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Published by Danielle Wilkinson, 2019-03-12 17:03:03

Ditcham Newsletter Spring

Ditcham Newsletter Spring

DITCHAM Spring
PARK SCHOOL 2018:
Edition 2

Front Page - Image Led
Headline - Academic Success

SPRING
NEWSLETTER

2018

www.ditchampark.com

SPRING EDITION 2018

Headmaster’s Welcome

The Autumn Term saw the introduction of an exciting STEM programme and a new House
System. There were many memorable events including the official opening of the new
junior classrooms by Clive Myrie. It was an outstanding term for our performing and
creative arts and our sportsmen and women enjoyed much success.

Academic Appointments:

Laura Hoad joined the School in September as Head of Science. She had been Head
of Physics and STEM at Bohunt School where her enthusiasm and talent were recognised
by being nominated for the ‘Most Dedicated Teacher’ award by STEMNet which led
to an invitation to meet the Secretary of State for Education at Westminster, London.
Lana Couzens joins the Science Department in January from Bohunt School
where she taught all three Sciences to GCSE level. Lana was awarded an academic
scholarship to University College London where she studied Genetics. She went
on to achieve a Master’s Degree in Biology.
Stacey Boyland returns in January as a part time Science Teacher after a period
of maternity leave.
Susie Wey joined the School in September as Head of Drama. She had been Head
of Drama at Midhurst Rother College where she enjoyed a great deal of success
as a Drama teacher and as Director of School productions.
Lucy O’ Loughlin joined the School in September as a part time teacher of Latin and
English. She has enjoyed a varied and enjoyable career as a Teacher of English in China
and then as a solicitor. More recently she has taught English at South Downs College.
Kirstin Witte joined the School in September as a new Transition teacher. After graduating
with a Master’s Degree from the University of Glasgow, Kirstin moved south and after
completing a Post Graduate Certificate in Education at University College Chichester
she worked in Primary Schools in Portsmouth and Havant. Kirstin has brought an interest
and expertise in teaching Maths to Juniors and she is also a STEM leader.

W W W. D I T C H A M PA R K . C O M

STEM at Ditcham New House System

All pupils have been involved in our new STEM Our new House System started on the first day of
programme. This programme is designed to provide our the Autumn Term with each pupil being allocated
pupils with opportunities to learn new skills, knowledge to one of four Houses all named after a local
and understanding in Science, Technology, Engineering village – Buriton, Chalton, Harting & Nyewood.
and Maths. Pupils in Juniors have undertaken STEM
related projects and pupils in Forms 1 – 3 have received The aim of the new House System is to provide
discrete STEM lessons which have involved learning how more opportunities for pupils to get involved in
to code using Lego Mindstorm robots and building the sport, academic activities and the creative arts
Greenpower challenge car. as well as to provide opportunities to ‘connect
with the community’. The inter house tug of
It was pleasing to see a good number of parents attend war in September was a loud and raucous affair,
our first ‘Breakfast Lecture’ which was delivered by followed by the more intellectual Spelling Bee
David Smith who is a Futureologist. His message to competition in October and November. The final
parents who attended the Breakfast Lecture and to all event was an inter house Singing Competition
pupils was clear. Technology is having and will continue which took place on the penultimate day of term
to have a profound impact on the way we live and work. and was judged by former pupil Tom Baynes who
The Breakfast Lecture next term will be delivered by Craig is now studying music at university in London.
Fenton who is a Director at Google UK and plans are
being made for a STEM Fair in the Summer.

SPRING EDITION 2018

Juniors

New Junior Classrooms

Clive Myrie, foreign correspondent and BBC newsreader, officially opened
our new Junior Classrooms on 20th September. After a busy morning talking
to Juniors and Seniors in separate assemblies and running workshops on
journalism, Clive Myrie addressed an assembled audience of junior pupils, staff,
parents and Governors outside the entrance to the new Junior Classrooms. This
school is just like Hogwarts he said; ‘no it isn’t’ came a reply from a young boy
in Reception ‘Its Ditcham’. A laughing Clive Myrie had to agree! The school was
delighted that Clive Myrie was able to officially open the new classrooms which
have been described as the ‘best in the school.’ A short report on Clive Myrie’s
visit made by Form 5 pupils can be found on the website.
In November, Clive Myrie hosted a visit to the BBC’s
Broadcasting House in London. Eight pupils from
Forms 3-5 were met by Clive Myrie and Reeta
Chakrabarti who gave them a personalised tour
of the BBC’s news room which is the largest in
the world. The highlight of the day was watching
and listening to the director as the BBC One
O’clock News went out live with Reeta Chakrabarti.

