“The relationships between all students and relationships with staff is a real strength of this school”
“There is a mutual respect, students feel that staff will go out of their way to support them in every way”
Ofsted October 2023
Over the past two weeks students have again been given the opportunity to celebrate the staff at school and they have certainly outdone themselves this time, writes Mr Winstone.
Last academic year there were 555 individual staff celebrations that were passed on and this year in two weeks we have already had 346 which is a phenomenal effort and a true reflection of our 'Confidence with Humility' value where we encourage the whole DHSB community to celebrate the uniqueness of every individual.
Our students work incredibly hard but I am sure we would also agree that our staff do too and to have their efforts recognised by their students is a wonderful gesture.
Here are some examples of the lovely comments:
“Mrs Mintoft, thank you for being such a fun and interesting teacher! I love history but have never found Tudors as interesting but have loved it with you! Thank you!”
“Dr Owen, I want to say thank you for being such a great teacher! I look forward to every lesson and your teaching is so clear. Despite choosing Biology for A Level, I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it or find it too hard, but you have explained everything so well and it is my favourite subject at the moment! Thank you!”
“Mrs Wright, I want to thank this member of staff for always making their lesson entertaining and informative and also having a lightsaber, which is essential for a teacher.”
“Mrs Parkes, she is so happy all the time and it makes me happy and I look forward to her lessons.”
Cimate Action Plan
This week saw the onboarding session for our Sustainability objective this year.
The Department for Education has advised all educational establishments to have a Climate Action Plan in place by 2025 and we are partnering with Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK) to have our students front and centre in this process.
This week we welcomed Zeinur Bimukhan from Plymouth University and SOS-UK.
Zeinur led the first session with our newly created Climate Action Team (CAT mascot incoming!) which comprised of Alvaro Acevedo, Lucas Busuioc, Ethan Ferguson, Jacob Gray, Jacob Green, Euan Greenfield, Konrad Grzeskowiak, Dexter Kennaway, Archie Martin, Harry McCulloch, Dan Moulding, Zach Ross, George Shaw, Abdullah Siddique and Elvis Sullivan.
Our students were enthusiastic about creating a more sustainable DHSB; lots of great ideas and more to come.
The next session will be in November and we will start looking more closely at careers and biodiversity.
Miss Cunningham
Student Activities
Very well done to Charlie Cleland 8W who came second in the Tavistock Tennis Club 2024 boys singles championships and won the boys doubles.
He won two rounds of matches for each competition before heading to the finals last weekend.
Congratulations Charlie.
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House News
Today was Mufti Day at DHSB and as always we saw all the colours of the rainbow on show, but perhaps a little more purple than usual!
Well done to Connor Monteith 7S (pictured below) who was just one of the students wearing purple to school this morning.
As a school community we have chosen to lend support to a local charity Luna's Fund which is a baby loss and pregnancy after loss charity offering practical and emotional support to bereaved parents and expectant parents in Plymouth, Truro and the surrounding areas.
We are proud of our students' empathy and understanding with an issue as sensitive as this. Some students asked questions in an incredibly thoughtful way and learnt about an issue that they may have been unaware of until now.
50% of the Mufti money raised today will support Luna's fund, so don't forget to pay your pound online.
Miss Cunningham
Excellent Work
Thank you to Ms Charlton for sharing some examples of Excellent Work from her Year 11 English class.
Firstly Max Phillips volunteered to present to students at the Creative Writing Club about tips and techniques for writing creatively. He's currently writing a novel that he's been working on for two years and is now editing his second draft, so he's incredibly passionate about writing!
Max hopes to study English at university.
Secondly, Ms Charlton has shared Neel Shivane's recent English Language Paper 1 Question 5 exam-style response, which got into the top level on the exam mark scheme. The response is really well-crafted, with a range of language and structural devices to engage the reader.
Copied below are his original piece and a typed up version which Ms Charlton used as a model with the class.
She said, “Together we annotated where the example met the mark scheme”.
Well done to both Max and Neel.
Broadening Your Horizons
This week we hosted the Broadening Your Horizons careers event, where students and parents had the opportunity to explore a range of post-16 options, including apprenticeships, T-levels, and vocational courses.
Expert speakers included Sharron Robbie on apprenticeships, Morven Maclean from Building Plymouth, Naomi Solomon from Cornwall College Group, Donna Harrison, and Paris Netherton from City College Plymouth.
Their insights into various career paths helped our students gain a clearer understanding of the options available to them after school.
Mr Scott said, "We’re grateful to everyone who attended and supported this valuable event; empowering our students to make informed decisions about their futures".
Careerousel - Red Bull Powertrains
In this week's Careerousel session, former student Bryony Venn presented to Year 9 to Year 13 students about her career since leaving DHSB - first as an engineer at Leonardo Helicopters, and now as a materials engineer at Red Bull Powertrains.
Students were fascinated to learn about her journey, and it especially piqued the interest of some of our Sixth Form girls who are keen to explore a similar path.
Bryony brought with her Versteppen and Perez gloves, boots, suit and helmet, as well as an F1 steering wheel.
The students loved trying them on and taking lots of photos of the event.
Next term, students can opt to attend workshops with one of the following companies: Devon Chambers, University Campus of Football Business, Babcock International, British Army, Spaceport Cornwall, AECOM and Great Western Railway.
Mr Scott
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 students deserve a special mention.
Congratulations!
Launchpad Live! Winner!
Year 11 students attended the Launchpad Live! careers event at Plymouth Life Centre earlier this term.
Babcock International ran a contest on the day called the PPE Challenge in which students were asked to don personal protective equipment in the shortest time.
Joe Goldstone 11S was the fastest and was awarded a £20 Amazon voucher from Babcock's Stacey Turner, which was presented to Joe by his form tutor Mrs Mintoft.
Well done Joe!
Mr Scott
Sports News
Football
We have a result to share with you from the end of last week when the Year 8 team played Tavistock College.
Mr Callicott said, “It was a fantastic result for the team who progressed into round three of the national schools cup”.
Well done!
Mr Manley reports another good result for the 1st XI this week. The team drew 2 - 2 against Plymouth University and remain top of the Devon Wednesday League.
Congratulations!
Rugby
Well done to the Year 8 Rugby team who took part in two games against Hele’s and Lipson Academy at the central venue competition this week; they battled through the wet weather on Tuesday and played some outstanding rugby.
NB This photo is from a previous game played in better weather conditions!
Unfortunately the Year 7 Rugby match against Coombe Dean School was cancelled due to the heavy rain on Wednesday.