Head Master's Notices

A separate letter should have arrived with you this afternoon about COVID-19.  An important development is that all tomorrow’s fixtures against KES, Bath have been cancelled.

We have been made aware that a parent at KES has been diagnosed with Coronavirus following a recent trip abroad.  The parent has been isolated and, I am pleased to report, seems to be recovering well.  The other members of the family are asymptomatic but, obviously, are self-isolating.  The affected parent has not been onto the school site for several weeks.  There are no confirmed cases amongst their pupil or staff body, but in the light of this development we have decided, in consultation with senior staff at KES, with regret, that the fixtures will now not take place.

Arrangements for next week are subject to change, but we hope that The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will be performed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.

Tonight, brings the Upper Sixth Parents’ Evening and our paddlers are out for the weekend training for the upcoming DW race over Easter.

Have a good weekend.

Whole School Notices and Reminders

Drama Programme - Spring 2020

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: 18-20 March in Annabel's

The hilarious musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin
Tickets can be booked online here

Attached is a copy of our Drama Programme for the full year which includes more detail on each production.

*Reminder* Upper Sixth Parents' Evening

Tonight, 18:30 - 20:30

The Upper Sixth Parents’ Meeting takes place this evening from 18:30 - 20:30 in the Memorial Hall. I hope you can make it and please do see me if I can help with anything.
Jon Tyler, Deputy Head (Academic)

GCE & GCSE Summer 2020 Timetables

The final timetable for the summer exams can be found by following the link here, plus a range of other exams information. 

Upper Sixth and Fifth Form students will be receiving their personalised timetables in the next few days via their house staff. Please do not be concerned if some times on personal timetables vary from the official one in the link. In order to resolve clashes of exams I amend and over-ride certain times as necessary on personal timetables. The link is the school exams timetable with the official standard start date and start time for each exam. If your child has a clash I will have written to them, via school e-mail, to explain the steps taken to resolve the situation, by mid-day on 14 March. As always if you have any questions about exams please contact Bill Blumsom at examsmanager@dauntseys.wilts.sch.uk or on 01380 814677. The exam timetable will also be included in next terms School Information booklet.

Cancellation of Auction and Dinner in Support of the Nightingales Children's Project

The auction and dinner tomorrow evening has unfortunately been cancelled. We are hoping to reschedule for a later date and will inform you once we have further information. Some items with expiry dates will be auctioned via email within the next two weeks. Many thanks for your understanding.

Auction Brochure

DSPA

DJ & Prom Dress Sale
Saturday 14 March 13:00 - 15:00

Any parent that would like to sell an item, either a DJ, trousers or dress can email dspacontact@gmail.com to register, and then an invoice will be sent to them for £5, payable by PayPal prior to Saturday March 14
Parent seller details & prices must be included with the item, and please can items can be brought to the Pavilion at 12:45 & collected at 15:00. Many thanks!

DSPA Fly Fishing 
Sunday 31 May from 09:00 - 13:00

Please see the attached letter for further information.

Well-Being Area

The DSPA well-being area on Mercers field is now taking shape and 60 trees were planted in December by pupils of all ages as well as parents and families who had donated trees. There is still an opportunity to sponsor a tree! Please read the attached letter for further information.

DSPA Noticeboard

Please have a look at our digital noticeboard here. It is our own online community to connect Dauntsey's parents and businesses in order to buy, sell and advertise to each other in one trusted place. If you'd like to place an advert here, please email dspacontact@gmail.com

If you have not yet signed up to join the DSPA then please do so here.
If you are not sure if you have already joined then please contact Pip Wall, Membership Rep at pipsjwall@gmail.com

Please follow us on Twitter here @DauntseyDspa

Music School Notices

Spring Concert Rehearsals
Tuesday 24 March from 18:00 - 19:00

There will be rehearsals in the Memorial Hall for Senior Choir and Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday 24 March between 18:00 - 19:00 in preparation for the Spring Concert.

Everyone is required to attend. Many thanks.

Pre-Season Cricket Notice

Please find attached a letter to all those involved in cricket giving details about the forthcoming cricket season.

Many thanks.

The Great Dauntsey's Chocolate Cake Bake

To raise money for the school charity – The Virunga National Park – and for a bit of fun, we are running a chocolate cake bake competition.

The two winners of each heat will bake their winning chocolate cake again to be judged against STAFF bakes in first half of the summer term.

The winners of our Lower School Competition were Molly as well as Ruby and Evie (joint cake). A highly commended also went to Bella for a delicious cake. Well done to all of you!

The Upper School Competition is on Monday 16 March in the Pavilion at 16:20

The Staff Competition will be held after Easter.

Each entry will be charged at £3. This represents the three great ape species that The Virunga National Park protects.  ALL WELCOME TO WATCH JUDGING!

Fifth Form Post GCSE Programme

Parents of the Fifth Form are reminded that we are offering a similar selection of Post GCSE opportunities this year. These will take place during the week commencing Monday 22 June which is the week after most of the GCSE examinations finish.

