Dorset House | Summer Term | 2023

From the Headmaster

Einstein said: `Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’

to identify their strengths and acknowledge and celebrate those of others. I often say that we are a greenhouse, not a hothouse. We are hugely ambitious for the children in the context of their own ability, in all areas. In my prize game of Jenga but in reverse block making the tower stronger, more resilient, more robust. I then pointed out that this is exactly what children at DH are doing every day challenging themselves in the classroom; achieving a PB in athletics...

You will read about many of the pupils’ achievements in this newsletter and I am sure it will confirm that the children have been brilliant via the many performances throughout the year. From the Year 8’s remarkable production of like to home in on one line: `To thine own self be true’. Whilst we continue to strive for academic excellence, I have been delighted with the many ways DH pupils have continued to develop skills outside the classroom. Skills which they will take with them to senior school and beyond. Our children have many different strengths and whilst we celebrate excellence in the classroom and in sport, music and art, I make no apology for the fact that we also have prizes which reflect kindness, perseverance and a positive attitude. Through our broad-based curriculum, we encourage hope, optimism and creativity the qualities which make for successful lives. Children are encouraged to do the small things really well and to embrace responsibility. We are fortunate to enjoy huge support from parents at DH and staff are very grateful for the many ways in which you contribute to the school community. The Parents’ Association, led by Dolly Waddell and Jo Winter, ensure that all new parents are made welcome and highlights of their activities this year have include a Winter Sparkle Party, Quiz Night and the Dad’s Camp Out which saw the top playing field transformed into a mini-Glastonbury! Parents can also join the DH Dads’ Cricket Team or Ladies who Lift group run by Ali Fentiman. Similarly, if you are able to speak to our older children about your career, we would love to hear from you. This year, we have enjoyed fascinating talks on entrepreneurship; English sparkling wine production, sustainability and medicine.

One of the major events of the year was the recent ISI Inspection. We were awarded `Excellent’ in all areas in our last full inspection in 2018 and this visit was just a compliance inspection. I say `just’ but it involved a huge amount of work for everyone - in particular SMT and I must single out Andrew Owens who is our policy and risk assessment Guru.

From the Headmaster

Well done to all the staff and children and thank you for your overwhelming and strong support via the questionnaires at the beginning of the process. The report itself is rather dry as standards are either `met’ or ‘not met’ but the inspector did say, off the record, how taken the inspection team had been by the happy and welcoming atmosphere; she described DH as a `very special place’.

I would also like to add that Reporting Inspectors are human too… On the final morning we had a meeting, at the end of which she said, ‘I formally advise you that we have now finished information gathering and the inspection process: ‘you can let all of your dogs out now…’ she added with a wry smile. `Dogs?’ I replied quizzically.`Yes, man’s best friend. I could tell by all of the water bowls distributed around the school: your study, the staffroom, outside the music school, in the Pre-Prep and on the terrace for instance’. `Ah, dogs,’ I replied…

Many of the visitors to the school this year have remarked on the open and friendly atmosphere and the fact that the children are keen to share what they are learning. There is also a strong sense of belonging - fostered through our House system; School Council and regular inter-action between older and younger pupils. Boarding (from Year 5) is another important area which encourages independence in familiar surroundings and I know that Mr Marconi and his team have exciting plans to further develop this area. We were delighted to learn that from a field in excess of 400 entries this year, we have won a `Muddy Stilettos’ award for `Best Sense of School Spirit’. And hot off the press...we have been shortlisted for an Independent School of the

Celebrating the Coronation

It’saKnockout

At DH we love a party, and what better cause for celebration than the Coronation of King Charles III? With this in mind, the DH ‘fun factory’ sprang into action and conjured up the notion of an Eighties Throwback ‘It’s a Royal Knockout’ competition; namely a day of inflatable mania for pupils, staff and parents alike.

The children could barely contain their excitement when they walked through the DH gate that morning, All sorts of weird and wonderful things were happening up on the pitches ahead of the day’s entertainment. Staff, aware that it was to be their turn later in the day, perused the scene with trepidation, but never fazed, were keen to have a go nonetheless.

All the children from Reception to Year 8 (with a cameo appearance at breaktime from Bury Manor Pre-School!) took part throughout the day, sporting their House t-shirts

to add a healthy dose of competition to proceedings. First game up was the brain baffling ‘Beat the Cube’ competition. Children scaled the giant inflatable steps before hurling themselves down the slide and throwing a ball at a target to release a part of the ‘cube’. When all the pieces of the ‘cube’ had been collected, then for the tricky part: building the cube. Judging by Mr. Annison’s face, more vexing that it would initially appear!

The next game was ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here’. Competitors performed ‘Australian push ups ‘ (upside down!) before entering ‘Bishy Boshy land’, a quick scamper though this inflatable wilderness and on to ‘The Wall of Doom’ which involved plunging your hand inside to collect a series of ‘critters’ to take back to your team mates (thankfully not to eat!). The first with ten critters in their bucket was the winner.

The final game was ‘Foam Pit’! Double space hoppers ahoy for the first leg of the race, bouncing into the foam pit to

Celebrating the Coronation

collect a coloured ball before having three goes at launching it into a giant inflatable target. Lots of wannabe snowmen emerged from the foam, grinning from ear to ear (from what we could see), this certainly was the ideal way to spend a Friday!

A big well done to Wilkinson who took home the trophy in all the age groups. At the end of the day, parents and staff geared up for the games with a rendition of ‘YMCA’ (Dad dancing included) bibbed-up in House colours, eyeing up the competition, raring to go! While the competitors warmed up, the children were treated to a sweet shop and ice cream van, whilst parent spectators could win themselves a weekend ‘tipple’ on the bottle tombola, run by our fabulous PA.

And wow! Did the parents excel themselves?! Some serious moves; commando rolling down slides, flying out of foam pits, bashing rivals with inflatable fish with a bit of goodnatured surreptitious sabotage chucked in for good measure. Sims emerged victorious, after what can only be described as a manic and utterly hilarious final; a valiant battle indeed! A huge well done to our plucky parents, we can see where our DH children get their tenacity from!

A very big thank you to our wonderful PA for their contribution to the day. I think we can all agree that a great time was had by all!

Sarah Posnett

PortraitCompetition

In addition to the fun and games to celebrate the Coronation, we ran a competition for the children to create a portrait of the new King - using any medium. There were some excellent entries and the top six can now be seen in the waiting room at Pulborough Station. Well done to: Wade Stormonth-Darling (Y7), Strawberry Frizzell (Year 5), Hermione Goss (Year 4), Storm Smith (Year 2) and the overall winner, Lucas Spellman-Welsh (Year 6) for your excellent entries and thank you to all the children who took part.

Charity

The DH community is incredibly generous, and everyone has been particularly impressed by the way in which pupils have initiated and run fund-raising events – we have raised over £4000 this year for a wide range of good causes.

During the spring and summer terms, collections have been:

Red Cross Turkey Earthquake £746

NSPCC £267

Comic Relief £112

Red Cross Ukraine £234

National Autistic Society £200

Thank you for your continued support of the children’s philanthropic entrepreneurialism.

For this year’s whole school Charity Day, we decided to raise funds for the Sussex Snowdrop Trust. This is a local charity which provides `nursing care at home’ for local children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses. The children were amazing! The PrePrep children did so well, walking 5km over the Downs and then returning to school for an afternoon of swimming, craft and games. Children in Years 4 to 8 gathered in Houses to walk 18 km over the Downs. They navigated with a map to locate checkpoints along the way. The weather was hot, and they were grateful for a lunch stop at Gumber farm. They showed great teamwork and determination. A huge well done to everyone! Thank you for your generosity - a grand total of £712 was raised via JustGiving, a cash collection and via a church service.

