This week I’m pleased to introduce the July 2017 edition of our newsletter, DHSB Today, which is packed with wonderful examples of the rich opportunities and experiences that DHSB provides.
Reading through the pages I am reminded about how lucky we are to be part of the DHSB community. It is the people that make DHSB the brilliant organisation it is.
At the end of this term we will be saying a sad farewell to several staff who are moving on to exciting new opportunities whether it be early retirement or a new promotion at another school. In particular I would like to highlight David Butcher who has made an incredible contribution to DHSB over the last 33 years; I hope you enjoy reading his profile reflecting on his time here.
New Beginnings
Our Open Evening on Tuesday was very busy. This is just one of the many emails and messages we have received following the event.
“We really enjoyed open day on Tuesday – the students and staff were impressive”.
The 11+ registration form is available here (for admission in September 2018) and the deadline for completion is 5 September 2017.
Free of charge familiarisation materials are available from our website and from GL Assessment.
Our new Year 7 students spent the day in school on Thursday. They had a thoroughly enjoyable day taking part in curriculum activities and finding their way around our site. We’re looking forward to welcoming them back as they start at DHSB in September.
Parliament Education Service
Ms Moreton, our Information Advice and Guidance Coordinator, writes, “I’ve had a fascinating beginning to this week as I have been up in Westminster again. I was asked back, along with other previous delegates who had achieved gold or silver standards as teacher ambassadors to present at this year’s course. We had to demonstrate some of the activities we had undertaken following the course this time last year. I shared blogs, lesson plans, inset presentations and mock election material. It was great to catch up with colleagues from last year, and having (literally) bumped into Theresa May last July, I this year glimpsed Mr Corbyn, Vince Cable and actually met Nicky Morgan. A terrific couple of days courtesy of the Parliament Education Service and a great opportunity to network and share good practice”.
Summer Fete
Family and friends of the school are invited to our Summer Fete which will be held during the afternoon of Friday 14 July (please sign in at the top gate when you arrive on site).
Students are busy preparing stalls and activities.
Please could students hand in prizes for the House Raffle (in House colours) to their form tutor or Head of House.
Newton House is hosting a Crockery Smash stall and any donations of unwanted crockery would also be very welcome.
Thank you
Staff football at the 2016 Summer Fete
SnapChat
Recently popular social network app Snapchat added location sharing. This opt-in function lets people search for places such as schools and see videos and pictures posted by users. It also lets people locate their “friends” on a map that is accurate enough to determine where people live. Anyone who is a ‘friend’ on a Snapchat account would be able to locate their exact whereabouts if this function is enabled. We recommend that parents and carers check their child’s privacy settings for this App and have a conversation with them to determine its safety and how and when the location sharing function is used, if at all.
How to switch off Snap Map location sharing:
When in photo-taking mode, pinch the screen to open Snap Map
Touch the settings cog in the top right corner of the screen
Tap “Ghost Mode” to switch off location sharing
Photos and videos posted to Snapchat’s public ‘Our Story’ will still be discoverable on the map
Mr Forte
Sports Update
Josie Spencer
Well done to Sixth Form student Josie who has been in action at the Youth World Windsurfing Championship in Torbole.
The conditions were very challenging and a 60 knot storm caused havoc with every one of the GB team suffering kit damage. The first race was abandoned for the girls but they managed to complete another three.
After four races Josie was 26th out of 40 competitors with her best ever finish of 11th in one of the races.
Josie’s sail number is GBR 3114.
David King
We’re very proud of former student Dave King who finished first in the final of the men’s 110m hurdles at the British Athletics Team Trials to guarantee his selection for the World Championships.
Dave will now represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland in London at the IAAF competition (4 – 13 August 2017).
Congratulations Dave!
