It’s the Arts and Technology that have been making the positive headlines this week at DHSB.
There are some fantastic achievements and events in my Blog today that you really need to read through.
It was fascinating to catch up over lunch today with two of our Year 8 students who were privileged to attend the Centenary Battlefields tour in Belgium and France with Mr Riggs. You can read more about their experience here.
Mr Riggs writes, last weekend I was privileged to be able to take Owen King and Kevin Guo from Year 8 on the Centenary Battlefields Tour arranged by the government as part of the commemorations for the hundredth anniversary of World War I.
We visited the areas in Belgium and France where the Battles of the Somme and Ypres were fought and paid our respects at some of the huge cemeteries where the fallen lie today. We had researched a soldier on our first evening and were able to find his grave at the Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest of the British cemeteries.
As well as fascinating museums and reconstructions of trenches and dugouts, we were very moved by the last post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where the last post has been sounded every day since the gate was built.
It was also very gratifying to see that a kind person had taken some of the ceramic poppies that had been on display at the Tower of London and had placed them in the German cemetery.
Thankfully, time does heal and we were able to remember all of the fine young men from all of the nations who perished in this terrible conflict.
Owen King and Kevin Guo
The Big Draw
Students from all year groups are contributing to this national event with the production of a large mural in black pen, based upon Plymouth’s links to the sea.
The final mural will be posted on the Big Draw website where you can also find out about other events and view a gallery of drawings.
Mrs Cushing said, “The aim of this event is to get everyone drawing. On the Big Draw website there is a short clip of Andrew Marr explaining how, after suffering a stroke, he found drawing was a big help to his recovery.”
Product Design Celebration Evening
You are warmly invited to our first Product Design Celebration Evening which will be held on Thursday 22 October from 3.30pm.
Mrs Brown says this is an opportunity to view portfolios and examples of work from our Product Design students.
Please reply to Mrs Brown if you would like to come along (alison.brown@dhsb.org or 01752 208787).
Spotlight on Engineering
On Tuesday Year 12 AS Level Engineering Students visited the Schneider Electric Heating Control factory at Southway. Jon Ward, Josh Alcantara, John Gregson, Lily Harris and Joe Hopwood are all participating in The Engineering Education Scheme and will be working with Schneider Engineers to design a new product.
Thanks to Russell Burns, Manager of Mechanical Design Engineering and his team, for arranging a fascinating tour for the students. We look forward to seeing the results of the partnership at the end of the year.
On Wednesday, 14 GCSE and AS Level Engineering Students, attended the sixth Devonport Engineering & Science Forum in the Ballroom at HMS Drake. The event, attended by 200 Babcock and Navy Engineers, was an opportunity to listen to some inspirational lectures about Engineering.
Shane Bennison, Engineering Director of Boeing Defence UK, talked about the role of Boeing working with NASA on the first manned mission to Mars planned for the 2030s. He pointed out the exciting possibility that it could be someone from our current student group who takes part in that programme! During lunch there was an excellent opportunity to share the progress we are making building a Greenpower Electric Car.
The boys enjoyed discussing their project with many of the assembled Engineers and were wonderful ambassadors for the school.
Pictured with the Greenpower Team are Lt Cdr Hart and Capt Peter Coulson, Engineering Commodore Devonport Flotilla, who organised the event.
Individual Achievement
Well done to Robert Liu who recently took part in the English Riviera Chess Tournament held in Brixham. He came second in the U14 section (19 participants) and was awarded the runners up trophy and certificate. Robert says he feels very pleased and proud.
Abbots Way Walk
DHSB Ten Tors Training got off to a great start on Sunday with 12 of our students completing the 24 mile Abbots Way Walk from Buckfast Abbey to Tavistock. This annual event attracted over 400 walkers and our 45 mile team put in a fantastic performance to finish overall first in a time of 5 hours 58 minutes.
Thanks to Mr Ames who walked with the team and Mrs Heighway who drove the minibus.
Pictured are the winning team. George Irving, Jack Gorham, Dan Burge, Tom Foreman, Jack Adams, Sam Cox, Dan Harris and Max Vernall-Williams.
And finally
Our website has a brand new information section for parents.
The information is sourced from a regularly updated feed from Parentinfo and will provide high quality information to parents and carers about their children’s wellbeing and resilience particularly around eSafety topics.
You will find a wide range of subject matter from difficult topics about sex, relationships, the internet, body image and peer pressure to broader parenting topics like ‘how much sleep do teenagers need’?