Daneshill Diary 07/10/16
Headmaster’s Notes
This week has been another busy and productive one. Six Spanish boys and girls arrived from Madrid on Monday as part of our exciting, new exchange programme. They will be joining Year 7 for three weeks and I am sure they will have a memorable time. Thank you so much to the parents who are hosting them.
On Tuesday several children from Year 5 were selected to attend a ‘Science Challenge’ at Bradfield College. On Thursday the pupils in Years 7 &8 continued with their Adventure and Leadership programme, participating in canoeing, rowing and cycling proficiency. On Friday, house meetings commenced in the Prep School and the theme for the meetings was ‘World Smile Day’. It would be nice to think that ‘every day’ was ‘World Smile Day’!
We wish the boys’ U.11 football team every success on Sunday at the Bradfield College 7-aside tournament.
Mr Wansey
Year 5 Science Challenge
On Tuesday 4th October a team of Year 5 pupils travelled to Bradfield College for their annual Science Challenge. Full of excitement and anticipation and a few nerves were our chosen four; Claudia Kamkar Diaz, Ben Kellard, Daniel Yu and Jemima Froom. The team enjoyed 40 minute sessions in all three scientific disciplines which included designing an experiment involving live maggots, mixing chemicals to predict and identify the 5 unknown liquids as well as making a loud speaker from scratch. We struggled a little with the pressure of time but all four pupils thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon which was topped off by an impressive nitrogen bomb in the school’s quad. A successful afternoon practicing our scientific enquiry skills!
Mrs Blomfield
Pre-Prep News
It is so wonderful to share all the good things that happen at Daneshill! This week in Reception we covered the topic ‘Russia’. Mrs Guynan and Mrs Chimkovskiy kindly gave up their time to share their real life experiences with the children. The children were gripped by our parent speakers’ tales so much so that they sustained their concentration for 40 minutes – asking questions, handling objects and listening. We are so proud of them! They have beautiful manners and throughout the day kept talking about what they had heard. This has been a valuable time, bringing us all closer together as we learn and discover more about each other in the class.
Year 1 have been busy with their number bonds to 10 but have also been enjoying looking at the symmetry around them. It was a delight to hear that, having been introduced to the concept in class, one of our pupils had a lively debate with her sibling on her journey home as to whether their car was symmetrical or not!
We have produced some fabulous ‘Safari’ stories describing what it felt like to walk into the Pre Prep on Tuesday having changed the hall displays. We encouraged the children to use their senses to imagine what they felt, saw, heard and smelt which linked in with our science for this week too.
This week began with quite a buzz when the children walked into Pre-Prep to see that it had been transformed into a jungle safari!! The Year 2 children were delighted to spot their creative artwork scattered across the walls. They have also become very fond of their door animals! They have been on the edge of their seats to find out if ‘the robber’ gets away in our literacy topic ‘The Man Who Wore All His Clothes’. The children worked together to make predictions about the end of the story and found it hilarious when we read on and discovered that ‘Mr Gaskitt’ sat on the robber and ate his pizza! The classrooms were also invaded during a Maths lesson as ‘angle eaters’ roamed wildly finding lots of right angles; a hard new concept to understand but taken on well by our young mathematicians.
The Pre-Prep Teachers
Sports
Wednesday 5th October
FOOTBALL
U.13 A vs. Papplewick D 0 – 0
U.13 A vs. Dolphin W 4 – 0
U.13 B vs. Papplewick L 0 – 4
HOCKEY
U.13 A vs. LWC L 0 – 6
U.13 B vs. LWC L 0 – 1
U.13 C vs. LWC L 0 – 6
U.11 A vs. St. Piran’s L 1 – 5
U.11 B vs. St. Piran’s W 2 – 1
U.10 A vs. St. Piran’s L 4 – 5
U.10 B vs. St. Piran’s W 5 – 2
U.10 C vs. St. Piran’s L 5 – 6
Friday 7th October
FOOTBALL
U.9 A vs. Papplewick
U.9 B vs. Papplewick
U.8 A vs. Papplewick
U.8 B vs. Papplewick
HOCKEY
U.9 A vs. St. Piran’s W 5 – 0
U.9 B vs. St. Piran’s L 3 – 5
U.8 A vs. St. Piran’s D 5 – 5
U.8 B vs. St. Piran’s L 0 – 1
Reports
U.13s
The U.13 A game started at a fast pace, with LWC exerting some early pressure. They were very clinical in the attacking quarter and as a result were able to score two goals in the first half. Daneshill didn’t lose heart though and worked hard to put their tactics into place. We started to build momentum and created some good chances. There were some excellent attacking passages of play through the midfield but unfortunately we were unable to convert.
