Mr Mitchell led an act of remembrance during our whole school assembly on Wednesday.

He told us about an old boy, Mr Andrews, who had written to the school asking us to remember his friend, Archie Dickie, who died in 1941.

We thought about Archie and his family and reflected on the memory of this friendship which has endured for 75 years.

DHSB is a member of HMS Heroes, a national support group for the children of service men and women and their relatives.

Earlier this term we were invited by HMS Heroes to write messages on wooden poppy crosses to be sent to the field of Remembrance at Royal Wootton Bassett. Local students will plant them there and lay a wreath for us. Thank you to Mr Mitchell and Mrs Moore who worked with our students to enable this to happen.

Friendship

Another example of friendship has been demonstrated by Year 7 students who have been involved in collecting things for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, led by Mrs Heighway, Mr Martin and the Year 7 form tutors.

Samaritan’s Purse, through Operation Christmas Child, distribute shoeboxes to children living in refugee camps after they were forced to leave their homes by civil war.

Mrs Heighway said, “We will be sending over 70 shoeboxes packed with toys, stationary, toothpaste and soap, and a donation of £200 from the bake sale money as we will have more than enough to pay for the shoe box postage.”

Plymouth Employability Passport Gold Award

Congratulations to Sam Cade and Vishal Thirupathirajan who have achieved their Gold Plymouth Employability Passport.

Ms Moreton said, “The Passport started life as the DHSB Award, but has now been developed and adopted through all the secondary schools in the city. Sam and Vishal had to complete three progressive challenges in each of six skill areas and present to a panel of local employers and governors. Panel members said they were impressed with their enthusiasm, willingness to take themselves out of their comfort zones, and the obvious growth they had achieved as a result of participating.”

Google Expeditions

Yesterday we had a visit from Google on their UK Expeditions tour.

Expeditions are collections of linked virtual reality content and supporting materials that can be used alongside existing curriculum and combine three aspects, software built by teachers for teachers, immersive content built around the curriculum and availability on a range of devices that are used in schools.

Staff and students gained a lot from the collections of virtual reality panoramas; 360° panoramas and 3D images.

Mr Forte said, “Imagine exploring coral reefs or the surface of Mars in an afternoon. With Expeditions, teachers can take students on immersive, virtual journeys”.

Sports Update

Table Tennis

Well done to our U19 table tennis team who won the county championships this week. The U13 also did well and finished in third place in their event.

Cross Country

Mr Strang said, “Well done to all DHSB runners who took part in the West Devon Cross Country championships on Thursday.

Tom Blackford took the silver medal and Robert Waddy came fourth in the seniors, both through to the County Schools event.

Tom

Robert

Jamie Williams won the Year 11 race.

Jamie

Matthew Hutchinson ran in the Year10/Year11 race and qualified for Devon.

Matthew

Rugby

The Year 8 rugby team took part in the Plymouth schools rugby festival on Wednesday.

Mr Strang said, “The team played to a very high standard and won all seven games without conceding any tries. A really excellent performance by all involved”.

Chris Dunstone 8C on the attack

Football

Well done to the Year 9 football team who took a 4 – 1 win against Tavistock in the national cup third round.

On Tuesday the Year 10 football team played Plymstock School in the Plymouth A league. A highly competitive game finished 1 – 1, extending our unbeaten start to the season to five games. Next week the team play in round three of the national cup.

Also pictured is the 2nd XI after losing to Plymouth University in the Devon Wednesday League.

Basketball

Well done to the Year 8 basketball team who competed this week at the central venue competition.

They took a 16 – 8 win against Coombe Dean and a 6 – 6 tie against All Saints.