W W W. D I T C H A M PA R K . C O M

Children In Need

Everyone in Juniors had a jolly good time on the 17th
November 2017 raising money for Children in Need.
The fantastic caterers provided a wonderful Pudsey
themed lunch and cakes were donated by them to sell for
additional charity funds. Even some of the parents from
Key Stage 1 enjoyed lunch with us. Well done to all for
raising money but also to the catering team who made it
that little bit more special.

Hooke Court, Nativity
& Carols in the Quad

In October Uppers spent a week on a residential trip to
Hooke Court in Somerset where they enjoyed a variety of
educational activities.
In December, Juniors took part in Carols in the Quad and
Reception, Pre Prep and Prep performed an accomplished
version of the Nativity play in the Court Theatre.

SPRING EDITION 2018

Trip to Salamanca

In October pupils from Forms 3, 4
and 5 enjoyed an educational visit
to Salamanca in Spain.

Seniors

Art Success

Congratulations to our artists for success at the Independent
Schools Association (ISA) Regional and National Art Exhibitions.

Ceramic mushrooms by Ed Braithwaite (Form 4) in the Key Stage
4 3D category
Photographic work by Ella Ponsonby, Hattie Wood and Qetsiah
Joachim-Baggott (Form 1) in the Key Stage 2 group work category.
Chameleon by Daisy Pattinson (Middles) in the Key Stage 2 category
Painting of the Big Bad Wolf by Matthew Dobby (Reception)
in Reception category

This is an excellent achievement by our pupils and
our Art Department; the result of talented pupils
taught and encouraged by talented teachers.

Shakespeare by Heart

During November the corridors and classrooms resonated with words from the
Bard as pupils in Forms 1-4 rehearsed their Shakespeare by Heart monologues.
Performances in the finals were outstanding.
Congratulations go to Benedict Ellett, the overall winner and recipient of the
Shakespearian Scholar Award. Cathy Verghese – Head of English.

W W W. D I T C H A M PA R K . C O M

Performing Arts

This has been an outstanding term for the Performing Arts:

In October the Ditcham Senior Chamber Choir and Girls’ Choir presented a programme of classical music at St. Peter’s
Church, Petersfield, on a Tuesday lunchtime to a delighted audience of parents, grandparents and friends of the church.
To start, the choir sang Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus with calm poise and sincerity. Two pieces of Handel were sung, one
in two parts by the choir, and another, ‘Silent Worship’ as a solo by Olivia Henderson, who sings with a pure, bright tone.
Sophie Fifield was also outstanding, singing a solo, ‘Domine Deus’ by Vivaldi with beautiful clarity and musical phrasing.
Benedict Ellett sang ‘Linden Lee’ by Vaughan Williams which was a very well executed performance from memory.

Weaving in and out of the choral pieces, including Faure’s ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’, young instrumentalists from within
the choirs entertained us too. Iona Brousse and Madeline Walker Moffitt on the violin, Sophie Landauer on piano and Hebe
Parrott on cornet, displayed their talents as soloists, with a lovely balance of well selected pieces. A quintet of girls from
Form 4, Stella Hopkins, Ella Gordon, Lily Lyon, Olivia Henderson and Lucy Stuart sang a haunting folk song arrangement
of ‘O Waly Waly’ which showcased each girl’s beautiful voice in turn – a piece which was complimented greatly by several
members of the audience. The choir finished off the lunchtime concert with a rendition
of ‘Panis Angelicus’ by Franck, and to close, John Rutter’s ‘Gaelic Blessing’.
The students who performed this relaxing, meditative music should
be very proud of this lovely concert, presented so early on in the
year, with such panache.

