18 July 2025
- Mikaela Blows
- Jul 18
- 13 min read
School Development Plan
As this academic year draws to a close I’d like to share with you the progress we’ve made towards the school development priorities during the final term.
Please take a moment to read through our progress towards school priorities by following this link.
Farewell and thank you
On Tuesday, staff said farewell to Simon Coombes who is retiring after 33 years at DHSB. (He managed to miss the last day of term by taking a group of DofE Gold students to Iceland!)
As a teacher, Simon is, simply put, excellent. While his primary subject has always been Maths, he also shared his knowledge and expertise teaching Physics to A-level and even ICT. But beyond the subjects, it’s his passion for outdoor education and the truly transformational enrichment experiences he has provided that truly stand out. From the numerous Curriculum Enrichment and Curriculum Challenge weeks to the incredible overseas trips and residentials all over the world – World Challenges, Gold Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, ski trips, and overseas sports tours – Simon has opened up horizons and created lifelong memories for so many young people. He understood that learning extends far beyond the four walls of a classroom.
Enjoy the next chapter, Simon. You will be greatly missed by the students and your friends and colleagues.
The St. Levan Shield - House Competition Summary 2024/25
The 2024/25 House Competition at DHSB has come to an exciting conclusion, showcasing the dedication, talent, and spirit of students across all houses.
Extra-Curricular Cup: Awarded for outstanding participation in activities such as Maths Challenges, the Spelling Bee, Biology Olympiad, and Outdoor Education (including DofE and Ten Tors). This year’s winners were Scott.
House Community Cup: Recognising commitment to Community Duty and the creativity of House notice boards, this was won by Turing.
Merit Shield: Celebrating positive behaviour and the accumulation of commendations, Turing claimed this accolade as well.
Competition Cup: For sporting excellence and participation in House Sports and Sports Day, Attenborough emerged victorious.
After an exceptional year of effort and enthusiasm across all areas, the prestigious St. Levan Shield, awarded to the overall House Champions, goes to Turing – taking the title from last year's winners, Priestley (now Scott).
A huge well done to all students and staff for their commitment and energy throughout the year. The House Competition continues to be a powerful reflection of the community spirit and healthy rivalry that define life at DHSB.
Mrs Cunningham, Head of Houses and Community
AI Translation of POW Diary
Earlier this month Year 8 student Hugh Taylor reached out to the staff at DHSB to ask for help in decoding the diary entries of his great-grandfather who was held in a Prisoner of War camp towards the end of WWII. The entries are recorded using Gregg Shorthand, a form of stenography developed by John Robert Gregg. Gregg Shorthand is phonetic, meaning it's written based on the sounds of words rather than their spelling.
A large team of DHSB staff utilised generative AI to translate the pages and combine them into a side-by-side document to tell the story of Captain Roberts some 80 years after writing the
The entry for July 18th - 81 years ago today - reads: "Woken early by a commotion outside the barracks. A German guard had tripped over a loose board near the perimeter fence and raised the alarm. Roll‑call was delayed while the fence was checked for damage. Breakfast of bread and ersatz coffee as usual. The men are restless. Several whispered conversations about “Hedgeford 3” and “Corvette” took place in the yard, though I didn’t catch details. Around midday, two senior NCOs were called to the Kommandantur. When they returned, they looked grim but said nothing. At 4:15pm, a few of the escape committee members slipped into Hut 5 for what must have been another planning session. The evening passed quietly, though tension is growing among the men. Spirits lifted briefly when someone began singing “Will be your sweetheart” in a low voice. Lights out 10:15pm."
Pictured is Hugh holding the diary of his great-grandfather.