Janet White

Leadership & Teamwork

Years3&4

As part of our leadership programme, Years 3 and 4 spent an exciting day at Sayers Croft Activity Centre. Children developed teambuilding skills as they figured out how to cross through the woodland challenge without touching the ‘lava’ floor. They balanced along ropes, passed planks and worked out how to find the key to escape. It was an opportunity to share ideas to help each other.

‘My favourite thing was caving,’ said Jack. ’You had to crawl through the rocks. There were steep drops, and it was slippery.’ For some children, it proved very challenging to wriggle through the dark, narrow passages, but they showed true DH spirit, and everyone had a go. The children worked as a pair, to guide a blindfolded partner along an obstacle course and then solved puzzles in a maze. Sebastian declared that his favourite part was the zip wire in the woods. Sophie summed up the day by saying, ‘I LOVED IT!’ Janet White

Leadership & Teamwork

We then had a campfire and made s'mores

The following morning we undertook command tasks. The favourite being moving radioactive isotopes, over a river of lava with ropes!

Matt Thomas

Year7

Year6

We arrived at the Plas Dolygaer Centre in Bannau Brycheiniog (Formerly known as the Brecon Beacons) National Park . .After stretching our legs we set off on a woodland walk and to see waterfalls It was then that the Year 6s were presented with their first challengeto walk along a 1 km pitch black railway tunnel with only a stick along the wall to guide them.

The following day, we did a circuit around Pen-y-Fan. This turned out to be a 12 mile walk which every single one of the group completed without complaint. Some of the group enjoyed talking to the exhausted soldiers on exercise along the way. One of our pupils said, ‘I like your gun mate’, to which he replied, ‘Thank you very much.’

That evening was taken up with team building games which encouraged leaderships and cooperation

When I went on the trip, I enjoyed it so much that I loved everything! On the first day, we went scrambling through hundreds of rocks and Dylan got stuck. It made everyone laugh. The 12 or 14 mile walk made my feet hurt a lot but everyone was super excited. We also went on a boat through some flooded tunnels. This experience was awesome. The cave we went to was called The Devil's Arse. This was because when it rained it would make rude noises - I personally thought that this was hilarious! After the caves we went into the gift shop where I bought mint choc chip ice cream.

I was concerned about some of the activities because I had never done them before but after I had done it I thought it was really fun.

Joe Watkins

Both Year 6 and 7 groups had the same instructor who has worked with Matt Thomas for many years.

He said that the children from DH are the most robust and physically fit of all the schools he has worked with

Leadership & Teamwork

SkernLodge

Just when we thought that it couldn’t get any better, Skern Lodge went and built eight beautiful hand-crafted pods at top of one of their fields. With a shower block completed just two weeks before we arrived, solely for our use, this really was glamping in style.

Although the weather was variable (everything from baking sun to a rainy morning and then a sea fret rolling in on the last night) the activities remained as good as ever –Year 8 even got the best surf that Westwood Ho! had seen for over a month.

There was ice cream aplenty and never a dull moment. Skern remains the perfect way to finish Year 8 exam week!

Laura Hutchings

Leavers 2023

Hamlet

The Year 8 Shakespeare play has been an integral part of the Year 7 & 8 programme of study for over ten years. For much of that time, I have had the unstinting support and expertise of Cherry Menlove to draw upon. Drama trained, she has the ability to draw performances from children that they never knew they were capable of giving. She herself would admit that she is a hard taskmaster – demanding the very best that is possible and dreaming big – and every year I have seen the Year 8 students rise to the challenge that she has set them.

This year’s play was no exception. The choice of Hamlet was ambitious – to say the least. Year 8 read the play in the Spring term, had the Easter holidays to learn their lines and then we were off! Two or three hours of rehearsal a week throughout the first half of the Summer term culminated in an evening performance in June. The play was cut to run for an hour and 20 minutes and Year 8 delivered their very best performance on the night. We were so proud of each and everyone of them.

Sadly, this was Cherry’s swan song as both her children will be at senior school from September. I would like to thank her for all the time that she has devoted to the Year 8 play over the years. Cherry – we will miss you so much.

Laura Hutchings

Leavers 2023

A STEM activity that involved building bridges and towers challenged the Year 8 minds, as did the annual Apprentice Business Challenge, this year’s theme being planning a round the world trip. They also brushed up on their first aid skills with a very thorough workshop, did an amazing job helping with the Pre-Prep Science morning and filled six bin bags full of rubbish from West Beach. (This was followed by an exciting boat ride thanks to Bobby and Fiona Boyce).

There were elements of Performing Arts this year with the Hamlet production - the leading role being played wonderfully by Ned, and the Dance Workshop in which the class performed a couple of choreographed routines to their parents. Amazing to see the transformation in a couple of hours from what appeared to be a group of children with two left feet to something that slightly resembles the popular dance troupe Diversity.

We welcomed several visiting speakers, who very kindly gave up their time to talk about issues such as homelessness, human rights, recycling, water safety and the temptations facing teenagers. Our thanks to Sophie from Turning Tides, Maggie from Amnesty International, Jo from Ford MRF, Martin from the RNLI and PC Sarah Pack from Sussex Police.

PostExamProgramme

At the end of exams, Year 8s often think that are finished for the year and can wind down for the rest of term. Far from it – once again, they have been kept incredibly busy, engaging in a wide range of activities and events. The onus is always on them – you get out of it what you put in or as the saying goes - the difference between try and triumph is a little umph!

A log book was introduced this year for the pupils to note down their observations and for staff to acknowledge its completion. We have introduced a prize, for the pupil who engages best with the programme and this year, it was awarded to Neve Meurer.

The programme, as it always does, kicked off with the residential trip to Skern Lodge.

There were other physical activities, such as the outing to Chichester Watersports and the South Downs hike, during which we almost lost Mr Nield! There was also a fencing workshop run by our very own in-house instructor Isaac, in which Year 8 demonstrated their swashbuckling skills.

The highlight of the programme for many is the trip to London, which was tremendous fun. Ms Hutchings thoroughly recommends a visit to Battersea Power Station.

Greg Weaver

DestinationSchools

Wewishallourleaversthebestofluckastheymoveonto theirseniorschools-pleasestayintouch!

2toBryanston

2xSport&1MusicScholarship

1toGordonstoun All-RounderScholarship

2toHurst

3toLancingCollege Headmaster’sAward

4toSeafordCollege

1toWellingtonCollege

3xSportsScholarships

1toWorthSchool DramaScholarship

Forest School

With the weather improving, the children have loved hunting for signs of Spring in our forest and school grounds. It has been a busy term learning lots of new skills as well as honing old ones. Year 2 have particularly enjoyed learning how to do 'Nordic Swing Braiding'. This was a tricky skill to master and required excellent teamwork but that wasn't a problem for our determined children. Year 1 and Reception have enjoyed honing their gross and fine motor skills using the nails and hammers to hammer out their initials in wood and then wrap wool around them. The Year 1s and 2s continue to work on perfecting their fire lighting skills and are nearly ready to start helping to light the main fire. A big highlight this term has been the addition of the new tipi. Reception were treated to hot chocolate in the tipi last half term. A massive thank you to the PA for funding the new tipi, it will be an essential part of our FS sessions, especially during the wetter months. With summer came the chance to learn to identify the different trees in our forest. The Reception children enjoyed learning the different tree names and using the different leaves to make a necklace. To celebrate the King’s Coronation, the children made bunting to take home. The children selected leaves and flowers and used a mallet to create prints on their bunting. All of the Pre-Prep children enjoyed making `seed bombs’ to take home with them ready to throw into their gardens and attract the much needed bees and butterflies. The mixture of water, compost and seeds were a hit with the children.

