Ditcham Newsletter - Friday 20th October 2023

Ditcham Newsletter - Friday 20th October 2023 Dear Parents

The Autumn half term has come around quickly after a very busy seven weeks. Our Spanish students returned from their trip earlier this week and it certainly seemed to be an action-packed experience - the staff will write up a full report for you after half term, but we have put up a social media post this week with a few pictures to give you a taster of what they got up to.

There have been plenty of spooky goings on around school this week as the Juniors prepared for their Halloween Disco yesterday afternoon. The South Downs Hall was transformed magnificently by our Friends of Ditcham Park volunteers, ready for the fun and there were an unusual amount of ghouls, ghosts, witches and zombies seen walking around the school after our Halloween-themed lunch (eyeballs, worms and spiders were on the menu which tasted a lot better than they sounded!)

Wishing you all a restful Half Term break and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 6th November

Best wishes Graham Spawforth Headmaster

Junior Merit Winners

Congratulations to all the Junior merit winners for this week!

Senior Headmasters Award Congratulations to William M-R (Y10) for receiving the most achievement points last week and gaining a Headmaster's Award.

Music Results Well done to Harry I (Y7) for passing his Rockschool Grade 5 Electric Guitar with 78%.

Dragonflies

Creation Station Fun! We were really excited to welcome the Creation Station to Dragonflies this week. After exploring their treasure chest, the children then took part in creating a beautiful under sea picture using hand prints, bubble-wrap for printing and watery paints to make the sea. The results were fantastic and the children really worked hard to listen to the instructions and copy the designs.

Dragonflies also had a lot of fun taking part in spooky-themed activities including the Halloween Disco - everyone enjoyed dancing and pretending to be Zombies with the DJ. We definitely need a week or two to recover now...

Have a good half term and we can't wait to see you after the break!

Mrs Harding & Claire

Juniors

Pre-Prep Tickling Their Senses in Science This week Pre-Prep have been learning about their senses in Science. They went on a senses walk around the grounds to use their sense of sight, smell, hearing and touch. They saw the trees, hills and the sea. They smelt the herbs, heard the lawnmower, and touched the tree bark.

Back in the classroom they planned and designed their own fruit kebab, using a two or three step repeating pattern. Then they made their kebab and used their sense of taste when eating it! They then evaluated the process, thinking carefully if there was anything they could change to improve it.

In Art, the children carefully did a Still Life drawing of a pineapple which was one of the fruits from the book Handa’s Surprise. They learnt that a Still Life drawing is of an object that does not move, and they used their pencils lightly adding colour with crayons to create some very effective drawings.

Mrs Somerville and Anna

Prep Get Cooking Prep enjoyed a DT filled day on Wednesday. We all enjoyed working with Tracey to follow a recipe to make space rock cakes. We discussed the importance of hygiene when cooking, weights and measures and also made predictions about what might happen when our biscuits were baked. We particularly enjoyed a little sprinkling of edible glitter to make it all the more authentic!

Our other DT activity was designing and making a blow up alien. We talked about how to join different materials and also how we could make the alien pop up. We had lots of fun introducing our new characters to each other!

Freeze Frame Fun for Uppers This week in English, Uppers have been working on the text ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Docherty. On Monday pupils had to think about whether they thought Mr Spink was right or wrong to kick the Jarvis family out of their rented room. In groups of five the pupils had to choose a scene from chapter 2 to portray using 'freeze frame'. They had to think about a caption for their freeze frame, for example 'No rent, no room...' or 'The Stick Man arrives.' Pupils then showed their freeze frame to the rest of the class and discussed the ways that they had portrayed how the members of the family were feeling. They produced some great drama!

Mr Ainsworth and Mrs Mothersele

May The Force Be With Transition!

This term in Science Transition have been learning about forces and magnets. Their topic culminated in the design of a magnet game using all of their new knowledge. There were lots of great ideas including magnetic fishing, racing and even water games. We were so impressed with the creativity and effort that Transition put into their work! On Tuesday the children set their games up and PrePrep came down to see what we had built and have a go at playing them all. Lots of fun was had by all and it was a fantastic way for Transition to showcase their learning this term. Well done everyone!

Mrs Newton and Mr Livingston

Middles MISSION ZERO Middles have been hard at work on ‘Mission Zero’. Their mission was to brighten up the daily routine of the astronauts on the International Space Station by sending them a personalised image (or series of images) to remind the astronauts of home. The theme for Mission Zero 23/24 is ‘flora and fauna’ so the images could represent any aspect of this theme such as flowers, trees, animals or insects.

Pupils were also tasked with taking a reading from the colour and luminosity sensor on board, using the Astro Pi computer’s sense HAT. The sensor reading was then used to set the colour of the backgrounds in their personalised images. Using Python, they wrote code to send their thoughtful messages and coloured images to the astronauts. Each team’s program was submitted and, when received in space, will be acknowledged by letting the teams know where exactly in space the ISS was when their message was read.

