Daneshill Diary 22/05/15

Headmaster’s Notes

This week has included a number of events that have demonstrated how the hard work and determination of Daneshill pupils constantly delivers high standards of achievement.

The main theme this week has been Music and Drama. The Year 4 production was a short story that focused on the importance of friendship removing prejudice and misunderstanding. Working together helps us all to overcome individual problems or differences that sometimes get in the way of having an open mind. This production above all demonstrated that Year 4 are a very talented group of children.

The highlight of the week was the inter-house music competition that included all pupils from Year 2 to Year 8. Mr Mountford, the Director of co-curricular music from Bradfield College, was our visiting adjudicator. The morning session involved individual musicians from Years 3 – 8, which illustrated the range and versatility of Music throughout the school. The afternoon was then given over to the combined choirs. The overall standard was exceptionally high, as noted by Mr Mountford, whose adjudication narrowly gave the title to Red House.

Just to remind ourselves of the significant importance of academic work James Passmore received news of his successful entrance examination to Winchester College. His high grades were another indication of the ability of our teaching staff to prepare pupils for even the most academically selective Senior Schools. Of course even the most inspiring teachers need the commitment of their pupils to put in the effort to achieve. Unquestionably James has been a model student throughout his time at Daneshill who has successfully managed the old cliché of working hard and playing hard.  This is a fantastic achievement and I know that a certain Head of MFL was particularly proud – well done James!

Mr Spencer

News from the Pre-Prep

In Reception we have had a lot of fun learning about people who help us this week. We even had a visit from a real life police officer (Mrs Wynne-Williams) who told us exciting stories about her job. We learnt all about her uniform and the equipment she uses. We felt how heavy her protective vest is and learnt why she has numbers on her clothes. We even got to use a radio and speak to another police officer. We had great fun and learnt a lot. The visit inspired us in the role play area where we have been catching criminals and locking them away.

In Year 1 this week the children have been thinking about what they would need to take with them if they were going to explore a tropical rainforest. They thought of various items that they would put on a list and we discussed how some of the items suggested might be a little bit too big to take but would be a nice luxury i.e. a soft bed to sleep in! The children then wrote explanations as to why they would need the items on their list. This activity sparked the children’s imagination as they embarked on their rainforest expeditions around the classroom. Another highlight this week was the children being able to take home their broad bean plants and their excitement at the thought of planting them in their gardens.

Huge congratulations go to the Year 2 U.7 Athletics team who took part in an Athletics Festival at Rookwood School on Wednesday morning. They competed in jumping, running, throwing and obstacle events. After a very exciting, sporty morning, the children and Miss O’Neill were over the moon to discover that they had finished overall winners out of eight schools.

Another well done to every child in Year 2 as they have all risen to the challenge of being part of a House and have worked hard with their fellow house mates to practise for the singing competition this Friday. They have come away with a good understanding of how to be part of a team and the sense of pride in representing their House.

Pre-Prep Teachers

Nursery Corner

It has been another happy week in the Nursery with lots of smiles and laughter – we have had some super stories about African animals and have been stomping, slithering, creeping and chomping our way around the Nursery exploring how they all move in such different ways. We have also looked at the Baobab trees and seen just how big some of them are – when outside and joining all the children’s hands together we got a good idea of how vast the trunks can grow!

We introduced the ‘w’ sound so do keep a look out for it in stories over half term. Many of the children have been doing some lovely maths work too; counting and ordering numbers 0-5 and 0-10.

We hope you all have a fabulous half term and see you on return.

Mrs Beeching