Daneshill Diary 14/11/14

Headmaster’s Notes

It hardly seems possible that a week has passed since we were enjoying our firework display last Friday.

I would like to thank everyone who supported the event and particularly all those who worked so hard to make it possible.  A great deal of effort goes into the evening and we depend on many individuals to help out.  Once again it was very efficiently run and the children enjoyed an exciting display.

This year the musical accompaniment received a mixed reception but the general feeling was that the speakers should have been located at the same end of the field as the fireworks.  The planning committee will have to decide whether or not to repeat this new initiative next year!

On Tuesday, Daneshill celebrated Remembrance Day with a short service for the whole school. Pupils made their own poppies, which were placed on a green area of the school field “that is forever England”

Captain Posthumous, an acting military officer, who served as a helicopter pilot in both Iraq and Afghanistan, spoke to the pupils about the meaning of the poppy.  It reminded him of his fallen colleagues but more importantly it signified the freedoms that we all enjoy.  Ella Heffner read a poem and the last post was played before we all observed a minute silence.  It was a moving occasion made more so by the impeccable behaviour of all our pupils.

A special mention must go to Mr Baldwin who coordinated this service as part of his history in the spotlight initiative and also Mrs Caratelli.

Mr Spencer

Year 5 MFL Day at St. Mary’s Calne

On Tuesday, six girls from Year 5 were invited to attend the inaugural Modern Foreign Languages Introduction to German day held at St. Mary’s Calne. The day was based around the theme of a birthday party and children from five different schools took part in lots of activities designed to introduce them to German language and culture whilst having a lot of fun. Representatives from The Goethe-Institut were also at St. Mary’s and are producing a film of the teaching and learning in which our pupils will star!

“We were split into animal named teams and were introduced to two puppets called Felix and Franzi. Franzi was celebrating her 8th Birthday and we were guests at her party. First we made a birthday cake in the shape of a castle using spaghetti, marshmallows and jelly babies and we learned to count to 10. Then each team made a giant map to learn about German culture. Another party game was to try and unwrap a bar of chocolate using a knife and fork, and to learn the colours we blew up balloons and all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in German to Franzi and Poppy. We made party hats and had Birthday cake too!”

“It was a 10/10 day!”

“It was really nice as we all got along really well as a team, we made some new friends AND we learned lots of German”

Many thanks to all of the parents who helped with the transport too!

Mrs Passmore, Katrina, Poppy, Henrietta, Oliviya, Maddie & Lili

News from the Friends of Daneshill

Thank you to everyone who came to the school Bonfire Night last Friday – it was a great success. I would particularly like to thank all of you that gave up some of your time on the evening to help run the Friends of Daneshill stalls. We managed to make an amazing profit of £1,000 for our funds. We would also like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the School chef, Matthew, who helped us prepare all the sausages and delicious mulled wine on the day. We look forward to seeing you all at our next event, which is the Christmas Ball on 4th December.
 
Mrs Simpson
 

News from the Pre-Prep

The Pre-Prep is buzzing with excitement. Parts for the Christmas play have been handed out, lines are being practised, and the building is regularly filled with happy children singing their little hearts out. There will be even more excitement on Monday when we start practising on the stage! It is a time of fun but lots of hard work as we endeavour to get so many children on the stage to tell a very special Christmas story.

We would all like to thank Mr Baldwin and Mrs Caratelli for arranging such a moving Remembrance service on Tuesday. It felt very special to have the whole school together looking down at the carefully created poppies. It has given the children a new found interest in members of their families who so bravely fought for their country a hundred years ago. Also to respect today’s heroes who allow us to live a happy and safe life in our own country.

Miss Bull

Nursery Corner

Having been inspired by the fireworks on Friday the children have produced some fabulous pictures, which they made outside due to the flicking and flying paint – a very exciting way to create a sparkly display! We also looked at how to make different colours from the 3 primary colours and blew the colours together with straws creating more firework scenes.

You may be hearing the beginnings of the Christmas songs starting to emerge – they have all been learning them and they really do pick the words up quickly making it such a magical time in the Nursery. It is wonderful to see both the older and younger members of the class listening carefully and joining in with such ease.

We have introduced the sound ‘h’ this week, so do look out for it in your stories at home. Also please note that next week will be our last swimming until next term –this will hopefully help keep the children happy, healthy and cold free.  

Could I please ask that every child brings in a jam jar next week – many thanks in advance and have a super weekend. 