As always, there has been food and hot chocolate galore in the forest, with the pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and of course the occasional treat of marshmallows cooked over the fire. Popcorn over the open fire was especially popular.

Ali Fentiman

Reception

We have had a very busy two terms in Reception Class. In

Sea and the children found out about some of the animals and plants that live there. They also learnt about how rubbish can end up in the oceans and how dangerous this can be. The children made some posters about this and have worked hard to make sure that we recycle what we can to help to make sure rubbish doesn't go into the oceans. The children have also learnt about Superheroes this term! They have enjoyed exploring comic books and superhero stories and they have now invented their own superhero and written a Reception Class Comic Book. Lastly, the children visited Mr. Keane's Science Lab earlier this term. They very much enjoyed having a go at some different experiments, led by the Year 8 children. Jess Lake

Years 1&2

Year 1 had a very interesting, fact-filled visit to the Haslemere Educational Museum back in the Spring term, where they took part in a Toy Workshop. They all brought along a small toy of their own to be used in an activity that really got them thinking. The different toys were sorted into groups - Our Toys, Our Parents’ Toys, Our Grandparents’ Toys and finally some wonderful old Victorian Toys from the museum collection. The class were quick to notice that the toys were made from different materials, and they were able to explain why – which was great and showed they had remembered our science lessons from the previous term. The class enjoyed the opportunity to play with some old toys and spent nearly an hour engrossed in dressing a Sindy doll, lining up and bowling over the soldier skittles, catching a ball in a cup and exploring a huge dollhouse amongst other activities. The museum has a considerable Natural History collection too, so we spent a little time after lunch exploring the different animal groups and testing our knowledge. Before we left, we stocked up on a couple of insect books that we spotted in the shop and couldn’t resist. Mr White arrived to collect us just in time as we could have gladly bought a whole new library of exciting history books.

Karen Bentley

BugandPlantDetectives

Year 1 and 2 enjoyed a great visit this term to Pulborough Brooks. …When asked, ‘what did you enjoy?’ James said, `EVERYTHING’: Henry and Ben loved the pond dipping (‘I liked Mrs Bentley helping me find a really strange creature!’) and Freddie said he enjoyed learning that the blood-worms turned into midges. In small groups the children chose one pond creature and learnt some very interesting facts to share with everyone. The ponds were teaming full of all sorts of pond-life and we managed to find nearly all of them on our list. Edie said she loved hearing the nightingale singing’.. which we did as we had our picnic lunch. Then it was into the woods to be plant and minibeast detectives. We worked in groups to identify trees and plants in the woodland. We found many minibeast by shaking leaves through a sieve; the springtail (hops about) and ants and by digging into old logs in the woodland - beetles, millipedes and woodlouse and caterpillars munching through the leaves on trees. Jess said, ‘I caught a huge beetle which wanted to eat the woodlouse.. I had to stop him!’ And Ella loved creating a flower shape from twigs and fallen leaves.

Janet Maultby

For the Spring Term Year 2 studied a new topic of ‘What a Wonderful World’. We spent time planning a trip around the world, looking at the different continents and oceans we would travel through. We looked at stories about travelling and how, it doesn’t matter where we go, we will never find anyone the same as ourselves. We are unique and special. We also spent time looking closely at the UK and we learnt how to use atlases and maps to plan routes.

As part of our topic-related art we created cityscapes using different media, including newspaper. We also studied a variety of artists including Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, James Rizzi and Jean Metzinger and learnt to create our own art, in the same style.

In the Spring term Year 2 worked very hard on their core subjects too. With ‘Around the World with Max and Lemon’ being a focus alongside the film ‘Up’ for English. In Maths they continued to put into place the building blocks needed for future learning. Sasha

Metzger

Years 3 & 4

Thank you to Blaize Anderson, who has done a terrific job as Year 3 class teacher this term and who is looking forward to welcoming the new Year 3 into the classroom in September.

ButserAncientFarm

Year 4 visited Butser Ancient Farm to discover what life was like for the Celts in Britain. As they sat round a fire in a roundhouse, they made Celtic jewellery and learned about the daily life of the Celts. They used drop spindles to spin wool and carved Celtic designs in chalk.

Later, they visited a Roman villa to compare the differences between the two homes. They were all fascinated by the Roman toilets where people could even spend time playing a game! Later in the term we had a Roman visitor. The children interviewed him about his life. He taught Roman board games, and the children drew Roman artefacts.

Janet White

Years 3 & 4

AliBabaandtheBongo Bandits

Yet again, Years 3 and 4 filled the stage at Dorset House with a magical and fun-filled performance of ‘Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits’. The audience was transported from the Sultan’s palace to the secret desert cave, hide-out of the bandits. They saw the scheming villainous Vizier meeting his comeuppance with Ali Baba and his camel. All the children gave a superb performance of acting, singing and of course, dancing!

Janet White

Years 3 & 4

‘Recite’

After all the disruption of the past few years, it really was business as usual this year at Recite. We were back in the Inner Barn, Years 3 & 4 had very helpfully put the stage up for us (!) and we were delighted to welcome back Father David Twinley as a judge. Father David judged my first ever Recite in 2011 and has stepped in several times over the years to adjudicate. Helping him out this year, we were really pleased to be able to welcome the new Head of Year 7 and 8 English from Hurstpierpoint College, Rebecca Hartley.

The standard in the heats for Recite was higher than ever this year and from Year 5 and above, we had five finalists from each Year group – there’s nothing like making life difficult for our visiting judges! In the event, however, decisions were made quite quickly and very amicably. The list of winners and Highly Commended for the individual entries ran as follows:

Years 3 & 4

Winner – Sophie Ratcliffe reciting If by Rudyard Kipling. Highly Commended

Saskia Bladd-Symms reciting The Dentist and the Crocodile by Roald Dahl.

Years 5 & 6

Winner - James Ratcliffe reciting an extract from Beowulf (translated by Seamus Heaney).

Highly Commended – Strawberry Frizzell reciting The Forlorn Sea by Stevie Smith

Jessie Tustin reciting Nobody Wants Me by Georgie Adams and Selina Young.

Years 7 & 8

Winner – Wade Stormonth-Darling reciting Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas.

Highly Commended – Beatrice de Courcy-White reciting Bury Me in a Free Land by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Olivia Finn reciting The Listeners by Walter de la Mare.

Eliza Fearon reciting Wendy Darling by Stephanie Rosanna West.

As you can see, the offerings were eclectic and the whole event was thoroughly entertaining. I can’t wait to see what next year will bring – it might be time to start looking for a poem now!

Laura Hutchings

GeographyFieldTrip

The purpose of our Fieldwork trip to the Jurassic Coast (UNESCO World Heritage Site) was to investigate in detail Geomorphology, in terms of erosional and depositional processes. Our fieldwork centre (Leeson House) was excellent. Day 1 started with a classroom session which highlighted the Geography Fieldwork that the pupils would be undertaking over their stay at Leeson House. The first investigative session involved a comparative study of 6 key points on Lulworth Cove. The aim of the session was to investigate how the waves affect the beach at Lulworth Cove. The pupils were divided into research groups and they all worked effectively and purposefully throughout the morning session on their data collection and recording skills. They were all commended for their positivity, teamwork, research skills and detailed recordings by Pete (our excellent Fieldwork Tutor). The teams managed to achieve all 6 research points which, is in itself, a significant achievement, as most groups only manage 4 (GCSE groups).

