Daneshill Diary 18/11/16

Headmaster’s Notes

It has been another good week at Daneshill with plenty of activities both in and outside of the classroom.

Year 3 enjoyed their educational visit to Highclere Castle, owned by the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. In connection with their studies of the Egyptians, the children visited the Egyptian exhibition which is situated in the cellars of the castle. It was the 5th Earl of Carnarvon who famously discovered the tomb of the Egyptian Boy Pharaoh, Tutankhamun in 1922 with his archaeological colleague, Howard Cater.

On Wednesday, Mrs Blomfield accompanied our Year 5&6 Science quiz team for the Quiz Challenge and I am delighted that the Daneshill team won the competition and now proceed to the semi-finals. Well done Alex Harker, Harry Aldred, Monty Cross and Ciaran Churcher.

We wish the Year 6 pupils all the best for their school exams next week and with three and a half weeks left of the term, there is still plenty to look forward to. I wish everyone a happy and relaxing weekend.

Mr Wansey

Pre-Prep News

We have just come to the end of looking at the festival of Divali. The children have enjoyed noticing similarities to the celebrations we take part in. We have dressed up, danced, made cards, designed patterns and even eaten Naan bread and Poppadoms!

In Maths, the children’s understanding of addition, using mathematical symbols with numbers up to 10, has been very impressive. Well done Reception!

Year 1 and Year 2 have been putting their theatrical skills to work this week with fabulous results. The Pre-Prep building has been filled with Christmas songs as well as excitement over new costumes, which have been paraded to other cast members. A group of angels brought some sparkle into the classrooms this morning and performed a magical dance which we cannot wait for you to see. Lines have been learnt, songs have been sung, the stage is up and we are now ready for next week’s rehearsals in front of the big lights. Please remember to sign up for your tickets on Monday in the entrance hall – it’s a show not to be missed!

The Pre-Prep Teachers

Sports

Wednesday 14th November

FOOTBALL

U.13 A vs. Brockhurst                         L 2 – 4

Colts A vs. Brockhurst                        W 4 – 2

Colts B vs Brockhurst                         W 2 – 0

Colts C vs Brockhurst                         L 0 – 2

Colts D vs Brockhurst                         L 1 – 4

HOCKEY

U.13 A vs. Eagle House                      L 0 – 2

U.13 B vs. Eagle House                      L 2 – 7

U.13 C vs. Eagle House                      W 2 – 0

U.11 A vs. Eagle House                      W 2 – 1

U.11 B vs. Eagle House                      L 0 – 2

U.10 A vs. Eagle House                      W 3 – 1

U.10 B vs. Eagle House                      W 7 – 3

U.10 C vs. Eagle House                      W 5 – 2

Friday 18th November

FOOTBALL

U.9 A vs. Brockhurst                            L 1 – 4

U.9 B vs Brockhurst                             L 0 – 7

U.8 A vs Brockhurst                            W 8 – 0

U.8 B vs. Brockhurst                           W 3 – 1

HOCKEY

U.9 A vs. St Neot’s                             W 7 – 1

U.9 B vs. St Neot’s                              W 3 – 2

U.8 A vs. St Neot’s                             W 4 – 1

U.8 B vs. St Neot’s                              W 7 – 0

Reports

On Wednesday 16th November the U.13 C team travelled to Wellington College to play Eagle House. Oliviya Howe was captain for the game and Phoebe Esdaile was in goal for the first time ever and put in a sterling performance saving many shots and keeping a clean sheet. In the first half the girls played extremely well and pushed the ball up the pitch quickly. Daneshill scored two goals in the first half both coming from Rachel Shippen Davies, who played as striker and did a fantastic job. In the second half we were unable to convert our chances due to heroic efforts from the Eagle Houses goal keeper. Well done on a fantastic win of 2-0 to Daneshill.

The U.10 A Hockey team put in their best performance of the season against Eagle House. Dominating from the start they confidently played the ball across the pitch, controlling the ball with ease and finding space on the pitch. Isla Lock successfully made every tackle at the back and Imogen Dyer and Katie Lee-Smith worked well bringing the ball into the attacking circle. The ball was controlled and dribbled without panicking and the girls were able to look around for the most appropriate teammate to pass to. A goal from a short corner at half time was well deserved followed by a second as soon as play started again. Eagle House scored but our superior stamina and fitness meant we excelled in the last five minutes and finished the match 3-1. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon!

The Colts A’s put in a superb performance on Wednesday. In a match that was fast, free flowing and with numerous chances it was Daneshill who prevailed. We went into the match recognising the fact that we needed to score goals if we were to do ourselves justice. We have been defending well and playing brilliantly in the middle third but we just haven’t been able to take our chances. On Wednesday we did, however, attack with vigour, frequency and accuracy. Marios, Harvey, Alex W and Will were slick in the midfield, passing early and skilfully setting up play that saw us score 4 great goals. The defence played their part too with Alex H, James and Barnaby taming a worthy Brockhurst offensive unit. We were caught on the counter twice as our sheer weight of possession saw us slip into playing probably a little bit too high. Throughout the rest of the game though, those three defenders thwarted many counter attacks, and kept us in the right part of the field. Oscar made his obligatory saves when it counted and this capped off a real team effort. Hopefully we can keep these efforts up going into the last two matches of the season which, looking at the calendar, are really quite tough!

A hard-fought, end-to-end game sadly ended in another loss for the Colts C. While the boys were understandably upset with the result, there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game. Unlike their footballing idols in the Premier League, all members of the Colts C showed admirable maturity in accepting the referee’s decisions to award two penalties against them. Both decisions were undoubtedly correct, but the boys acted beyond their years in the way that they coped with the initial disappointment. Moreover, I was particularly pleased with the way that the boys responded to the concession of their second goal, which happened to be an own goal. Rather than arguments, self-implosions or accusations of blame, all boys were quick to rally together, unanimously urging each other to keep fighting to the last. Furthermore, the opposition coach’s commendation of our boys’ outstanding sportsmanship, grace and fair-play will inevitably remain my highlight of the season, regardless of any goals or score lines that are to come.

I must also make special mention of Robin Rattray for some heroic goalkeeping. Robin saved one penalty, tipped two shots onto the crossbar and dived on the ball in a goalmouth scramble that looked destined for a goal. Well done!