10th March 2017 Dear Parents, This week has been a busy one in school with two music performances; one a lunchtime recital by our musicians and singers at St Peter’s Church in Petersfield and the other our wonderful Senior Concert last night. A review of the recital follows in this newsletter and a full report on the concert from Mr Williamson will appear in next week’s newsletter. Prep took advantage of the glorious weather on their trip to Beaulieu on Thursday and also joined in with their other KS1 compatriots to celebrate World Book Day. These stories and our other news are shared in the following pages.

Prep trip to Beaulieu: The spring sunshine blazed down on Prep on Thursday as they visited Beaulieu Motor Museum. It was a packed day with a look at all the old cars and bicycles from long ago. The children were a credit to the school as they conducted themselves brilliantly answering all the questions and remembering their manners. This was brought to my attention twice by staff and other visitors. The highlight of our visit was a ride in a 1926 Austin Clifton. Many little faces were beaming

from ear to ear. We finished our day with a ride in an old open topped bus. The sunshine had made all the spring flowers burst open. All the children commented on how beautiful it was. They were not wrong! Helen Fairley

Prep enjoying themselves at the Beaulieu Motor Museum

Early Years Enjoy World Book Day Pupils from Reception, Pre-Prep and Prep had a fun-filled African themed World Book Day. We spent the morning learning all about the various African countries, climates and animals, following up with literacy and numeracy work and colouring African flags. We visited each other’s classrooms to hear our teachers read different stories with an African theme. In the afternoon we all thoroughly enjoyed and African drumming session and chanting the ‘Kye Kye Kule’ song at the tops of our voices! A great day was had by all – Happy World Book Day, one and all! Jane Langdon-Shreeve, Early Years Co-Ordinator

New Fish for Juniors: Our school council members have proudly been to Wyevale Garden centre to select new fish for our fish tank. We chose six new fish in the end and they have all settled into their new home in the junior entrance nicely. We’ve also bought new brightly coloured stones, plants and toys for the fish to enjoy. We are all looking forward to feeding and caring for the fish, not to mention cleaning out the tank! Special thanks to Andy from the estate team for accompanying us. Sarah Hamilton

Charitable Fund Raising: Our Mufti Day in aid of the Rural Refugee Network raised £446.21 and we were delighted to welcome Julia Thistleton-Smith from the charity to an assembly on Wednesday where she was presented with a cheque.

A Save the Children Fund Big Sale will be held at the Petersfield Festival from 6-8th April, 10am-4pm.

Battle of the Bands: Following the Battle of the Bands competition before half-term, please find below a link to the film made by Josh Turnbull. https://youtu.be/tl8eaLeA2pI

Ditcham Park School Lunchtime Concert Tuesday, 7 March 2017-03-07 St Peter’s Church, Petersfield Today’s Lunchtime Concert given by pupils of Ditcham Park School was a joy, as it contained some challenging pieces as well as familiar works. Sophie Landauer played the first movement of Clementi’s Sonata in D major with warmth and neat finger work, but it was a little rhythmically wayward in places.

Margaux Jones-Crampette has written a very evocative piece for piano. It had a real feeling of tranquillity which she conveyed well in her performance. There were two vocal solos. Emma Harris sang Wher’er you walk with great conviction and excellent diction. Her vocal decoration in the repeated section was impressive. Madeline Walker-Moffitt has a rich, creamy voice which she projected well to the

audience. Vivaldi’s Vieni, Vieni was sung superbly with a wide dynamic palette. Sophie Fifield gave a confident performance of Straight no Chaser by Monk.

Ella Gordon, violin, played the slow movement of Vivaldi’s Autumn with love and attention to detail, although the tone could have been a little warmer. There were four choral items in the programme. I loved Dancing Song by Kodaly sung by the Girls’ Choir – it was alert, rhythmic and full of contrasts. A vocal quartet – Emma Harris, Ruby Dice, Madeline Walker-Moffitt and Sophie Fifield –

sang Tears, idle tears by Holst with care, warmth and love. The concert ended with a wonderful surprise, the ever popular Miserere by Allegri. This was given a heartfelt performance from everyone,with the famous top C raising the chancel roof of St Peter’s and giving the audience a truly spine - tingling moment. Wonderful! Ann Pinhey