The family were very grateful for the efforts of the DHSB staff, and asked if we could share this story with our community. You can view the translated document here: View the translated document
Mr Scott
'Our Boys' Return
Next Wednesday, on the 23rd July it will be 80 years since ‘our boys’ returned from Penzance. The school was evacuated there on the 14th May 1941 - they did not know their destination when they boarded the train at Plymouth North Road station (now known as Plymouth Station). Even the staff going had no idea until the headmaster, H.A.T Simmonds, disclosed it to them during the journey. There must’ve been so many feelings and emotions standing on the train platform - fear, excitement, nervousness, anxiety, trepidation, sadness…
Some were in Penzance for the whole duration from 1941 to 1945, others left before 1945 as they reached the school leaving age, and others started later as they reached secondary school age. There were some that stayed in Plymouth, for various reasons, they joined the Emergency High School which was formed at Regent St, in the Sutton High School building. The headteachers of DHSB and Sutton High School (who were evacuated to St Austell) fought for their schools to be evacuated en masse - originally the Ministry wanted all the boys split up, going to different places.
Once in Penzance, they were allocated to various empty buildings: hotels, hostels, a home of Lord and Lady St Levan and 104 went to a former workhouse in Madron. The derelict building is pictured here when I visited Madron in 2024. Heather Coulis tells me that her father Ralph Morrell was one of the boys sent to live in the workhouse and when her grandad found out he ‘went nuts and the boys were quickly moved!’ Ralph went on to be elected Lord Mayor of Plymouth 1981/2 and was very instrumental in the creation of Plymouth’s Theatre Royal.
Below are two accounts of Penzance life - both fascinating. The first was written by Margaret Hodgson, wife of teacher G H Hodgson.
‘A Cornish Exile’ is Tony Cross’ account of his life when he was evacuated to Penzance with DHSB. It was composed from letters he sent home from 1942 to 1945 and which were found in the attic of his mother’s house when she passed away in 2001.
Ironically Penzance suffered more bombing than Plymouth did during this period. On the 26th September 1942 one of the hostels took a direct hit and six boys were missing. The Headmaster feared the worse. However, they had made their way, some barefoot, across fields and had secured shelter for the night - in a girls' boarding school!
Penzance wasn't without tragedy though, 6th former, Alan Patrick Sandiford, was trying to find an electrical fault and fell through a skylight. He suffered a head injury and consequently died.
The Western Morning news regularly printed updates on the school in Penzance. A journalist visited in February 1942 and produced a pamphlet. He said 'the boys of Devonport High were said to be the best looked after schoolboys in England.’ In fact, they were so happy that two thirds opted to stay in Penzance for the school holidays.
The locals enjoyed seeing them around in their green blazers and caps - although I’m told some of the boys didn’t take too kindly when the DHSB boys were sometimes more popular with the girls!
I have visited Penzance in recent years and tried to retrace the DHSB evacuees steps as much as possible - it was very moving.
So this time 80 years ago, with the return to Plymouth, and home, imminent, I’d imagine there was again a mixture of emotions. The boys were made very welcome in Penzance, on Christmas Day 1941 they were the guests of Lord and Lady St Levan on St Michael’s Mount. Barry Hayward told me his mother, Mona Kennington, was cook to the boys who stayed at the Marine Hotel. For many years afterwards they would call in on her if they were on holiday in Cornwall.
I know some of our evacuees are still in Plymouth - I’d love to hear from any, please get in touch (alumni@dhsb.org or leave a message with our Reception team and I can call back - 01752 208787).
Mrs Kinsella, Alumni Engagement & Archives
Camps International 2025
Seventeen students from Year 10 - Year 13 have flown from London Heathrow today, en route to San José, Costa Rica. The group will spend four weeks in the beautiful and biodiverse remote rainforest of this tropical country, working alongside conservationists to protect the natural environment and discover an array of colourful marine life. The expedition includes a stay on the Pacific coast where students will learn to SCUBA dive, working towards their PADI Open Water qualification.
The first week of the trip includes time spent with the Bribri indigenous community, surrounded by trees and trails filled with the community's history. The students and two staff will work with the locals to further conservation efforts, in a country where a large percentage of the land is protected and contains 5% of the world's biodiversity.
After 10 days learning to dive near Uvita, visiting wildlife sanctuaries, beach cleaning, and learning about turtle conservation, the group will move on to their final camp in a remote and rarely visited corner of Costa Rica. Here, the DHSB group will support an already existing community tourism project, developing how the community can generate income while conserving the natural environment, with projects focused on agriculture and forest regeneration.
