The last week has been one of those times when the whole school can be incredibly proud of the achievements of students and staff.
We have been making a positive impression on the national stage through some wonderful sporting and leadership opportunities.
Mr McConnell, Mr Carpenter and Mr Shahin took five teams to the Ultimate Frisbee national championships last weekend and I’m delighted to report the U14 A team beat Airbadgers in the final 5 – 4 to retain the national title.
U14 national champions
In addition to this success, four U14 students were invited to the GB junior trials.
All five teams played extremely well and are pictured in the Sports Update later in this Blog.
Also on the national stage this season is our U15 Rugby team. We’ve just heard, following today’s live draw at Twickenham, that they will be playing Bridgewater High School in the quarter-finals of the national vase. The match will take place during the week beginning Monday 8 February.
I was also very proud of the students and staff who took part at the national educational technology show last weekend (BETT).
Alfie Carlisle, Begum Whitehead, and Murray King were a credit to the school and really impressed many of the show delegates.
Also, Mr Forte showcased our work with Google and the development of the Learning Commons and I led a seminar at the Senior Leaders Summit sharing good practice on developing an effective School Business Manager and developing a culture of enterprise in times of austerity.
Alfie
Begum and Murray
Academic Mentoring
During our whole school assembly this week Mrs Marsh introduced our academic mentoring programme.
This year students are invited to request a mentor to support them in a particular subject area.
Students can sign up here.
Support for Refugees
Also speaking in Wednesday’s assembly was a group of students who are hoping to raise materials to help the humanitarian crisis in the camps in Calais.
Ben Adams said, “The terrible weather we have been experiencing recently is putting the lives of adults and children at great risk. To help them we are working with a local charity and would like to collect the following items. Donations of items don’t need to be bought new as long as they are in a suitable condition. We request that all donations are in before or on Friday 12 February so they can be delivered to the camps in half term.”
Non-perishable food and long life drinks Tents Sleeping bags and blankets Waterproof warm winter coats Walking boots Hats, scarves and gloves
Sports Update
Indoor Cricket
Our U13 and U15 indoor cricket teams both competed at the county finals held at the Exeter University sports centre.
The U13s finished in fourth place (out of seven teams) after losing to Colyton in the play off by 50 runs.
The U15s played well and were narrowly defeated in the final to finish in the silver position.
Indoor Rowing
Yesterday saw the Plymouth Indoor Rowing Championships, writes Mr Carpenter, and despite a few last minute changes we were able to field a strong team in the Plymouth School Sports Partnership’s indoor rowing championships at Plymstock School.
Captained by Sixth Form student Lloyd Barron-Robinson the DHSB team combined with DHSG to defend a title we had won for the previous four years. The event started with a mixed year rowing relay, with each team member having to row 200m.
Our B team were up first and with strong performances from Lee Hayne, Bailey Howlett, Harry Richardson, Jake Cooney and Tom Hind they fought hard and placed well in a tough heat. The A team followed soon after with Dylan Tomkins starting them off and putting the boys in the lead.
Ollie Gozzard, Harry Edwards, Robert Dorrington and Milo Harris continued the good start and placed first in their heat but second to Plymstock overall in this event by 3/10 of a second!
The individual events were led off by the year 12/13 2000m race. A superb performance in this one saw Lloyd Barron-Robinson, Jonathan Christie and Tom Kelly complete a 1, 2, 3 clean sweep for us.
The medal performances continued throughout the evening for the boys with Jack Adams justifying his huge potential in the sport taking gold with a comfortable victory in the Year 11 individual event.
Dylan Tomkins picked up his second medal of the evening, also taking gold in the Year 10 individual event after a tactical master class in his race, while Harry Richardson and Harry Edwards battled it out in the Year 9 event taking silver and bronze respectively.
Supported by a string of solid performances in the individual events by Lee Hayne, Bailey Howlett, Robert Dorrington, Ollie Gozzard and Jake Cooney, along with consistent performances from the girls, the DHSB/DHSG team successfully defended their Indoor Rowing title for a fifth successive year.
Ultimate Frisbee
U17 A
U17 B
U14 B
U14 C
Events Update
Please note the Online Parent Engagement event for using Class Charts, Homeworky and Wisepay due to take place on 2 February has been postponed until later in the academic year.
3 – 5 February – The Wizard of Oz
10 February – Year 9 Assessment Information
11 February – Year 10 Parents Evening
25 February – eSafety evening with Ken Corish
Ken Corish is an eSafety Advisor for South West Learning Grid. He has hosted this event several times here at DHSB and parents have found it extremely useful.
Please let us know if you would like to attend this event by using this link.
For more information please contact Amanda Moore at amanda.moore@dhsb.org.
