As I often say at the end of each year, I am incredibly proud of all our young people in our community and of our staff too.
They continue to work together to help the school try to improve to be the best it can be.
They have been a joy to be with over the last year and we are excited about the next academic year ahead.
Also, I want to thank you, our parents and carers, for all your support over the last academic year and your patience and understanding with what our school community has had to face together.
As always, if you have any concerns or questions during the summer break please don’t hesitate to contact us at headteacher@dhsb.org.
We hope that you all stay safe and enjoy a good break over the holidays and we look forward to welcoming your children back to school in September.
DHSB Summer Heroes
School Captain Mackenzie Pike has been working alongside Miss Cunningham to create and launch the new summer project called ‘DHSB Summer Heroes’.
The project is made up of six challenges varying from completing a beach clean to trying a new sport and has been designed to help the young people of our school give back to their local communities whilst also escaping their comfort zones.
We look forward to seeing the plethora of marvellous things that have been completed over the summer!
Work Experience Opportunities?
In November, our Year 10 cohort will embark on their Work Experience week.
Over 175 students have asked to participate this year and we are therefore seeking to build a database of local businesses that might be able to host a student or small group of students during the week of 27 November - 1 December 2023. If you or the company you work for would be interested in joining our list, please could you complete this short online form
Many thanks.
Mr Scott
Student News
Well done to students Charlie Martyn, Ayaan Chatterjee, Neel Shivane and Eoin Hewitt who have recently won the West Devon U13 cricket league with their Cornwood team.
Congratulations.
Student-led Theatre Production
Congratulations to Sixth Form student Rudi Gibbs and the whole cast and crew of our student-led production of 'Till Death do us Part'.
The production really was wonderful, thank you also to all staff who supported this.
Excellent Work
Mrs McConnell has shared some creative homework pieces by her English students in 7E which were produced in response to their study of a modern drama text 'Dracula'.
Students were able to select tasks from the creative homework menu and then share them in a gallery review lesson in class.
Mrs McConnell has shared some hand drawn artwork, a piece of creative writing and two dishes that were made using garlic. The lettuce in the lettuce soup was grown in a student's allotment.
Junior Maths Olympiad
Mrs Wills has shared with me the names of students who did well in the recent Junior Maths Olympiad - very well done!
Junior Kangaroo
Andrew Banciu 7E - Certificate of Qualification
Oscar Mohammed 8C - Certificate of Qualification
Neel Shivane 8P - Certificate of Merit
Junior Olympiad
Arley Walker 8W - Distinction
Performing and Creative Arts Update
Something Wonderful This Way Comes…
The Whole School Musical has been decided and auditions will take place for all years on the second week of September!
The Musical is a huge project and this year we are looking to involve as many people as possible, we need a large ensemble of singers, actors and movers, orchestra (this is selective on account of needing strong notation skills), set, tech, costume, make up, artistry not to mention our strong lead roles!
Do You Hear the People Sing
At the End of the Day?
I hope there will be no Empty Chairs or Empty Tables at our auditions!
With only ONE MORE DAY of school this year, we wish that you reach for the Stars with a Heart Full of Love whatever you do. If you would like any information regarding character or role to practise please get in touch with Master of the House Mr Norris.
Creative Arts continues to expand and develop, offering more opportunities for young people next year than ever before. Not only a musical but many projects including a cross disciplinary Global Art, Music and Drama project next Summer, a potential Arts European trip, a huge variety of Music Clubs including new Funk Band and String groups, Lamda classes, Exim Dance classes, Art expos at Theatre Royal, funding from Plymouth Music Accord for ensembles, a Plymouth Music Education Hub Community Steel Pan group, and many, many more opportunities.
Watch this space!!
Summer Festival
A wonderful two and a half hour concert showcased a range of bands in the rock and pop genre from Year 7 to Year 12 performing in the theatre on Friday 14 July. We featured a range of stunning performances that were pulled off with true style and not a wrong note could be heard the entire afternoon. A big thanks to our tech team for making this look and sound awesome. The bands Sleaze, Traka, J15, and Lovejoy are from our KS4 and KS5 students, and will br performing in a Rock Concert ‘El Dia Del Los Muertos Rock Down’ in November - make sure you get a ticket as this will be a gig you do not want to miss!!