If you wish to get a glimpse into what the group is doing in Costa Rica, you can follow the Camps International Costa Rica Instagram account @CostaRicaCampsInt.
Mr Guy-Fierens
Sparx Reader at DHSB - Summer Reflections
As we approach the end of the academic year I wanted to share some interesting details about Sparx Reader which is a central pillar of our reading strategy at DHSB. Students in Years 7 - 10 complete Sparx Reader activities as part of their homework and some years also have reading lessons using Sparx. We moved to use Sparx as it is designed to promote reading and develop reading skills in young people. The ability to read accurately and confidently is integral to academic success and at DHSB, we want to encourage our students to embrace reading as a vital life skill.
Over this academic year our students have completed an amazing amount of reading using the Sparx system. Here are some key details of their reading work this year:
24, 661 Sparx Reader homeworks have been set this year.
21,366 hours of reading have been completed.
DHSB Students have completed an average of 30.5 hours reading per studen
1,328,974 questions have been answered
170, 977,924 words been read
5, 186 books have been read by DHSB students using Sparx
Sparx have also recognised some of our students for their amazing reading work this year with 5 being identified as ‘Star Readers’. Each of these have achieved over 70,000 SRP this year which is truly stunning when you consider that 100SRP represents 10 mins active reading!
Tristan Bigham Yr7
Aaron Lee Yr7
Sebby Travers Yr7
Elvis Sullivan Yr7
Miles Beech Yr9
Well done to these Star Readers and all our students who have engaged so well with Sparx this year.
Dr Downes
Excellent Work
Mrs Walker shared this example of excellent work from George Hall 7J in RS - the task was to choose an inspirational person and present why they are an inspiration in a format of choice. George wrote these poems about Queen Elizabeth II.
Inspirational leaders - Queen Elizabeth II
A collection of descriptive short poems of the late Queen’s life, that prove her as an inspirational hero for her people.
WW2 - The Truck
The truck grumbled and groaned along the dirt track
As the wheels moaned, and the driver glanced back
At the barbed wire laying on the track in a crack
A hissing sound came from the tyres down below
As the air whoosed out in a big puffing blow
And the driver jumped out onto the dirt track although
She knew it was dangerous to do so
The rattle of a machine gun came from down in a trench
The driver looked at the wheel and then grabbed a wrench
She loosened the tyre, and then with thoughts of the french
She fixed on a new tyre and went back into the truck
I sat down in my lounge chair and read it aloud
And in all of a sudden I felt rather proud
For the queen was that driver, on that muddy old truck
That muddy old truck on a muddy old track.
The Queen
The Queen lay in state on a now forever bed
As silent people had just one thought in their heads
They queued through the capital and all down the streets
With just that one thought, of an incredible feat
People remembered what a great monarch she was
There was no need to say that she was popular; that was clear
For thousands of people attended, yet this time no cheer
For the death of a monarch had wounded its nation
Its people, its buildings, and all its train stations
Yet people remembered what a great monarch she was
Mrs Hicks shared...
Year 9 students had an introduction into their year 10 forces topics this week with an egg drop challenge. Students had to design and create a structure that would reduce the force experienced by the egg, therefore ensuring it's survival. Students designs varied in aims of reducing velocity of the egg or increasing the time of impact by adding cushioning.
Below are some designs by 9a2 and 9b7.
And...
8A were given the task to create their own science project. Students submitted and presented some amazing projects that included;
Space and black holes
Solar and wind powered electronics
Separation techniques
Paleontology
Reaction lava lamps
The digestive system
Below are some images that shows Isaac Turner and Francis Brown giving their demo of how food is broken and and moves through the digestive system. All students delivered their projects with professionalism and to extremely high standards.
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!
Celebrating our Students
Hockey Team Success
Following trails and training sessions with the West Panthers, Oliver and Oscar Hulbert were selected to play for the West of England (West Panthers) U13 Hockey Team as part of the Trophy Team squad who played in the national UK Festival of Hockey in Nottingham the weekend 20th-22nd June 2025. The West Panthers are a representative team with the squad being selected from four trial days attended by boys across the West of England.
The boys had a wonderful experience. They beat teams from all over the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands across the three days of competition and ended up finishing 2nd as a team, losing 1-0 in the final.
