We’re all looking forward to Curriculum Enrichment Week and we wish all staff and students a happy, safe and enjoyable week.
Please keep up to date with our adventures by checking the Twitter hashtag #dhsbcew each day.
This year we are returning to overseas trips and staff will be posting photos and updates from our local, national and international locations.
Open Evening 2023
Please note our new date for this year's open evening which will be held on Tuesday 11 July at 4:30pm.
There is no requirement to register for this event and all Year 4 and Year 5 families are welcome to attend.
I will talk about the school and the arrangements for admission, and there will be an opportunity to see classrooms and meet students and members of staff.
Please note there is very limited parkiing at the school; please park off site if possible.
Also, please contact my PA Sarah Nicholson in advance if you have any access requirements (sarah.nicholson@dhsb.org).
Celebrating our House System
This week's assembly was a house update as we approach the end of the academic year. This year has seen some changes in the house system at DHSB and the assembly was a celebration of all that we had achieved as a school, highlighting the new features like the website and embracing our most cherished events like the upcoming Summer Festival.
House Captains were involved with individual house summaries and Miss Cunningham led the overview of the current standings. There are still lots of ways to earn commendations and house points so things could change...but currently Smeaton are leading the competition for the St Levan Shield.
Creative Arts Update
We enjoyed a first class evening at Stoke Damerel Church yesterday as soloists and ensemble groups treated us to a summer recital.
With canapes made and served by students it was a delightful evening enjoyed by all who attended.
Our thanks to everyone involved in such a special evening.
SWAT Conference
The annual SWAT conference took place on Wednesday at Exeter University.
SWAT is the South West Academic Trust and is an association of grammar schools across the Southwest who come together to share good practice. We had a number of teachers making presentations at the conference and also a team of Year 12 students presenting to the SWAT education professionals.
The conference saw two keynote speakers, Peter Radford (Whole School Wellbeing) and Tamsin Frances (Executive Director of People, Strategy and IT at the Ted Wragg Trust) and a plethora of workshops for delegates to choose from.
Our students were giving a presentation about their experience with the Coachee2Coach scheme we have been involved in this year with Mayflower Community Academy. The students were very well received by all who attended and personified our school visions and values: intellectual rigour, leadership, collaboration, resilience, creativity and confidence with humility.
The conference was a worthwhile and enjoyable experience for all.
Miss Cunningham
Primary Scholars
This term we launched a pilot scheme aimed at supporting Year 5 students with mentoring for the 11+ process. We prioritised disadvantaged students from local primary schools and matched them with an enthusiastic and welcoming group of Year 12 and Year 9 students as mentors.
Week one saw the students working on their maths skills while the parents were given a guided tour of the school with Mr Roberts.
The second week we moved onto English and the creativity really flowed. We were treated to some fantastic creative writing as the students and mentors coaching relationships blossomed.
Finally this week saw the students engaged in an enrichment task in Computer Science, all about fake news and all students were given extra 11+ resources to take away with them to further their efforts.
This initiative has been very well supported by the DHSB community with teachers and students all giving their time, but it has also started to build valuable relationships with potential new DHSB students within the wider community.
We very much hope to run this again next year and aim to offer mentoring and leadership opportunities to as many of our DHSB students as possible.
Miss Cunningham
This is an excellent example of the Fake News pictures created by the Primary Scholars this week.
STEAM News
This week's STEAM Blog post is from Arley Walker 8W, a talented Mathematician who reached the Junior Maths Olympiad. We wish Arley luck as he waits for his results!
Arley writes, 'Last year, in Year 7, I participated in the Junior Maths Challenge, a 25-multiple-choice maths competition. I entered not knowing what to expect; I enjoyed the challenge. After looking into it further, I found that the top 1,200 students can be invited to a follow-on round known as the Junior Maths Olympiad. This tested your problem solving abilities and also your ability to provide proof.
I made it my aim to get invited to the Olympiad and so during Year 8 I regularly practised my problem-solving ability. When I then eagerly participated in the Junior Maths Challenge again, this time I was thrilled to be accepted, with only 3 errors out of 25.
When taking part in the Olympiad, it was a formidable two-hour experience, but I tackled the questions to the best of my abilities, giving it my all. Hopefully, I'll have achieved highly enough to receive a medal, but either way I will be content with my result. Now it is just a matter of waiting for the results!'
Ms Davarian
PSHEE Activities
Year 7 students this week crammed in two topics to their tutorial time; the first being the penultimate session for the emotional logic sequence of lessons - making your plan work. This covers effective bargaining to regain a loss, or alternatively acceptance of that loss so allowing the person to move forward.
Students also looked at the subject of multiculturalism and how over the years we as British people have incorporated food, cultures, sports etc from all over the world and thus enriched our own heritage.
The Year 8 lesson was resourced by the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, and covered the tricky topic of arson. Students defined arson, learned how quickly fire can spread, and also how prank calls or arson itself can have far reaching effects on many different groups of innocent people.
Year 9 students also considered safety but with a speaker from the British Transport Police talking about safety on and around the railways.
Finally Year 10 students completed their sequence of RSE (relationship and sex education) lessons by discussing safe and healthy relationships, and how to spot warning signs if all is not as it should be. They discussed specific scenarios and the rights and wrongs of each, and also how an unhealthy relationship could spiral into a coercive control situation.
We also had several Year 10 students preparing for their week's work experience next week.
No tutorial sessions next week due to Curriculum Enrichment Week so see you in a fortnight!
Ms Moreton
Sports Update
Cricket
Well done to the Year 10 cricket team who finished third in the Devon softball finals yesterday.
Well played!
RFU Tag Rugby Tournament
Our 14 Rugby side combined with DHSG to participate in a mixed tag rugby tournament, Tag to Twickenham, organised by the RFU.
We qualified for the finals held this week at Worcester Rugby Club. This was a well organised and enjoyable event with a very good performance by the team.
Athletics
Well done to the Year 8 team who finished in silver position at their competition this week and congratulations to Bryan 8P whose performance in the 100m was of county standard.
Tennis
We're pleased that our Summer Tennis Club has got underway with the first session this week.
