Very well done to all students who have recently gained their Bronze DofE Award.
Year 10 students are pictured here (with further presentations to be made by Mrs Wills soon).
Mrs Wills also says that letters have been sent to Year 9 and Year 12 families with information about how to sign up for Bronze and Gold DofE this year, with details about the Silver award to follow.
Many thanks to Kenzou Twitchett 10P who has shared his reflections on taking part in the award scheme.
Taking part in the Bronze DofE was a fun activity, and definitely one that I think most people should consider doing. The volunteering section was the easiest part for me: I was already volunteering as a Digital Leader, so I used that as my submission for my volunteering section. For the physical section, I did skiing on the dry slope at the Plymouth Snowsports centre, and for the skills section, I joined The Rock Project after school club. I already knew guitar, so the skill was to play in a band and to learn new songs. The expedition was challenging, yet not something I worried about too much, as I had gone camping before. It really pushed my teamwork skills, and our team worked very well together.
Junior Prefects
This week saw the appointment of twelve new Junior Prefects. Students from Year 10 will now be taking on roles and responsibilities during the regular school week and also supporting our Senior Prefect team with whole school events and occasions.
Congratulations to the new team: Bobby Li, Evan Lilley, Harry McCulloch, Max Phillips, Henry Salisbury, Jay Fox Hopwood, Rohan Linden, Agsheyan Praveenthan, Alejandro Proctor Montano, Zak Lewis-Watson, Ben Urbans and Jianyu Wang.
We look forward to seeing your leadership skills develop over the year.
Mrs Cunningham
European Day of Languages
On Tuesday we celebrated the European Day of Languages with lots of competitions running for our students. Firstly, our staff wore a sticker for the day with 'hello' written in a European language. Students were invited to take part in a treasure hunt to find as many of these as they could, and our winner is Bamber Williams 7C.
We are also inviting students to design their European-themed bunting flag, with entries open until Wednesday 4 October! Pictured below is one of the fantastic entries that we have already received from Jamie Burt 7N.
There is also a nationwide competition from the Global School Alliance, in which students are encouraged to write about what language learning means to them, with Amazon voucher prizes available.
Our staff also got into the spirit of the day, starting with Mr Roberts greeting us in Danish at our morning briefing, and continuing throughout the day with staff greeting classes or taking registers in various foreign languages.
And to celebrate the Day of European Languages, Miss Hunns has shared these photos of Year 9 students making pasta.
She said, “Thank you for inspiring us to speak in different European languages today”.
Visit to 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament
Many thanks to Noah Evans 13 CLJ who has sent us this report following a special London visit.
Noah writes,”This Tuesday, the Year 13 A-Level Politics class were honoured to be invited to Number 10 Downing Street, for a fascinating tour of the building at the centre of our politics and its history. We arrived in Westminster at 9am, after a very early start and long journey, to be greeted at the famous black door by Luke, the building’s Front of House Manager and our exceptional tour guide. The most surreal part of the whole experience was, after passing through heavy security, simply walking down the street towards the door. This is a path we have all seen many Prime Ministers, Cabinet members, and other important people within politics take so many times; but walking up to the infamous and iconic black door is a feeling none of us will ever forget”.
Launchpad Live
Mr Scott reports that Year 11 students had a wonderful morning at Launchpad Live at Home Park looking at opportunities available to them at Post-16, and beyond!
Sixth Form Enrichment
Today Year 12 students were tasked with exploring Unifrog and adding more to their profiles.
They were also introduced to the aims and means of delivery of the enrichment curriculum with an advert for new recruits to the Question Time panel for later this term.
Year 13 students were super in their work with tutors on fertility and learnt some exercises to help them sustain vitality in life.
Ms Davidson
PTFA News
The PTFA have got off to a flying start this term - providing refreshments for two Saturdays for the 11 plus exams.
This week we held our first meeting of the year which was also the AGM.During the meeting we were delighted to approve four grant requests: House badges, a compassionate tree and bench, four chess sets and chess items, and even an electric piano!
Keep your eyes peeled for details of our popular Christmas disco at Pryzm, our Christmas raffle and a Pig Racing event! If there are any businesses who would be able to donate a prize to our raffle please get in touch,
A big thank you to Josanne, Melanie and Abi for agreeing to stay on in their respective roles as Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. Another big thank you to Joanna for taking on the role of Catering Officer and finally a big thank you to our existing Committee members who agreed to stay on and a big welcome to our new Committee members. I know we are going to have another great year!
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 14 November in the Conference Room (behind the Visitor Reception) at 6.30pm. We'd love to see you - refreshments provided.
Any questions, or offers of help, please email ptfa@dhsb.org
Please also follow us on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) for PTFA updates:
@DHSBPTFA
Mrs Kinsella
Staff News
Thanks to Mrs Luing-Holmes who organised a Macmillan Coffee Morning for staff today, and thanks to all who baked and bought cakes.
Donations will be forwarded to the Mustard Tree Cancer Support Centre, a Macmillan charity service at Derriford that provides incredible primary support in many forms for people and families of people with cancer, and directly to the national charity to support Macmillan’s vital work which helps to fund their amazing Macmillan nurses and their Support Line.
There is still time to make a donation at this link.
Sports Update
Our U16 Rugby side had two wins on Wednesday afternoon against Coombe Dean School and Lipson Academy. Both games were tough encounters but played in good spirits.
Mr Orkney also reports the U14 Rugby team got their season off to a great start with a win against Plympton Academy and a draw against Tor Bridge.
And finally this week, pictured are students in stormy post-Agnes Polzeath at Surf Club.