Well done!
Cricket Success
Congratulations to DHSB Students Ayaan Chatterjee, Charlie Martyn, Neel Shivane (Year ten) and Eoin Hewitt, Rafferty Gribble and Samuel Gibbs (Year nine) who play for Cornwood Cricket Club. Their Under 15 team, captained by Ayaan, was crowned West Devon League champions on Monday as they beat Plymstock Cricket Club by 8 wickets.
Howzatt!
Football Success
After undertaking trials over the last 3 weeks, Ewan Lock (10A), has been selected to play for Devon FA U16 Boys Representative Football Team for the coming 2025/26 season. As part of the forthcoming season the team will also represent their schools as part of the Devon FA Schools programme.
Well done!
Work Experience
Students in Year 9 (going into Year 10) are reminded to continue searching for a work experience placement in the week of November 24-28. Once an employer agrees, add it to Unifrog using this link: www.unifrog.org/student/placement
Support is available over the summer via wex@dhsb.org
If any parents work for a company that could host one of our students, please complete this form: go.dhsb.org/registerforwex.
Mr Scott
PTFA News
Just like that we have come to the end of another year! We have had a fantastic year raising funds, funding those ‘extras’ not included in department budgets and creating memories for the children. In addition to all of that we were thrilled and excited to hear that we came in the top 3 in the National Parentkind PTA of the Year Award!
We held our three traditional main events; a daytrip to Alton Towers, along with the summer and Christmas discos. Alton Towers had 500 students on multiple coaches and there were in excess of 600 students at our discos. For these events to go ahead and be successful we rely on parent volunteers, a big thank you to them all.
We have served refreshments at school events such as the school show, the Christmas concert, the 11+ familiarisation events, the 11+ days and the DHSB Open Evening. The recent one broke all previous records as approximately 950 came, that's a lot of tea, coffee and biscuits!
We also raised funds by selling our framed A4 11+ certificates. These are personally signed by Mr Roberts, the Headteacher, and finished with an Achievement Seal. A lovely memento of a child starting at DHSB. We also receive funds quarterly from ‘Your School Lottery’ derived from ticket sales to DHSB supporters.
Sadly, due to physical calendars not being very popular these days, we made a decision to stop producing our academic calendar. However, the good news is that we kept the photography competition element of it. The standard of the entries was amazing! Our thanks to Art & Design teacher Mrs Hicks for being our judge - it was no easy task. You will see our winning images throughout this magazine.
We have six bi-termly meetings a year. During this academic year we have funded entry in to the Magistrates' Court Mock Trial Competition, green power car expenses, one year's work with the Plymouth Racial Equality Council team, the girls' netball team kit, aprons, saucepans and food processors, replacement goal nets, student leadership badges, tents and kit for DofE and even yoyos for the new yoyo club!
In our previous Magazine we told you how we had donated £15,000 towards the upgrade of the school fitness suite. I am delighted to report that it has recently been reopened, to students and staff, and it looks amazing! I am not known for my visits to the gym but it has motivated me!
Something a little unusual to report too, the PTFA were mentioned in the national press, The Times, when we made local celebrity cat ‘Mischief’ an honorary member of the PTFA as he likes to come to our meetings!
We are looking forward to our first meeting of the year on the 17th September (6.30pm in the Conference Room - directly behind the Visitor reception) and starting it all again - top of the agenda will be the Christmas Disco! All parents are welcome, we would love to meet you. Please get in touch if you would like more information (ptfa@dhsb.org).
A big thank you to the PTFA Committee and everyone who comes to our meetings to make everything happen. A big thank you too to Refuel for supplying us with lovely refreshments - a well fed PTFA is a Happy PTFA :)
If you are able to help at an event, even if its just for an hour or two, please submit the form below, this is the time of year we inevitably lose parents as their children leave DHSB - your help would be much appreciated:
I hope you have a lovely summer and we look forward to meeting you in September, or at an event.
Mrs Kinsella, PTFA Liaison
Sport Updates
U13 cricket team beat Tor Bridge by 50 runs on Tuesday in an end of season friendly.
