This week provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the wonderful impact that our House captains and other student leaders have on the rest of the school community.
One event this week was the fiercely contested House board judging!
The winner this time was Winstanley House, congratulations to all of the House teams on their fantastic presentations.
Sixth Form Food and Nutrition
Than you to staff who are providing an after school food and nutrition club for Sixth Form students.
Mr Guy-Fierens said, “The aim of the sessions is to give students the confidence to cook nutritiously, safely and efficiently. We aim to give the students tips to cook socially when they leave school, to save money by reducing food waste, to get the most flavour out of their food by showcasing different cooking techniques and the reasons behind them, the advantages of cooking in bulk, shopping around and the use of 'flavour bombs' to enhance their dishes”.
He added, “Huge thanks to Mr Lightfoot and Miss Hunns for leading the sessions for our students. The feedback has been really positive so far”.
This is what some of the students said:-
I found the session to be very informative and really enjoyed it overall. I haven't had too much cooking experience at home and had a great time making our soups. As well as the cooking aspect of the session, which was easy to follow and allowed us to work both together with partners and independently, I found the talk about food preparation and storage to be very helpful and interesting. With university just a few months away, it has been great to build some confidence in how I will manage both feeding myself, and more importantly, my nutrition. I am definitely looking forward to the next few sessions.
Milo Bedford
Last Thursday we made leek and potato soup, I wasn't sure about the leek at first but I actually ended up really enjoying it. It was very helpful to learn about food storage (and how I evidently need to improve mine!). It was great fun to learn how to cook alongside my friends in a way that will suit future Uni life :)
Jessica Joyce-Fisher
During our first cooking club session, we learned food tips for uni which were very informative and useful eg a cheap, nutritious and efficient meal to make - blended soups. We were taught how to make a leek and potato blended soup and discovered what sort of garnishes would go well with it. Overall, it was a great start to the club; many thanks to the teachers running it.
Ashley Heidari-Jam
Excellent Work
Mr Head has shared these images of Artwork completed during the Year 10 exams - well done to everyone involved.
More Excellent Work
Mrs Pyle has shared these details:
The Enterprise extra curricular group worked tirelessly before half term to help support the Les Miserables school production. The group spent time conducting market research on the most suitable products to sell at the event. The group decided to produce hand decorated tote bags (thank you to Mrs Burdon and Mrs Flack for this!), sweet cones and popcorn.
The group worked each evening to sell, meet and greet the audience as they entered. The boys conducted themselves very well and were great role models to the School community. Thank you and well done!
Please see some photos showing the production of the tote bags and the stalls from the night!
STEAM update
Thank you to Josh Chung and Henry Luther 7W for an update on the Science club
We have had a great time at the Eureka! Science Club. This half term we have learned lots of things from using skittle dye in a chromatography investigation to things like getting iron from cornflakes. Overall this has been a very fun half term and we hope others would consider attending it.
Thank you to Auro Kanwar in 7W who shared his report on some of the practicals that have been taking place which you can read in full here:
Sparx Maths
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!
Chess Update
Our strongest side turned out to take on the Plymouth Club team in the Torbay League KO semi-final and it was a very tense evening. Caleb Caleshu had to work hard for his win, Muhammad Kausar produced a very classy display andthe match result depended on Jack Chen's board, where the school held an advantage for a long period. However, the Plymouth player was eventually able to turn the tables for a 4 - 2 score.
James Allen won an individual prize at the Torquay Boys Championship in the U12 section and he then headed up a Year 7/8 team in a county schools four player competition. With Jaisal Jino, Finbar Steven and Vicenzo Cojoc in the side, they returned with bronze medals after an excellent afternoon's work.
There was also an open section where the first team was rested but we fielded Ayaan Chatterjee, Joel Jino, Rohan Wear and Aidan Walker who won one of their four matches.
Well done to everyone involved.
Mr Butland
Stop Press:
DHSB won their match last night against Torquay Boys Grammar School and will now progress in the English Schools Chess Championship, the regional winner then qualifies to play in the ’national finals’ in Nottingham in June.
We would like to thank Mr Butland for his hard work and commitment to supporting our students with this, he gives up a lot of his own time to help them, he can be seen pictured with the students below:
Mr Butland had this to say:
Having been eliminated from the National Schools' Chess Challenge by Torquay & Stover in the last two seasons, the school team recorded its best win this week to "rectify" those results. Facing - yet again - our friends from TBGS in a six-player shoot-out, Ayden Small, Ben Wotton, Muhammad Kausar, captain Jack Chen and Devrim Phaneuf (who remains eligible for the rest of the campaign) had already ensured our progress before Caleb Caleshu finished off the evening in the best fashion with a 4-2 score.
This places us in the regional final - unparalleled this century - where we will face one of the Exeter schools next month. Winners from the 24 regions compete in the National finals at Nottingham at the end of June.
Mr Macleod's Year 11 British Values Unit
Empowering our students to actively shape their future is at the heart of our mission. In addressing issues like the rising cost of university, we emphasise the crucial role students play in influencing decisions that directly impact their lives. By encouraging student participation in the democratic process, particularly through registering and voting, we highlight the significant influence they can wield over policymakers.
We draw attention to the global context, underscoring the stark contrast between our democratic privileges and the struggles faced by individuals in places like Afghanistan, South Africa, and China, where people are willing to make ultimate sacrifices for the right to cast their ballots. It serves as a poignant reminder of the value of our democratic engagement.
For any student aged 16 and above, we provide the link to register for the vote, ensuring they have the opportunity to actively contribute to the democratic process should they choose to do so.
Together, let's instill a sense of civic responsibility and empower our students to be active participants in shaping the world around them.
Today our students were also voting in the Plymouth City Youth Parliment elections. Two of our own students Eden and Rocky are hoping to represent young people from 11-18 in Plymouth. Many of our students enjoyed casting their votes today.
Sports Update
Unfortunately the poor weather meant that many of our pre-arranged fixtures were postponed, this is always disappointing for our students and staff. However, a few were still able to take place.
Football
Our 1st Xl were in action against a tough Plymouth Argyle Development team and unfortunately lost but it was a good performance.
Our Year 9 boys were in action in the central venue and played really well in all of their games.
Thanks to Mrs Kinsella for an update from the PTFA:
We had a great start to 2024. At our first meeting we were pleased to grant requests for 8 watches with alarms for the Ten Tors teams and to give £350 to the SEN department for various items.
The PTFA were delighted to provide the bar at the 3 performances of Les Miserables. What an amazing show it was too! The cast were fantastic and rightly so received standing ovations each evening. Congratulations to everyone involved. A big thank you to Joanna, Melanie, Sam, Abi, Ruby, Josanne and Smita for managing the bar. Our thanks to staff members Ms Hunns, Ms Buckler and Ms Tyack for helping us too - it was much appreciated.
Photo shows our first night helpers! If you would be able to help at one of our events please get in touch, ptfa@dhsb.org
Please follow our social media for updates on forthcoming events:
X (formerly Twitter) @DHSBPTFA
Our next meeting is the 5th March in the Conference Room (directly behind our Visitor Reception) at 6.30pm. Please join us if you can, we'd love to see you. Refreshments supplied.
And finally...
One of our alumni Gemma Steer came in to school to collect a cheque for £325 from Mr Orkney to support her fundraising work for multiple sclerosis. Gemma has raised a huge £2500 during her gap year which is brilliant! Our staff were delighted to help out, thank you to everyone who baked and bought cakes.
