Red Nose Day arrived at DHSB today with frosting, buttercream and all sorts of tasty treats!
Our House Captains and charity reps banded together to deliver a mega bake sale, with plenty of very delicious donations from our generous students and parents at DHSB.
The Captains worked the stands in both the Year 7 playground and on the Colonnade so that everyone had an opportunity to indulge and support both Red Nose Day and the Turkey/Syria Crisis Appeal.
The House Captains also recognised that a good cake needs something tasty to wash it down with so had some liquid refreshment to accompany. Lots of happy faces, cakes sold and over £200 made for charity.
Ms Cunningham
National Cup
A huge well done again to our Year 10 football team who made it to the final stages of the naional cup this year.
I met the students and the staff who supported the team over breakfast this morning and was able to congratulate them and hear more about the competition and matches.
Excellent Work
Our Excellent Work this week has been shared by Mrs Johnson and her Year 7 English class.
Mrs Johnson said, “Once a term, for homework, students are asked to complete two tasks from a creative homework menu. The tasks vary each term but always relate to the scheme of learning that we are studying in class and each task requires students to respond in a variety of creative ways. Last term Year 7 students studied poetry and media forms on the topic of nature and the environment and you can see from some of the entries here that we had an influx of outstanding pieces. The English department were very impressed and many students got to enjoy showcasing their work in gallery lessons”.
Ten Tors
Many thanks to Dr Colvile for updating us on our training and preparation for the Ten Tors Challenge.
DHSB Ten Tors teams' final one day walk of this season was combined with camping training for the 45 mile team, as well as members of the 35 and 55 mile teams visiting Dartmoor Search and Rescue (DSRT) Plymouth headquarters, adding up to a very busy weekend.
Mr Guy-Fierens' connection with DSRT gave us a valuable opportunity to meet the volunteers whose services we hope never to need, with a presentation last Friday evening explaining how the DSRT responds to individuals who are missing or who get into difficulty on Dartmoor. Our Ten Tors teams will also now recognise our DSRT friends manning checkpoints on the Ten Tors Challenge.
The weather on Saturday night was then a perfect introduction to wild camping for our 45 mile team - damp enough to learn the importance of keeping everything dry, breezy enough to teach the challenge of cooking efficiently, but not unpleasantly cold or wet. We left no trace that we had been there, as has always been required of wild campers in the National Park.
Science Week Event
This week we were offered the opportunity to take a group of Year 9 students to the Science Week event at City College Plymouth, aimed at promoting careers in the science sector.
Students were selected at random from those expressing an interest, as we could only take a limited number.
This was an ideal opportunity to experience a number of interactive and interesting activities and presentations; our students took part in sessions including computing and AI, health related fitness, practical experiments with cheek cells and sound design.
These hands-on activities were delivered by expert lecturers who provided real life insight into exciting career opportunities and how science connects them all.
A great day - thanks to Mr Campbell for escorting them.
PSHEE Activities
Well a quieter week in tutorial this week after the magnificent mayhem that was National Careers Week! We had 22 speakers in school on Friday, some of whom stayed the whole day, and various others in person or virtually during the week. A massive thanks to all these people who kindly gave up their time to offer advice and guidance to our students. It is so valuable having up-to-the-minute labour market information and support in all the different sectors.
This week, Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students looked at different versions of The Big Legal Lesson, an initiative by Young Citizens to ensure that students are aware of the law, how it is made and more importantly how it is relevant to them and their own lives. If you are interested there are more details at these links.
Year 11 students had their final talk from Mr Martin in the run up to exams - Perseverance.
Our Year 10 group of students who have been having business mentoring sessions with our enterprise adviser, Ralph Rizk, completed their sessions today as well, and received their certificates. This course was designed by the Heart of the South West Careers Hub and supports students to develop employability awareness and skills.
So a quieter week with just another two to go until the Easter break - more variety to come next week.
