"Happy Birthday dear Tom..."

DHSB Trustees and members of staff joined Tom Orchard to celebrate his 80th Birthday on Tuesday. Tom has been associated with DHSB for nearly 70 years. During that time, he has been a student, School Captain and for 28 years, he has been a Trustee. Tom has been a wonderful servant to the school over the years.

Happy Birthday Tom and thank you for your service to DHSB.

Ten Tors 2025

Congratulations are extended to all students who took part in the Ten Tors challenge last weekend. Five DHSB Ten Tors teams took part in the challenge, walking routes of either 35, 45 or 55 miles across Dartmoor, contending with both hot temperatures and rain throughout their expedition. 

Ten Tors training takes place on Dartmoor, rain, wind or shine, commencing with the Abbots’ Way Walk in October. The training includes navigation, contending with the British weather and expedition skills, as well as learning how to work as a team, how to keep going in adverse conditions and excellent organisational skills.

The Ten Tors event is the culmination of this training and DHSB this year entered five teams: two 35-mile, one 45-mile and one of only two establishments to enter two 55-mile teams. After a spectacular display from the Red Devils parachute display team and an inspiring speech from the UK Chief of the General Staff, Gen Sir Roland Walker, the starting gun fired at 0700 and 2,500 young people poured down open moorland to begin their journeys. News of the teams on Ten Tors arrives in the form of a sporadically updated grid of time updates, so nervous waits for news are par for the course for those anxiously waiting. 

It soon became clear that the DHSB teams were putting their fitness, navigation training and route planning to good use, several leading all other teams on their routes, with one team dealing superbly with the extra challenge of giving aid to a team member who was ailing in the hot conditions. By Saturday night, anxious Team Managers and parents alike were thrilled to see that our teams had all reached their planned checkpoints. The atmosphere at the finish line on Sunday was not damped by the showers, with a group of excited parents and staff sharing binoculars in an effort to spot the first teams appearing on the horizon. All five teams arrived - possibly in a DHSB first? - with smiles on their faces as they crossed the finish line at Antony Stile.

You can follow the progress of the teams at these links:

DHSB 35A: Route A

DHSB 35B: Route B

DHSB 45: Route W

DHSB 55A: Route Y

DHSB 55B: Route X

Further to the DHSB teams, we are aware of students participating in teams with organisations away from the school, including the Scouts, Cadets, Dartmoor Plodders and Tavistock Outdoor Education Forum. All of these organisations are run by volunteers and our thanks are extended to those who have committed so much of their time to supporting these young people. The DHSB Ten Tors team managers would like to express their gratitude to all who have volunteered their time this year, including parents, current and former staff members, former participants and friends of the school.

Ten Tors is not a race, it is a challenge to complete as a team. All who trained for Ten Tors 2025 can be proud to have been part of an often competitive process, to have extended their comfort zones and to have performed outstandingly in the process.  Every completion is a huge achievement and is testament to the effort put in by these wonderful young people over the months of training. Memories of this event, and the friendship, skills and resilience forged along the way, stay with you for life. 

Follow @armytentors and @dhsboutdoor on Instagram for more information, photos and videos.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Celebration at Buckingham Palace

On Friday 9 May, Mr Coombes attended the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Celebration and reported that "The celebration event hosted in Buckingham Palace Gardens took place on 9 May which was a glorious sunny May day. A number of interesting guest speakers shared their experiences - resilience being the main theme. There was an opportunity to explore the beautiful Palace gardens and there were cakes!

The Duke of Edinburgh was assisted by Hannah Hampton, Chelsea goalkeeper and Ved, Young person ambassador in speaking to the assembled parents and Award completers.

There were seven former students in attendance on the day: 

Dominic Ambler, Murray Brown, Kristyna Cade, Jacob Hawkins, Barney Hunt, Laurence Jenkins and Charlotte Nordmann.

Many congratulations to them on their significant achievement!"

Run Plymouth

On Sunday 11 May, several staff and students joined thousands of athletes in Run Plymouth's Britain's Ocean City Running Festival, running either 5K, 10K or the Half Marathon.

