Our theme and focus this week is ‘embracing challenge’ and this aspiration was definitely seen in action at Sports Day on Monday.
Mr Orkney said that student participation rates were the highest the school has seen.
The whole school moved to the Brickfields Arena for a full day of sport and parents were invited to attend.
This is what one parent said afterwards, “I wanted to thank you and your team for a truly fantastic Sports Day today. My son is in Year 7 so this was his first Sports Day with DHSB. I managed to come along for an hour or so and thought the atmosphere was just fantastic; the boys were so supportive of each other and all seemed to be having a brilliant time – it was just the right side of competitiveness. I was also really impressed with the wide range of activities put on for the students and the brilliant welcoming Sixth Form at the front desk. Well done to all and thank you again”.
Congratulations are due to all competitors and everyone who participates earns points towards the House competition.
This year the Sports Day trophy was won by Priestley and the House Captains are seen here with their award.
In second place was Winstanley House with Edison House coming third. All the scores will be added to the St Levan Shield contest which will be announced at Speech Day in December.
A special mention must go to George Caruana 10S who broke the school record for the U15 long jump. The record had been held by David Reeve who set this as 6.05m in 1988. George jumped 6.09m and was presented with a medal and certificate in our special sports day assembly on Wednesday.
Mr Reeve sent a congratulatory message which was seen by the whole school during the assembly.
Click this link to see our sports day assembly slides (including pictures of each student winning their event).
Thank you to Alfie Carlisle, Aled Griffiths and George Cleeland-Smith for taking the photos and preparing this presentation.
Bake for Heroes
Also at Sports Day and during the week the school community has been enjoying the edible delights that have been baked by our students and their parents so that we can fundraise through the sales for the charity ‘Help for Heroes’.
During the national Armed Forces week (22 – 31 July) our school wanted to support the charity who in turn support those with injuries and illnesses attributable to their service in the British Armed Forces. As a school, we have many families with serving and past members of the British forces and this was a simple way to recognise and thank them for the work that they do.
In total we have raised £400 which is an outstanding achievement. Thank you to all the families who contributed cake for the ‘Bake for Heroes’ sale, it was a real success and once again demonstrates the generosity of our community towards others.
Year 6 Familiarisation Day
It’s been a busy week here at DHSB and we welcomed our new Year 7 students and their families to school on Thursday.
Students enjoyed a day of taster lessons with lunch provided in Refuel (our refectory) and parents met key members of staff who provided information to help ensure a smooth transition to this DHSB.
In their morning assembly I spoke to our new Year 7s telling them that our community is like a family and that they should take every opportunity to get involved with school life.
National Writing Day – Everyone has a story to tell!
Our examples of Excellent Work this week were created during National Writing Day on Wednesday. They are samples of first draft work, not something we usually share. Mrs Downes, Head of English, explains more…
Writing is such an important skill for life that the English Department was delighted to be part of the celebrations for National Writing Day. The focus this year was the idea that everyone has a story to tell and to reflect on all the reasons that we write, especially as the act of writing is an expression of power.
Within the tutor programme KS3 and KS4 groups heard various authors discuss their reasons for writing and reflected on why writing for both practical reasons and for pleasure is so important. Students even found out about our latest writing competition – poetry to tie in with units that have been covered within the English curriculum such as power and conflict poetry and protest poetry. There is still time to enter as the deadline is Monday 8 July!
In their English lessons Years 7 – 9 were given the challenge of reflecting on their own reasons for writing and many rose to the challenge with some thoughtful and insightful reflections on the topic. Many students shared their love of writing as a way to make sense of their emotions or of events in the world. Others spoke of their enjoyment in creating different worlds or characters in their writing whilst several spoke of completing private writing regularly as a hobby over an impressive range of genres. As teachers it was thrilling to hear so many students sounding so positive about writing, one of the reasons why the Writing Club has had such success this year!
Our second activity was the participation in the national free writing activity ‘Write Away’, designed by poet Louise Bolger, an activity being shared in schools, colleges and some businesses throughout Britain. Participants were given just seven minutes to write about a place, starting with the phrase ‘In this place…’. The purpose of a free write is for students to write in any form or genre that they choose and there were only three rules:
Don’t think too hard – let your creativity flow Nothing is wrong – do it your way Enjoy yourself
The immediacy of this type of writing provided a challenge to many students as there was no time for planning or thinking out ideas first. Instead, students were encouraged to write instinctively and to go in a direction that just felt ‘right’ for them. I think it did make many students feel better that it was completed on paper rather than in their well-presented exercise books. The resulting short clips of writing showed how inventive, creative and thoughtful our boys are.
National Writing Day provided a wonderful opportunity for us as a community to think about our craft as writers and to reflect on the wider reasons why we write.
Mrs Downes
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Update
Congratulations to six teams of students who completed their Bronze expedition this week and good luck to three teams who are setting out on their Silver expedition on Exmoor today.
More photos can be seen on Mr Huq and Mr Coombes Twitter pages:- @tayhuq @simoncoombes
Summer Exams
Well done and thank you to Mr Berryman, Mrs Edwards and their team of exam invigilators.
382 students sat exams in 27 GCSE and 22 A level subjects over 306 exam sessions.
Candidates have received information about how and when to collect their results and we wish everyone well with this.
And finally
I’d like to wish all students and staff a safe and successful week as we enjoy activities close to home and much further afield during Curriculum Enrichment Week. Students and staff are set to embark on many different daily activities alongside nine residential opportunities.
Please keep up to date with our adventures by using the Twitter hashtag #DHSBCEW and we’ll bring you a full report of the week in the Head’s Blog next Friday.
This is one of our favourite images from Curriculum Enrichment Week 2018.
Sports Update
Cricket
Well done to the U13 cricket team who finished as runners-up in the trophy final to South Dartmoor who chased down 44 runs brilliantly!
Thank you to Mount Kelly for a great day of cricket.
Athletics
Mr Strang said it was “A golden end to the school athletes this summer” as the Year 8 team convincingly came first in the Plymouth Schools Championships.
Future events
Open Evening
Families with a child in Year 4 or Year 5 are invited to our Open Evening at 16.30pm on Tuesday 9 July. I will be talking about admission arrangements and there will be opportunities to meet staff and students in subject areas.
Refreshments will be provided in Refuel where senior members of staff will be available to answer any questions you may have.
Art Exhibition
During the evening you will be able to view our Art Exhibition.
Artwork created by students will be on display in the Art rooms from 16.30 – 19.00.
And Then There Were None
We’d also like to invite you to our student-led production of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ which will be staged in the Edgcumbe Theatre at 7.30pm on Wednesday 10 July and Thursday 11 July.
Rehearsals are going well and you can order tickets by phoning the school on 01752 208787.
