- Nov 20, 2015

20 November 2015

Today’s Head’s Blog is written by Sam Lenthall, Takeover Day Headteacher.

Today saw the Children’s Commissioner Takeover Day arrive at DHSB. Along with George Irving and Tahmid Ahmad, the two Assistant Heads, I watched over a successful day. Furthermore a large group of students and staff also swapped roles, making it one of DHSB’s best takeovers yet.

What was it like to be Headteacher?

Today was an incredible opportunity to see the school in a new light. From presenting awards to meetings with the senior members of staff, this non-stop day was an insightful learning tool for me and the school. I was faced with problems and challenges that were new to me and allowed me to develop a range of skills. In summary the whole experience was a great success and I would encourage any student to participate in future.

Paris Attacks Remembrance Recognition

I was given the opportunity to invite a small number of students for lunch with me in the school refectory Refuel. I chose to select those who had helped and assisted with the running of the remembrance assembly that took place on Wednesday and we discussed the importance of remembering those who died one week ago today.

The students involved were: Kevin Guo, Stuart Foxcroft, Owen King, Toby Morgan, Sam Gilbert and George Allan.

On Monday, the school acknowledged the one minute silence at 11am. The students of DHSB all took these events very seriously and treated it with the appropriate respect.

The Sixth Form football second team had a minute silence before their match with the City Police.

Christmas Card Competition

This year’s Christmas card competition had three runners up and one main winner.

The overall winner was hard to decide as there were lots of brilliant designs.

Bailey Howlett 7W, Owen King 8E, Lewis Mears 7N were all highly commended with Kia Benjamin 8S winning overall.

Congratulations to all four students.

Assistant Head George Irving

I asked George about his Takeover Day and he said, “The day was an insightful experience that saw many new opportunities for all the students involved. It was an enjoyable sight, seeing everyone smartly dressed and ready for a day of work. For me personally, I especially enjoyed speaking to the Year 7s in their carol concert rehearsal in addition to having a meeting with a senior member of staff. Has the day inspired me to become a teacher? Perhaps, it certainly gave me some ideas as to the ups and downs of staff life, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the role.”

Feminism Question Time

Friday morning held a challenging debate, introduced by Tahmid (Assistant Headteacher). The topic was the sensitive and important matter of feminism, which saw around 50 pupils from DHSG joining our Sixth Form. We hope the students left feeling as if they had gained something from the opportunity.

Curriculum Challenge Week

Next week DHSB will be off timetable and on a variety of extracurricular activities across Plymouth and the UK. We hope the students will not just enjoy the experiences, but also learn some valuable lessons and concepts.

Please follow our activities and see our photos by using the Twitter hashtag #DHSBCCW

Tom Booth

I am delighted to announce Tom Booth in 10C has been selected for the National Intermediate Topper Squad, which entails him travelling around the country sailing with new people. So far he has competed in the South West Zone topper series and finished fifth, the World Topper Championships in Lake Garda Italy and finished eighth in the Silver Fleet and the Topper Nationals in Weymouth and came seventh in the Silver Fleet. He is planning to continue and gain more achievements next year as well trying his hand at sailing a two-handed boat called a 29er.