A Junior Merit Badge has been presented to the following pupils: Ellie Palmer For her continued effort and improvement in her spelling homework. Ethan Smith For his improvement in the content and presentation of his spelling homework. 100% Thomas Wood For his continued excellence in his spelling homework. Miles Barber For a detailed river investigation in Geography. Amelia Mason For always being kind and looking to help others, demonstrating altruistic qualifies. Tom Duddridge For a wonderful presentation in Geography about Argentina – very entertaining. A Merit Certificate for achieving 25 merits has been presented to Becky Davis. A Bronze Merit Certificate and Badge for achieving 50 merits has been presented to: Frederick Knight, Ruby Jones and Iona Brousse. A Silver Merit Certificate and Badge for achieving 75 merits has been presented to Beth Reidy. Very well done everyone.

Staff News Head of Drama: I am sorry to announce that Mrs Yvette Dall’Omo, who has been our Head of Drama since January 2003, will be leaving us at the end of this academic year to take up a position at Portsmouth High School. Yvette has been a great source of inspiration to so many pupils, engendering and developing in them a love of Drama and performing. She has been a key member of the Arts team at the school, putting on a wide range of performances at Arts Evenings, Open Mornings and of course an annual Drama production and GCSE Drama evening. Most recently she has coached pupils to great success at the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival. As well as all this she has found time to have 3 children, including twins, whilst she has been with us and still manages to be a smiling and friendly colleague in the staff room. Interviews are taking place next week for a new Head of Drama and we have been delighted to receive applications from a very strong field of 26 applicants, 8 of whom will be coming in to meet us. We will keep parents informed.

Part-Time Teacher of Physical Education: I am delighted to announce the appointment of Miss Heather Batten as part-time Teacher of PE at the school. Miss Batten comes with an impressive background in international hockey, having been part of the England U21 training squad, as well as a wealth of experience in teaching and coaching. Miss Batten will be joining us from the start of the summer term in April Head of Admissions and Marketing: Following a series of interviews at the school before the half-term holiday, Mrs Mandy Lowe has been appointed as our new Head of Admissions and Marketing, to replace Mrs Street who left us at Christmas. Mrs Lowe will be taking up her new position on the 20th March. New Junior Teacher: Following the decision to move to two parallel Transition classes in September of this year, interviews have been taking place over the last two days for a new Teacher. Once again, we were delighted with the response to our advert and we hope to make an appointment in the next week. Match Reports Tuesday 28th February, U14 Girls’ Hockey v. St. Edmunds (A) Won 3-0 The U14 girls team arrived very excited at the prospect of playing an 11 a-side hockey match on a full sized outdoor astro pitch. They made a great start, displaying excellent attacking skills and a strong team performance that was quite overwhelming for St Edmund’s. Elsa was unlucky hitting the goal post, but she was fundamental in setting up many of the scoring opportunities and in the first ten minutes Tirion had scored a hat trick. Issy was strong in defence and distributed the ball particularly well until, whilst taking a self-pass disaster struck and her knee buckled underneath her and she became injured. All the girls, St Edmund’s staff, Issy’s Mum and Mr and Mrs Landauer were tremendous comforting, supporting and administering remedial first aid in very inclement conditions, whilst waiting for the ambulance and paramedics to arrive. Issy was an amazing patient, showing true bravery whilst nursing a very painful and traumatic injury and I am pleased to report that she is making pleasing progress in her recovery. Well done everyone, this really does highlight what an excellent team you all are! Mrs Kennard

