Many congratulations to two talented Year 13 students Sakthivelan Pandy and Alan Kraszewski who recently achieved a remarkable feat by claiming first place at the WorldSkills UK National Final for Cyber Security.
The competition, held in Manchester, included them facing off against formidable opponents, including the Royal Air Force.
Mr Scott said, “Sakthi and Alan truly stood out with their remarkable proficiency in both offensive and defensive aspects of cybersecurity. They showcased a keen understanding of potential vulnerabilities in navigating complex web applications and their exploration of various hosts demonstrated not just technical prowess but also a commendable adaptability to different scenarios. Equally noteworthy was their ability to defend networks, ensuring the security of digital environments. Sakthi and Alan's problem-solving skills shone in moments of pressure, underscoring their capacity to handle challenges with finesse”.
Beyond the competition, Sakthi and Alan had the opportunity to network with experts in the cybersecurity field, establishing valuable connections for their future endeavours.
Congratulations, Sakthi and Alan!
Your achievements exemplify the spirit of excellence at DHSB, and we do not doubt that you are destined for great success in cybersecurity.
Curriculum Challenge Week
With many exciting activities and residentials planned for next week, we hope you will keep in touch with our adventures by checking the X hashtag #DHSBCCW each day.
Of course, we will also share a selection of photos in the Head's Blog on Friday.
Excellent Work
Olivia Burchell is a Year 13 A Level PE student who is working on her climbing skills for the practical part of the course.
Mr Orkney said, “Olivia is able to select a route which is efficient and time saving and uses three points of contact so that she maintains her grip on the wall. These particular wall faces have overhangs which require a lot of strength to be able to manoeuvre over them as well as good technique. Olivia climbs them with ease”.
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!
Mr Winstone
Ten Tors Night Navigation
Friday night saw the first of our training sessions towards Ten Tors 2024. In challenging conditions, the prospective 45 mile and 55 mile team members practised micro-navigation techniques in increasingly heavy rain and fog around Black Tor and Cramber Tor. Lots of learning all round with excellent skills on display from our more experienced students, many of whom displayed leadership by coaching other students.
Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who made this possible.
Mr Guy-Fierens
Student News
Congratulations to James Brinkworth 10W who competed at the Welsh Open Swimming Competition in Cardiff last weekend.
James had the following results and achieved Personal Bests in most of the races.
Well done James!
Gold in the boys 200M Backstroke
Gold in the boys 400M Freestyle
Silver in the boys 100M Backstroke
Bronze in the boys 50m Freestyle
Bronze in the boys 50m Backstroke
House Boards
This week saw the House Captains put their stamp on their House Boards in C block. The creativity was well and truly flowing and all the boards look fantastic. What is obvious is the care the students have taken to create a board that communicates with their houses what their vision is, or what their house represents. We have also seen a festive theme running through many of the boards with some sparkly lights.
The competition has been judged by Mr Roberts and the results feed into the St Levan Shield. The top three are:-
1st Priestley
2nd Newton
3rd Edison
Mr Roberts said the standard was very high and it was tough to judge. Well done to all!
Miss Cunningham
Performing and Creative Arts Update
Very well done to Jake Brown and Dylan Gould, both 7W, who took part in the Plymouth Speech and Drama Festival this week.
Jake - Novice Verse Speaking - third place - Bronze medal
Dylan - Verse speaking (own choice) - first place - gold medal
Acting duologue - second place - silver medal
Prose speaking - third place - bronze medal
Dylan also performed very well in Musical Theatre (11 - 14 years) and Sightreading (under 15 years) against older competitors in large classes.
STEAM Update
Our new KS3 Science Club - Eureka! - is now up and running after school on Tuesdays. There was a lot of demand to participate and we will be making sure that all those who expressed an interest get the opportunity to take part.
A huge thanks to Dr Chapman-Greig and Mr Weymouth who lead the club and are providing this opportunity.
Jude Tilley 7W has reported back following week two of the club.
He said, "At Science Club this week we were colouring water with different amounts of salt and finding out how water can float on water by making water rainbows. We found out that the more salt in the water the denser it is so the more salt the further down it will sink in fresh water."
Jude added that they are all really enjoying the club so far!
Ms Davarian
Sports Update
Basketball
Mr Anderson reports that last Friday saw the first game for the Year 10 team with a 36 - 25 win against a spirited Lipson side.
The Year 9 basketball team played against Lipson Academy and St Boniface College in the Plymouth Schools central venue league yesterday and won both games.
Well done to everyone involved.
Mr Carpenter says, “Another two from two for the U13 Basketball team at their central venue competition this week, both very good games”.
Badminton
The U16 badminton team was in action on Tuesday at the Plymouth central venue competition. The team played very well and won most of their matches.
Netball
On a busy day of school sport on Wednesday, DHSB Cheetahs netball team played Plymouth High School for Girls. Although we lost the match, our performance improved from the previous game.
Go Cheetahs!
Football
The Year 7 team played two good games this week, losing 8 - 2 to St Peter's School in the national cup but taking a win 5 - 0 against Kingsbridge on Thursday.
On Monday the Year 8 football played St Boniface in round one of the Plymouth Cup.
In wet conditions DHSB won a competitive game 4 - 1 and progressed to the second round. Sam Gibbs and Dominic Adams scored two goals each.
Mr Carpenter reports a great result for the Year 9 team in round two of the Devon Cup, beating St Luke’s C of E School to progress to the next stage - well done!
Mr Manley said, “Well done to the Year 10 team who are into the next round of the Plymouth Cup after a good win against All Saints”.
Well done to the Year 11 football team who put in a much improved performance this week, beating Torquay Academy 4 - 1 in the Schools Football Cup fourth round.
The 2nd XI took on Plymouth High this week. In a highly competitive game where both sides played well, PHSG ran out 3 - 2 winners.
Rugby
It’s the turn of Year 8 students to compete at the Plymouth Rugby Festival today and we will try to bring you the results later.
Last Friday the Year 9 team enjoyed a good day at their competition held at the King George V Playing Fields at Elburton, winning two games, drawing two games and losing one.