September 25, 2020 | Issue no. 176
Head Master's Notices
As we tiptoe through unprecedented times, I have broken the term down into four manageable chunks in order to keep my sanity. The first one involved getting school re-started and reaching the Exeat Weekend open and Covid free. I am delighted to have achieved both goals, despite numerous tests that have kept us all on tenterhooks over the last three weeks or so, and would like to thank our Medical Centre team for their outstanding work.
The daily headlines feature outbreaks all over the country and yet thankfully West Lavington and Wiltshire remain relatively unaffected. I hope that you will therefore not mind me asking everyone to be careful this weekend and to avoid areas and places where the risk of infection is higher. I have also attached a letter from Public Health England giving clear guidance on when children should be tested for Covid-19, which I am required to send out.
It was very good to see some of you last night, through our Virtual Fifth Form Parents’ Evening, and I hope that this was a positive experience for those of you involved.
I hope that you have a good exeat weekend.
Whole School Notices and Reminders
Next Week's Calendar of Events
Each week we publish here the calendar for the following week. This may be updated slightly during the week itself, and these changes will be shown on the calendar that is displayed on the website.
Calendar for Week 28 September - 4 October
Clubs and Societies
*Updated* Please find attached the timetable for the Clubs and Societies currently on offer here.
Scholarships and Awards for Sixth Form and Third Form 2021
Closing date for entries: 19 October 2020
A range of Scholarships and Awards are available for those entering the Third Form and Sixth Form in 2021. These include: Academic Scholarships, Performing Arts Awards, Sports Award, Boarding and Head Master's Awards. Day pupils considering a move to boarding for Sixth Form are encouraged to apply for a Sixth Form Boarding Award.
Those interested in applying for either a Scholarship or Award should first discuss the merits of an application with their tutor and/or Housemaster/ Housemistress and/or relevant department heads.
The closing date for entries for both the Third Form and Sixth Form Scholarships and Awards is 9.00am Monday 19 October. The written papers for the Sixth Form Academic Scholarship, Third Form Academic Scholarship and Third Form Desmond Morris Science Scholarship will take place from 9.00am on Saturday 14 November. Auditions/ interviews for other awards will be held during the weeks commencing 9th, 16th and 23rd November.
An application form and further details are on the website and the links are below.
Information on Third Form Scholarships and link to entry form here.
Information on Sixth Form Scholarships and link to entry form here.
Jo Sagers, Registrar
admissions@dauntseys.org
LAMDA Lessons
Speech and Drama lessons are coming to Dauntsey’s! From January, lessons for all year groups will be available on a first come first served basis, with lessons starting later in the Autumn Term for the Upper Sixth.
Our new brochure, including fees can be viewed here.
The online registration form can be found here.
Please ensure applications are received by Wednesday 21 October for a January start date.
Taster sessions will run in Annabel’s on a Friday this term. In addition to a practical Drama workshop, the session will also feature a brief chat on what LAMDA lessons include and why working towards LAMDA grades could be beneficial. The updated Taster Sessions poster can be viewed here.
Mrs Chambers, Head of Speech and Drama
Sports Team Pictures
Boys' Hockey and Girls' Netball team pictures from the Spring Term are now available to view and order on the Intranet here
DSPA
DSPA AGM
The DSPA AGM will take place virtually on Wednesday 14 October at 19:00
Parents are most welcome to attend, but they MUST email dspacontact@gmail.com by the end of September to obtain a link invitation to the meeting.
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
Final Reminder: Lower School Music Competition Entries
Anyone wanting to enter the Lower School Music competition, please sign up in House or you can email Mrs Jury, by midday on Monday 28 September.
Many thanks.
Sport and Mouthguards
Many thanks for your support during our first block of sport. We have certainly been lucky with the weather and it has been great to see so many pupils outside enjoying so many different sports. After Exeat we are moving back to playing Hockey for girls and Rugby for boys in the main games programme, starting on Monday 28 September. Mouthguards will be required for the girls and, although the boys will start playing Touch Rugby, we will be introducing contact into the sessions in the next few weeks, so they will also need mouthguards at that point. I attach the link to OPRO that was sent out in the summer in case you now wish to order a custom made mouthguard. We are in discussion with other schools and we hope to commence fixtures for Hockey and Ready4Rugby on Saturday 3 October. We will continue to run a full programme of other sports activities between 4.20 and 5.20 during the week.
Have a great Exeat weekend
Marcus Olsen, Director of Sport
Some pictures from our Autumn Sport programme so far below:
Lower School Notices and Reminders
Manor Matters
Last weekend and its pleasant warm weather, seems a distant memory now but we had a great time at The Manor. On Saturday night bean bags, duvets and sleeping bags were moved out onto the lawn for an outside cinema. Sunday saw some fun in the woods, the water slide and marshmallows around the campfire to finish off.
Our first batch of ‘Manor Legends’ were announced this week. Some really heart-warming nominations reminded me of the abundance of kindness and caring in our community.
A call was also made for pupils to put themselves forward as year group representatives. These will be voted on next week and, once appointed, will meet with myself and the House Captains to discuss the smooth and happy running of the House.
May I wish you all a restful and relaxing exeat weekend.
Peter Guille, House Master.
Please do follow us on Twitter @ManorDauntseys to keep up to date.
Some pictures depicting Life at The Manor this term below:
Third Form Geography Competition
Please find attached poster giving details of our Geography competition that is open to all Third Formers.
The deadline is Monday 28 September and entry to be sent to Kirsty Clark or your child's Geography teacher.
Many thanks.