Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorations

On Tuesday 27 January, as part of Plymouth's Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations, Year 9 student, Hugh Taylor, shared his great-grandfather's World War II diary entries with local dignitaries, local councillors and members of the public. The hidden messages which had been written in a secret code, were deciphered through a collaborative effort with school staff and the use of cutting-edge AI technology. This lost history of powerful insights demonstrates how modern technology can preserve the voices of the past for future generations.

Hugh said "For a long time, my grandfather’s diary was a mystery, locked away in a secret code that no one could read. To us, those pages were like a wall standing between his past and our present. By working to translate these words, our family has finally built a bridge across that gap. We aren’t just reading history in a textbook; we are listening to his voice, his fears, and his hopes. This diary reminds us that the responsibility of 'never forgetting' isn't just a phrase—it's a choice we make to keep a person's story alive. Today, we unlock his message so that my generation can carry it forward, making sure his light, and the lessons of his time, are never lost in the dark."

Mrs Wardle, Joint Head of Religious Studies said "Oh my goodness, the boys were so brilliant this morning! They absolutely made the school proud. So many people came up to them afterwards to commend them on their participation in the Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorations."

The event which took place at the Council House, involved the Lord Mayor and Leader of the Council who with invited guests, listened to passionate speeches, emotional poems and contributions from local schools. If you are interested in watching the commemoration or seeing our students perform, please follow this link to Plymouth City Council's You Tube channel where it has been published. Regrettably, you can't hear the cello or keyboard parts very well. Hugh's presentation starts at 36 minutes and Errol Cawaing, Henry Gilmore, Alex Boghian & Ralph Haydn-Davies' performance leaves people blown away from 59 mins. Alternatively, you can view Hugh's presentation and watch Errol, Henry, Alex & Ralph rehearsing for their performance, below.

D of E training day 24 January 2026

On Saturday, nearly 100 Year 9 students attended the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award (D of E) training day at DHSB, led by instructors from Dynamic Adventures. The boys are preparing for their practice and final expeditions later this year, where they will journey in small groups, self-supported over the course of a weekend.

On Saturday, the students took part in a round robin of activities: familiarising themselves with the school expedition tents and stoves; basic first aid training; map skills; teamwork and making informed decisions about what to pack in their expedition rucksacks.

Alongside training for their expeditions, students are making progress with their D of E sections, where they volunteer in the community, develop a skill or hobby and take part in physical activity for a minimum of one hour a week each. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) is a youth achievement program in the UK and worldwide, designed to build confidence and resilience. Founded in 1956, it offers Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels, encouraging self-development outside the classroom. Our Bronze DHSB cohort is the largest in recent years and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents, friends, coaches and teachers who are supporting these young people to expand their comfort zones and achieve a well-recognised and hard-earned award.

A special word also for our older students, who were completing training for their Silver and Gold expeditions. We had two groups training for either a walking or canoeing expedition. The instructors were very complimentary about these groups, especially how they handled the wet and windy weather, and worked together to achieve their aims.

The Silver walking and cycling expeditions will take place in north Devon and the Gold expeditions will take place in Switzerland, canoeing the River Wye or walking in Eryri National Park.

Please see the photos for a glimpse of Saturday’s activities at DHSB.

Ten Tors training Day 17 January 2026

Saturday 17 January was the first day walk of this year's DHSB Ten Tors training programme, after last term's Abbot's Way pre-selection walk and night navigation exercise. We are training one year-10 45-mile team and one year-12 team. Most of the rain showers missed us by a couple of kilometres, leaving us in cold, sunny conditions perfect for walking, and with crystal clear visibility. The rivers had subsided low enough to practice crossing them on some routes that have been reintroduced to Ten Tors this year (anyone who did Ten Tors pre 2015 may remember Killer Valley...). The photo shows the year-12 team showing how to walk safely through the shallowest point on the West Okement River at Sandy Ford, as well as showing how tough they are putting up with water barely above freezing point getting into their boots. Our next training, also in the north-west corner of Dartmoor, is on 31st January. We are grateful to the volunteers, trustee, and staff who give up weekends to enable our students to have this experience.

Dr Colvile

Ten Tors Team Manager

Year 11 Food GCSE Technical Skills

For their Year 11 Food GCSE practical, students made pastries, fruit tarts, chicken dishes, whereby they jointed the chicken themselves, and some interesting flavoured breads. There were some really creative ideas and it was fantastic to see their level of professionalism and execution of some excellent technical skills to create these dishes.

Miss Franklin

Teacher of Food Preparation and Nutrition

Mock Interviews with Babcock

This week, we were delighted to welcome five members of Babcock to Devonport High School for Boys. They spent the morning conducting mock interviews for our Year 11 students who are currently applying for apprenticeships.

