This week marked a significant milestone as all seven house teams delivered their first live assemblies of the academic year.
The central theme, 'Finding Your Inner Strength: Building Healthy Confidence', was executed with remarkable success by the House Captains and Vice Captains.
Each assembly, delivered to an audience of approximately 150 students and tutors, showcased the dedication and preparation of the student leaders. The captains and vice captains took ownership of the entire process, from content creation to delivery, effectively embodying the theme they presented.
Notably, many of these student leaders were presenting to a large audience for the first time. This act of stepping outside their comfort zones and facing their fears was a testament to their courage and commitment. The assemblies were engaging and well-received, fostering a sense of community and shared learning.
The successful delivery of these assemblies is a source of immense pride for the school. The House Captains and Vice Captains demonstrated exceptional leadership, resilience, and public speaking skills. Their achievement in delivering such impactful assemblies is highly commendable and sets a positive precedent for future house events.
Miss Cunningham
Fleming
Scott
Windsor
Leslie
Turing
Attenborough
Johnson
Prayer Room
We are officially opening our school multi-faith prayer room today. The space is a designated area for Salah, Mincha, Prayer, and Meditation, and is open for any student of any faith to use at break and lunch.
The space is a room called A14 and features several prayer mats, prayer beads, dimmed lighting and religious texts including a Qur'an, Bible and Torah, a place to stow shoes, a sink with running hot and cold water, cups, two small towels and dimmed lighting and blinds.
The room is open from 8:00am today, the World Day of Prayer. If any parents would like to contribute any religious or spiritual art, items or texts for this room we would warmly welcome this, please get in touch with Mrs Luing-Holmes at emma.luing-holmes@dhsb.org.
UK Youth Parliament
Students were queuing through first break and lunchtime yesterday to cast their vote in an election to decide who should represent Plymouth in the Youth Parliament for 2025/26. The turnout has been impressive and it has been wonderful to see so many students take this first opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
Mr Macleod said, "It would be wornderful to see many of those who voted today standing in future elections... especially with the examples of Eden Hingston 13ESM and Rocky Travers 12ATW, Plymouth reps for this year, who have just come back from an amazing experience at the House of Commons where both were able to speak in the chamber, a huge privilege which very few people have enjoyed".
This is how Eden and Rocky described their experience.
As the member of Youth Parliament for Plymouth, one of my responsibilities would be to represent young people annually at the House of Commons. Last year, I spoke from the back benches. This year, I decided I would set my sights at the dispatch box - an honour only gifted to the elected debate leads.
Eden
My experience was one of a lifetime.
I was emboldened to speak amongst people so passionate about what they do and what they were speaking about. My opportunity was perfect. I was so proud to represent the youth of Plymouth when talking about the links between all debates and poverty and how we can use political literacy as a tool to break that barrier to education to ensure those who need it most get the quality of education they have the right to.
I was able to meet so many lovely people whilst doing Youth Parliament and would absolutely recommend it to any politically wired young mind.
Rocky
Performing and Creative Arts
A Level Recital
Trustees felt privileged to be invited to the mock A Level Recital evening with three students performing their exam pieces which will be recorded over at Stoke Damerel Church later this term.
The evening was thoroughly enjoyable with a high standard of performance from all the students involved.
Thanks also to Kathryn Good, our accompanist.
Into the Woods
Do you have your tickets yet for our production of Into the Woods? Hurry as there aren't many left!
We are staging this show in the Edgcumbe Theatre on Thursday 13 March and Friday 14 March at 7:00pm and rehearsals are going well.
Scan the QR code on our poster for tickets!
DofE Update
Mrs Wills has shared this photo of our DofE Young Leaders delivering training on tents and equipment during lunchtimes this week.
Well done!
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!
Primary Scholars
Mrs Cunningham says the sunshine and our Primary Scholars were back at DHSB on Monday.
She added, “So lovely to meet our newest students who came with smiles, energy and a thirst for learning. All supported brilliantly by the Atom Learning resources. Can't wait for next week”.
Sports Update
Cricket
Very well done to the Year 8 Indoor Cricket team who won the Plymouth Schools tournament on Monday and went on to play in the County Finals the following day!
Mr Bunney said, “Huge congratulations to the team who won the Devon Cricket Indoor Cricket Devon Schools finals day held on Tuesday at Exeter University. The team was brilliant all day and were chuffed to win this. Well done to everyone”.
Cross Country
Mr Carpenter said it was a “Brilliant effort from our Year 7 and Year 8 Cross Country runners on Monday evening in the spring sunshine at Coombe Dean. A gold and bronze in Year 7 and a bronze in Year 8. Well done to all who took part”.
Football
The Year 9 football team was in action this week in a match against Stoke Damerel School.
The end result was unfortuately a defeat with the score 2 - 1.
The 1st XI also lost their match against a side from Plymouth University this week, 5 - 8.
Other Messages This Week
The Mix
We;ve been asked to share information about The Mix
This is a free and accessible support service for young people in the UK which provides counselling and crisis support to any young person with whatever they’re going through.
Recently The Mix has been working with a group of young people to design promotional materials for schools and youth clubs and their aim is to ensure that every young person knows that they can rely on The Mix for support, whether it be:
Anxiety
School stress
Relationships
Family issues
Sex and sexual health
Alcohol and substance misuse
Money troubles
And everything and anything in between
Tom Pinks
Senior Content and Communications Manager
The Department for Education is running a national ‘Do something Big’ campaign to heighten awareness of childcare as a career. A job in early years and childcare is unique and rewarding.
The Plymouth City Council early years team will be holding an event on 24 March from 10 .00am – 4.00pm at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel.
There will be a variety of early years professionals attending, who will share a plethora of knowledge and examples of different areas of work within childcare such as a Special Educational Needs, nursery nursing, nursery management, safeguarding, play work, training and apprenticeships.