You should have received an email with details but if not you can see the options on the intranet here.

The deadline for applications is 13:00 on 27 March 2020 - then end of this Spring Term. Shortly after the start of the Summer Term we will let pupils know which programme they will be taking part in. If we receive any applications after that date, we will do our best to accommodate them, but it is unlikely there will be spaces on every programme.

Please select the three in which they would most like to participate, in order of preference, by completing the online form on the School intranet which you can find here.

To complete the form, you will need to log in as usual. If for any reason you cannot do so, you can email your selections to s.moore@dauntseys.org

Many thanks.

Upper and Lower School Horse Riding Clubs

We will be running both an Upper School and Lower School Horse Riding Club in the Summer term. The Upper School Horse Riding club will take place on Tuesdays from 16:00 - 18:15 and the Lower School Horse Riding club on Thursdays from 16:00 - 18:15. The pupils will be riding at Grovely Riding Centre (Wilton) - a BHS approved riding school and livery yard. Grovely caters for beginners through to international competition riders.

Please read the attached letter for further informationRider Registration Form

Dauntsey's Junior Invitational Table Tennis Tournament

Sunday 22 March at 14:00

This new event is open to boys and girls of all standards. Entrants will be grouped by ability and not by age.

Please email Mark Neve if you would like to play: m.neve@dauntseys.org

Dauntsey's Parent Boot Camp

Dauntsey's boot camp is now open to parents every Saturday until the end of term. It costs £10 per person for a session. The boot camp will take place on the athletics track and will run from 11:30-12:30.

Please contact Bex Milton for information bex@librafit.co.uk

Family Photography Experience

As part of our fundraising for the girls’ hockey tour to Malaysia and the boys’ rugby tour to Portugal we are once again teaming up with Imagine Contemporary Portraits Ltd to offer you a ‘Family Photography Experience’ for £20. The experience normally costs £75. Should you wish to have this experience for just £20, Imagine Ltd will then donate £20 to the school for the tours.

The Family Photography Experience has a 6 month validity and includes a photo session, a viewing and a 10x8” print. At the viewing the family has the opportunity to buy other pictures if they’d like to, but there’s no pressure or obligation to do so. If you would like to purchase a voucher please e-mail me at m.olsen@dauntseys.org and the ‘Experience Pack' will be sent to you, it includes a voucher, letter and leaflet with information on how to book.

Many thanks for your support
Marcus Olsen, Director of Sport

Swimming Lessons at Dauntsey's

We are now offering after school swimming lessons for children aged 3-11 here at Dauntsey's on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (term time only). Lessons will take place between 17:15 – 18:45, with group sizes not exceeding 3 swimmers. Please note that swimmers will be grouped with those of a similar ability by reference to the Swim England/ASA levels (Stages 1-7).

Lessons will cost £15 per lesson.

To book, or for more information, please contact Shannon at s.cooke2@dauntseys.org

Lower School Notices and Reminders

Manor Matters

Last weekend’s Film Fest proved extremely popular and many of the Lower School Boarders enjoyed the relaxing and calm atmosphere in the House. Treats included popcorn, hotdogs, and tortilla crisps, and the favourite film (by some distance) was the recently released ‘Lion King’.

In between the films, the Manorites also enjoyed some football in the sunshine, and the table tennis table saw plenty of action too. 

This week we have started to enjoy the heats of ‘Manor’s Got Talent’. We’ve seen some impressive singing, dancing and piano playing, and very much look forward to seeing even more talent next week; the judges will then decide who will be sent through to the grand final on Sunday 22 March at 19:00 – families are most welcome to come and enjoy the evening’s entertainment with us.
Anne Sampson, House Mistress.

Please do follow us on Twitter @ManorDauntseys to keep up to date.

First Form Shakespeare Cup

A reminder that all entries for the First Form Shakespeare Cup are due in next week. 

Please find attached poster for further information.

First Form Computer Science Challenge

The First Form Computer Science challenge runs from Monday 16 March until midnight on Friday 20 March and is open to all First Form pupils. Pupils will face a series of Computing related challenges, some easy and some not so easy. Progression to the next challenge will only be possible after successful completion of the previous one. Pupils can access the competition from anywhere with an internet connection, but I recommended they use a desktop or laptop computer with a keyboard rather than a mobile device.

Pupils are encouraged to work independently to solve the problems, and are not expected to complete all of the challenges. Each pupil can only submit one entry, but progress can be saved prior to that. Prizes will be awarded for the top scorers at the end of the week.

https://www.mrfraser.org/challenge/

Good luck and have fun!
Mr F

Athletics Club for Primary School Pupils

 21 April - 30 June on Tuesdays from 16:15 - 17:30

Please find attached information for an Athletics Club that we are hosting at Dauntsey's for primary school aged children. Many thanks.