Prep

After completing the fieldwork we went on to investigate the spectacular coastal formation of Durdle Door (Arch) –its formation and structure. It is a truly wonderful coastal landmark. In the evening, after supper, the pupils had access to an excellent games room which included a pool table, table tennis table and table football. On Day 2 the pupils undertook Plant Succession Transect Fieldwork at Studland Bay. This focused on depositional processes. The aim was to undertake a transect within the sand dunes of Studland Bay to witness the process of plant succession. We wanted to gauge how biotic and abiotic variables change with distance from the shoreline. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed working in the sand dunes, a stunningly beautiful location. Sadly, we did encounter heavy rain at certain times during our morning session –this did not faze the pupils! We then went on to the Headland to view the spectacular Old Harry Rocks (Stack and Stump formations). It was then time to move on to Swanage Bay. We had chips on the seafront and some time for shopping. Then we looked at the processes and characteristics of Swanage Bay from a conservation perspective (Coastal Management). The pupils addressed the following key questions: What is the geology of Swanage Bay/ How has this influenced the landforms? Which coastal defence schemes are used in Swanage Bay and why? How have the coastal defence schemes affected

Longshore Drift? The pupils worked with great enthusiasm and commitment, measuring the height of the beach either side of the designated groynes.

We concluded Day 2 with an Olympic Style Games Room competition where pupils and staff were involved in an array of challenging events. Each team (pair) competed against each other in target shooting, table football, table tennis and pool. The Champions were Sebastian Marsh and Tom Hodgson – congratulations!

On our return journey we visited Durlston Country Park and National Nature Reserve (Museum) which the pupils thoroughly enjoyed. We all had a truly wonderful time at Leeson House. The accommodation, food and staff were

Sport

Year6IAPSNetball Tour

On a chilly February afternoon, the Year 6 girls, togged in customised hoodies (thank you, Mr. Evans!) bundled their kit and ‘A games’ into the DH minibus and headed to Suffolk for a very exciting road trip to the Small Schools IAPS netball competition.

After the longest sing-along on record, they arrived at the Darsham Community Centre to settle in for their first night ahead of the big games hosted the next day at Framlingham College. A relatively quiet night ensued: supper, chatting and playing cards. More than can be said for the staff who, by morning, were totally au fait with the timetable for the trains running between Lowistoft and Amersham!

The big day dawned. Healthy breakfasts eaten, sandwiches made, and crucially Miss Oland’s plaiting salon frequented by all to ensure they all looked super sharp on the day. The girls played 5 group stage matches, all five-a-side with an obligatory rotation each half; meaning that no player was able to settle in a position for more than five minutes. At the end of the group stages, the team were second in their pool which took them into the Cup semi-final; a white knuckle-ride of a match against Littlegarth. 7-7 at the end whistle blew meaning another 5 minutes of game play which concluded in a 9-9 draw. However, a draw wasn’t an option, so this meant only one thing. Golden goal. Littlegarth took the centre pass, an interception from DH, back up to the attacking end and a

victorious DH goal meant a place in the final for DH against St. Andrews, Woking. The final was another nailbiter, with St Andrews just securing a 4-2 win, but a valiant effort from both sides. The girls were thrilled with their silver medals, and from a national competition, a fabulous achievement indeed. A big thank you to Tiggy, Florence and Izzy for captaining the team so brilliantly!

That evening the girls enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Ed Sheeran’s local (sadly, he didn’t pop in for a pint!) before an evening of karaoke back at their digs. A quick trip to Colchester Zoo on the way home to feed the giraffes concluded an utterly fabulous trip; home, ready for half term and a very well-deserved rest. Great job girls, you were an absolute credit to DH, and we are so proud of you all!

Sarah Posnett

Netball

The U13 girls should be very proud of their excellent netball season! Several of the U12 girls stepped up to the 1st team. Captained by Neve Meurer, the team gelled well and some excellent shooting from Eliza Fearon

and Olivia Boyce produced some good results. There were close games against Lancing Prep, Seaford and tournaments at Westbourne. Coco Gray was strong in defence assisted by Lottie Laing. U12 girls Sophia Bassett and Olivia Finn made valuable contributions to the team. Well done everyone. Jo Owen

The U13Bs had a tough start to the season facing a strong Handcross Park side. They fought hard but started with a loss. However, this fuelled the girls’ competitive spirit, and they came back fighting against Roedean and Duke of Kent achieving a draw and a win respectively. They have adapted their play, becoming more cohesive as a team, finishing the season with a great win against Lancing prep at Worthing. Harriet Howgate played well in the centre court and even tried her hand at shooting. There were also impressive interceptions from defensive superstars Layla Owens and Beatrice de Courcy-White.

The U10s and U11s started with a clean sweep of wins against Pennthorpe. Quick movements, tight defending and excellent shooting, combined with the girls’ versatility, bodes well for the season ahead.

Further wins against Lancing Prep at Hove, Lancing Prep at Worthing and a huge win of 21-9 against Seaford helped to boost the girls’ confidence. Jessie Tustin worked tirelessly each game to maintain possession and always provided positive team spirit. Well done to Strawberry Frizzell for playing up in the U11A team on occasions and boosting the team’s defensive play. It was tournaments galore for the U11s and a season they should be proud of. Starting with a huge 17-6 win against Pennthorpe, they were ready for their first tournament. The girls put in a stellar performance at the Westbourne tournament beating Westbourne, Stroud, PHS and a draw against Highfield. Several coaches commented on the girls’ play and were impressed by their speed in attack and patience in the circle. A further 3rd place in the Lancing tournament, losing by 2 goals in the semi-final against Hurst, and runners up in the Oakwood tournament proved how hard the girls had worked. The final game of the season was against a tough Windlesham side. The U11s remained calm and put into practice what they had learnt, managing an impressive win to conclude their best netball season to date!

The U8s and U9s were fantastic this season. With most children attending netball club, you could see the progress the children had made. Kicking the season off with two wins against Pennthorpe and continuing their success against Lancing Prep at Hove and Seaford, the girls played superb netball: quick passes, movement into space and great team spirit. Their seasons concluded with netball festivals at Oakwood. The U9s only lost one game throughout the festival. Beau Black, known as the ‘interception queen,’ made countless interceptions and Sophie Ratcliffe and Flora Lewis, demonstrated their superb shooting in the attacking end. The U8s won all their games and are shaping up to be a fantastic netball team. Well done to Saskia Bladd-Symms, known as ‘the footwork guru,’ for being awarded Player of the Season: she was congratulated by several coaches for her amazing play.

Cricket 1sts

Hardball cricket has been flowing for the girls this year and they have gone from strength to strength, improving with every match and, most importantly, growing in confidence. The lovely, sunny weather has also been a big positive. With only our second season of hardball cricket in school for the girls, the season started off well with a very close match against Brighton Girls, losing by 8 runs. They went on to win two further matches. A special mention goes to

Olivia Boyce for being the top wicket taker for the girls this season, taking an impressive 11 wickets across 7 matches. The girls have played Seaford twice this term, a tough team with many of their players within the County Pathway. They met them in the new Sussex Cricket Foundation Girls U13 Independent School league, another addition to the girls’ hardball schedule. In our second match against Seaford, it came down to a nail-biting finish where DH needed 1 run off 1 ball and our captain Bella Boyce, led from the front and got the winning runs. Many of the Year 7 girls have stepped up across the season and, for many, experienced hardball for the first time. Most improved player was awarded to Sophia Bassett and Player of the Season was Bella Boyce.

