There was a brilliant buzz around the school on Wednesday this week as students and staff in their tutor groups watched the whole school assembly on creativity, led by Mr Adams.
During the assembly Mr Adams asked questions such as, what creative things did you do or experience during lockdown.
Highlighted in the assembly were two students who had shared what they had been doing during their time at home. Here you can see James Hills 6KES singing Eleanor Rigby and Solly Kurzman 6KRB explaining how he set up his own business during lockdown.
Mr Adams also asked students to think about how we can further promote creativity at DHSB this year. Please email him with your ideas.
Assembly Video
Creativity in Your Community Challenge
During the assembly Ms Davarian set a challenge called Creativity in your Community.
She asked students to think about what creativity means and to look out for local examples taking photos if possible.. Students should email their photos to Ms Davarian.
Summer 2020
It’s been good to hear about the many challenges that students set themselves during the summer.
Oisin Smith 8C and Ciaran Smith 7C walked 42 miles over 3.5 days along the South West Coast path from Looe to Falmouth with their father. Their biggest achievement was a 14 mile leg in 28C heat.
Tom Rickard 7N shared with me a photo of him sailing with his family.
Theodore Smith 8P said he spent time trying to improve his pixel art. He has also been hiking on Dartmoor and cycling.
Elliot Mair 8C has been cycling in and around Plymbridge Woods.
DHSB Wellbeing
On Friday all Year 7 - 11 students started their wellbeing action plan. The plan is an easy, practical way of supporting mental health and wellbeing.
Students were taught that everyone can complete a Wellbeing Action Plan and that you don't need to have a mental health problem in order to feel the benefits. Using a Wellbeing Action Plan means that practical steps are already in place to ensure you are supported when you aren't feeling great.
eSafety Advice
During lockdown technology played a crucial role in our lives to help keep us informed, support our wellbeing, keep us in touch and also to entertain us.
The return to school has meant that students and staff have had to get used to keeping personal devices away and for some that has been tougher than they would have expected.
Research suggests that the UK average is 3 hours and 23 minutes; this rises significantly in the 16-24-year-old age group, who spend an average of four hours a day looking at their mobiles. There is even a word for mobile phone addiction -’nomophobia’ (fear of being without a mobile phone).
In tutorials this week students have been considering where the line is between sensible use and overuse of a device and asking ‘How might you spot that a friend is having difficulty with the amount of time they spend online?
To support this we looked at mapping digital activity against the five points of balance and considering if we are creating enough opportunity to come away from the screen. Students ranked their score (0-10) for the following criteria - perhaps you can give it a go too?
Ms Buckler
Alumni News
On Wednesday Mr Adams shared this video from former student Owen Weymouth as an extra tutorial resource. For those of you that don't know Owen, he is a professional Red Bull cliff diver who usually travels the world to cliff diving events. Clearly these events are curtailed at the moment so he and his partner Ellie have created this video of their waterfall road trip around Oregon.
Mr Adams and form tutors emphasised that Owen and Ellie are professionals with years of experience of learning to dive, first in swimming pools and then making safety judgements in wild places.
Our students definitely should not be emulating this in our local area so please don't try this at home!