The U.13 B’s started this game really strongly and dominated proceedings with some excellent passing that led to several close chances but unfortunately we couldn’t find the backboard. LWC converted their chance and the first half ended 0 – 1. Daneshill came out for the second half determined to get a goal back. They pushed hard and were rewarded with a succession of short corners but could not convert. The game continued to be exciting, with end to end hockey. Despite lots of hard work the girls just couldn’t get the equaliser. The final score was 0-1 to LWC.
The U.13 C girls put in a valiant performance against a strong LWC team. I was most impressed by their decision making, and they all clearly implemented the many techniques that they have been taught by our specialist hockey coaches. Our defence of Honor, Viola and Rachel played well together; supporting each other and clearing the ball out well down our strong side.
We connected well in midfield and were able to pass the ball effectively up the pitch. Daneshill just weren’t able to finish off the job in the D despite several opportunities. LWC defended well and the teams target moving forward is to support more when in the scoring zone.
I was most impressed with the spacial awareness all the girls displayed and it was good game to watch. A special mention goes to Rocio, one of our Spanish exchange students who bravely gave the game of hockey a go despite having never played the sport before; she took up a midfield position and showed natural ability in connecting with both the attackers and defenders on the team. The girl of the game was Phoebe Esdaile for her dominance in midfield and her ability to turn the ball over and push it up in attack. LWC were only able to score two goals in the second half showing how well we fought for the ball and kept our heads held high.
U.11 B
Daneshill got off to a competitive start. Possession of the ball was even and with a goal each in the first half the match was nail bitingly close. After an optimistic half-time chat we decided to up the game and be more confident with the ball. The girls certainly showed this by using their blocking skills as well as gathering energy to chase after the ball and try and keep possession. There was great teamwork in attack and some promising defence skills from Keilah Austin. This team now needs to keep looking up and use the width of the pitch to pass the ball up the wings.
U.10s
The Bs and Cs were up first on Wednesday against St. Piran’s. The C’s got off to a flyer with three quick goals from Daisy Martin (2) and Anna Bryant (1). With only six players on the pitch though the girls’ legs started to tire and St. Piran’s took advantage scoring three goals before half-time. In the second half the girls started really well but St Piran’s scored two quick goals making the score 5-3. Thankfully the Daneshill girls kept battling with some fantastic tackles from Hannah Legh- Smith and Carys Turvey who was running around everywhere. In the last few minutes we scored two quick goals one from Daisy Martin who score a brilliant hatrick and one from Heidi Mansfield to make the scores level. Unfortunately for us though St Piran’s scored in the last minute making the final score 5-6 to St Piran’s. The C’s team target for next week is to pass the ball more instead of trying to dribble through players. Girls of the game were Hannah Legh-smith and Carys Turvey. A brilliant effort from the girls – well done!
The B’s had a fantastic game with all the girls performing well. There was some excellent defending in particular from Sofia Eben Amine who made some strong tackles and cleared the ball away from the D effectively. The girls passed the ball really well between each other allowing them to move around the St Piran’s players and went on to score 5 goals. Two goals came from Alice Evans on her birthday match, one from Flora Calthorpe, one from Bo Lee, and the last goal from Freya Leech. Girl of the game went to Martha Beeching for lots of ball time and her effort on the pitch. The game ended as a 5-2 victory to the U.10 B team. Well done to all the girls.
The A team were up last on the Astro pitch and played with a goal keeper so only had 6 out on the pitch. Claudia Kamkar-Diaz was in goal for the A’s and worked really hard in a difficult position, so well done Claudia. It was a really tough game for the girls but they worked hard and did their best. The game was exceptionally close with the A’s scoring 4 goals, 3 of which came from Imogen Dyer who got the second hatrick of the day which is a fantastic achievement so well done Imogen. Our fourth goal came from Eloise Henwood making the final score 4-5. Katie Lee-Smith had a brilliant day in defence but St Piran’s proved to be too strong. The focus for next week is not to panic on the ball and make nice, strong passes to each other.