The Year 8 girls have a lot to offer on the cricket pitch and will continue to thrive in their senior schools. We wish them all the best for the next chapter.

Ali Fentiman U11s

The return of the cricket season saw the girls embracing the chance to wear cricket whites. The improved look resulted in a strong season for the U11 girls, who remained unbeaten all season. There were notable wins against Brighton Girls, Lancing Prep, Seaford, Duke of Kent and a final win against Cottesmore in their last game of the season. It was a special game for the girls as this was the first game of hardball for the team and they adapted brilliantly, showcasing their excellent cricket skills and true team spirit! The bowling was superb all season; pace and accuracy have been a focus this term and it is evident in the 37 wickets they have taken as a team that they have delivered! A tremendous season, and they remain unbeaten, well done! The Most Improved Player of the Season was Tiggy Allum and Player of the Season was awarded to Bea Belgeonne.

Sport

U10s - The U10s should be incredibly proud of themselves this season. Dressed to impress in their whites, they delivered some brilliant performances. Starting their season with a big win against Brighton Girls, they continued with their success, beating Lancing Prep, Duke of Kent and Seaford. It has been amazing to see the team step up this season and between the 7 of them, they scored a total of 379 runs and took 17 wickets! A superb season, girls, well done! The Most Improved Player of the Season was Hetty New, and the Player of the Season was Iris Alun-Jones. U9s - The U9s are shaping up to be a strong cricket team with an unbeaten season! The bowling and quick running between the wickets have been pivotal this season and the powerful hitting from Sophie Ratcliffe, who received the top batsman from Year 3-8 girls with a total of 188 runs, has increased the team’s score. It is important to note that the U9s have only lost four games all year! A testament to their incredible hard work, determination and team spirit! A huge well done to you all, an amazing year of sport! The Most Improved Player of the Season was awarded to Mills Sirett and Player of the Season was Minnie Andrews.

U8s - The first season of cricket for the ‘super 6’ U8s saw them achieve wins against Duke of Kent, Lancing at Hove, Pennthorpe, Handcross Park and Windlesham. They consistently bowled well and managed to score plenty of runs. Lily Winter and Evie Stone drove the ball towards the boundaries, regularly scoring well. It has been a successful year for the U8s, who have adapted to every sport and have demonstrated fantastic team spirit. The Most Improved Player of the Season was Beatrice Wigg and Player of the Season was Evie Stone. The children’s enthusiasm, sense of pride, hard work and determination has contributed to what has been an amazing year of sport at Dorset House. I feel very privileged to have been a part of it and have loved teaching the children. Thank you for being superstars and to all the parents and staff for your invaluable support this year! Steph Oland

This term, we say `goodbye’ to Steph Oland who has been with us for nine years and who has had a huge impact on all areas of school life – not just in her own area but in the boarding house and indeed anywhere where she could help out. Steph is always the first to volunteer and her sole focus is the happiness of the children. Steph - we will miss you very much and we know you will keep in touch.

The weather conditions weren’t ideal for the annual Mums vs Girls (extremely competitive) netball match but after a wet Sports Day, the Mums dusted off their trainers and prepared to take on the Year 8s! The Mums started strong, making the girls fight hard and adapt their game. Lacking in height, the girls had to resort to using bounce passes to sneak the ball into attack. The final score ended as 9-7, with the Mums taking the trophy. It was a lovely way for the Year 8s to end their sporting success at Dorset House!

Well done to all the parents and children who took part!

Sport

Rugby U10 A

A season to remember! Whilst for many at this age, the introduction of rucks, malls and scrums is daunting, not for our group of U10s! The boys opened their account for the season with a comprehensive win at home to Belmont. Not only did the team show their strength in running with the ball with tries from Benji Toynbee, Sam Richardson and Sam Crowley, it was the outstanding counter rucking from Daniel Sherwell and Jack Posnett that set the tone for the match and soon to be the whole season.

The boys made great progress throughout the season and their confidence grew with every performance. There were comprehensive victories against Seaford, Lancing at Hove, Pennthorpe, Handcross Park and Brighton College.

The most memorable match, albeit a loss, was our last one against Cottesmore. Having led in the early stages, the U10 A found themselves behind at the break. A few words of encouragement and the boys reacted with an outstanding second half performance. There was a notable performance from Henry Annison in his first match in the As, ensuring he hit every tackle and he was first to the break down. The battering ram trio of Jack Posnett, Daniel Sherwell and Jayden Ruellan-Chancellor were destructive in both defence and attack. Furthermore, the technical, classy play from Benji Toynbee, Sam Richardson, Harry Redgrove and Sam Crowley ensured we were in touching distance of Cottesmore!

Hockey - Colts A

The Colts A team had a mixed season, that boasted many positive highlights. The boys opened the season with a tournament at Hurst College. The first match was a shock to the system facing an experienced Cranleigh side, who ran out 4-0 winners. We went on to draw 0-0 with Skippers Hill, Seaford College, Holmewood House and Cumnor House. Although we did not manage to score, the boys displayed resilient performances throughout the day and we were unlucky to not come away with a victory. A stand out performance came from Jack Posnett in goal, making several outstanding saves. A win and a loss at Westbourne House capped off an entertaining afternoon of hockey. The boys played some strong possession-based hockey and managed to work the ball into goal-scoring opportunities on many occasions. Jack Patten was nominated as the player of the day. The season ended against Lancing at Hove Prep School, held at the senior school. This fixture felt as though the team had come together and were understanding the principles of the game. A fantastic team performance led by Harry Redgrove, resulted in a convincing win. What a way to finish the season!

Cricket - 1st XI

It’s been an interesting season for the 1sts. Things got off to a good start with wins against Hurst, St Edmunds, Shoreham and Great Ballard. There then followed a series of tough matches against Cottesmore, Westbourne, Seaford, Windlesham and Handcross Park, before a nice win against Belmont in the last game of the season. As captain, Barney Waddell led by example, finishing as top run scorer and wicket taker. No one else really got anywhere near him. Harry Richardson showed great maturity with the bat but was often plagued by misfortune, and Seb Marsh and Rocco Heggie, demonstrated their bowling credentials when they were focused. The emergence of Henry Godfrey as a strong all-rounder was a highlight of the season. He shows a great understanding of the game for a Y7. 2nds - This year for the first time DH fielded a mixed team of boys and girls. They played a mixture of hard and soft ball games. For many in the team, the experience was valuable and will help with their development as players. Results did not always go their way but there were some great contributions from the likes of Layla Owens, Hadley Tranter-French and Jackson Black.