Congratulations
To the following students in their music exams:
Leo Nguyen, Grade 2 Piano, Merit
Emmanuel Ajao, Grade 1 Piano, Merit
Owen Thomas, Grade 3 Piano, Merit
Giles Pahdi, Grade 1 Piano, Merit
James Hulbert Grade 1 Clarinet Distinction
Agsheyan Praveenthan, Electronic Keyboard, Initial Grade, Distinction
Tristad De Rochefort-Roper, Piano, Grade 5, Distinction
Instrumental Lessons
We are delighted to not only have the wonderful new singing teacher Cameron Mills but a new strings teacher starting in September! If you are interested in starting lessons in September, in any instrument, please complete the form below or get in touch with emma.luing-holmes@dhsb.org asap as lessons are all nearly fully booked already!!
Mrs Luing-Holmes
DHSB students take chance to celebrate the staff
In a week when our Heads of Year have been celebrating students in our end of year Celebration Assemblies, the students themselves have also been busy sending messages of thank you to our incredible team of staff here at DHSB, writes Mr Winstone.
Here are a selection of some of the messages that have been passed on to staff:
He makes every lesson enjoyable, is very enthusiastic about physics and finds all kinds of interesting, relevant examples of real life applications for what we are currently learning.
She is always enthusiastic and excited for our classes which makes everyone motivated and also excited to be there! Thank you for helping me know that A-Level English was a good decision to make.
Being really supportive towards me and my passion for writing, offering to help me on my journey, as well as making learning literature more fun than it already is.
For being really helpful with marking work and delivering content in a very effective way. I really appreciate the effort he puts into his teaching.
Any time I pass her in the corridor or outside she always says hello with a friendly smile. She is also taking our group to Bushcraft which will be awesome when I know we have someone as friendly as her taking us!
Very friendly, funny and supportive with lots of creative ways to help anybody who is struggling.
She has taught me for the past three years and has always tried new, engaging ways to deliver her lessons. She is always very supportive, yet always demands high standards of work, which has really helped me to improve my skills in her lessons.
Mr Winstone
Staff News
Well done to Mr Huq and all who joined him for the Men's Day Out walk this year. Their total raised for St Luke's Hospice was £583.75 - well done.
Also, we wish the staff who are leaving us this year all the best in the future.
We are saying goodbye to Mr Mitchell, Mr Tombs, Mr Penrose, Mr Huq, Mrs Huq, Mr May, Ms Moreton, Mrs Edwards, Mrs Collins, Mr Chapman, Mrs Phillips and Mrs Davidson.
Some of them have a message for us.
The past two years at the school have been fantastic. There has been too much going on this year to list, but recently I've enjoyed preparing for the end of the year with my students. For Year 7, this has meant getting their teeth into the play adaptation of Dracula (pun intended).
Year 9 have been delving deep into a range of war poetry, even working on their own creative writing inspired by conflict (we have a future poet laureate or two by the looks of it!).
Year 10 students have been impressing me with a diverse range of speaking and listening presentations; I have learnt a lot about motorcycle regulation, F1 and AI!
My stellar Year 12 group has been working to refine and expand their study of poetry, focussing on Duffy and Larkin.
Across these classes, I have been struck by the intelligence, passion and commitment of students. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours - I am sad not to be with them for the next steps!
Mr May
I would like to say “thank you” to all members of the DHSB community for my more than two decades at the school. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to play my small part in the success of the chemistry department and all the wonderful young men and women that have had to put up with me over those years.
As my job description changes from ‘teacher’ to ‘antiques dealer’ I am looking forward to my new career which will involve learning different skills and facing fresh challenges. Similarly I predict that the school will also face new problems but I am confident that with everybody continuing to work together this enclave of excellence will continue to thrive.
Finally to students; one word of advice: Read! Tik Tok, instagram and twitter are fine for what they are but they can only convey simple information. If it’s easy it’s not worthwhile.
As the scholar H Mencken once said “For every complex problem there is a solution that is easy, simple and wrong.”
Discover your passion and dive deeply into it. You will find fulfilment and hopefully a rewarding career.
Mr Penrose
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at DHSB, starting in the English Department, adding PSHEE & Citizenship and then finally Careers and Work Experience, as well as working with the Peer Mentors over the years, but I have to say it is the people I will miss more than the job! Every day has been different and I've loved meeting and working with people from other schools and industries in and around town, as well as my colleagues here at DHSB.
I have also served for several years on the Governing body, latterly as a trustee rather than a governor and most recently as a staff representative, so that is another group of people I will miss. However I know that DHSB is in great hands and I hope to stay in touch with many of them.
Thanks to all for all the support I've had over the years from staff, parents and outside colleagues - and also the many superb students - I wish you all a wonderful summer break, and all the very best for your futures, whatever they may hold.
Ms Moreton