We said a collective farewell to Year 13 students on Wednesday in a special assembly when we had the opportunity to enjoy some of the gorgeous photos of them when they were little and to celebrate the inspiring young adults they have become.
We finished the presentation by sharing a poignant message in the words of Michelle Obama.
Michelle said, “Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Lead by example with hope... our greatness comes from people who work hard and reach back and help others after them.... being inspired and being your true self. Through serving others we find what was missing in our own lives... Invent the future".
Whilst with us throughout the last two years, we have endeavoured to help our students build resilience and encouraged them to maintain optimism and focus on their futures.
We wish them well in the stepping stone of their A level exams.
This week Year 12 students were briefed on what their immediate future looks like following their first mock exams. Many will learn how to develop their study approach in the coming weeks at the same time as they will develop their Unifrog profiles ready for realistic next step plans.
Andy Wallis also came to share some superb insights into courses at Falmouth University and he challenged some of the stereotypical thinking around creative careers. Andy's inspiring session focused on raising the aspirations of students studying visual arts, business, technology and performing arts subjects.
Ten Tors Challenge 2024
We want to wish our four Ten Tors teams every success as they face this tough challenge over the weekend.
Many thanks to members of staff, volunteers and families who have supported students through their extensive training programme and to everyone who helped to set up the base camp yesterday.
A special thanks also to our PTFA who have provided a second mess tent which will make a big difference to our camp.
Ten Tors Outside School
If your child is taking part in the Ten Tors Challenge with an organisation outside school then we'd like to celebrate their achievements too.
Please complete the Google Form available at this link to let us know.
Tracking school teams
Over the weekend of the challenge you may track the progress of the school teams at this link and we'll bring you a full report in the Head's Blog next week.
Link to Ten Tors tracking (this page will go live over the weekend)
35 mile team A - route code FP (team P on route F)
35 mile team B - route code GO (team O on route G)
45 mile team - route code VE (team E on route V)
55 mile team - route code ZF (team F on route Z)
Note from Dr Colvile - the 35A and 35B teams are equally strong, but the Army requires letters A and B to be used to distinguish between teams where we have more than one on the same distance.
Student News
Well done to Adit Sobti 7S who gained the following awards at the Torbay Speech and Drama Festival.
Public Speaking - first place
Prose Speaking - first place
Humorous Verse - second place
Sight Reading - second place
Congratulations Adit!
Excellent Work
Mr Scott has shared an example of excellent work from his Year 10 Computer Science class.
He said, “We're thrilled to highlight the impressive achievement of Luke Madgett, a talented Year 10 student, who has showcased his coding skills with his creation of a Prime Number Calculator using Javascript. Luke's innovative program not only efficiently identifies prime numbers but goes a step further by extrapolating them into a visually engaging graph. This exceptional project not only demonstrates Luke's advanced coding skills but also his creativity in applying them to solve mathematical challenges.”
Congratulations to Luke for his remarkable accomplishment, showcasing the ingenuity and potential of our students at DHSB.
House News
This week in year group assemblies we have launched our exciting new search for seven new House figureheads at DHSB.
With the addition of a new form in this September's intake, a seventh house will be created and this has presented a fantastic opportunity for staff and students to be involved in renaming our existing six houses and our new seventh house.
We surveyed staff a few weeks ago to help create a varied and diverse shortlist of twenty candidates for the students to select from. Some have connections to Plymouth and the South West, but this was not essential.
Students have until next Friday to cast their votes by selecting up to seven choices of figureheads they think would be brilliant for DHSB.
We are all really excited about the prospect of this and look forward to the transition from our existing house figureheads, who have been in place since 2009, to a newly updated selection.
Please note, students will remain with their current tutor groups, their house colour and tie will not change, just the name!
Miss Cunningham
Sparx Maths and Sparx Reader
Each week we celebrate our highest performers in both Sparx Maths and Sparx Reader, two of our core homework platforms. We are proud of all of our students who complete their homework each week to such a high standard but these six students deserve a special mention.
Well done!
Clubs and Activities
Thank you to Mr Callicott for sharing this updated timetable of extracurricular clubs and activities.
Something for everyone!
Holiday Club
Mr Campbell is delighted to announce our latest holiday club this May Half Term (Tues 28 May - Friday 31 May).
We are excited to welcome everyone from the wider community, aged between 8 and 13 years old, to come and get involved. We have lots of amazing sessions and workshops planned for the week which you wouldn’t want to miss out on!
Suitable for 8-13 year olds (boys and girls)
Dates: Tuesday 28 May - Friday 31 May
Time: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Location: DHSB
Price: Standard rate: £20 per day and multi-ticket discount of £60 for four days
Sports Update
Football
Mr Manley said it was a disappointing afternoon for the 1st XI team who lost 2 - 0 in the Devon Wednesday League Jack Finch cup final.
Congratulations to the City Police who were deserving winners and well done to our team for reaching the final.
Hockey
And in other sports news this week, a big thank you to Jon at Bogey Knights Plymouth Store for the donation of these hockey sticks, collected by trainee teacher Mr Harris.
