This morning our Heads of Year delivered our termly celebration assemblies.
These assemblies present an opportunity to recognise and celebrate outstanding behaviour, commitment to learning and attendance.
Each class also had a student of the term selected by their form tutor, who were all given a prize to recognise their efforts.
Our celebration assemblies are always a wonderful occasion and it's fantastic to finish another term by celebrating our students' success.
Year 7
Year 8
Year 8
Year 9
Also this week it was lovely to see our Year 7 students delivering an assembly on 'Leadership in Action'
Fitness Suite - CrowdFunding Campaign
Can you help us?
We have just launched a crowdfunding campaign to improve our school gym facilities.
The fitness suite is a popular space for students and is used every lunchtime. The PE department also use this space for lessons but now this area is in need of an upgrade and we have been wanting to make improvements for some time.
DHSB students will benefit from any improvements throughout the day and the facilities will be available to the local community and clubs outside school hours.
We are asking for your help to support our fundraising efforts by donating towards this upgrade. Please follow this link to see more about the project and what our aims are.
We have match funding in place and whatever we raise will be doubled. We have also applied to Sport England and the Aviva Community Fund to help with our efforts.
If you have any questions or comments, or would like to offer your help and support please contact Assistant Head Mr Berryman at nick.berryman@dhsb.org.
School Development Plan
This week I’d like to share with you my termly update on the progress we’ve made towards the school development priorities.
Please take a moment to read through our latest update at this link.
Royal Institution Maths Masterclasses
Five Year 9 students recently completed the Royal Institution Maths Masterclasses held at the University of Plymouth.
These are the students who took part, Alvaro Acevedo, Ayaan Chatterjee, Arnav Ghatge, Neel Shivane and Dylan Witnall, and Mrs Wills says the masterclass offered a unique opportunity to explore fascinating topics beyond the regular curriculum, including bases, fractals, and the golden ratio.
Students honed their problem solving abilities through activities like guesstimation and code deciphering/cyphers. They also looked at the connection between the Fibonacci sequence and the Greek letter phi (φ), and their presence in the natural world.
The students really enjoyed taking part and expanding their mathematical knowledge!
Performing and Creative Arts
Congratulations to all the students who performed at two concerts this week. Wednesday saw Year 9 GCSE students and ensembles taking to the stage in the Edgcumbe Theatre and Thursday was our A level recital evening.
We've received many compliments from members of the audience. Thanks to everyone who supported these concerts and to the PTFA for providing refreshments.
Comic Relief and Red Nose Day
Well done to everyone who helped to raise an amazing £355.70 for Comic Relief by the activities held last Friday.
The winners for the two competitions were:
Sam Pearson 11W - Smeaton Sweet Jar
Otis Stevens 8W - Edison Hamper
Student News
Congratulations to Daniel Salmon 9S who represented Devon Schools at the English Schools Cross Country Championship at Pontefract Racecourse last weekend.
Dan was selected as one of a team of eight Junior Boys to represent the county. The team put up a strong performance but unfortunately it was not enough to medal.
There were around 350 runners and Dan did well to finish in the middle third after starting at the back of the pen. The weather was kind and there was a great atmosphere and some incredible running to watch.
Well done!
Sixth Form Enrichment and Tutorial
This week, Year 12 students have been thinking about their upcoming mocks and the importance of balancing revision and relaxation in the coming Easter break. They discussed what good routines look like as well as how to manage stress and what to do if it all starts to feel too much.
They finished off by considering what they can learn from the experience of doing these mocks: what do I still need to work on? What am I feeling confident about?
Year 13's tutorial session focused on moving away from home. What will life at university look like? They looked at the differences between their lives now and day to day life at uni.
Then they discussed some solutions to potential tricky scenarios that may crop up in the early weeks of living away from home: from missing friends and family to workload to fresher's flu.
Mrs Briars-Delve
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 six students deserve a special mention.
Well done!
Excellent Work
Thank you to Mr Watling who has shared a mind map completed by Lucas Barker as this week’s example of Excellent Work.
Mr Watling said, “In Chemistry lessons we have been looking at revision techniques, utilising our own website revision@DHSB. In preparation for an assessment on the chemical bonding unit of GCSE Chemistry, students were asked to complete a mind map as part of their revision. Mind maps need to cover the content with minimal writing and Lucas has excellently demonstrated this in his map which is incredibly neatly laid out”.
Sports Update
Table Tennis
Thank you to Mr Callicott and Mrs Green who supported Ben, Hugo, Leo and Oliver in representing the school at the Table Tennis semi-final regional championships in Bristol last weekend.
The team did exceptionally well and have progressed through to the national finals- congratulations on reaching this stage of the competition.
Football
The Year 7 football team showed superb effort at their central venue competition this week and scored some great goals.
On Monday the Year 8 football team moved into the final of the Devon Cup following an 8 - 2 victory against Axe Valley Academy. The final will take place after the Easier holiday.
Well done to the whole squad.
Mr Manley reports that the DHSB first XI are through to the final of the Devon Wednesday League Cup Final after winning 3 - 2 on penalties. Well done!
Rugby
Year 7 students are taking part in the Year 7 Rugby Festival, the Cunningham Cup, today. We wish them all the best in this competition and we will bring you an update later if possible.
Also, Year 8 students are competing at the Rosslyn Park Sevens competition today.
We've heard that the team beat St Edmunds School, Ware by four tries to two in their opening game.
Mr Orkney says that the U16 Rugby team lost to an excellent Saltash School side in the last game of the season this week. The game was played in a good spirit as usual.