Sport

U9A/B

Colts A

With so much of our hope this summer being placed not on the England cricket team but the Colts A, it has been a mixed season regarding results. The boys have enjoyed the transition to hardball and seeing them every break time practising in the nets has been pleasing. Jack Patten has been a revelation behind the stumps this season, having been thrown the gloves at the start of the season with little experience, he has taken several catches and stumpings. Whilst the boys have experienced, at times, comical innings with a lack of communication being at the forefront of our mistakes, they have managed to put in some strong performances against predominantly U11 A teams. This has been a challenging experience for them, considering most of the team are U10’s- this certainly is promising for next summer! There wereonvincing victories against Great Ballard and Shoreham College, with a standout team performance in a narrow loss to Seaford College: Harry Redgrove

scoring 48 not out, Jackson Morey with a quick fire 30 and Finley Boughton with a powerful 20. Colts B

Over the season the boys faced some difficult opponents. This never stopped them from giving the opposition teams a challenge. Against Handcross Park the boys batted first, setting a total of 121 runs - impressive for their first non-paired game. An impressive run of bowling from Oscar Bassett who took 2 wickets, and Lucas taking one, made batting hard for Handcross. Add to this, some great wicket keeping from Daniel Sherwell; James Ratcliffe taking an incredible catch and a great throw which ran a player out; and some superb boundary stopping fielding from Rafferty New. This was the best game of cricket the group played, and it came down to the last over, where Handcross Park unfortunately, hit a boundary to win. Despite this, the boys demonstrated just how much they had improved over the season.

The boys had a tremendous season with a mix of Year 3 and 4. As the season progressed, the boys’ confidence grew with every performance. A strength of the whole team was the consistency in their bowling. The boys worked hard on their bowling action, bowling with a straight arm and hitting a good line and length, something not all schools we played against could claim! The team faced some challenging matches, albeit at times facing a baseball pitch, picking up wins against Great Ballard, Lancing at Hove and Pennthorpe. Special mention to Edward Greatorex who captained the side and led from the front. Key performances from: Stanley Winter bowling at the death with precision and control; Roddy Cleghorn for his powerful strokes and Cameron Rae for developing into the most economical bowler.

Jack Stevenson (or should I say Ben Stokes), demonstrated his match winning play with several wickets taken and booming 6s. The future is bright!

Adam Bardouleau

Sport

Athletics

Athletics at DH continues to go from strength to strength and this year once again our athletes performed on the centre stage.

At the Hurst Athletics Meeting in May the Year 5 boys cleaned up, winning 5 out of the 8 events. Sam Crowley won the hurdles, 600m and high jump, Benji Toynbee the 100m and High Jump and there was also first place for the relay team of Sam Crowley, Benji Toynbee, Sam Richardson and Daniel Sherwell. The Y4 boys also came first in the relay, with a team of Roddy Cleghorn, Stanley Winter, Tommy Davies and Rufus Borthwick. The following week the same boys came first overall at the DH U9 Athletics Meeting.

At the Junior Area Athletics Event at Hurst in June, it was the turn of the Y4s to shine. Stanley Winter won the 200m, Sophie Ratcliffe and Edward Greatorex the discus. In fact, because Edward broke the record by almost 3 metres, he was awarded the Victor Ludorum Trophy for the most outstanding Y4 boy athlete. At the Senior Area Athletics Event at K2, Olivia Smith came first in the javelin and second in the shot, whilst Jack Patten came first in the long jump. There were also second places for Seb Marsh in the high jump, Hadley Tranter-French in the long jump, Jensen Bladd-Symms in the shot and Rafferty New in the discus. All of these athletes then went on to represent Sussex at the National Athletics Finals at Nuneaton, with Olivia Smith going on to finish 3rd in the javelin, thus capping our most successful season thus far.

The first athletics event of the season for the girls was at Westbourne. It was a successful event: Beau Black, competing a Year above, came 2nd in the hurdles, Jessie Tustin 1st in the long jump and 3rd in the 100m, Chloe Mitchell 2nd in the high jump, Olivia Smith 1st in the shot, Bea Belgeonne 1st in the 1500m, Layla Owens 3rd in the javelin, Bella Boyce 2nd in the javelin and 1500m and Eliza Fearon 3rd in the hurdles.

Swimming

The results from the swimming galas were too late for the newsletter but we can report that it has been a wonderful term in the pool with lots of sessions for everyone - including the early morning Swim Club run by Steph Oland, Dr Wintle and Mr Manley.

Thanks to Susan Wightman for returning to help with swimmingincluding lessons for Bury and Coldwaltham primary schools.

Sports Days

It was another glorious day for the Pre-Prep Sports Day. The ReceptionYear 2 children, dressed in their house tops and wearing their special ‘speedy’ trainers, were extremely excited to show their parents how hard they had been working all term. First, the field events took place. The children moved around in their Houses, accompanied by the extremely helpful Year 3 and 4 girls, and took part in the long jump, foam javelin, tennis ball throw, and bean bag throw. It was fantastic to see every child try their best in each event and there were several records broken! Next up, the track races! The parents gathered to support the children as they competed in the hurdles, sprint, skipping, beanbag balance, egg and spoon, obstacle and relay races. The children were superstars, and it was lovely to see the variety of different hats used in the obstacle race. There was even a moose who took part! The children, covered in stickers from all their success, had the chance to cheer on their parents as they took part in the parents’ relay race. The Year 2 parents’ team were victorious, setting a new record (it was the first time it was timed!) Steph Oland

Sports Days

The weather wasn’t on our side for the Year 3-8 Sports Day but in true DH style we carried on! Despite the rain, which unfortunately meant the hurdles were cancelled, the children remained in high spirits and produced some amazing results. There were a number of records broken this year, congratulations to our new record holders: Sophie Ratcliffe (Junior Discus), Flora Lewis (Junior High Jump), Minnie Andrews (Junior Long Jump), Edward Greatorex (Junior Discus), Beau Black (Junior Javelin), Olivia Smith (Intermediate Shot and Javelin), Erin Sherwell (Intermediate Discus), Seb Marsh (Senior High Jump), Mills Sirett (Junior 600m) and Hadley Tranter-French (Senior 300m).

Wilkinson were overall champions! Well done to all the children, staff and parents.

Steph Oland

Art and DT

Art and DT

We have had another busy term in the DT workshop and art room culminating in our end-of-year exhibition showcasing the children's fantastic work. In our last week, we took the Years 5, 6 and 7 on an Art trip to the Brighton Dome to see ‘Van Gogh Alive’, an immersive, multi-sensory experience that captivated staff and pupils alike by bringing the artist’s paintings and brush strokes to life.

The trip particularly resonated with the children as they undertake artists' studies during their weekly art lessons. This year, they have been looking at the work of Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Alfred Wallis, Gustav Klimt, Paul Klee and Picasso. By copying the works of famous artists, the children learn about art history, different styles and techniques of working, and how art can be used to express ideas and emotions.

Copying famous artists' works can be a great way to not only teach children about art but also improve their own artistic skills and develop their eye for composition and colour. When children are asked to think about how to recreate an artwork, it makes them think about the different elements of the painting in a new way. Of course, copying famous artists' works is not the only way for children to learn about art but it can be a fun and effective way to introduce children to the world of art, give them a deeper appreciation and help them broaden their own artistic skills.

Carly Harrison and Sophie Sitwell

Music

Parents often assume that the Autumn and Summer terms are the busy ones for the Music Department – whilst they most certainly are, the Spring term packs a punch too, with informal concerts for Years 5-8, trips and of course, the Inter-House Music Competition.

Year 3 were treated to an orchestral concert at Chichester Festival Theatre by the Southern Pro Symphony Orchestra. Perfect timing following a term learning of learning their chosen instruments. The programme was tailored towards children with classical favourites by Mozart, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky to name a few. With audience participation and a magician compère, what’s not to like?

In March our younger choristers in Years 5 & 6 enjoyed a trip to Brighton College for their choral day. With over a hundred children joining forces to sing an eclectic mix of soul, gospel and classical there was also much to be enjoyed and experienced.

