Today sees the launch of our new Houses@DHSB site where all house updates will be shared.
A big thank you to Miss Cunningham, Head of Houses and Community, who has created the website in collaboration with the House Captains. The purpose is to allow all students and parents to see what is happening within the House system and to celebrate all the students who contribute in lots of ways.
Miss Cunningham said, “The website has information about the many areas our Houses influence at school, and the development of the House Dashboards is something we are very proud of; here you can see the unique profile of each house. There is information about all our prefect roles and ambassador opportunities, plus links to academic and sporting competitions which feed into the contest for the St Levan Shield”.
We hope this will be an area of the site which will showcase the best of our Houses going forward.
It can be found on the School Life tab on our main site or accessed directly at this link.
STEAM Update
Today also sees the first of our STEAM news updates which I hope will be a regular feature in the Head's Blog.
Ms Davarian, our STEAM Coordinator, said, "Welcome to the first DHSB STEAM update. Across the school we have a whole range of activities happening which allow students to explore and get involved in STEAM. But what is it? Simply put, it encompasses Science - Technology - Engineering - Arts - Mathematics. By bringing these subjects together under this umbrella we are trying to encourage creative and inventive minds, in line with DHSB's Vision and Values. You can expect to read blogs from students engaged in different activities with these values at heart".
Well done to Elliot Mair 10C who has written the first post.
At the moment I play the guitar in the school Soul Band on Thursdays during lunchtime which is held in J01 or the room in the music block. Although it is called ‘soul’ band, we rehearse and perform a wide variety of songs for an ensemble with modern instruments (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals) as opposed to a classical orchestra or similar.
I mainly go along for the musical experience as although I have been playing the guitar for a while and have gone through the grades, I don’t play much with other people which is what music is all about. It makes you listen and interact with the other musicians in the band while teaching you something you can’t get from just playing on your own.
Also, there are lots of performance opportunities at school events like the Christmas and Spring concerts as well as before assemblies and similar which is valuable for any one who wants to get better at doing things on stage or especially looking at this as a career path. I would highly recommend it for anyone who plays an instrument suitable for a modern band whatever your level as it can provide so much joy and value to budding musicians.
Whole School Assembly
On Wednesday this week the whole school heard a thought-provoking assembly on the subject of Amnesty International from Mr Macleod and a group of students, covering refugees and the current Sudan Crisis amongst other humanitarian issues.
Mr Macleod said, “The main focus of this week’s assembly was the idea that there isn't 'Just another refugee' but that all refugees are individuals with a personal story to tell".
He added, "The other focus was how individuals can work for a fairer, more just world, using the example of Martin Luther King's 'The arc of the moral universe' speech to show that change might be slow and the process long but everyone, in their own way, can help to achieve justice. We looked at cases ranging from refugees from Nazi Germany to child soldiers from Darfur, refugee football teams in the UK and the worsening situation in East Africa following the outbreak of violence in Sudan. We also considered the way music has bound together people from different countries, faiths and cultures showing ultimately that we all have shared values, dreams and rights”.
A huge thank you to Mr Scott and Noah Evans for helping to put together the assembly which is linked here for you to view at home.
PSHEE Activities
Today Year 7 students had a talk from the British Transport Police about safe use of rail transport as well as the dangers of playing around a rail track. Many of our students commute to school by train, and as they move up the school are likely to use more public transport unaccompanied by parents, so this annual talk comes at a good time.
Year 8 students are beginning to prepare for their school exams (w/c 5/6/23) after half term by preparing a revision schedule, and completing pages in their revision booklets with details of when each exam falls, and also exactly what they need to revise.
The Year 9 lesson was all about gaming and gambling; how many games now offer opportunities to buy extras to enhance the gaming experience, or even lucky dip loot bags which may or may not be very good value. These types of behaviour may not be seen by some as gambling, but could lead to more serious outcomes in the future.
Year 10 students used an extended time this morning to cover their statutory SRE lessons on contraception and STIs, led by professionals from The Zone in Plymouth.
Students who were out on their DofE practice expeditions will have a chance to catch up with these topics with Mr Manley at a later date, to be advised.
Year 11 students are working hard on revision for their imminent exams (starting in earnest next week) as well as making sure they have plans in place for next year. We remind them that opportunities for apprenticeships or taster/open events are posted on the Year 11 Tutorial Google Classroom.
Another event took place on Thursday when a group of 13 Year 9 and 10 students had the opportunity to visit the Crown Court in Plymouth. This was very oversubscribed so participants were chosen at random from those interested in a possible law career. We not only had a tour and sat in on parts of three different cases but also met three barristers and two judges with a chance to interrogate one of the judges.
Our questions included:-
Do you let your personal views affect your verdict?
What category of crime is most of your work in?
Mr Campbell kindly drove us and students enjoyed seeing the Rule of Law in a real life working setting.
More on Tutorial content next week.
Ms Moreton
PTFA News
We are delighted to announce we are arranging a summer disco at Pryzm on Sunday 11 June 2023 for Year 7, 8 and 9 students at DHSB, DHSG and PHSG, plus guests.
Emails with details will be sent today and tickets are available at this link:-
https://www.dhsb.org/shop The Christmas disco was very popular so don't delay! Tickets are strictly only on sale until 21 May 2023.
Also thank you to everyone who came to this week's PTFA meeting. We discussed the forthcoming Alton Towers trip, the summer disco and pig racing.
We then had the pleasure of choosing a shortlist of the photography competition entries which was no easy task!
Our next and final meeting of the year is on 4 July 2023 - we'd love to see you there.
Mrs Kinsella
Sports Update
Football
As the football season draws to a close we are delighted to share our success this week.
Congratulations to the U15 team who retained the Devon Cup after a strong performance in very wet conditions on Tuesday, and commiserations to Exmouth.
The team will play in the Plymouth Cup Final later this month.
Well done also to the Year 9 team who finished as runners up in the Plymouth Cup after playing against Eggbuckland in the final on Wednesday.
Mr Campbell said, “The whole of the DHSB team should be proud of how hard they battled in today’s match. To be the second best team in Plymouth is no mean feat”.
More good news this week for the 1st XI who have won the Devon Wednesday League division one title after beating a team from Plymouth University.
Many congratulations
Tennis
In a busy week for sport, well done also to the U15 tennis team who won the Plymouth School's competition by beating Hele's School in the final.
Athletics
Mr Carpenter reports, "Amazing performances across the board from students in the DHSB Year 7 athletics team at the Plymouth Super 8 athletics event this week. An overall win for the team - Leo, Ben, Michael, Tom, Owen, Max, Barnaby and Eldon in partnership with DHSG".
Well done to all!