Ed Williamson – Head of Music

The Junior and Senior Choirs performed brilliantly at the Harvest
Festival Service in October, at the Service of Remembrance
in November and at our end of term Carol Service. Our Junior
Musicians performed really well at the Carols in the Quad.

SPRING EDITION 2018

On 8th November the school experienced another enjoyable
evening of musical performances by our pupils from Form
1 to 5. 19 of our senior guitarists and singers (and drummer)
put on a wonderfully varied programme ranging from the
composers Villa Lobos and Terraga to bands such as The
Troggs, Blackstreet and Guns ‘n’ Roses. We also heard four
own compositions by Madeline Walker-Moffitt, James Curry,
Luca Davidson and ‘Bonsai’, our 5th year band!

There were some very memorable performances - every
performer deserves a mention: Joshua Bardoe, Jacob
Jones, Harry Soden-Bridger, Max Neave, Becky Davis,
Joseph Reidy, Alexander Baker, Ethan Leighton, Freddie
Knight, Jackson Cozens, Zachary Davidson, Augustine
Whiting, Joshua Chant, Luca Davidson, Charlie Guimaraens,
James Curry, Alex Neave, Madeline Walker-Moffitt, Niamh
Robinson, and Abbie Beaumont. Congratulations to all of them!

Ed Williamson – Head of Music

Save the Children Concert

On 1st December 26 senior pupils took part in another big musical event outside of school, singing to a large audience
of parents, staff and pupils from Ditcham, TPS, Bedales and Churcher’s College at the twelfth ‘Save the Children Concert’.
As always, Ditcham Park did themselves immensely proud performing a varied programme involving members of the
Senior Choirs. There were some accomplished solos by Olivia Henderson and Benedict Ellett who sang a verse each in
the beautiful version of ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter’ by Harold Darke. This year we also showcased two of our 5th year pupils,
Charlie Guimaraens on the classical guitar and James Curry singing one of his own compositions. Both played and sang
exceptionally well, full of confidence and charm. Well done to all four of our soloists. I would also like to thank Luca
Davidson for accompanying the choir in one of the pieces with the Head of Music of Churcher’s College, Mrs Helen
Purchase, at the piano. At the end of the concert, after all four schools had performed, they joined forces to sing ‘Hark
The Herald’ and ‘White Christmas’ accompanied by the TPS Jazz band.

It was a most enjoyable and entertaining evening, even more so by the havoc caused by Mr Williamson amongst the
microphones, and all done for a fantastic cause. Well done to all involved! Thank you to all the parents and staff who
attended, your support is greatly appreciated.

Ed Williamson – Head of Music

W W W. D I T C H A M PA R K . C O M

The Tempest

On 20th November the cast and crew of The Tempest made their way to
The Capitol Theatre in Horsham for a splendidly exciting day of final rehearsals
and performance for The Shakespeare Schools Festival 2017. The cast got the
opportunity to work with two professional directors from The National Youth
Theatre who guided them through their technical and dress rehearsals in the
morning and gave them last minute feedback to enable them to fully polish their
performances. What a performance it was! From start to finish the cast worked
together with huge skill and commitment to give the ‘ensemble’ performance they
had been aiming to give with energy, passion and real professionalism whilst Sophie
Bond and Jethro Wilkinson operated the lighting and sound from the tech box.

Susie Wey – Head of Drama

Sports

It has also been a good term for
our sportsmen and women. Our
U11 and U13 footballers won their
respective leagues. The U15’s narrowly
missed out on winning their league title. Our footballers in
juniors demonstrated considerable talent in tournaments.

Our U8s and U9s football teams recorded a notable win
against Churcher’s. Not to be outdone by the boys, our
U8s and U9s netball teams also recorded victories against
Churcher’s this term. Our athletes performed very well at
various cross country events this term which included the
Butser Hill Challenge as well as the District and County
Schools Championships.

SPRING EDITION 2018

Autumn Term Events

Open Morning

On 7th October a successful Open
Morning took place. Interest in

Ditcham Park School is growing and
our numbers are increasing.