Many of you will remember Emily Han, our resident accompanist from last year. She had a solo concert at Chichester Cathedral and all the DH pianists were in for a real treat – she organised for us to have the best seats in the ‘house’ right behind her, so we could see all the action and her fingers moving at lightening-fast pace! The children were spellbound and couldn’t believe that Emily could play her entire, near hour-long, programme from memory!`

Our orchestral players in Year 5 & 6 had a day of musicmaking at Bedales. Their Director of Music is a character (he judged our Inter-House competition not long ago) and chose a great mix of pieces from Strauss to Coldplay for us to learn and perform at the end of the day. The children were also treated to a 30 minute set which was some of the highlights from Bedales’ legendary Rock Show featuring DH alumni Eliza Hayward on vocals on a few tracks. On our Open-Morning some of our Y7 musicians were treated to a steel-pan workshop led by Mr Berkley (our drum teacher) and his band. In just a few hours they were able to learn a few songs which they performed for some prospective parents and the other children in school. The music competition was, as always, a monster affair. All children who learn an instrument (over 95% of children in Years 3-8) performed in junior and senior instrumental categories in heats which took place over two weeks. As ever, it was lovely to see other children turn out to support and listen to their friends. Congratulations to our finalists who impressed our judges:

Juniors: Benji Toynbee (violin), Hetty New (flute), Elsie Butler (alto saxophone), Paxton Clough-Humphries (trombone), Chloe Mitchell (guitar), Sebastian TranterFrench (cello), Hetty New (singing), Lucas SpellmanWelsh (drums), Daniel Sherwell (trumpet), Honor Macmillan (oboe), William Dawe (bassoon), Benji Toynbee (drums), Minnie Andrews (piano).

Music

Seniors: Wade Stormonth-Darling (piano), Beatrice de Courcy-White (cello), Jackson Black (clarinet), Dylan Baldwin (trumpet), Eliza Fearon (trombone), Dylan Baldwin (drums), Francesca MorrisWarburton (alto saxophone), Cosmo Le Page (violin) Beatrice de Courcy -White (singing), Eliza Fearon (singing), Alice Andrews (clarinet) and Beatrice de Courcy-White (Bass Guitar).

The theme for the House songs this year was, needing no explanation, ‘Royalty’. Yup, that’s right, you guessed it – Dancing Queen was one of the tracks chosen (by Simms) but (perhaps more surprisingly) there was no song chosen by Queen! The other choices were:

Munro: 'King’ by Years & Years.

Hutchinson: 'Stand By Me’ - Ben E. King

Wilkinson: Vida La Vida – Coldplay (how does that fit the theme, you may ask!? Tenuous perhaps, but the songs starts with ‘I used to rule the world’ and later ‘now the old king is dead, long live the king’ so it snuck in!)

Our judge this year was Chris Mountford who runs the Band Project and it was Elsie Butler (alto saxophone) in the Juniors and Beatrice de Courcy-White (singing) in the Seniors who impressed him the most. With the House songs, Munro had his musical vote, but for their allround performance Wilkinson pipped them to House song category. However, despite this, the overall winners were Hutchinson.

Jason Marconi

Music

What a glorious Summer term it has proved to be – I don’t recall so many instrumental lessons being held outside or in the gazebo in the walled garden!

The Summer term marks what has become a rite of passage for Year 2 children – their instrumental trials. This is an opportunity to trial a variety of orchestral instruments ahead of starting an instrument in Year 3. We can boast that over 95% of children learn and this process helps to guide them to the right choice with the foundations laid in their class lessons, inspired by the Kodály approach, paving the way. My favourite quote from one of the boys was: ‘the trumpet is for me! If I practise over the holidays, may I join the Swing Band next term?!’. Good luck to them all as they start their instrumental journeys!

The Summer Concert was, I think it’s safe to say, a wonderful occasion. Year 1&2 kicking things off and having the audience sing along with them in ‘She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain’ was a great start. The Swing Band impressed with ‘Moaning’ and ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy’ (during their rehearsals Clive and Kirby were drawn into the barn to come and listen because they thought we had band in to play to the children – this is level that they are achieving). The Orchestra, with nearly 30 instrumentalists, were in fine form too with renditions of ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ and the ‘Top Gun Theme’, as were The Choir with ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’ with close 3-part harmonies. Our soloists this year were Eliza Fearon and Beatrice de Courcy-White singing contrasting pieces: ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked and Mozart’s ‘Voi Che Sapete’ respectively. Bella Boyce and Francesca Morris-Warburton were in fine form on their saxophones with Wold-Ferrari's ‘Strimpellata’ and the Cowles’ ‘Myopic Mice’. Finally, Dylan Baldwin captivated us with the ‘Chatanooga’ Choo Choo on the trumpet. Our whole school song was Gary Bardeaulou’s ‘Sing’, originally composed for the Diamond Jubilee and it proved very popular with the children. We managed to perform it with four-part harmonies, learnt in classes and only put together at the rehearsal prior to the concert. It felt magical being part of the performance with nearly 1or the Diamond Jubilee and it proved very popular with the chilren. We managed to perform it with four-part harmonies, learnt in classes and only put together at the rehearsal prior to the concert. It felt magical being part of the performance with nearly 120 of singing together AND with big, BIG smiles on our faces!

Many children were entered for Music exams this term with 100% success. Of particular note is Alice Andrews (Grade 5 clarinet and Grade 4 saxophone),

Jason Marconi

Music

BandProject

The Band Project children in Year 7 & 8 have been busy preparing their set for this term. They performed their set for all the children at DH and then gigged at The Hope and Anchor in Brighton. Their songs included ‘Come As You Are’ by Nirvanna, ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark’ by Fall Out Boy and Bon Jovi’s ‘Living On A Prayer’. This activity gives the children a fantastic opportunity for some creative control in arranging the material and some real-world experience playing in an external venue.

Bury Manor Pre-School

During the summer term, the children prepared for the Coronation by making Union Flag shakers, bunting and fancy hats for the hat competition.

King Charles arrived and the children shook their shakers and blew their blowers (which had been hidden in the garden), with great excitement! The children bowed or curtseyed and presented him with a red tulip in return they received a Coronation medal from the King. Our families enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine together with a glass of homemade Pimms.

The children have planted sunflowers seeds, made very attractive portraits of their daddies for Father’s Day and have watched caterpillars metamorphasize into butterflies. They were so excited to see the butterflies emerge and they freed them in the Walled Garden. We visited Pulborough Brooks for a sensory walk, pond dipping and a bug hunt after which the children picnicked in the gardens and enjoyed a long play on the play equipment. We ended the term with our Leavers’ Celebration and Sports Day with races themed around, `growing’.

Boarding

My favourite time to board at Dorset House is during the summer term because we have been out on the pitches and enjoying the warm evening sunshine. We have spent our evenings playing football, practising athletics, including high jump and hurdles, and playing cricket. Walks on the Downs, trips to Littlehampton to the beach and for fish & chips, and some mountain biking happen too. We have also enjoyed swimming in the pool and playing water polo. I am sad to say that, as a Year 8 pupil and Head of Boarding, it is my time to move on. Boarding has been such an important part of my time at DH, and I will take so many memories with me. Things like the Tuesday night trips to see Worthing play football and Mr Lusted’s legendary hot chocolates (once we’d explained how best to make it: heavy on the chocolate, light on the milk!) -he pulled it out of the bag with marshmallows and cream on our last night! Epic games of football throughout the year with Mr Marconi and the Gaps. Our trips and parties have also been highlights, as has the occasional chatting after lights-out (shhhh, don’t tell Mr Marconi!). For me I have really enjoyed boarding at Dorset House because I get to spend time with my friends and it has helped me prepare for the next stage of moving on to my senior school where I will be a full time boarder. Harry Wilmore.