Wednesday 8th March, U11 Rugby v. Churcher’s Juniors (A) On Wednesday the 8th March, a select band of 8 Uppers went to Churcher’s to take on the U11 squad. A fantastic display from captain Will Goldman combined with determination from Matty Saunders and Seb Hopkins, flying raids from the speedy Theo Cable, good handling skills from Guy Wiggans and Freddie Lock, intelligent link up play from Josh Bardoe and barnstorming tries from man of the match Joseph Handley saw them run out 35-10 winners. Well done to all! Thursday 9th March, U15 Rugby v. Meoncross, Home On Thursday the 9th March the Ditcham U15 Rugby squad took on a very physical Meoncross side. Ditcham struggled to match the aggression of their opponents in the first half and a couple of costly handling errors saw them four tries down at the break. The second half was a different story with the boys in resurgent mood. Five tries brought some better news on the scorecard and the boys were well drilled and

disciplined. The final score of 26-48 was a fair result but the boys restored some pride by winning the second half. Mr Vaudrey Thursday 9th March, U12 & U13 Netball v. Mayville, Away On Thursday the 9th of March the U12 and U13 girls travelled to Mayville school for their penultimate match of the season. The U13s started well with the first quarter finishing fairly even. However, the Ditcham girls had to work hard to hold off Mayville’s attack, a few costly handling errors from our girls allowed Mayville to extend their lead. Despite the final score the U13s can be proud of their perseverance and effort right up to the final whistle. The score finished Ditcham 5 to Mayville’s 24. The opposition awarded Sacha Fairweather as player of the match for her lovely defensive play. The U12s started strongly with some excellent shooting from Jazzy Hugh and Eleanor Boswell. Defensively, Hebe Parrot and Becky Davis managed to hold off Mayville’s attack leaving the score line 6-1 to Ditcham at the end of the first quarter. The U12s continued to demonstrate a solid performance with the girls increasing their lead through each quarter. The score finished Ditcham 20 to Mayville’s 7. The opposition awarded Jazzy Hugh as player of the match. A lovely afternoon in beautiful sunshine, well done girls. Miss Mayell Fixtures week beginning Monday 13th March Tuesday 14th U14 Netball v. The Royal School (A) Wednesday 15th U11 Rugby v. Sherfield School (A) U10 Rugby v. Sherfield School (H) U11 Netball v. PHS (A) Thursday 16th U9/U10 Girls’ Hockey v. Highfield School (H) Forthcoming Events Monday 13th March 4.00-6.30pm: DofE Bronze Expedition Planning (Practice

Expedition) Groups 1 & 2, ICT Suite. Tuesday 14th March 4.00-6.30pm: DofE Bronze Expedition Planning (Practice

Expedition) Groups 3 & 4, ICT Suite. Wednesday 15th March Form 3 depart for Ypres (return Friday 17th March).

4.00-6.30pm: DofE Bronze Expedition Planning (Practice Expedition) Groups 5 & 6, ICT Suite.

7.00pm: Form 5 GCSE Revision Evening, South Downs Hall Thursday 16th March 4.00pm: Form 5 GCSE Art Workshop 7.00pm: FDPS Committee Meeting, Library Friday 17th March 8.45-10.00am: Head of Juniors Drop-In Morning in the Small Hall – all welcome. Junior Talent Show (internal) Saturday 18th March 9.00-4.00pm: DofE Canoeing training at Cobnor (weather

dependent)

Don’t forget the Junior Head Teacher’s Drop-in morning on 17th March from 0845 in the Small Hall

Piano seeks new home: This year the School is planning to replace the baby grand piano in the Small Hall, to enable the pupils to get the best possible experience they can from playing it and, of course, to allow Ms Cox and others to provide our choirs and pupils at assemblies with accompaniment that complements their performances and enhances the audience’s experience. Mr Williamson will be looking into the various options over coming weeks; however, if you have a baby grand that you no longer play or have room for then please contact Mr Williamson via the School Office to discuss any possibilities of rehoming or purchase. We were very fortunate to be gifted the current piano, a beautiful piece of furniture, but sadly no longer appropriate for group performances. However, it is possible that in the home environment it could provide many hours of entertainment and a fabulous introduction to a performance piece. We wonder therefore if any of our pupils, parents, or their extended families, would like to give the old piano a new home? There would of course be no cost, save that incurred in removing it from Ditcham to the new location. If you are interested, please contact the School Office no later than Friday 17th March.

The Juniors will be raising money for Red Nose Day on 24 March - pay £1 come to school in red mufti and bring some extra coins to buy a delicious treat from Key Stage One’s cake stall.

We hope you all have a very enjoyable weekend. Rob Connolly Helen Parrott Head Teacher Head of Juniors

DofE Bronze Navigation Groups enjoying their expedition at the weekend