Fundraising for our House Charities commenced today with our first Mufti Day of the academic year.

Last year over £7000 was generated for our House Charities through Mufti Day donations and sales at our Summer Festival. You can find full details of all the local, national and international charities each House supports by visiting the House dashboards on our website.

This year instead of asking students to bring in a £1 donation on each mufti day, we're asking for a one off contribution of either £5 or £10 which can be donated via MCAS. This one-off contribution which can be paid throughout the year, will cover all mufti days, including at least one per half term.

Some of the charities that will benefit include Dartmoor Search and Rescue, Cancer Research UK, World Land Trust, Jeremiah's Journey, Mind Devon, Surfers Against Sewage, Devon & Cornwall Food Action and Amnesty International.

DHSB Earns Two More Points Towards the Green Tree Schools Award

Over the course of a week, all students in Years 7-11 took part in an assembly entitled 'The Power of Trees', delivered by the Deputy Heads of Year. The aim of the assembly was to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of trees - both across the world and within our own school community.

During the assembly, students learned about the 207 trees on our school site and explored the vital role they play in supporting biodiversity, improving air quality, and enhancing wellbeing. To make the message more meaningful, the presentation featured photographs of trees from our own grounds, helping students to recognise and value the natural environment around them.

The sessions prompted thoughtful reflection and discussion about the environmental impact of trees and how everyone can play a part in protecting them. This whole-school initiative successfully raised awareness of sustainability and highlighted the positive environmental contribution our site already makes.

As a result of this work, DHSB has earned two additional points towards the Woodland Trust’s Green Tree Schools Award, recognising our ongoing commitment to environmental education and sustainability. We currently have 8 points towards the 10 needed for silver!

A big thank you to Mr Watling, Mrs Green, Mrs Brophy, Mrs Corboy, and Mrs Pyle for leading and supporting this initiative.

Year 7 Make Sense of the World

This week, Mrs Wardle, Joint Head of Religious Studies, celebrated "the creativity and depth of thought shown by our Year 7 Religious Studies students in their unit on Making Sense of the World have been truly exceptional this week. Tasked with reflecting on the sanctity of life, they produced thoughtful work, starting with beautiful Haiku poems that captured the profound value of life. They followed this up by creating detailed "respect chains" illustrating tangible ways to honour this principle. The breadth of their ideas was inspiring, ranging from small, personal acts like not pulling up flowers and paying people compliments, to more globally conscious decisions like buying sustainably produced food, consuming only what they need, and being stewards of the earth by picking up litter and supporting charities.

This work demonstrates a wonderful grasp of how individual actions contribute to the bigger picture of preserving the world for future generations and helps solidify their place as thoughtful, engaged members of the DHSB community."

Here are some examples of Haikus from 7T:

Animals need us

We need ourselves and each other

The world really needs us   

by Elijah

Sanctity of life

A very important thing

Should be had by all   

by Freddie

Life can be worth it

Life is an opportunity

So don't waste it   

by Rory

God trusted all life

It is essential to love

Cherish all life's grace

God gifted us trees

Nature is now collapsing

Nobody is laughing!   

by Jack

Respect for all life

In all its wonder and praise

Every shape and form   

by Jude

7S have had a superb fortnight in English. In order to introduce 'A Christmas Carol', they have produced insightful research presentations for the Victorian period in groups. They demonstrated real maturity in their delivery of these to the class. In addition to this, the class have been completing the 'Autobiographical Creative Menu' for homework. Five students very kindly brought in food that is important to their families at home to share with the class. We have had Pakistani Potato Bhaji, Kurdish Dolma and three varieties of cake. They all generously shared this food with each other (much to all of their delight) and many of them spoke about the similarities to food they might have at home themselves. What a brilliant experience for them!"

Mrs Glastonbury,

Teacher of English

Mr Bee, Teacher of Maths, shared Year 10 student Barnaby's work and said that "his work is always of a great standard but this lesson was brilliant".

Mr Bee also shared an example of Year 12 student Sophie's independent practice work for kinematics.

Miss Wright, Teacher of Design and Technology, shared that "Year 10s in DT this week have been presenting the research on the work of others. Those who have presented this week did an excellent job showing their confidence and knowledge to teach each other about their chosen designers and companies. I was very impressed with the delivery of their research. Well done year 10."

Year 10 have been practising their experimental skills by producing beautiful blue copper sulphate crystals. They have had to use a range of techniques to produce the purest crystals possible. This is for one of their Exam Required Practicals - they have to completely know the method, why each step is done, and identify potential problems. They have worked so well and achieved great results! 

Mrs Pearson,

Teacher of Chemistry, Science Intervention & KS4 Coordinator

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!

Sports News and Results

Rugby

Year 9 Rugby

Well done to the Year 9 rugby team that went to Plympton and won convincingly! All played great rugby.

Mr Hill,

Learning Manager

DHSB U16 Rugby

DHSB U16 rugby team beat Stoke Damerel and Coombe Dean schools in the central venue competition on Wednesday 8 October. Well done!

Mr Orkney,

Director of Sport