All three races started and finished on the Plymouth Hoe Promenade and despite delays and rain, there was a great atmosphere.

Well done everyone!

Ben Marriott (11T) came 2nd in a 10K time of 35:21, just 10 seconds away from the winner.

Freddie Blight (10A) came 12th in the Plymouth 10K event. 

Sebby Travers (7A) came 5th overall in the Plymouth 5K event and was only 13 seconds behind the winner.

Mr Spencer, Mrs Pearson and Mrs Pyle wear their medal with pride.

PTFA Alton Towers Trip and PTFA News

Mrs Kinsella shared "We have been very busy this last week! Saturday saw 8 coaches, carrying nearly 500, go to Alton Towers for our annual fundraising day trip! The excitement at Milehouse Park & Ride at 4.45am was palpable! Thank you to everyone who has left comments on social media or sent lovely emails - we do appreciate it.  A big thank you to Joanna for leading the trip, Melanie for ensuring your child was on a coach with their friends and all our volunteers - we can’t run this trip without you.  It has been running for approximately 30 years now and children of the original children are coming on the trip now! 

We had a great PTFA meeting this week too.  We were delighted to approve two grant requests for six replacement goal nets for the 3G all weather pitch and various items for use in food technology, totalling £2292.77!

We of course discussed our recent successful Alton Towers trip and then the forthcoming Summer Disco - watch this space!

Finally we enjoyed choosing a shortlist for our photography competition - what a difficult task that was - the standard is incredible! Look forward to sharing our winners with you in due course.

Our next, and final meeting of the year is 11th June, 6.30pm in the Conference Room directly behind Refuel.  Please come along, we’d love to meet you."

Special Occasion for Cadet

Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet, Flight Sergeant Giles Pahdi (12NGW), accompanied the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Devon and the Mayor of Okehampton at the Okehampton VE Day celebrations. It was a very special occasion and Giles proudly represented his squadron and school in this capacity.

Torbay Festival Success

Adit Sobti (8A) performed well at the Torbay Festival last weekend and won five prizes in the following categories:

1st Prize: Public Speaking

2nd Prize: Verse Speaking (Own Choice)

2nd Prize: Verse Speaking (Set Poem)

2nd Prize: Humorous Verse

3rd Prize: Sight Reading

Well done Adit!

Excellent Work

House Assemblies

Miss Cunningham, Head of Houses and Community, shared that this week, "our seven house teams delivered a fantastic series of assemblies around the theme "Tech Tools for Teamwork: Collaborating in a Digital Age." Each House Captain and Vice Captain took to the stage to share insights into how digital tools can support better communication, organisation, and collaboration—skills that are essential both in and beyond the classroom.

Although some began the year with understandable nerves with regard to public speaking, it was wonderful to see them grow in confidence as they spoke; delivering clear, engaging presentations full of useful and relevant ideas that students can take away and apply in their own group work.

I was especially proud of the resilience several students showed in stepping up to this challenge and adapting to obstacles and changes at short notice, and of the commitment each captain demonstrated to their house. These assemblies were a true celebration of student leadership, teamwork, and the positive role technology can play in helping us work better together."

Alumnus Visit

We were thrilled to hear from alumnus Josh Marsh who came in with Paul Mitchell from Dynamic adventures to talk about an incredible opportunity that he took advantage of. 

Along with significant contributions to Outdoor education through supporting the Duke of Edinburgh Award, Dynamic Adventures also offer career opportunities. 

Josh was working in Engineering but sought a career that fitted more with his values in life as well as affording him work in the outdoors!

This QR code takes you via a link to the super opportunity shared with Year 12 students on Monday. https://dynamicadventurescic.co.uk/outdoor-training-courses

By Special Invitation

William (Bill) Higginson, Member of the UK Youth Parliament (MYP) for Plymouth was invited to attend the Lord Mayor Choosing Ceremony which took place at the Plymouth City Council Annual General Meeting this morning. He met with councillors, members of the armed forces and the newly elected Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Councillor Kathy Watkin. Councillor Chip Tofan was also elected as Deputy Lord Mayor.

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!