This afternoon we hosted our first ever Careers Fair, an event that proved to be popular with our students.
Over 40 diverse companies and educational providers attended today and introduced approximately 1,000 DHSB students, from Year 7 to Year 12, along with visiting students from PHSG, to a multitude of career paths and academic opportunities.
Despite a few rain showers the Careers Fair was held outdoors, utilising the spacious colonnade, which provided ample room for employers and educational providers to set up stalls and engage with students. This setting ensured that both the exhibitors and the students had an optimal environment for interaction and learning.
The fair featured a wide array of participants, including universities, local businesses, armed forces, and creative institutions, and each organisation brought unique insights and opportunities to the table, providing students with a comprehensive view of potential career paths and educational routes.
For our students, this fair was more than just an event; it was a significant step in their career exploration journey. Early engagement with potential career paths can inspire students and inform their academic choices, setting them on a trajectory towards fulfilling careers.
The feedback from both exhibitors and students has been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the event's success in providing valuable career insights and networking opportunities. We look forward to building on this success and continuing to support our students in their career journeys.
Mr Scott
Sixth Form Prom
Congratulations to George Cleeland-Smith on his organisation of a fabulous Year 13 prom event which was held at The Custom House last Friday.
George coordinated the immense task himself and he should be so proud of bringing everyone together for such a joyful and wonderful evening.
The students looked incredible, the atmosphere was electric and there was a lot of joy in the room!
Thank you to Charlie Goldsworthy for facilitating DJs and to the caterers Sapphires for a delicious spread!
We look forward to another lovely evening with our leavers at 7.00pm on 11 Sept 2024 when they receive their Speech Day awards and listen to recent leavers talking about their experiences since leaving school.
Ms Davidson
PSHE General Election Special
Students across the school had an extended tutorial period on Thursday to give them an overview of the UK General Election process, and an understanding of the political parties representing their constituencies.
The history of voting was discussed in a considered video created by Mr Macleod which looked at examples of voting around the world and the stark contrast between our free and fair elections, and those in other countries which are less transparent.
Always politically neutral, the tutors delivered an in-depth overview of the voting process, and explored how our school mock election would work before students casted their votes during break and lunchtime.
As part of the PSHE programme, students are encouraged to register to vote as soon as they are old enough.
Many thanks to Mr Macleod and Sixth Form students for their support in providing this vital insight into the voting process for our students.
Mr Scott
Lucas McBride 12DR added, "Just over a month ago, Rishi Sunak called for a snap general election for the 4th July, taking the general public by surprise, prompting our school to follow tradition and organise a Mock General Election, replicating the democratic processes of voters on the same day.
"Mr Scott and Mr Macleod created an assembly with contributions from students, engaging students in an extended tutorial about the importance of democracy and outlining the steps in the democratic process. The student-led newspaper, The Devonport Spectator, published a special Election Issue, which argued the case for every party in the election.
"Voting took place during Break 1 and Break 2, receiving particularly high engagement from students across all year groups, choosing to engage in the democratic process in spite of the wonderful weather. Approximately 500 students voted in the mock election, mirroring the real-life turnout in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.
"The results ended up mirroring the voting trends in the national election. Whilst the Conservatives slumped to a bitter defeat, Reform were able to capitalise on that and gain votes rapidly. As in the general election, the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats combined were able to achieve a majority of the vote share".
Chess Club
Plymouth Chess Club wound up their season by holding six-round Junior Championships at the end of June.
In the secondary sections, there were bronze medals for Neel Shivane 9P, Ollie Morton 9S and Stanley Kingdom 9S who scored four points in the U15 competition.
The U13 competition was almost a DHSB benefit event. Isaac Bramall 7E was in joint third place with 3.5, taking a very meritorious draw off Jaisal Jino 7S who won silver with four points.
The stand-out performance fell to James Allen 7W, winning every game and a well-deserved gold medal.
Student News
Kieren McLaughlin 10S did DHSB proud last week taking part in the SW Junior Chef of the Year. The competition was very close with a very high standard of cooking.
Miss Hunns said, “Thank you to the organisers and well done Kieren”.
Well done also to Archie Martin 7S who has been working with Plymouth City Council as a youth climate advisor. Tthe team at Plymouth was so impressed with his dedication and knowledge around the climate crisis that he was nominated for a local climate legend award.
Archie won the award and was named local climate legend in the youth category. He was invited to The Big Green Trail event in June where he walked down the mossy carpet and received the climate baton. He was also interviewed for a mini documentary with FotoNow about his involvement with the climate connections team.
We look forward to hearing more.
Congratulations to Reuben Keeling 8W who competed at the National Hockey Tournament in Nottingham. His team came second, losing in the final to Saxon South.
This is a great accomplishment espcially considering the South/South East have some of the top hockey teams in the country.
There were ten regional teams competing representing the UK and Northern Ireland.
Well done Reuben!
Harry Mills 10N is also to be congratulated regarding his success in sailing.
These are just a few of his achievements:-
Currently Harry is ranked number one UK sailor in his class out of a 170 sailors and was awarded the young Plymouth sailor of the year from 20 sailing clubs in Plymouth at the Royal Western Yacht Club of Great Britain.
Last weekend Harry won the National Series 5 event at Derwent Reservoir Sailing club in County Durham and two weekends ago he won the Regional Junior Championships at Weymouth for the South and South West.
Harry has also been part of the RYA regional training groups for the past two years which is a selection process. The RYA will have written to the school to highlight the demands on Harry.
During the summer Harry is spending time at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy competing in two national events. Good luck!
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.
Well done!
Sports Update
Cricket
Well done to the U14 cricket team (142-1) who beat Plymstock (97-4) by 45 runs in a T20 match on Tuesday afternoon afternoon.
Mr Bunney said there were tots of good performances throughout the team!
Mr Orkney reported that the U15 team overcame an excellent side from Coombe Dean in the final over in the rain at Plympton CC on Wednesday.
