23rd January 2015 Dear Parents, We have seen some beautiful winter frosts and sunshine this week enabling us to enjoy our lovely surroundings. School is settling down and as always I am pleased to update you on our activities this week, as well as providing information on forthcoming events. Firstly an apology: in last week’s Newsletter I reported on the end of term Carol Service but Chloe Smith, our Drama Captain, who did one of the readings was omitted. Apologies to Chloe. CONGRATULATIONS A Merit Certificate has been presented to Sophie Fifield. A Bronze Merit Certificate and Badge has been presented to Sophie Landauer. Head Teacher’s Awards have been presented to: Emma Harris and Cleodie Sellick for an outstanding literary essay. Margaux Jones-Crampette, Jackson Smith, Sophie Turner, Lobke Wevers, Edward Braithwaite, Scarlett Clough, Ryan Cooke and Leah Rymer for outstanding sketchbook work. Year Five Mathematics Challenge: On Monday four children from Middle Juniors (Hebe Parrott, Issy Bluestone, Wilf Moore and Frankie Powell) were invited to Portsmouth Grammar school to take part in a Primary Maths Challenge; this particular challenge was just open for children in Year 5. We were ushered into the theatre at PGS where we saw it was filled with lots of other children. 27 other schools in the area were also asked to take part. In pairs we joined up with three other pairs of children and over the course of the afternoon, we had to complete eight challenges. They ranged from reading train timetables, completing tangrams and even playing dominoes! They were pretty hard and we were marked after each section. The scores were collected after each challenge. At the end of the afternoon, the scores were announced; we didn’t win, but we didn’t embarrass ourselves either! We had a really good time, but by the end of the afternoon our brains were hurting! The children represented Ditcham Park very well and I was very proud of them. Miss Blackey Duke of Edinburgh Award: Bronze Awards: Amy Braithwaite, Rebecca Ingall-Tombs, Lewis Knott Silver Awards: Hannah Fearn, George Clare, Kai Rogers Gold Award: Jaspar Rogers Silver DofE Night Navigation Challenge. On Friday evening Form 5 pupils braved the cold and used their compasses and maps to navigate round a remote common in the dark to find 10 checkpoints! The exercise is meant to mimic poor visibility and to force dependence on the use of pacings and compass bearings. With a moon-less sky, the teams certainly experienced poor visibility! Not only did each team have to work together to find the checkpoints, but they also had to answer multiple choice questions about navigation and then put the answer letters together to solve the anagram. Mid-way through the evening, the teams cooked a meal on a Trangia stove by torchlight. Congratulations to: Poppy Beaumont, Ellie Marks, Hannah Sellick, Olivia Bicknell, Olivia Sprackling, Floss Willcocks, India Eastwood, Indi Rowley, Lauren Soden-Bridger, Izzy Gordon, Molly Bowles, Ella Guimaraens, Clarisse Murphy, Holly Symonds, Millie Clough, Sorcha Smith, Stuart Levitt, Dan May, Matthew Fifield, Adam Dixon, Myles Reiss-Bidmead, Michael Farrell, Lewis Knott, Will Prior, George Roland, Sebby Bluestone, James Shirley, Joe Chapman, Simon Main, and Ollie Stockley. Our thanks go to Ditcham DofE Instructors Richard Rainbow (ML) who devised the course, Paul Flint (ML), John Mottershead and Paul Milner (both Silver DofE Instructors) for giving up their time to set out the course and supervise the teams. New Arrangements for School Trips With effect from next Monday 26th January, we are introducing a new way for parents to give permission for children to take part in school trips. You will still be emailed a letter for every trip that is planned giving details of the arrangements, but instead of having a slip at the bottom for you to sign and return, you will need to log on to the school website Parent Information\Parents’ Area where you will see a link in Red called “DPS Trip Authorisation Form” which will take you to a screen like the one below. From here you will simply need to select the appropriate trip, type in your child’s name followed by your name and the date, and then press Submit. We believe this will simplify matters for you and reduce the need for paper copies coming back to school. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter. Sports News Match Results: U13 Netball v. Meoncross School U11 Boys’ Hockey v. Churcher’s A U11 Boys’ Hockey v. Churcher’s B U11 Boys’ Hockey v. Dunhurst Lost Drew Won Won 4-6 1-1 2-0 3-0 U15 Netball v. Frensham Heights U11 Rugby v. Mayville U11 Netball v.Meoncross U9 Mixed Hockey v. Dunhurst U14/U15 Table Tennis v. Meoncross U13 Netball v. Bohunt Won Lost Lost Won Won Lost 24-13 1-6 4-6 39-9 10-33 Next Week’s Fixtures: 26th January U9 Rugby v. Alton Convent (H) U12 Netball v. TPS (H) 27th January U14 & U15 Football v. Frensham Heights (A) 28th January U12 & U13 Girls’ Hockey v. Dunhurst (A) U12 Football v. Dunhurst (H) 29th January U12 & U13 Netball v. Frensham Heights (H) U12 & U13 Football v. Frensham Heights (H) U14 Indoor Football v. Meoncross (H) th 30 January U16 Tabletennis v. Meoncross (H) Senior Hockey Club : Please note that the start time of the Seniors’ Hockey Club at Bedales has been changed from next Monday and will now run between 6:15-7:15pm on the astro pitch. Hockey News – County Players JAC U13-U16: We have 5 senior girls who have reached the final assessment for Hampshire JAC squad this weekend: Ella Saunders (U13), Ella Welch (U14), Lobke Wever (U15), Christine Roberts (U15) and Indi Rowley (U16). The girls have all done so well to get this far, selected from over 300 girls in their age groups from all over Hampshire. The final County team will be chosen this weekend from the remaining 30 girls in each age group. Good luck to all our girls involved. Mrs Rowley Congratulations to Harry Sage who recently competed in a race organised by the Hampshire Schools’ Athletics Association finishing 27th out of 90 (4th for South East Hants) and with his team finishing 4th overall. Forthcoming Events: Bronze DofE Day Hike: Good luck to all pupils who are taking part in the Day Hike on Saturday 24th January. Burns Night Ceilidh: The Friends’ Burns Night celebrations are on Saturday 24th January at The Tithe Barn. I look forward to seeing you there. Form 2 Parents’ Evening: This is on Tuesday 27th January, 6:00-9:00pm. Please make sure that your child has completed an appointments sheet for you. Form 1 Entrance Exam This is taking place on Wednesday 28th January. Please note that there will be a lot of extra traffic on site at the beginning and end of the day. The whole of the front area of the school will be kept clear for visitors and we would ask that you respect this arrangement and drop off/pick up children in other areas on this day. Thank you for your co-operation Lower Juniors visit: On Wednesday 28th January our Lower Juniors will be enjoying a trip to the Search Museum in Gosport. Battle of the Bands: On Friday 30th January the Seniors will be holding the hotly contested, and much anticipated, Battle of the Bands competition. This will run in school from 1:30-3:00pm with pupils returning to normal lessons in Period 8. I hope that you and your families will have an enjoyable weekend. Andrew Rowley Head Teacher