Daneshill Diary 20/01/17
Deputy Headmaster’s Notes
The Spring and Summer are so fine here that we quickly forget the frustrations of Winter. A bumper week of sports fixtures has been decimated by the frost and both staff and children will take much pent up energy into next week which, will hopefully see a bit of a thaw. Whilst it remains icy, could I urge everyone to take due care and diligence around our lanes as we aim for a ‘stuck in the ditch’ free half-term. It is at this time of year that our one way system plays such a vital role and so I ask kindly that everyone adheres to our agreed routes in and out of school.
I hadn’t played chess in years until my son received a set at Christmas. We’ve been locked in battle ever since and I’m pleased to report that thankfully I’m in the lead in our on-going series! There is no better game though for teaching children problem solving, strategy, tactics and patience and I would highly recommend it as a part of any child’s education. Whilst the rest of us try to catch up, our resident experts travel to the National Championships on Sunday and I wish our chess team the very best of luck.
Mr Webster
Pre-Prep News
The pupils in Reception have continued their learning on ‘Bears’ this week. The theme lends itself well to exploring both non-fiction and fiction books. The children completed fact files which are proudly on display, ready for you to come and take a peek at! One of the highlights this week was making porridge for the 3 bears. Each child was able to choose their toppings and the size of helping they wanted. The topic was child initiated and it is fascinating to observe how engaged children become when they have input into their own learning.
We all know the story that begins… ‘A mouse took a stroll through a deep dark wood’, well this week it was Year 1 who went to explore the woods and what fun we had! We found the Gruffalo’s den complete with leftover scrambled snake and many were convinced that they caught a little glimpse of a poisonous wart as he shyly scampered away. Such imaginative words and descriptions came out of this experience, providing us with excellent writing opportunities for the children.
The pupils in Year 2 were proud and excited today to welcome Pippi the Adelie Penguin all the way from Antarctica. The Pre-Prep have sponsored this adorable Penguin to help her live a better life and to look after her habitat as they are incredibly vulnerable to threats such as climate change. We have also been raising ‘Penguin Awareness’ in the hope that they can keep living happy and healthy lives. Please feel free to meet Pippi in her temporary habitat of the entrance to the Pre-Prep. From cold to hot… we have also been independently researching facts about the star that gives life to these Penguins as well as us – the Sun! It has excited the children ahead of our trip to Winchester Science Museum next week and a voyage around the solar system in the planetarium. We look forward to telling you all about it!
The Pre-Prep Teachers
Nursery Notes
This week has been another fun filled firefighter week in Nursery. We have been extinguishing the fires everywhere we go. We completed firefighter training exercises to help us improve our skills. We even followed our friends’ instructions too. After being firefighters, we became shape detectives and went on a shape hunt outside. We found lots of circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. We also completed lots of firefighter counting and even learned our sound of the week ‘g’ too. What a busy week we have had!
We are looking forward to next week, especially our EYFS Chinese New Year open morning with Reception.
Mrs Pearcey
Sports
Wednesday 18th January
RUGBY
All matches were cancelled due to frozen pitches at both schools.
NETBALL
U.11 A vs. Marlston House W 8 – 5
U.10 A vs. Marlston House W 15 – 3
Reports
The U.10 A team took on Marlston House this Wednesday in their second game of the season. After a tentative start (probably due to the wintery conditions!) the girls soon settled into their stride and played some exceptional netball. Our defensive unit was strong and despite having a very tall GS the girls successfully eliminated her from much of the circle play. Linking up with centre court, the defenders took the ball out of danger quickly, transferring it to our attacking end with ease. Our GS and GA pulled out some snazzy new moves this week, which amazed the spectators and myself as I hadn’t seen a junior team use them before, so this was a very proud teacher moment! Overall, the girls were superb and continue to grow in strength week on week. The final score of 15-3 reflects the hard work and commitment they have put into training this week.
After a positive start to the season, the U11’s were confident going in into their second game at home against Marlston House. We didn’t get off to the best of starts, going 3 -1 down in the first half but unbeknown to me the girls had run a X country race before the game so this might have explained why they were slightly sluggish for the first few minutes! By half time the team had found a second wave of energy and started to pull the score line back, edging up to 4 all by the end of the third quarter. Some excellent defending meant Daneshill turned the ball over twice in a row and our shooters successfully converted this into goals. They upped the pace and speedy centre court play and accurate feeds enabled us to move ahead and win the game by 8 goals to 5.
Mrs Cowd