And just like that, I am retiring after 30 very happy years at DHSB.

It’s been a privilege to work with three Headteachers, Dr Pettit, Mr Earley and Mr Roberts and each has had their own part to play in the development of the school.

Nic Pettit led many significant building projects including the Refectory, the Sports Hall, the Sixth Form Centre and the Edgcumbe Theatre, all fabulous spaces that we still use today.

In 1995 when I started at DHSB we had no internet, website or emails and Dr Pettit commissioned the first ever school website to give us an online presence. We were early adopters of new technology and have always continued to lead in this area, now being a Google for Education Reference School.

During his time as Headteacher, Kieran Earley developed the school community, finding new ways to celebrate student successes and increase the opportunities for student leadership. He started the weekly Head’s Blog as a way to share good news stories and to give an insight into the school.

Dan Roberts has taken a consistent approach to teaching and learning in the school, ensuring that all staff are well qualified to lead their subjects in the classroom, and that students have all the tools they need to succeed in their learning.

30 years on and we’re a vibrant and successful school holding the same traditional values and ethos.

I think it’s an open secret that I have collated and edited the Head’s Blog on behalf of the Headteacher and I’d like to say a big thank you to all staff, students and families who have contributed to this each week. The Head’s Blog remains a very popular read each Friday in term time. 

Please send all future items to Mrs Blows at mikaela.blows@dhsb.org.

Thank you.

Mrs Nicholson

Goodbye Sarah, you will be missed

During her 30 years at DHSB, Sarah has worked with three different Headteachers and five Chair of Governors. She has helped recruit 780 members of staff, worked on four different websites and created and shared 570 Head’s Blogs. Sarah has also been involved in admitting 2,700 students and has made an estimated 51,300 cups of tea and coffee!

Ten Tors camp 28-29 March

Last Friday, the second Ten Tors training camp of 2025 started with an after-school coach trip to Sharpitor, from where our five teams of students walked north to set up camp in perfect weather.

A clear and dry evening allowed excellent conditions for night navigation practice, affording the students a chance to hone their poor visibility navigation, which could come in very useful in Dartmoor's more usual weather of fog and low cloud. Objectives ranged from neolithic standing stones, to small ponds and remains of historical mine workings. All students returned to camp by 21:30 for a cold night under the stars.

Saturday morning brought the promise of many miles and a partial solar eclipse. All five teams set a fierce pace, staying well ahead of their planned routecards and demonstrating excellent navigation and teamwork skills, learning routes across the moor. Through the broken clouds, the teams were able to view the partial solar eclipse through solar viewing glasses bought by Dr Colvile especially for the occasion.

As the day went on, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, but this only spurred the teams on to faster speeds, with all groups finishing ahead of schedule at Postbridge before heading home to prepare Mother's Day cards and meals the following day.

Thank you to our volunteer team for supporting the students and covering many miles. If you would like to follow the progress of our Ten Tors teams ahead of the event in May, please follow @DHSBOutdoor on Instagram. 

Mr Guy-Fierens

Celebrating Books and Reading at DHSB - Poetry Competition and Graphic Short story

Reading is a skill that we can often take for granted in our increasingly busy world. However, staff and students at DHSB have been very busy celebrating our love of books and reading since World Book Day. Part of this has been through participation in some competitions to show our skills as creators not just consumers of text. Students were challenged to create an original poem on the theme of reading or to design and make a graphic short story. With over 200 entries to judge, the English department has been very busy and managed to select worthy winners in both categories. All of our winners are praised for their creativity and originality in a strong field.

Mrs Downes

Poetry - On Reading

Winner: Jude Tilley (8F) with ‘The Pages’ 

Runners Up: Ollie Sargeant (8L) with ‘A Seed’ and Harry Huang (8F) with ‘Books’

Graphic Short Story

Winner: Ethan Ferguson (9W)  

Runners Up: Sebastian Miskiewicz (9W) and George Hall (7J)

The Pages by Jude Tilley (8F)

The world will stop its rolling

The fire will stop its burning

The clock will stop its ticking

Whilst the pages they are turning

The creatures they will bow

The landscapes they will grow

The Weather it will blow

From the pages they will flow

For the happiness shall yourn

For the sadness shall mourn

For the anger shall burn

From the pages they shall learn

Comics, magazines, books

All have different looks

One thing hidden in all their crannies and nooks

Are the pages full of hooks

Year 7 Charity Initiative

Five of our wonderful students from 7J ran their very own playground tuck shop this week, in order to raise money for their chosen charity - The Grand Appeal.

The boys had their own idea to do this, they sought permission, sourced stock, provided their own float, priced their wide range of items and got everything set up on the Year 7 playground for lunchtime on Thursday - and the people flocked! There was a long queue of very keen fellow students looking to purchase the sweet treats and the boys sold out. The young entrepreneurs are going to donate all the profits to the charity and maybe reinvest their seed money - watch this space! Well done Jack Reilly, Oscar Smith, Daniel Duckering, Josh Rundell and Max Pierce. 

Miss Cunningham

Tamar High Reunion at DHSB

On Saturday it was a privilege and pleasure to welcome just short of 250 Tamar High School students back to school for a reunion in Refuel, (their old tennis court!).  Tamar was a mixed grammar school which was situated mainly in A and B Block until it sadly closed in 1990.

I collaborated with former French teacher Dave Padfield who taught at the school from 1978 until its closure.  Dave has a phenomenal memory and I don’t think that there was a student that he did not recognise, nor have an anecdote about! 

They travelled from far and near, including America, Germany, Edinburgh and Molesworth Road!

