Daneshill Diary 13/10/17
Headmaster’s Notes
Only one week to go until half-term – where has the time gone? In fact, I had lunch with the Year 3s today and they were quite shocked to think it is nearly half-term as they said we had not been in school long enough! It has been an emotional day as we waved off our Spanish exchange students at midday. Flavia, Carlotta, Carla, Candela, Juan, Michael and Javier were nothing short of a delight. We are extremely grateful to the host families but judging by the hugs this morning, they did not want to see them leave. It has been a superb week for sport at the school with some pretty hefty victories against local rivals for both the boys and girls. I wish everyone a relaxing weekend after the frenetic last one.
Mr Griffiths
The Logic Cup, Mathematics at LWC
Four of our pupils from Year 5 and 6; Alice Evans, Shantanu Pednekar, Francesca McNair Scott and Archie Baugh, visited LWC on Tuesday for a day of Maths Challenges. The LWC Logic Cup is an annual event open to many of the local Prep Schools and it was exciting to participate in such an exhilarating occasion. The children worked as a team in a Maths Relay but the highlight of the day was a Maths trail around the school grounds. Watch this space, it would be wonderful to organise a similar trail here at school for more of our pupils!
Mrs Caratelli
Pre-Prep News
This week in Reception the children have enjoyed using their letters and sounds to label the features of a bear. We discussed, as a class, what we could label with the children confidently exclaiming: “sharp claws, black shiny eyes and soft fur!” There were eager members of the class who were desperate to model their pencil grips and they were excited to put their phonics work into practise! The children were delighted to begin sewing and decorating their own bear for our teddy bear’s picnic display too! It has been another BEARrr-illiant week in Reception!
Year 1 have been looking at including ‘WOW’ words in our sentences this week in order to make them more exciting. The children have risen to the challenge and produced some excellent written work – it is real a pleasure to see such incredible progress in a short amount of time and we are very proud of them.
Number bonds to 10 have been our theme in Maths and some of us have been doing so exceptionally well that we have even been working with bonds to 20! Keep up the good work Year 1.
Our Year 2’s have been hearing lots of different sounds and ideas this week and they can now tell you how those sounds travel into your ear and up to your brain. Confusion was quickly turned into curiosity and enjoyment as they studied a diagram of the outer ear, all the way through to the inner ear. They are also using this knowledge to help them listen well during other subjects! In PSHEE, pupils were introduced to some very mature concepts and ‘British Values’. They are now thinking about the importance of democracy, acceptance of others who believe different things to themselves as well as nurturing mutual respect. It was a testament to their growing maturity, when watching these conversations develop.
Our week came to a lovely end as we were invited down to the Nursery to watch the little ones perform in their first ever assembly about autumn. We all left the Nursery grinning from ear to ear; a real highlight of the week for both the children and the staff.
The Pre-Prep Teachers
Sports
Weds 11th October
FOOTBALL
U.13 A vs. Pangbourne D 1 – 1
U.13 B vs. Pangbourne W 7 – 1
U.11 vs St Joseph’s L 1 – 2
U.10 vs. St Joseph’s W 6 – 3
HOCKEY
U.13 A vs. Pangbourne T’ment 9th
U.13 B vs. Pangbourne T’ment 9th
U.11 A vs. St Neot’s W 6 – 0
U.11 B vs. St Neot’s W 7 – 1
U.11 C vs St Neot’s L 1 – 4
U.10 A vs. Bradfield T’ment 5th
U.10 B vs. St Neot’s W 5 – 1
Thurs 12th October
FOOTBALL
U.13 A vs. St Neot’s T’ment DNQ
Friday 6th October
FOOTBALL
U.9 A vs St Edward’s W 4 – 1
U.9 B vs. St Edward’s W 2 – 1
U.8 A vs. St Edward’s W 4 – 0
U.8 B vs. St Edward’s W 5 – 0
The U.13 A team were excited to play in the Pangbourne hockey tournament on Wednesday. Twelve of the strongest schools in the area were invited so a challenging afternoon lay ahead. The teams were put into two groups of six. Our first match was against Lord Wandsworth. Last week we had lost to the same team 0-5 so were slightly anxious. Daneshill got off to a great start, having more of the possession, and defended superbly with Jemima and Izzy always in the right place. In the nine minutes we managed to keep the score to 0-0, a great achievement. But tough matches followed. We lost 0-2 to Lambrook and 0-1 to St Andrew’s. We were more confident in attack against the Oratory Prep School, drawing 1-1 and Marlston House also drawing 0-0. Saskia, Tilly and Grace really tried hard to create some scoring opportunities and Candy and Katrina repeatedly kept the ball out of our defending circle. When the ball did get through Ava impressively saved at least 15 goals. Daneshill finished fifth in the group and had a playoff against the team that finished fifth in the other group; Pangbourne. We had a few chances in the nine minutes, but the game finished 0-0 after an exhausting afternoon, so we finished ninth overall. I really enjoyed spending time with the Year 7 and 8 girls and was extremely impressed with their determination, stamina and sportsmanship.