Here are a selection of photos from the summer term and one from last term when we celebrated Mr Marconi’s birthday by sharing his cake!

Other News

ArunValleySchools

In September 2022 DH held the first of a series of events aimed at involving pupils from local primary schools in sport. Boys aged from 10 to 11 years from St James’, Coldwaltham and Fittleworth schools joined boys from Dorset House in a six-a-side football tournament. It was a fun occasion with some good football played by all teams. The eventual winners were Dorset House. In February 2023 it was the turn of the girls in the Arun Valley Schools' area to take part in a netball tournament. There was a great response to this event with 6 schools taking part.

In May this summer, the final event of the series involved Arun Valley Schools competing in a six-a-side cricket tournament. Each team was made up of 3 boys and 3 girls with every one having to bat and bowl. There was a great turnout, with 8 teams competing for the top prize. Many parents from all the different schools watched and admired the fantastic display of cricketing ability on show. The overall winners were Arundel Cof E Primary. DH hopes to run the series again next year and make it an annual event bringing together all local school children.

your contributions and service to DH which included taking sports teams and residential leadership trips. Alan Lamb and Clive Richardson, from our Estates Department have also left DH and we wish them both a happy retirement.

Baby Wake

We were all thrilled to hear of the safe arrival of Sarah Wake’s (Née Hobrow) baby.

Charlie arrived on 15th May weighing 8lb 8oz. Congratulations to Sarah and Paul.

Many of the children have already met the little one and we look forward to hearing of his progress.

Other News

Sailing

When children make suggestions, we always do our best to facilitate their ideas. So, when Wilf and Florence in Year 6 suggested a sailing activity, we arranged a Teams meeting with Cobnor Activity Centre. Billy from Year 5 joined the meeting which was held in the Headmaster’s study and there was a good discussion of the best way forward. We now have a taster session arranged for 30 children in September and hope that the activity will continue next summer.

GapStudents

Our three GAP students, Julia Powell -Davies, Matt Lusted and Abbey Bevan, arrived on a cold, dark day in January from sunny Australia have been a brilliant addition in all areas of school life – we all really appreciate their enthusiasm and `can do’ attitude. (Although we are not sure whether we have forgiven Mr Lusted for hoisting the Australian flag following the first Ashes test…)

CharityWalk

Karen Bentley and I completed the 25K and raised just over £700 for Shooting Star Chase children's hospice in Guildford as Team Dorset House School. The event was beautifully organised and ran from Windsor racecourse, along the river at Runnymede before entering Windsor Great Park and finishing back to the racecourse. It was extremely muddy, having rained continuously for the week before the event, but the day itself was dry, thank goodness!

The whole day was great fun and a wonderful way to raise lots of money for a very worthy cause. Thank you so much to all of our kind sponsors. We are definitely doing the Action Challenge again next year. Who would like to join us?

Sarah Armstrong

Other News

Equestrian Update

This academic year our riders have achieved a collection of both individual and team wins; first placings at Hickstead and Felbridge and a collection of individual wins at Coombelands from our youngest rider, Archie Crumley, who was awarded our Best Junior rider cup. Our youngest riders, Archie Crumley and Cameron Rae are representing Dorset House this summer at the National School Championships at Hickstead, we wish them the best of luck!

Hayley Sirett

(HayleyissteppingdownascoordinatorofourEquestrianTeam andwewouldliketothankherfor allshehasdone)

DH Dads Cricket

Summer 2023, saw the hanging up of the old guard's, pads, gloves and bats. Those ripe old dogs left a lingering smell in the pavilion evocative of Linseed oil, claret, ale, and the ash of a fine Romeo y Juliet. The ghosts of Blowers, Athers, Bailey, Rowley, Simpson, and Lock made way for those junior members to succeed to the more senior ranks. A difficult start to the season with a number of games against Westbourne gave way to some success against Prebendal and Watersfield, with the penultimate game played at Seaford last week for a narrow loss. We took heart from the way in which Seaford praised our great determination, but more than

that our humour and the simple fact that we are a good bunch of blokes and great fun to play cricket with. With thanks to some of the younger dads, a new breed of cricketer is emerging. For the first time this century Arundel Castle have agreed to host a cricketing festival between Dorset House, Westbourne House and Seaford College on the 15th of September 2023 to close off the season. Everyone is welcome, drinks, lunch, coffees, and undoubtedly Heggie's finest gin, combined with Digby’s, greatest vintages, will surely prove an enticing option for families and friends to come and enjoy a quintessentially English day at one of the finest cricket grounds the world currently offers.

Parents’ Page

Dear DH parents,

It feels unbelievable writing this that nearly a year has gone by since we starting planning events for the PA and what a great year it’s been! During the last three terms we’ve been busy bees! We were involved in Headmasters’ drinks, Bonfire Night and the “It’s a Knock Out” Coronation events

We’ve hosted the amazing Winter sparkle Party, Rocked out with the children at the Neon Disco, had great fun putting our brains to the test at the more than memorable quiz night and just recently seen the return of the hugely popular Dads’ camping. By taking part in these events you have helped us raise over £5000!! From this we have been able to purchase items like the tipi, that is now being used year round in break times, Forest School and during lessons. We’ve also been able to purchase smaller items like generators for Mr Keane.

But we are keen to spend more and, as you may know, we have been working hard behind the scenes to get the Fundraising Initiative off the ground, which will see all the children, lead by the Prefects, staff and parents, having a say about what PA funds are spent on. This is now underway so please encourage your children over the holidays to think about and talk to their class council about what they would like to see at school.

The criteria for the spending is: It helps build friendships, skills, new learning or makes school life more fun or forward thinking.

If you have any ideas we would love to hear about it, please contact the PA at dorsethousepa@gmail.com and we can go through the process with you.

Of course none of this would be possible without our amazing PA team, who give up their free time to plan and organise these events, so we want to say a massive thank you to them, for all your brilliant ideas and inspiration and we hope we’ve kept to our promise of making it easy and as fun as possible! Also to Lucy Davies and Lucy Macmillan who help sort out the accounts and document everything amidst busy jobs and family life, we hope you know how much we appreciate you. Lastly, as you may know, we are in the process of organising a very special Christmas party

which will include an online auction. If you could offer something special as an Auction Lot we would love to hear from you. Please contact either: Sophie or Tillie s.anstee@yahoo.com hello@w9maida vale.com or your PA rep to discuss. So please save the date for Saturday 25th November for what promises to be a fabulous evening!

Thank you for your continued support. We hope you have a beautiful Summer and look forward to seeing you in September.

Keep it Fun, Keep it Easy, Keep it DH!

Dolly and Jo - Co-Chairs

OPEN MORNING

FRIDAY

15th September 2023 10.00am–12 Noon

DORSET HOUSE SCHOOL

The Manor, Church Lane, Bury, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 1PB

For news updates, please visit: @DorsetHouseSch dorsethouseschool

Dorset House School

Headmaster: Matt Thomas Med BA Ed (Hons) FRGS

• Minibus pick-ups available

• Day and flexi-boarding Prep School for children from Reception to Year 8

• ‘Outstanding’ Pre-School on site for children from 2

Telephone: 01798 831456 email: info@dorsethouseschool.com www.dorsethouseschool.com