Daneshill Diary 25/11/16

St Mary’s Calne MFL Day

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag Franzi! (Happy Birthday Franzi!).

Have you tried making the Brandenburg Gate out of spaghetti and marshmallows? How about singing ‘happy birthday’ in German? The Year 5 students visiting St Mary’s on 18th November tried these, and many other activities, as part of ‘Franzi’s Birthday Party’, an inventive approach to introducing young students to German language and culture. Created and hosted by the MFL Department at St Mary’s Calne, the special day was enjoyed by 28 Prep School children, including 5 girls from Daneshill.

Freya, Lola, Isla, Anna and Freya learnt to count (it was Franzi’s 8th birthday!) and learnt the words for colours in German; they created maps of Germany highlighting regions celebrated for their music, art, scientific discoveries, food and drink. They made a birthday card and party hats, sang the ‘Hello’ and birthday songs in German, and experienced a taste of German culture.

The children were superb Ambassadors for Daneshill; they threw themselves into each activity and returned to school full of enthusiasm, eager to share their new knowledge. In our next Celebration Assembly the girls will showcase their new language skills, singing and recalling the vocabulary learnt in just one day – a fantastic achievement. We very much look forward to participating in further MFL initiatives for Prep Schools; it is a tremendous opportunity to hear and work with native speakers from around the globe and an interesting way for our pupils to experience life at a Senior School.

Sincere thanks to Mrs Green, Mrs Leech and Ms Herbent for very kindly chauffeuring the girls to and from the event. Vielen Dank!

Mrs Passmore

Pre-Prep News

A week of patterns in Reception has certainly drawn our attention. We have looked at patterns in shapes, colours, numbers and even socks! We have begun to play board games following rules and taken it in turn to lead. A wonderful spontaneous moment happened when the children were constructing a zoo. Arrow paper was put out and a number of children made a sign for the zoo, sounding out the animal names for themselves and placing them on a post. This is great progression and a delight to witness.

“SHIVER ME TIMBERS” what fascinating facts we learnt this week in Year 1! We were researching the life of Edward Teach, more famously known as the notorious Captain Blackbeard. The children particularly enjoyed learning how Captain Blackbeard used to light a match and then hide it under his hat to make it look like smoke was billowing out of his head, thus creating a scary effect. Everyone made an exciting fact file containing historical information about this extraordinary character.

Year 2 have had a busy and exciting week as the Christmas Play has taken full swing! The children have shown their growing maturity, finding their feet on the stage and becoming engrossed in their character. In Geography they have enjoyed learning about how to use a compass and understanding different directions through our topic of ‘Our Local Area’.  The children were also challenged to find different landmarks at Daneshill School while using a bird’s-eye-view map!  They found their way ‘North’ to the fields, ‘East’ to the Music Room and found themselves back at the Pre-Prep building after deciding to head ‘West’.  Well navigated, Year 2.

The Pre-Prep Teachers

Sports

Wednesday 23^rd November

FOOTBALL

U.13 A vs. St George’s                       L 0 – 3

Colts A vs. St George’s                      L

Colts B vs St George’s                       L 1 – 5

Colts C vs St George’s                       W 8 – 1

HOCKEY

U.13 A vs. St Andrew’s                       L 1 – 8

U.13 B vs. St Andrew’s                       L 2 – 5

U.13 C vs. St Andrew’s                       W 5 – 4

U.11 A vs. St Andrew’s                       L 0 – 4

U.11 B vs. St Andrew’s                        L 0 – 4

U.10 A vs. St Andrew’s                       W 5 – 2

U.10 B vs. St Andrew’s                       W 5 – 3

U.10 C vs. St Andrew’s                       W 5 – 4

Friday 25^th November

FOOTBALL

U.9 A vs. St George’s                          L 1 – 5

U.9 A vs. St Mary’s                              D 1 – 1

U.9 B vs St George’s                          D 2 – 2

U.8 A vs St George’s                          W 5 – 3

U.8 B vs. St George’s                         W 6 – 0

HOCKEY

U.9 A vs. St Andrew’s                         W 3 – 1

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

U.8 B vs. St Andrew’s                         W 4 – 3

Reports

On Wednesday the U.13 A’s came up against a solid St Andrew’s side. The girls made a strong start though with the St Andrew’s defence preventing us from scoring the goals that we deserved. St Andrew’s scored the first goal and the girls started to panic which lead to a further 3 goals for St Andrews. The score at half time was 4-0. The start of the second half saw a battling response from Daneshill with Scarlet making a brilliant run down the wing to score but the goal keeper put it an outstanding save to stop the ball crossing the line. The girls continued to pepper the St Andrew’s goal and their persistence was rewarded from a short corner hit by India F that deflected into the goal. As the game progressed the girls started to tire with the defence often caught out 4 on 2. Even with some amazing saves from Olivia in goal it wasn’t enough to placate the St Andrews attack. The final score was 8-1 to St Andrews. The defender of the game goes to Olivia for her string of saves in goal whilst acknowledgement for her tenacity in attack must go to Scarlett!

The U.13 Bs were expecting a tough game against a well-organised and physical team, and this is what we got. Both sides played excellent hockey during the first half and Daneshill managed to score the first goal. It was pleasing to see that we were trying to play the ball into the midfield more as opposed to hitting everything straight through to the forwards. By half time the score was 1 all. During the second half both teams kept creating chances to score, but despite securing a couple of short corners we were unable to make them count. Daneshill lost the match 2-5 to St Andrews.

The U.10 B girls started well on Wednesday and put pressure on the opposition with an early goal, however St Andrew’s came back quickly with 2 confident goals. This came as a bit of a shock and required us to slow the game down, look up to pass the ball a free player and use the strong wing to drive the ball towards the attacking end. At half time we were drawing 2 all, so we chatted about how more communication and good team work would be the recipe to success. The girls showed their determination and ended the game with 2 excellent goals. A special mention must go to our amazing defensive duo, Sofia Ludlow in goal and Sofia Eben Amine. What a great win!

The Colts C finally got back to winning ways; and in emphatic fashion, too. Ben K and Nicholas T, in particular, were outstanding in attack. Both boys displayed the clinical finishing and the forward drive from midfield that we had been missing in recent weeks, scoring 3 goals and 4 goals each. Meanwhile the defence of Robin R, Henry H, Nick L-S and Harrison C were assured and resolute – the opposition scored from their only shot on target.

But it was perhaps Oscar B’s creativity that was the most pleasing. Oscar played a crucial role in crafting the majority of our opportunities in front of goal, and he did so in such a calm, controlled and composed manner. He combined cute lay-offs with short one-twos and accurate through-balls, encouraging those around him in midfield to surge forwards into the opposition penalty box. This illustrated just how much progress he has made this term – and it was a fitting way to mark his first game as the team’s Co-Captain.

Well done to the boys – a fantastic performance all round after what has been a testing month of fixtures. The result was just-reward for their boundless commitment and hard work.