Mrs Barnes
U.10 A
Wednesday was a windy day for the annual tournament hosted by Bradfield College. The morning started with a 90 minute coaching session courtesy of the Bradfield hockey coaches and the 1st XI players. The girls learned quite a few new skills and impressed the coaches with their aptitude. After a well-deserved lunch they played five matches in section A, winning two matches, losing one match and drawing 0-0 in the other two. This excellent play kept the girls in the cup and four more matches followed. Confidence and self-belief was running high and the girls were determined to create chances to score. Unfortunately they lost the first two matches in the cup final. Not dwelling on the previous games the team once again played some excellent hockey and drew the next two matches 0-0. Daneshill finished 5th out of the 11 schools. There were some excellent performances on the day and to concede only four goals throughout the whole tournament showed just how well the team played. Well done, girls!
Mrs Fevrier
U.10 B
The U.10 B hockey team played a super game against St Neot’s on Wednesday afternoon. After a bit of a slow start, the team had a re-shuffle and with new CF Caitlin Manley upfront the goals started rolling in. Excellent defence meant that St Neot’s had very few chances to score and strong team work up the pitch helped pressurise the St Neot’s defence successfully. The final score was an incredible 5 – 1 with Caitlin scoring a hat trick. Well done to all!
Mrs Cowd
U.13
The 1st XI put in a superb performance on Wednesday against a physically strong Pangbourne team. It took the boys the first quarter of the game to settle into their rhythm and to start using the ball more efficiently. Thankfully the defence had held strong up until this point and James Bloom, in particular, had let Pangbourne know that we weren’t going to be intimated by their obvious size advantage. The midfield trio of Harry, Joey and Archie started to impose themselves on the game, which allowed Will and Josh to drive forward down the wings. Our improved performance was rewarded with a well taken goal from Harvey and we went into the break in the ascendency. The second half saw us increasing in confidence but we were pinned back by a deflected free kick to level the score. Thankfully we responded positively and continued to create chances that saw us hit the post and cross bar. Unfortunately though we ran out of time and the game finished 1 – 1. The boys should, however, take great credit for a fantastic game of football. Well done!
Mr Spencer
U.13 B
This was a dominating display from the U.13 B who were focused and determined for the full 60 minutes against a Pangbourne side majorly lacking in confidence.
The boys over ran the opposition straight from the off and were creating wave after wave of attacks. Alex Williams was outstanding in the midfield with 2 goals and 3 assists, with Arthur scoring 2, Juan scoring 2 and Edward Terry scoring as well to complete the rout. Overall going forward we looked hungry and determined and we scored some great team goals.
The boys were guilty in the latter stages of the first half of committing too many men forward and Pangbourne capitalised on this with a well taken goal. But overall defensively I thought Will Beeching and Freddie Cullen were fantastic at the back and marshalled the back four with ease.
A great performance from the B team with a much needed boost of confidence for everyone with everyone on the pitch showing some good moments of passing and teamwork throughout.
Mr Morgan
U.11
This was another frustrating loss for the U11s. Although both sides got off to rather lethargic starts, the game turned into a fierce and combative affair. Daneshill and St Joseph’s should both be commended for their excellent defensive skill and positioning, constantly breaking up play down the middle of the pitch, even if that meant that free-flowing football was certainly at a premium.
Despite the attempts at a last-gasp comeback, the Daneshill boys couldn’t quite fashion a worthy equaliser.
The team must head into the final game of the half-term with the aim of displaying 100% intensity, commitment and energy right from the get-go. Waiting to fall behind, before reaching top gear, has too often led to undeserved final scorelines.
Mr Kinsey