The students had the opportunity to experience the interview process in a realistic, professional setting. Each student received individual feedback from our Babcock visitors, helping them to refine their answers, improve their confidence, and understand what employers are looking for.

The session was a fantastic chance for our students to practice communication skills, professionalism, and self-presentation - all essential for succeeding in the apprenticeship application process.

Reece (11S) said "Mr Hurrell was very helpful today and I appreciate him taking his time out of his day to interview me and advise me what to do and get the best from me out of the interview."

Ashley (11W) found the opportunity "very helpful as some of the questions asked in the interview I didn't expect so I hopefully will be able to answer some of them much better in the real thing."

We are extremely grateful to Babcock External Engagement team for taking the time to support our students and for providing such valuable insights into the world of work. Experiences like this play a vital role in preparing our young people for life beyond school.

Mr Scott

Leader of Careers & PSHE

Google for Education Premier Reference School Status

We received excellent news today from Google, announcing that DHSB has been awarded Premier Reference School status as part of the refreshed global Google for Education Reference Program. This award recognises that our school represents the highest level of innovation with Google for education tools.

Receiving this designation, highlights our commitment to shaping the future of learning by deploying next-generation tools and creating personalised learning environments where every student and educator can reach their full potential.

We are very proud of everyone in our community and look forward to continuing our partnership with Google, by championing dynamica teaching practices that engage and inspire.

Well done!

Mrs Parkes

Director of Learning Commons & Initial Teacher Training

These photos show excellent work being done by members of our two KS4 Physics Team Challenge teams.

The diagram of a big box is part of a calculation to estimate how long a swimming pool of mayonnaise would last the population of the UK. It's good to see the Estimation Round answers including the words "Assume" and "Imagine" - very important to show the logical steps clearly in these challenges where the working is more important than the answer.

Later in the day, Charlie Croucher's calculator has worked out the answer to part of a Very Hard Problem involving electrical resistance. It's 80 (apparently!).

Dr Colvile

Head of Physics

Year 9 student, Adit Sobti, performed amazingly well at the Saltash Music, Speech and Drama Festival, winning seven prizes: 1st Prize – Solo Verse Speaking, 1st Prize – Prose Speaking, 1st Prize – Prose Reading, 1st Prize – Humorous Verse, 1st Prize – Sight Reading, 2nd Prize – Public Speaking, 3rd Prize – Open Drama.

Saltash Festival is annual music, speech and drama festival open to all age-groups and includes classes for poetry, prose, recital, bible reading, drama, singing and instrumental music.

Well done Adit!

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 students deserve a special mention!

Congratulations!

Sports News and Updates

Rugby

Year 9

The Year 9 Rugby team played a great game Tuesday afternoon in some tricky conditions. The team played Plymouth College in the U14s West Devon Cup at Plymouth College. Sadly Plymouth College came out on top but the DHSB boys didn’t give up and finished the game with an impressive try.

Football

The First X1

The first XI are through to the next round of the Jack Finch Cup after beating City College under a blue sky, Wednesday afternoon.

Year 7

Congratulations to the Year 7 football teams on their impressive performance at the Central Venue competition held on Wednesday. The teams represented DHSB with pride. The squads demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and skill while competing against several local schools.

Year 10

DHSB Year 10 faced Hele's School on Tuesday evening in the Devon Schools Football Cup, producing a tightly contested encounter played in difficult weather conditions.

The hosts went into the break trailing 1–0 after a hard-fought first half, with chances at a premium and both sides battling for control. DHSB responded positively after the restart and were rewarded early in the second half when Dominic Adams embarked on a powerful run that forced a foul in the penalty area. Aleks Zawadzki stepped up and coolly dispatched the spot kick to bring the scores level at 1–1.

With the momentum firmly behind them, DHSB continued to press and found the decisive breakthrough with 15 minutes remaining. Seb Walsh struck the winning goal to put his side ahead, sparking a determined defensive effort for the closing stages. DHSB showed great resilience to withstand late pressure from Hele's and successfully saw out the game.

A deserved 2–1 victory sends DHSB into the next round of the cup. Well done to all players involved.

Cricket

Year 7 and 8

The Year 7 and 8 Indoor Cricket teams took part in the Devon Cricket Plymouth Schools competition last week. Well done to the Year 8 team who won and have qualified for the County Finals and equally well done to the Year 7 team who came 3rd and gained valuable experience for next year.

Basketball

Year 10 and 11

The Year 10 and 11 Basketball team won against a tough Plymstock team 46-39. The game was hotly contested throughout but DHSB managed to push ahead and maintain their lead through great teamwork and determination.

Table Tennis

A clean sweep of effort at the Devon Schools Individual Table Tennis Championships held at Eggbuckland Community College on Wednesday. There was outstanding play from the whole DHSB squad. Massive congratulations go to Thomas for winning the U13 title.