After their Familiarisation Morning in July, students were given some optional transition summer tasks which included a research task on the history of DHSB and to find out who their house is named after.
The aim of the tasks was to help our new students understand more about the school and house communities they will belong to.
Miss Walker, our Transition Coordinator, said, “So many students completed these optional tasks that it took me four weeks to look through them all! These four students have been selected for the Transition Award for their outstanding effort”.
I met these four students this week and can confirm their work was excellent.
Congratulations to Gabriel Juganaru 7C, Michael Juganaru 7N, Oliver Elford 7P and Harry Clarke 7S. Please click on the links to see their work.
Student News
Well done to Nathan Richards 7E who competed at the 2022 English Trampoline and DMT championships. This was his first ever national final and he was placed twelfth on trampoline and seventh on DMT.
Congratulations also to Will Wooller 11N and Chris Wooller 10N who took part in the Sea Cadet National Trafalgar parade, on Trafalgar Square and then up the Mall. Will and Chris were part of the band with Will as principal clarinetist and Chris leading 400 cadets as the Drum Major.
Such experiences really broaden horizons in terms of working with others, teamwork and discipline.
Well done to Matthew West 12 NGW who took part in Cornish pilot gig rowing events over the summer.
Matthew rowed in crews that won the U18s County Championships for Cornwall, third in the County U16s championship, first in the U18s race at Saltash Regatta and won the U16s at Mount’s Bay Regatta for Caradon.
In Chess Club much of this half term has been invested in discovering who are our Year 7 and Year 8 chess powerhouses, and we offer congratulations to James Trenam-Nash 8W who beat all seven of his opponents in the final section.
Well done to all the students who are featured in the Head’s Blog today.
If you would like to share an achievement or some news then please complete this Google form.
Creative Arts Round up - this half term!
The Music, Drama and Art departments have all got off to a busy start this year!
We currently offer a range of clubs and opprotunities including Drama Club, Soul Band, Musical Theatre Group, Samba Group, Brass Group, and are proud to introduce our new team of 12 'Creative Leaders', who will be assisting the faculty this year with lunchtime and concert help.
Beauty and the Beast is now in its fourth week in rehearsal, and rehearsals with the Beauty and the Beats orchestra will start the first week after half term.
The Art Department are excited to have been selected to be involved in the 'Print to Action' Project run by Real Ideas, providing opportunites in print making and he Curriculum Challenge Week next month is bursting with Arts opportunities. Beyond Face Theatre, Theatre Royal, and Exim Dance will all be providing workshops, and some students will be visiting the British Art Show at the Box for some workshops.
Last night we celebrated our Year 11 GCSE Musicians in an exam performance evening. The students were an asset to the school, performing a variety of genres to a very high standard in the theatre, this event was supported by an audience of parents, staff and trustees. Well done to all the students involved, your performances were so impressive.
A new term of instrumental lessons starts after half term - if you want lessons do email Mrs Luing-Holmes ASAP as places are limited - and we look forward to the 'Voice of the Year' competition in Year 7 and more perfromances from Drama and Music students in the lead up to Christmas!
Mrs Luing-Holmes
Excellent Work
Our Excellent Work this week is from Ms Davarian and her Year 8 English class who have completed some fantastic homework in response to a new unit the department launched this term.
Unit 1 is titled 'Short Stories to Celebrate Diversity' and as part of their learning in English students have had the chance to read short stories which encourage empathy and understanding of characters who have been displaced from their original homes because of war and conflict. Their experiences in a new home and as refugees have given us the chance to discuss issues related to seeking asylum and the impact on the individual characters, as well as to find out about other cultures.
Students were given a creative menu of homework tasks and selected two tasks to complete this half term. 8S have recently shared their responses and have made an impressive effort with this.
Among their contributions were Freddie Blight's replica Lego model of the Ishtar Gate from Iraq. He researched and then recreated this.
Fletcher Coster enjoyed cooking some traditional Chicken Kebabs from Iraq and made a whole picture book describing the process too.
Dylan Witnall made some Iraqi Soda Cookies which are flavoured with Cardamom.
STEM Project
Mrs Buckler and Mr Berryman travelled to York and the national STEM centre as part of the school's new commitment to delivering the Science Learning Partnership for the Plymouth and Torbay area. The STEM project will provide all phases of schools in the primary,
secondary and FE sectors opportunities to have partially and fully funded CPD in specialist areas such as Science, Maths, Engineering and Computer Science. We will also be working with other sectors within the STEM organisation like the NCCE, Enthuse, Stem Ambassadors and the Physics Network. This is a fantastic opportunity for Plymouth and Torbay but also an exciting area for the school to run. Future developments and information can be found on our website: www.plymouthSLP.org.uk
We have many exciting events planned such as the science conference which will hopefully be confirmed and held at Plymouth University which will bring all Science teachers from across the region together in a bid to raise the profile of STEM subjects and help plan for and embrace getting more Girls into STEM careers. We look forward to launching this event later on in the year.
Mrs Cairns and Mr Guy-Fierens attended the Stimulating Physics Network as Physics coaches for STEM learning. They will offer fully funded Physics training on behalf of the Science Learning Partnership which we are running from DHSB.
Sports Update
Table Tennis
A big well done to both DHSB teams who took part in the regional table tennis championships today. A second place group finish for our U13s and a place in the zonal finals next for our U16s. Congratulations.
Football
Well done to the Year 11 team who are through to the next round of the Plymouth cup after beating Lipson this week.
It was another fantastic result for the first XI team this week when they beat Plymouth Medical School 4 - 3 in the Devon Midweek Cup.
Rugby
At their central venue competition this week the Year 8 Rugby team beat Eggbuckland and drew their match with TorBridge High.
This term the team has played six different schools, winning two, drawing one and losing three. Mr Strang says the team has made significant progress during the last two months.
Golf Club
DHSB golfers are pictured practicing lower shots to try and avoid the wind during their lesson this week.
Surf Club
Surf club wrapped up for 2022 last week; a big thank you to Surfs Up Surf School at Polzeath for a brilliant few weeks.
