Once again it has been an exciting week at DHSB with so much to celebrate.
On the theme of celebration and success you may remember at the end of the last academic year we shared with you our new consistent approach to rewarding excellence through our commendation system. For ease of reference you can view our new approach here.
Part of our school development priorities this year is about improving our rewards system. With thanks to our students and staff we will be introducing many more additional rewards through the House system in the near future.
Students will be recognised in the following areas of school life and this list shows examples of the rewards which will be in place in each House.
Citizenship
Student of the month Overall student of the autumn term Overall student of the spring term Community duty award (half termly)
Effort and Attitude
Commendations (termly) Behaviour (no levels and few behaviour points) (termly)
Attendance
100% attendance (termly) 95% attendance (termly)
Improvement in Academic Standards
Most improved commitment to learning (yearly) Most improved academic achievement (yearly)
ClassCharts
Please remember that you can access information on attendance, behaviour and rewards through ClassCharts. If you have forgotten how to access this or haven’t downloaded the app to make access easier yet please visit the students and parents page on our website.
Student of the Week
I always enjoy meeting students for lunch on Fridays and today my guests were the ‘Students of the Week’ from the last half term.
Student of the Week is a whole-school reward and students are recognised for a wide variety of reasons. Any member of the school community can make a nomination.
Recent Nominations
Rosco Thomas and Oscar Zimmerman 8C for leading a fabulous charity cake sale.
Rob Derry and Matty Parker 7N for their alertness and helpfulness when they found another student’s DHSB sports bag on a public city bus and then returned it to him the following day.
Tom Cooper, Joe Weeks and Billy Kingdon 6E2 for successfully writing, editing and printing the annual School Magazine. Tom and Billy have also been recognised for their work with our badminton teams this year.
Will Robinson 11C for assisting a member of staff who had fallen showing that he is a great citizen of the school.
Year 10 Exams
This week has seen our Year 10 students taking internal exams and Mr Butcher says the boys have applied themselves well.
He added, “These examinations, which are well prepared and organised by Mrs Dale, come at the mid-point of GCSE courses and provide valuable experience of past question papers. Our students have these whole year group examinations in Years 9, 10 and 11 and this ensures our invigilation team become as familiar to our students as the tables and chairs used in the examination venue! These experiences of extended writing under timed conditions are vital pieces of preparation as a number of national changes to our examination system take effect.”
Sixth Form Work Shadowing
It’s always nice to receive compliments from outside school and I was pleased to hear about a group of Sixth Formers who worked with Bond Dickenson before Christmas.
Sarah Holmes, Legal Director, said, “It was a pleasure to host the seven DHSB students during their curriculum challenge week. Collectively and individually they made a very good impression on the staff here.”
DHSB 120
We are pleased and proud to be celebrating the 120th anniversary of the school this year.
You’ll hear more about some special events later in the year but on Friday 22 January we are welcoming back old boy Ian Hodgins, a Devon GP and archivist, for a special lecture when he will be telling us about the school’s early years.
The lecture will take place in the Edgcumbe Theatre on Friday morning.
If you would like to attend please contact Business Manager Mr Davis (geoff.davis@dhsb.org or 01752 208787).
The Wizard of Oz
Later this term there is another opportunity to join us in the theatre and tickets for our annual production, The Wizard of Oz, are now on sale. Tickets are available either by returning the order form or through WisePay.
Events Update
Year 8 Parents Evening – Wednesday 20 January
‘The Early Years’ lecture with Dr Ian Hodgins – Friday 22 January
Year 11 Strategies for Success Evening – Tuesday 26 January
The Wizard of Oz – 3, 4 & 5 February