​DCPS Matters

Issue 15
​29th March 2017

Headmaster's News

Inspection
Our inspection report will be available around the middle of next term for you all to read.  I can tell you that we are all very pleased with the outcome and I really would like to thank the staff and pupils for pulling out all of the stops and making sure that everything went so well.

Activities Morning Invitations
Included in the paperwork that is sent home at the end of term you will find an invitation for each of your children to pass on to someone they know, inviting them to come to our activities morning next term.  We would be very grateful for your support in this matter.

Mandarin Chinese Club
This club runs on Thursday afternoons from 1615 – 1715 and is open to adults as well as children.  The sessions will be exploring Chinese culture and will include opportunities to sample traditional dishes.  Please see Mrs Shanley for further details.

Drama Lessons
From next term I will be covering the drama lessons from Year 3 – Year 6.  I studied English and drama for my degree and have directed several plays in the past (although I shall be leaving this to Mrs Beetham here!).  Mrs Fenton will be covering the games and PE lessons in the Pre-school.  We are extremely fortunate to have a teacher’s assistant like Mrs Fenton who is also a fully qualified teacher.  Her experience, both in the classroom and as a sportswoman, make her ideally suited to cover these lessons.

Bangers & Bingo
A big thank you to the PTFA for organising such an enjoyable evening last Friday.  Many congratulations to all of the winners and indeed to everyone who came along for the fun.  If you are interested in becoming involved in the PTFA, please contact either Rebecca Waterfield or Debbie Greenwood. Details are on the website:-
http://www.denstoneprep.co.uk/new-blogs-events/denstone-prep-ptfa/

Early Morning Drop Off
The School does not open until 0800 hrs each morning.  Please stay with your child until the front door is unlocked at this time as they are not insured if they are left alone before we open officially.

Hockey & Touch Rugby
Boys participating in the hockey club next term will need to provide their own sticks and will also need mouthguards and shin pads.  Please see Miss Bennett if you wish to borrow a stick.  For information, the stick should reach your hip bone.  For those playing touch rugby, please bring both boots and trainers.

Next Month’s Values are tolerance and risk.  Please discuss these with your children at home! 

Blazer Buttons
We are aware that there seems to be an issue with recently purchased school blazers and the fact that the buttons do not remain secure for very long. We will be investigating this further with John Lewis but in the meantime, Mrs Webber (a DCPS parent) has recommended the “old style” blazer button, available at JP Designs in Uttoxeter. It may be worth considering changing all the buttons on your child’s blazer if your child is experiencing problems with this issue. Melanie Gear

A huge thank you to everyone for all of your hard work over the course of this term.  Have a well-deserved break and we look forward to seeing you for the start of the Trinity term in April.

Jerry Gear

Music News

House Music Competition 2017
Congratulations must go to all the pupils who took part in the House Music Competition this year, and also the fabulous house singing of "Let's Go Fly a Kite'. It was a truly magnificent afternoon and the adjudicator Mr Dobney, Director of Music at Abbots Bromley School, was most impressed. Oak won the singing competition and Cedars went on to win the overall House Cup. Harry Fryer was awarded the Rees Oliviere Shield as winner of the competition for 2017. His trumpet piece was of a particularly high standard and the adjudicator mentioned that for someone of his age to make such a beautiful tone was very impressive.​

Thank you to all the parents who came to support this event, to Mrs O'Brien for her organisation and help, and to Mr Dobney for adjudicating. It was a great event.

Pupil of the Week

Pre- School News

Here are some photos of the pre-school children performing at our Mothering Sunday Assembly and enjoying the Red Nose Day celebrations!

Pre-Prep News

Reception 
​Reception performed very well in the Mother's Day Assembly.  They recited a poem and sang lots of songs.  They made a card and decorated their own plant pot and then planted a flower for their mummies.

Pre-Prep 1

PP1 Blast off to the Space Centre
Pre-Prep 1 had a great day out at the Space Centre last Wednesday.  They really enjoyed visiting the Planetarium and finding out about the Sun and the Moon.