Harvest Festival Halloween Party

On 27th September the School gathered On 19th October the school looked
in the Martyn Price Building to celebrate spooky as bats flew outside the small
Harvest Festival. Thank you for all your hall, ghosts drifted along the drive and
generous donations - the fresh produce
glowing pumpkins greeted parents
was donated to the Leigh Park Food as they arrived. The FDPS Halloween
Bank and the non-perishable foods were Party was once again a great success!.

donated to Home Start Butser.

Christmas Fayre

On 2nd December the FDPS organised
Christmas Fayre took place. This was
one of the most successful fayres in

recent memory.

Awards Evening Carol Service

On 13th November we invited our The Term finished on a high note literally
Leaver’s back to celebrate their as the Junior and Senior Choir sang
success at the Awards Evening.
beautifully at the Carol Service which took
Service of Remembrance place at St James’ Church, Emsworth.

At 11.00am on Friday 10th November the bell in the school tower
sounded to mark a two minute silence as part of our whole school
Service of Remembrance. This was a serious yet uplifting occasion as
the whole school came together to remember and reflect on the sacrifice
made by service men and women in the service of their country.

Two days later on Remembrance Sunday Deputy Head Boy, Matthew
Bryan and Deputy Head Girl, Izzy Bryan, and the Headmaster represented
the School at the Remembrance Sunday Service in Petersfield. Matthew
and Izzy laid a wreath at the foot of the war memorial along with
representatives from the armed forces, police and other schools.

W W W. D I T C H A M PA R K . C O M

DofE & Cycling Club

A total of 46 DofE Awards were presented
in the Autumn Term (36 Bronze, 8 Silver
and 2 Gold). Pupils selected activities
for the Volunteering, Skills and Physical
sections. They completed a first aid
course (led by Ian Forbes from Bear
Grylls Expedition Team) and learnt
how to cook on a gas ‘Trangia’ stove.
The Road Cycling Club have taken part in
weekly Sunday morning training rides, the
‘Two-Ferries Ride’ and the ‘New Forest Ride’.

Sub Aqua

Some of our pupils have taken the opportunity to learn how to Scuba Dive.
They have already learnt how to use and connect their kit and how to
breathe under water and read their gauges.

SPRING EDITION 2018

Connect with the Community MPN Voice
MPN is a rare form of blood cancer. This
One of the School’s Aims is to ‘Connect with the Community’. charity researches and investigates the causes
Charity work plays an important part in achieving this aim. and treatments which will benefit those afflicted
Each House has adopted a House charity for this academic by MPN. This was the chosen charity for the Carol Service
year and in addition the school supported the following collection to support Form 1 pupil Tom Duddridge who swam 20
charities over the Autumn Term: miles in the Taro Leisure Centre pool (1,288 lengths) over half term
to raise money to help his friend who is suffering from MPN. Tom
Rowans Hospice has raised £2,800 with his justgiving account.
Over the autumn half-term an incredible number of Ditcham
pupils and parents took part in the Rowans Hospice Starlit Additional charities we have raised money for:
Walk to raise funds for this incredible local hospice. In excess ABSAR Barbuda Relief Fund
of 50 participants from our school laughed and nattered Children in Need
around the 3 mile course, delighting in the views of the Save the Children
Historic Dockyard at night. Team UnLimbeted
Canine Partners
Everest Challenge Dreams Come True
This was a cycling challenge organised by former pupil Joel
Hawkins and Mark Heffernan in September to raise money
for Holly Budge’s charity ‘How Many Elephants’.

Former Pupils

We congratulate former pupil Floss Willcocks who left Ditcham Park School in
2015 for achieving 4A* A level grades this Summer and for gaining a place at
Cambridge University where she is studying Natural Science.

Past pupil Al Murison is a semi-pro racing cyclist currently with the
“Trek-Red Truck Racing” team (“Equipe EMI” and “Bikeshed UEX”
teams). Al was an exceptionally keen and talented member
of Ditcham Cycling Club and he made a nostalgic visit to school
to cycle with our top road cyclists on a ‘club run’.

W W W. D I T C H A M PA R K . C O M


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