Happy 130th Birthday DHSB! Today is Founder’s Day - on this day in 1896 Alonzo J Rider finally fulfilled his long held dream of owning his own school.  He’d purchased a defunct school at the top of Albert Road for £5000, just before Christmas in 1985, and only three short weeks later he welcomed his first students.  The rest is history as they say! 

We will be celebrating this milestone with a reunion event, for all former pupils and staff, at 12.30pm on the 28th March.  Please join us! Tickets include a delicious buffet lunch, an opportunity to tour the school and a talk by former DHSB student and now DHSB History teacher, Dave Riggs. Full details and tickets for our 13th Anniversary Event can be found here.

A  big thank you to everyone who has already bought tickets.  Alumni are coming from Norfolk, Surrey, Yorkshire, Weymouth, Lancashire, Essex, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, County Durham, Middlesex, Cardiff, London, Kent, Sussex, Merseyside and Plymouth! 

The photographs show our original school on Albert Road which was demolished approximately 25 years ago and replaced with apartments, our founder Alonzo J Rider and photographs from our 125th anniversary event, to give you a flavour of what to expect - including our own DHSB IPA.

We look forward to seeing you in March.

Mrs Kinsella

Alumni Engagement & Archives

A Shared Journey: Support and Success on Year 11 Mock Results Day

This week, our Year 11 students reached an important milestone as they received their mock examination results. The morning was a genuinely lovely occasion and provided a valuable opportunity to pause, recognise the effort students have put in so far, and look ahead with confidence to the summer exam series.

By sharing results in a supportive and familiar setting, we were able to mirror the experience of a summer results day while keeping the focus firmly on next steps. Students had time to talk with friends and staff, celebrate successes, and reflect thoughtfully on where they are now and how they can continue to make progress. The “Next Steps” assembly helped to frame the day positively, reinforcing the message that mocks are not an endpoint, but a key moment for learning and growth.

Mr Scott, Leader of Careers & PSHE, said the "assembly focused on perspective, planning and purpose. Students were reminded that mock grades are not a measure of potential, but a checkpoint on the journey to GCSEs. With 53 school days until exams begin, the emphasis was firmly on what happens next: making informed post-16 choices, surrounding yourself with the right people, and taking action early. Students explored options including sixth form, colleges, apprenticeships and the support available through Unifrog and one-to-one careers meetings. The message was clear: start now, stay focused, and keep your options open."

At lunchtime, we were delighted to see so many students take advantage of the drop-in support session, using the opportunity to discuss their results, clarify strategies, and think carefully about how to achieve their potential in the months ahead. These conversations were purposeful, mature, and a real credit to the cohort.

Over the coming week, we will be sharing further details about the range of in-school support available to help students with their revision. As always, we will be encouraging a little-and-often approach from this point onwards, as this remains the most effective way for students to feel confident, prepared, and ready when the exams come around.

Mr Winstone

Deputy Headteacher - Teaching & Learning

House Assemblies

This week, our House Captains led their first live, face-to-face House Assemblies, all built around the inspiring theme of “The Power of Curiosity.” Students drew on the lives and achievements of well-known figures such as Albert Einstein, Alexander Fleming and Michael Faraday to demonstrate how curiosity has the power to drive discovery, creativity and progress. The assemblies explored the different types of curiosity and encouraged students to question the world around them, reminding their house teams of the importance of asking “why?” in both learning and everyday life.

Presenting to a live audience for the first time can be a daunting experience, but every House Team rose to the challenge superbly, delivering thoughtful and engaging assemblies with confidence and enthusiasm. It was a fantastic week for our House Captains, and I very much look forward to the next round of assemblies.

Nurturing excellence in teaching through subject mastery.

Here at DHSB, we firmly believe that the best education is delivered by passionate, knowledgeable staff who are continually developing their expertise.

This half term, our Subject Mastery CPD cycle is again well underway, with staff engaging in a rich programme of subject-specific professional learning designed to deepen expertise and strengthen curriculum delivery.

Sessions already delivered have included science colleagues taking part in a local brewery visit and exploring university-based X-ray simulation and Anatomage facilities, PE staff preparing to introduce Flag Football into the curriculum, and geography teachers analysing A-level training materials and examiner feedback to inform planning for 2026. Humanities colleagues have also focused on subject mastery through History sessions exploring NEA assessment guidance and the US political system, alongside RS discussions on extending the effective use of AI to enhance planning, assessment and student engagement.

Later this half term, staff will continue to engage in further high-quality subject mastery opportunities, including behind-the-scenes creative arts workshops exploring professional theatre production and our maths staff setting off to tackle the Professor Level Mathematical challenges at Hidden Valley.

Mr Winstone

Deputy Headteacher - Teaching & Learning

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!

Congratulations!

Last weekend, Year 8 student James Kendall and Year 7 student Harry Hambly represented the Devon A Under 13 squad at the England Squash Inter-counties Championships that took place last weekend. Both players, who train and play locally at Tavistock Squash Club, played exceptionally well against tough opposition from Avon and Dorset.

Well done!

Thank you to those who came to our meeting on Wednesday. It was smaller than usual due to the traffic issues in Plymouth but mighty all the same! There was plenty to discuss and we were delighted to approve three grants: two full size football goals for the 3G pitch; DofE kit, including tents, stoves, first aid kits and dry bag storage; and an electronic scoreboard, new kits and match balls for the Basketball Team.

We will be providing the bar at the school production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ on the 11th, 12th and 13th February. If you are interested in helping one of those evenings, please email ptfa@dhsb.org. It would be much appreciated.

Our next meeting is on the 11th March, 6.30pm, in the Conference Room. Please join us if you can, we’d love to meet you. Refreshments supplied.

Mrs Kinsella

PTFA Liaison

Sports News and Updates

Year 9 Football

Huge congratulations to our Year 9 Football team! They’ve advanced to the next round of the Devon Cup after a gritty 2-1 victory over a tough Plymstock School side. The boys showed incredible heart and dedication to see this one through.

U15 Indoor Cricket

An interesting day at the U15 West Devon Schools Indoor Cricket competition today - our DHSB ‘A’ team came 3rd and the ‘B’ team came 2nd and were very close to winning the final and qualifying for the County Finals but just came up short against a strong Ivybridge team.

Year 7 Dodgeball

A huge well done to our Year 7 students who represented DHSB at the PSSP Dodgeball tournament at the Life Centre. It was fantastic to see so many students getting involved and showing off their competitive spirit. Some top-tier dodgeball on display today!

Year 7 Badminton

It was a packed house for yesterday’s Year 7 House Badminton Tournament! Every House brought their A-game, but a massive congratulations to Leslie House for an incredible undefeated run to take the title. Great sportsmanship and skill on display by all!