Jane & Kerry

Spook-Tacular Fun at the Halloween Disco!

All the Juniors thoroughly enjoyed the Halloween Disco this week - lots of fun music and games and some very gruesome-themed (but very yummy!) food for lunch too.

Thank you so much to Chris and his team for making such a fun lunch and a huge thanks to Tess, Tanya and all the amazing volunteers of the FDPS who gave up their time to make up party bags and decorate the South Downs Hall ready for the fun and games. Its safe to say that everyone had a lot of fun

Seniors

Day of Dead DT Designs Year 10 have been researching the Day of the Dead celebrations this term, looking at traditions, images and colours associated with this annual event. As a project pupils have then made a day of the dead themed pillow which incorporated a range of skills.

Pupils have learnt about different stitching techniques, quality control, graphic design and methods of transferring images.

We are all really proud of their work!

James Hoad Head of D&T

Delicious DT Designs Year 8 have been completing a product design unit this half term. They have been making an original snack bar from start to finish, including background research, looking at lettering, gaining feedback using digital tools, and choosing a suitable name. There has also been a lot of graphic design work going into their final products which are coming along well! We look forward to seeing these completed soon, and possibly some examples to taste test from anyone makes wants to make a final product at home!

Well done Year 8!

James Hoad Head of D&T

Senior Guitar Concert The Music Department are delighted to invite you to their Senior Guitar Concert on Wednesday 22nd November at 6.30pm in the South Downs Hall. There will be a variety of performances on different guitars from rock to pop and classical to acoustic. Entry is free and there will be refreshments served from 6pm.

Please do come along and support the children, they've been practising hard for this and we have some very talented musicians! Mark Knopfler beware....

From the Music Department

Sports News

Great South Run Sunday provided the perfect weather for people to take to the streets of Portsmouth for the Great South Run and the mini-series. We had a few members of the Ditcham Community out there including Oliver C completing his second Juniors 2.5Km race, shaving an impressive 2 minutes off his personal best.

Well done to all who took part, please do share your photos and stories if you or your children were out there taking part.

Ditcham duo selected for Hampshire Year 10 students Megan H and Charlotte B have recently been selected for the Hampshire U15 Hockey squad. This is an outstanding opportunity and both girls had to go through a rigorous selection process to get picked. Megan will be playing her second year of Hampshire hockey and Charlotte will be making her well deserved debut. Huge Congratulations to both of you!

Mr Walton

Up Coming Sports Fixtures We have a couple of big sports fixtures in the calendar for our first week back. Do come along and support the teams if you can!

Please take a look at the table to see what fixtures are being played and where they are (note: most of them are away

Many thanks The PE Department

Notices and Events

Flu Immunisation Programme We will be hosting the School Age Immunisation Team at school on 6th November. Please make sure you have completed the electronic consent form before the system closes on the 4th November. You can complete it by scanning the QR code on the image.

Music Department Updates!

Please note, there is a change to rehearsals for our Concert and Jazz Bands after Half Term: •

Jazz Group will meet on Thursdays at 3pm

•

Concert Band will meet on Fridays at 3pm

Rehearsals will take place in the Music Room. Please make sure your child is aware if they play in one of these.

Rogate Pumpkin Patch Half Term Fun Come along to Rogate Pumpking Patch this half term with your children - we have grown our activities to suit babies up to older children all in the safety of our home farm. For more information please visit our website. We hope to see you!

Local Charity Christmas Fair!

I've said it.... I've mentioned the 'C' word in October.... But this is a charity event NOT to miss. Come along to the beautiful Tithe Barn at the bottom of our North Drive on 7th and 8th November (the week we return from Half Term) from 9am to 4pm and grab a couple of early christmas presents in aid of a very good cause. Run by volunteers from our own Ditcham Community, the Watoto Trust runs and supports an orphanage in Kenya for children who have lost their parents to Aids. All profits from the fair go straight to the orphanage. No need to dig out the christmas jumper or dust off the tinsel just yet, but come along and get ahead of the christmas rush.

Spooky Half Term Performing Arts Workshops!

Stage Coach are running some drama workshops over half term for children aged 5-16 years at Crookhorn College, PO7 5UD. For more information and to book, please visit the Stage Coach website

Half Term Holiday Club!

Looking for a holiday club for the upcoming Half Term break? Look no further! Active8 Minds are holding three days of sport and creative fun for Ditcham children here at school. Prices £24pp and £20 for siblings. Book using the QR code on the poster or email bookings@active8minds.co.uk

Adventure Race at Ditcham Park The popular Questars Adventure Race Series is coming to Ditcham on Saturday 11th November.

There are options to run, bike or run and bike over a scenic trail route. You can enter as a team or

individually and you can even borrow a bike if you don't have one suitable for the terrain! For Ditcham staff, pupils and parents they are offering a 20% discount on entry fees. For more information, visit the Questars website