The sun shone and from the feedback received, everyone enjoyed their trip down memory lane, which included a tour of their school - the invisible, but definite, boundary line with DHSB was not crossed.  And of course, like everyone, they loved going on to the balcony.

They proudly sang their school hymn ‘Jerusalem’ and enjoyed a lovely buffet prepared by Refuel staff.  Many washed down their tasty lunch with our own ‘Colonnade’ IPA which was very popular indeed.

Some of our Prefects were assisting and they told me about ‘Wiggy’ whom they had heard about.  Wiggy was an art/DT teacher who had a stripe of ginger hair running down the centre of his head, the rest of which was grey, making it look like he was wearing a wig - hence the self-coined nickname.  They said that he seemed a stern man but their favourite anecdote of the day was hearing about his ‘raffle of punishments.’  He had a system whereby if a student misbehaved, they would pick a random ticket out of a bag that had a punishment written on it.  The memories of what was actually written were hazy, but several of them remembered there being a ‘get out of jail’ ticket for which, if pulled, meant that they did not receive the punishment for their misdemeanour!  Our prefects think this sounds like a good system.

In the blink of an eye, all too soon, it was home time.

Thank you for coming, Tamaritans!

Mrs Kinsella

Eggcellent Work

Y13 Desmos Easter Art - Eggcellent Work

Around this time of year we cover Parametric Equations in A Level maths. It's always a lovely opportunity for the students to combine their developing understanding of Parametric Equations and their creative sides. We had an Easter theme.

These are some examples. I'm sure you can appreciate the maths that have gone into them.

Miss Cunningham

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!

We’re in the Top 200 sporting schools of 2024!

The School Sport magazine has created a top sports schools list.  The list, which includes state schools and independent establishments from all over the country, rates performance above everything else with results compiled from more than 20 different sports and more than 120 different events.  DHSB is number 88 on the list. Well done! To read more, please follow this link 

Sports Update

Rosslyn Park 2025 Review

Three teams travelled to South West London for the annual Rosslyn Park National Schools 7’s event. The seven a side tournament is the largest schools 7s competition in the world with teams from Dubai, Canada and Africa taking part in the week long event.

Our U14s kick started our campaign with a game against Box Hill School which took place on the showcase pitch and was streamed live on YouTube. This meant that many staff and students were able to watch the game and support the team from the school. DHSB lost 7-5 in a game they really should have won. They then played two very strong teams, Millfield and Beechen Cliff School, and lost quite heavily in both. 

The U16s played next and were scheduled to appear on the showcase pitch, enabling students and staff to enjoy the game which was shown live on YouTube. The team played exceptionally well and were disappointed to draw with Exeter School 19-19. They then lost 35-5 to a strong Durham Cathedral School and 42-21 to Langley. 

Last to make an appearance were the U13s who played very well and won all five of their games. Four games were against independent schools and a comprehensive from Wales. Their results were:

DHSB 30 - 5 Wisbech Grammar School

DHSB 30 - 15 Newcastle Under Lyme School

DHSB 25 - 15 Yarm School

DHSB 35 - 15 Royal Grammar School Guildford

DHSB 30 - 20 Ysgol Calon Cymru

The event saw a mix of results but it was a great experience for all of the students.

Table Tennis England - Mark Bates Ltd National Senior Championships 2025

Leo played well but was not able to progress beyond the group stages. It was a good experience for him to compete at the highest national level against the top 32 senior men in the country.

On a separate note Hugo won a bronze medal in the U17s National Table Tennis Championship held in March at Nottingham. Please find attached a photo of Hugo.

Table Tennis England article can be found here.

Sport Fixtures and Results

Rugby

Year 7 Rugby team triumphs in the Cunningham Cup

On Friday 28 March, the Year 7 rugby team showcased their skill and determination at the prestigious Cunningham Cup Rugby Festival. Now in its 35th year, this historic event marks a fitting conclusion to the rugby season, bringing together nine schools from across the city for a day of intense competition.

The DHSB team, who train every Wednesday after school, delivered an outstanding performance—winning seven of their eight matches and drawing the other. Their performance on the field secured them the Cup outright for the second consecutive year.

At the end of a challenging but exhilarating day, the squad was awarded the trophy and their well-earned winner’s medals. A truly fantastic way to cap off an enjoyable season!

U15 Rugby Saltash V DHSB Tuesday, 1 April

U15s played their last game of the season against Saltash this afternoon. It was an excellent encounter played in a good spirit. Unfortunately the game ended early due to an injury to a Saltash player. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Rowing

PSSP Rowing Festival Wednesday, 2 April

2nd for @DHSBoys at the Plymouth Schools Rowing Champs

1st 2nd and 3rd for @DHSBoys U12 rowers at tonight's Plymouth School's Rowing 

1st place for Thorley in the U13 category at the Plymouth School's Rowing Championships.

Championships.

1st and 2nd for @DHSBoys U16s at tonight's Plymouth School's Rowing Championships

1st in the relay at the Plymouth Schools Rowing Championships

Multi Sports

Marjon Sports Day

This week, a group of students enjoyed a new activity held by Marjon.

Football

Y7B Football vs. Sir John Hunt (SJH) Thursday, 3 April

The DHSB Y7 football season ended tonight with the B team taking on Sir John Hunt in a friendly. The game ended 4-2 to SJH but the boys played well and were competitive throughout. It was great to give more students a chance to play for the school team and aid their development.

1st XI Football vs Medics Wednesday, 2 April

Our first XI team are through to the Premier Cup Semi final after beating Peninsula Medical School 3-2 this afternoon. 

Have a lovely Easter break and see you on 22 April 2023 which is the first day of the Summer Term.

The image shows the beautiful display which is currently on the main entrance gates and was created by our very talented Mrs Flack.