This morning I met a group of students who received the DHSB Student of the Week award during the autumn term.
We’re pleased to recognise and reward students who receive nominations for a wide variety of reasons.
Luke Child 9C - for his kindness and generosity towards a new Year 7 student helping him make a smooth start to his time at DHSB.
Alex Suchowlanski 11E - for waiting with a toddler who was on his own, until his mum was found, and a second award for his calm and speedy approach to get help for a medical emergency.
Matthew Daniel 13RFP - for helping a Year 7 student rescue his ball from a tree.
Charlie Stewart-Anderson 8C - for his positive influence on those around him, showing maturity and enthusiasm.
Abhinav Adhikari 13ALG - for his kindness in giving up his time to advise and help other students to complete their personal statements.
Graham Butler 8P, Ethan Brookes 8P, Lorenzo Martinez-Guttilla 8S, Jacopo Corino 8S - for coming to the aid of a member of the public in distress outside school.
House Assemblies
The main theme running through all house assemblies today was 'embracing challenge' and there were inspiring videos shown in each assembly.
Each house also talked about their fundraising in 2022 and the three charities (local, national and international) that will be supported in 2023 before giving an update on the house championships and the Fantasy Premier League.
Mr Huq
Beauty and the Beast
Rehearsals for our school musical, Beauty and the Beast, are going well and tickets are selling fast.
We’re looking forward to staging this production in the Edgcumbe Theatre from 1st - 3rd February 2023 and these photos show students designing and preparing the set.
I’ve included a link to the box office so you can ensure you have secured your seats!
Excellent Work
Thank you to Mrs Mintoft for these examples of excellent work from History students in 7E and 7N.
Students were asked to produce a newspaper article about the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.
The purpose was to identify who was to blame as well as to show what happened.
Refuel Menu
Thanks to Mr Hedges and Mr McConnell for providing this Refuel menu which covers meals to be served from January to March.
eSafety Advice
The online world can pose a risk to children, and it is important that schools, parents and carers work together to take an active role in teaching children about online dangers. Learning how to act safely when using the internet is an important part of life in the 21st century. Therefore we are happy to inform you that we are working with National Online Safety to provide resources for you to browse.
The resources include parents and carers courses (presented by Myleene Klass), online video resources and weekly guides covering a huge range of topics including: online relationships, fake profiles and social bots, online bullying, online grooming, child sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, sexting, online gambling, radicalisation, terrorism & extremism, age inappropriate content, copyright and ownership, hacking and fake news - this content is updated regularly.
Also, we are excited to announce our partnership with Securly in safeguarding our students, your children. Securly was chosen because we shared a vision of a safer, more productive digital world for our students. From web filtering to device management to self-harm detection, Securly is dedicated to keeping young minds healthy, engaged, and inspired.
Additionally, we chose Securly for its strong adherence to data privacy and management laws. As a parent/carer you will be able to control your child’s internet access at home.
You should receive an email directly from Securely over the next few days and a letter for all parents and carers has gone out today via Bromcom.
You can get all of this information and more help guides on our e-safety portal page.
Ms Buckler
Listen Up Speak Up
The NSPCC has launched a programme called Listen Up Speak Up which hopes to create a nation of safeguarders among people who do not have primary safeguarding roles but might encounter children and families regularly.
Please consider taking part by completing a free ten minute digital training course which helps to identify signs of child neglect or abuse in the community and how to raise concerns with someone who can help.
More information and the training is available at this link.
PSHEE Activities
This week students in 7E had their emergency first aid session led by the British Red Cross whilst the rest of the year group considered the broad area of disability by looking at problems that might be encountered, and how to potentially solve them.
The Year 8 lesson covered fraud, how it might be possible to be unwittingly drawn into various illegal activities and of course how to avoid such an occurrence. They also caught up with the rail safety update other year groups looked at earlier in the term.
Year 9 students thought about life choices they may have made or need to make in the future, and the reasons for making those choices. They also learned about labour market information, what it is and how local LMI may help to inform future career choices.
Year 10 students, after a week of exams, also caught up with the rail safety reminders and then continued to use and explore the new site, Unifrog. A group also continued with the business mentoring sessions with our Enterprise Adviser, Ralph Rizk; this week looking at communication and body language.
Last but not least, Year 11 students used a resource called Side-by-Side which uses scenarios to explore the ways in which radicalisation can occur and how this can be tackled by the government Prevent programme.
Assemblies were on Friday this week, led by House Captains, on embracing opportunities, something most DHSB students are very good at!
Examples include the Year 10 students who have elected to undertake work experience in the summer term enrichment week. We met today to work on approaching companies for placements.
More regarding Year 7 - 11 tutorial lessons in next week's Head’s Blog.
Ms Moreton
Sixth Form Enrichment and Tutorial
KS5 students built on what they learnt about power posing last week through more from this Ted talk from Amy Cuddy on Fake it to Make it and both year groups also considered responding to feedback - overcoming the critical and seeking the positive.
We finished enrichment with House assemblies followed by the main and very significant presentation on conduct and guidance on exam procedures for Year 13 students.
Year 12 also explored more of the Unifrog platform, this week looking at how to add resources and evidence to their lockers as well as completing interactions.
Ms Davidson
Teaching & Learning Update
Make yourself feel better by making someone else feel better!
At the start of a new year we wanted to again give students the opportunity to thank a teacher / staff member for the work they do in guiding and supporting their learning. We received a wonderful response and every message has been passed on to the member of staff and, just like students, the adults in the school all really appreciate the kind words.
Research shows that saying thank you to someone can boost the neurotransmitter serotonin and activate the brain stem to produce dopamine. Dopamine is our brain's pleasure chemical. So hopefully our students have made themselves feel better by making someone else feel better!
Here are a sample of some of the lovely comments:
He welcomed me to a new programming club and introduced me to a programming paper that was entertaining and exciting, he made a difference and I will always remember that
She is an absolutely amazing teacher and deserves so many more thankyous than I can say. She does so much for the school community and cares greatly. Thank you
She has an inspirational dedication to her role as teacher. Time and time again she goes above and beyond to improve her student's day. She shows that she cares about each and every student and wants them to succeed. For that I am very thankful.
Mr Winstone
Sports Update
Table Tennis
Congratulations to students in our table tennis team. The team has successfully retained their status as the best table tennis team in the South West, this time in the U16 Zonal Finals.
Mr Campbell said, “A huge effort from the team who at times played some unbelievable table tennis”.
Football
Well done to the Year 7 football team who made it through to the final 16 schools in England after beating St Peter’s School Exeter 1 - 0 in round 6 of the National Cup last Friday.
Mr Strang said it was, “A truly outstanding game won by the smallest of margins”.
Good luck to the Year 10 team who play Heles School this afternoon, hoping to be the third DHSB team through to the later stages (final 16 teams) of the national cup.
Year 8 students played a good game to win in the Devon Cup football round two at Colyton. The match was played in a good spirit on a chilly afternoon.
However, sadly it was the end of the road for the U14s in the Devon Cup after they came up against a very solid Eggbuckland team. We wish Eggbuckland all the very best in the next round.
The Year 10 central venue team got the competition off to a good start with a 2 - 0 win against Lipson. This competition always gives a good opportunity for lots of students to play competitive football for the school
Mr Manley reports that the school 1st XI team stays top of the Devon Wednesday League after beating Lipson Academy.
Netball
The Sixth Form netball team, Cheetahs, has won their first away game of the season at Tavistock College.
Well done!