Ms Moreton
Sixth Form Enrichment and Tutorial
Today Year 12 used the Unifrog Placement tool for work experience.
Every Sixth Form student should have had one workplace related learning experience before they leave school and we encourage students to use the summer Curriculum Enrichment Week (renamed for the Sixth Form as Higher Education and Industry Research week / HEIR) or the Curriculum Challenge Week to secure this. Leave of absence can be granted at other times on request,
Year 13 students looked at What next? An assortment of useful information on how to proceed following offers and decisions, how to get a reference in a gap year and some insight into transition to independence. They were also reminded that their school email address will be deleted in July and were given 'Google takeout' guidance.
For enrichment we learnt so much about the very real housing crisis from a super representative and speaker from the housing charity Shelter. James Gibbs shared statistics on second homes, the consequences of 'right to buy' and advice and guidance for students as tenants. He emphasised the responsibilities and legalities of tenancy agreements and the rights of tenants.
We ran out of time for questions but it was obvious how rewarding James finds his work in an NGO. Our speakers frequently inspire students for their future careers, albeit incidentally.
James' enthusiasm showed how wonderfully rewarding it is to make a difference in your profession.
Ms Davidson
PTFA News
Our next PTFA meeting will be held on Tuesday 21 March. We'd love you join us if you can where you will be made very welcome. Refreshments will be supplied.
If you have any questions, please email ptfa@dhsb.org.
Thank you.
Mrs Kinsella
Easter Holiday Club
We are delighted to announce that our this Easter Holiday Club will be held from Monday 3 April to Thursday 6 April.
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! We have something for everyone.
Dates: Monday 3 April - Thursday 6 April
Ages: 8 to 13 years
Time: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Location: DHSB
Price: Standard rate: £20 per day with multi-ticket discount : £65 for 4 days
Sign-Up: www.tinyurl.com/344jn6jm
Sports Update
Table Tennis
Congratulations on a second and third place finish in the U16 central venue table tennis event this week.
Mr Campbell said, “Thank you to Eggbuckland for hosting us”.
Staff News
An Inspector Calls
Well done to Mr Anderson who signed up as an extra for the recent Theatre Royal production of An Inspector Calls. This is what he said.
I signed up as an extra on the off chance. I knew the play was studied at English GCSE and had never seen it performed but knew there was no dancing or singing so gave it a shot. The real reason was my terrible stage fright and a hope that this would help.
It certainly did help. I did eight shows and gained a great understanding of how the set, actors and theatre work behind the scenes. I was a member of the Blitz committee so had to stand and watch a ten minute scene and then place a blanket over one of the main characters. Then I had a two minute stand at the end.
This was a fantastic experience, I met some great people and had a fascinating insight into a brilliant show.
Mr Anderson
Public Sector Poetry Journal
And congratulations to Miss Nally who has had a poem published in the Public Sector Poetry Journal. I asked her to tell us a bit more.
I wrote the poem Everyone's Talking About Levelling Up a year ago, reflecting on the life chances and experiences of young people I know. The poem begins with a description of my old classroom and meditates upon the stories shared in tutorial sessions; the poem then shifts to memories of special moments with friends and family on Dartmoor.
I submitted the poem to Public Sector Poetry Journal funded by Arts Council, England and supported by the University of Northampton and was delighted to receive an email confirming that it had been selected by the editor, Korrin Smith-Whitehouse, and guest editor, Hannah Lowe (winner of the Costa Book of The Year award for The Kids).
The journal features poetry written by people who work in the public sector.
Telling Stories about Education, Health and Social Care issue three is out now and available electronically or as a paperback via the wesbite.
I am, of course, biased but it is a high-quality production and well worth reading.
Extract from Miss Nally's poem
And these are such honest offerings
I’m trusted to take from their plates
And I hold them like quivering globules of frogspawn
Scooped from a black pool on Dartmoor
Miss Nally