Mrs Beeching

Sporting Fixtures

Boys:                                                                           Girls:
FOOTBALL TERM                                                         NETBALL TERM
Tuesday 11th November
U.9 A vs. Thorngrove                W 6 – 3
U.9 B vs. Thorngrove                L 2 – 3
 
Wednesday 12th November                                         Wednesday 5th November
U.13 A vs. St Neot’s                  W 1 – 0                        U.13 A vs. Yateley Manor                      L 3 – 7
U.13 B vs. St Neot’s                  W 9 – 1                        U.13 B vs. Yateley Manor                      W 6 – 1
Colts A vs. St Neot’s                 W 4 – 0                         U.11 A vs. St Gabriel’s                           W 7 – 5
Colts A vs. Brockhurst               W 1 – 0                        U.11 A vs. Rupert House                       L 2 – 10                       
Colts B vs. St Neot’s                  D 1 – 1                         U.11 B vs. Rupert House                        L 2 – 4
Colts B vs. Brockhurst               L 1 – 3                         U.10 A vs. St Gabriel’s                            L 3 – 8
Colts C vs. St Neot’s                 D 1 – 1
Colts D vs. St Neot’s                 L 6 – 8
 
 
                                                                                    Friday 7th November
                                                                                    U.9 A vs. St Piran’s                    W 4 – 1
                                                                                    U.9 B vs. St Piran’s                    W 5 – 2            
                                                                                    U.8 A vs. St Piran’s                    W 8 – 0
                                                                                    U.8 B vs. St Piran’s                    W 6 – 0            
                                                                                    U.8 C vs. St Piran’s                    W 4 – 0
                                                                                                                                               

Weekly Sports Reports

The U.8 and U.9 netball teams took on the mighty Bishopsgate School on Friday 7th November and once again they did not fail to deliver! Bishopsgate are a notoriously strong netball school so this was a big challenge for our teams but in usual style, the girls were not fazed by their reputation and went out full of energy and determination. Daneshill started strongly and defended superbly, denying Bishopsgate many goal scoring opportunities. Our attacking play was particularly impressive as we moved the ball at speed through Bishopsgate’s defensive players, converting almost every shot into a goal. The Bishopsgate U.8 A team rolled on sub after sub but still they could not catch us! The results are well deserved, a truly outstanding performance by all.

The Year 5 and 6 netballers have been concentrating on mid-court defensive play and circle defence. The girls have really focused in lessons and successfully put their newly acquired skills into practice this week during their fixture against St Gabriel’s. Special mention must go to circle defenders Poppy Burnyeat and Felicity Young in Year 6 and Izzy Heffner and Annabelle Edgington in Year 5 for working their socks off throughout the match to keep the St Gabriel’s attackers at bay. 

The U.13’s pulled together this week, demonstrating good team spirit and camaraderie in their fixture against a strong Yateley manor side. Despite losing a couple of key players to injuries the A & B team played exceptionally well, staying disciplined and consistent throughout.      

Miss O’Neill

On Tuesday the U.9s braved the conditions to play Thorngrove. The U.9 A’s put in a convincing performance and dominated the first half. The second half saw significant ‘tinkering’ from the side lines which lead to Thorngrove coming back into the game and a few nervous last minutes. The boys ran in worthy winners though. The U.9 B’s played a half against Thorngrove B’s. After being 3 – 0 down they bounced back to make it 3 – 2. Given that Thorngrove only had two sides we rotated the teams to allow the C’s a half. Thorngrove dominated but the boys can be proud of their efforts.
 
On Wednesday we came up against our local rivals, St Neot’s, and thankfully the majority of the results went our way. The First XI secured a hard fought victory. This was particularly poignant as the current Year 8’s have not beaten their counterparts in four years. The boys showed great determination in holding onto their lead against a strong St Neot’s side. Well done boys!
 
The Second X were far too strong for their opponents. After five minutes we were 5 – 0 up and the game was won. As is customary we looked to even the match up but with seven players against ten we were still too dominant with the boys delivering great quality in attack.
 
The Colts A won their triangular against St Neot’s and Brockhurst. The boys demonstrated a great understanding of the game and they passed and shot their way to two deserved victories. The Colts B played well in their first game, earning a draw against St Neot’s, but wilted under the pressure from Brockhurst. Unfortunately their ability to pick a pass under pressure and compete physically was found wanting after a trying first game. This is something that will we will have to work on next week.
 
The Colts C scored a great goal in the dying minutes to secure a draw against St Neot’s. This was well deserved as they passed well and showed great skill on a small pitch. The Colts D were involved in an epic encounter. Unfortunately they finished on the wrong end of a 6 – 8 result but they can look forward to next week in the hope of achieving that much sought after victory.
 
Mr Baldwin