After lunch the children explored and found out lots of interesting things about Space, including Laika the first dog in space.

The children also had lots of fun pretending to be astronauts and giving commands from the control centre.

We all had a lovely day and so much fun. Thank You Mrs Goodwin for driving us.​

Happy Mother's Day from PP1!

​Pre-Prep 2

PP2 have been excitedly busy making special Mother’s Day plaques and Cards using a mixture of materials to create these stunning individual pieces.

We hope that all the Mums at Denstone College Prep School have had a Happy Mother’s Day.

Last week the children of PP2 were searching around the school for three dimensional shapes in Maths and objects made from metal in Science. They had great fun exploring the Pre-Prep areas.

Congratulations to Sammy Emerson for achieving his Platinum certificate, the first in PP2. We are all so proud of you Sammy, well done!

Main Prep News

Year 3 & 4
Wow!  Mrs Beetham has worked hard with the cast of last week’s show to produce an amusing and fun Junior Play. The children did so well remembering their lines, where they should be and what they should be doing.  Their performance last week showed just how much work they have put into rehearsals.  Mrs Belcher and her art scholars created a colourful set which, added to the children’s vibrant costumes, helped to bring Ernie’s ‘Illucinations’ to life!  Thank you to the all the staff who were involved.  These experiences provide our Year 3 and 4 children with commitment and confidence which they will use in years to come.  Finally, well done to all our Year 3 and 4 children, you all played your parts so well.  It was a super night.

Year 4
Year 4 were given a step-by-step mummification lesson during History this week.  Within their learning, they have studied how the Egyptians removed the internal parts of a dead body, washed and cleaned the body and used embalming oils.  They learned the reasons why the Egyptians put the heart back into the body and which parts were put into canopic jars.  The mummification process was complete once the body had been wrapped in bandages and placed into a sarcophagus (body shaped coffin).  It was a fun lesson with one of the children from each class posing as the dead body and the rest of the class disembowelling and treating the body; luckily Miss Hart made sure that the brains and internal organs of the volunteers were kept in tact!  Another fun, hands on lesson in Year 4.

Red Nose Day - George Whitbread from 4EH built his own Lego Red Nose! Super effort George!

Year 5
This term has been filled with fun activities and hard work. We have had the Poetry Competition, the House Music Competition and a Class Assembly to learn, not to mention the learning that is happening in lessons. Year 5, you have worked your socks off this term and deserve a well-earned break. Enjoy!

Year 6

Red Nose Day Entrepreneurs

On Friday 24th March, Year Six successfully raised a staggering £505.45 for Comic Relief.  The fundraiser was run as part of a Year 6 PSHE unit on entrepreneurship.  Children learned about what an entrepreneur is and planned, budgeted and marketed this event as part of that unit of study.  They worked in groups and came up with their own ideas about what they would like to sell.  Each group was given a budget of £10 to spend, with which they purchased the materials to make their own goods to sell.  We had two milkshake bars, popcorn stalls, cake stalls, a sweet stall and egg raffle, a homemade chocolate gift stall and a hot chocolate cup and marshmallow stall.  

All the children worked extremely hard to make the morning a great success and we are exceptionally proud of their efforts.  Mr Bettaney and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Year Six parents for supporting us with this venture as we know it required a lot of time and organisation at home.  We couldn't have done it without your support and for this we are extremely grateful.  

Please don't forget to show your children this newsletter, so that they can see the photos and news too.

Future Dates

Trinity Term begins on Monday 24th April
Bank Holiday - Monday 1st May
Open Week - Tuesday 2nd - 6th May - 10-12pm
Activity Morning - Saturday 6th May - 10-12pm
Half Term - Friday 26th May - Monday 5th June
Speech Day - Saturday 24th June
Term Ends - Friday 7th July at 12 noon

Have a Happy Easter and a great holiday!

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