled into their stride more comfortably and demonstrated some fast attack and strong defending in the games which followed suit. Overall, the team finished in 4th place which was a very commendable performance and a good squad effort.

I was delighted with the U.13’s games against The Abbey on Wednesday. It was excellent to see our attacking drills put into play as the centre court delivered the ball to the shooters at speed and the GS and GA linked up perfectly in the shooting circle. Our defending was strong as we intercepted many shots and prevented the ball from entering the circle.

The U.8 hockey teams enjoyed their first training game of the season in fixtures against Marlston House, last Friday 2nd October. There was a mixture of nerves and excitement as they took to the pitch but once the nerves disappeared, the team settled into their stride and produced some excellent play, giving their all until the final whistle. All of the girls enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to their first netball match against St Andrews this week.

Miss O’Neill