On Wednesday 11 November I was very proud that we held our traditional annual whole school Remembrance assembly, this year led by Mrs Edwards, Deputy Head.
As the whole school is unable to meet in the Sports Hall at the moment the assembly was a little different. Mrs Edwards, with support from Noah Evans 10C, created a video for students to watch in their form groups.
Mrs Edwards reflected on VE Day and then talked about the Beveridge Report of 1942 which identified the 'five giants on the road to post-war reconstruction'. These are Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. She drew a parallel with the current pandemic and the world’s response to Covid-19.
Our Roll of Honour was included in the assembly video and we paused to remember the students of DHSB who fell in the first and second world wars.
You may also watch the assembly which is shared here.
Thank you also to Mrs Flack, Mr Ames and Mrs Stanton who have created our poppy installations on site again this year. These have given a visual focus for our staff and students during the last few days.
Supporting local charities at Christmas
In the lead up to the Christmas holidays we will be running a food collection to support two local charities.
Students in Campbell, Edison and Newton will have the opportunity to donate to the Plymouth Foodbank and students in Priestley, Smeaton and Winstanley will have the opportunity to donate to The Hope Baptist Church, Gift of Hope appeal.
Thank you for your support.
Mr Manley
Excellent Work
Ms Brown has sent me a section of Rowan Perry's current DT project work. Rowan is in 9W.
She said, “Year 9 DT students are working on a competition for PrintIt! (an external organisation) where they are creating a company and product concept, the focus linked to their course is on paper and board theory and application”.
Rowan has made a great video and concept for the company.
PHSEE and Tutorial Programme
During our Friday tutorial programme this morning I held meetings with the Voice Reps from Year 9 and Year 10. Students had the chance to raise issues with me about the school.
They also provided feedback about our Covid-19 control measures and overall it was extremely positive to hear that students are confident and happy with everything the school is doing to keep them safe.
Meanwhile Year 8 students had the opportunity to learn about the UK Youth Parliament and to vote for topics to be debated next year.
Year 10 students were on the final tutor carousel which included Ms Owen giving an introduction to the Welsh language, Mrs Corboy talking about posts on social media networks and Mrs Huq outlining the legal requirements, including insurance, of driving and maintaining a car.
eSafety Advice
Google have recently released a series of very short video guides aimed at students and parents, which I wanted to share with you.
Many families have questions about the technology their children are using for learning and this series covers the basics of Google’s tools for education including G Suite for Education and Chromebooks, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Accessibility and Security features.
The playlist is on youtube and focuses on specific features and details of the google tools that your child uses at DSHB: https://bit.ly/google-junior-series You may also be interested in the following sites. Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians: https://goo.gle/techtoolkit-families
Guardian’s Guides to Google Tools: https://goo.gle/guardians-guides
Ms Buckler