Daneshill Diary 20/03/15
Headmaster’s Notes
I drove to school this morning listening to scientists on the radio discussing the significance of the imminent eclipse and debating where would be the best place to see it. The Faroe Islands was one of the two locations on the planet where there would be a total eclipse.
A little closer to home, the pupils had all been prepared and equipped with the correct glasses for what was going to be a fitting end to science in the spotlight. It did, undoubtedly, become much colder as the minutes approached and the bird song definitely became quieter but unfortunately any solar eclipse was obscured by clouds. Thankfully a television had been set up in the dining room and the children were able to see live images broadcast from an aeroplane 28,000 feet above the Faroe Islands, which showed us what we had been unable to see from the ground. Obviously it was disappointing not to see the eclipse in full but the science department gave us a great insight into the phenomenon nonetheless.
On Thursday we had a number of primary schools take part in our inaugural London Irish ‘tag rugby’ tournament. We have now become an official partner school for London Irish Rugby Club and we look forward to supporting them and the local rugby community for years to come. On the pitch the boys were triumphant and ended up lifting the trophy after a closely fought contest in the final. Well done to them and Mr Croker for organising a successful afternoon.
Mr Spencer
News from the Pre-Prep
This week has seen the start of our new topic ‘Percy the Park Keeper’. The children in Reception have been enjoying his adventures with his animal friends and playing in our role play den. The animals have woken up from their long winter sleep and have been helping Percy with his jobs. We have also been writing about one of the stories called ‘The Secret Path’ in which Percy gets lost in a maze! We found it very funny when Percy surprised the animals. Now we are all excited for our Percy outing next week to the Gordon Brown Centre where we will build shelters and meet real animals – we can’t wait!
As part of our science learning on sound and hearing, the Year 1 children have enjoyed exploring different sounds and how they are made. The children were intrigued to see what they would be learning about when they saw the teachers stretching cling film over a bowl and putting rice on the top. They were then asked to hit a drum close to the rice and watched as it came alive. The children investigated whether moving the drum further away or closer to the bowl would affect the activity of the rice. They found out that the rice moved on account of the vibrations made by the sound of the drum. The happy sounds of learning and exploring with their busy hands and minds are always welcome.
In Year 2 we have been enjoying fun times in our Maths lessons and thinking about number bonds, using and recognising number patterns, and tackling times tables. We have also been practising telling the time. The children who have private music lessons are becoming able to read the digital time for their lessons and take responsibility for arriving on time. As part of working on our sums we have been working on putting numbers into stories and solving the problems. “Matilda has collected 36 conkers but sadly lost 12. How many does she now have?”
Pre-Prep Teachers
Nursery Corner
What a wonderful week of rainbows we have had! Having been inspired last week by one of our youngest members of the class singing us all her version of the rainbow song, and given that the sound of the week was a ‘j’ what better reason than to enjoy a magical week of weather mobiles and rainbow ‘j’elly. We have had such fun watching the excitement build as each new layer of jelly set! Can I please ask that once the jelly has been enjoyed that the cups be returned to pass back to chef!
Many thanks
Mrs Beeching
Weekly Sports Reports
Both the U.8 and U.9 Hockey squads put in a tremendous performance against Dolphin and Rupert House last Friday. The U.9’s controlled their game from the start and scored a spectacular nine goals in impressive style, denying Dolphin of any goal scoring opportunities.
The U.8’s continued their run of hockey success and dominated their match against Rupert House. The A team won by an outstanding eighteen goals over the opposition and the B and C team also played brilliantly, winning both their matches comfortably.
Our senior teams had another successful week with the U.12’s beating Farnborough Hill three goals to nil. The U.11’s played superbly at home against Rupert House, scoring some powerful goals and taking the lead from the start. It was good to see the team fired up in attack, demonstrating strength and attacking prowess.
Our U.10’s too fought hard to secure a three all draw against a strong Rupert House side. The girls showed excellent defensive skills and drew on their training this week, gaining confidence in attack.
Miss O’Neill
The boys played against St Piran’s and Bishopsgate this week. Both of these schools always produce very competitive sides and we wanted to do well in what was the last game of Rugby for the season. Having talked about line speed, continuity, passion in defence, and all the rugby skills and drills we have learnt or progressed in, Wednesday was where we wanted to put it altogether.
The 1st XV had a tough game against Bishopsgate. With Alex, Will and Riley on the sidelines it was all hands to the pump in our first full 15 a side match of the year. We were very competitive as all the boys played their roles within the side. Mr Croker, was quoted as saying ‘We played some very good rugby there, we just lost’, which shows the scoreline does not necessarily reflect the match, but hats off to Bishopsgate as they were the better team on the day. A huge well done to the Year 8’s who have led the side well all year and represented the school fantastically well in all the rugby they have played at the school since Year 3.
The Colts A played against a much fancied St Piran’s side. St Piran’s were unbeaten and posed a real challenge. We started well, with some solid defence keeping St Piran’s pinned on their own line. It soon became apparent just why St Piran’s were unbeaten as they scored three break out tries; these were really to do with the pace of one lad which was a shame, as we had talked about how to contain pace with linespeed. We worked hard, however, closing the space most of the time and limiting the off loads St Piran’s could get away. On attack we struggled to get over the gain line but some strong carries scored us two nice tries. In the end St Piran’s were too strong, but through injury and a mounting scoreline, Daneshill battled on and never gave up!
The Colts B had a great game. Again, St Piran’s came into the match with a pretty good record and the Daneshill boys were looking to overturn it. The B’s went forward in waves with Thomas Dyer scoring two tries pretty quickly. At the break Daneshill were up and with the scrum performing well it was looking good. St Piran’s came back strongly in the second half and a great contest ended with Daneshill the winners, well done boys.
On Thursday we had the London Irish rugby tournament for all of the boys in Year 3. With eight schools competing it was a great spectacle. Some lovely evasive running was on display as the boys ran out winners, beating Church End in the final.
Another good week of competitive fixtures, now let’s look forward to the Cricket!
Mr Baldwin