Today we turned the school yellow in support of the Young Minds charity and their #HelloYellow appeal.
The aim of Young Minds is to show young people they're not alone with their mental health.
Here are just some of our Year 7 students dressed in yellow today.
7C
7E
7P
7S
7W
Mr Manley said, “Today DHSB joined the Young Minds appeal #HelloYellow to raise vital funds to support this charity who are leading the fight for a future where all young people are supported and empowered, whatever the challenges”.
You can find out more about Young Minds at this link and by watching this video.
DHSB Wellbeing
Linked to today's #HelloYellow Young Minds mufti day, we realise that the current pandemic is an extremely challenging time for young people and their families. We recognise the importance of wellbeing and are committed to supporting you and your family.
We have written a family wellbeing action plan which is designed to be a starting point and working document to keep you and your family healthy.
The action plan is based on the most recent evidence to support wellbeing and we hope it can support you in developing a list of fun, practical and enjoyable activities to support your physical, mental, social and emotional health. It also includes a list of helpful tips on how to support your child if they are feeling anxious, examples of how parents and carers can promote physical, mental, social and emotional health and a number of links to support family mental health and wellbeing.
Regardless of whether you’ve faced health issues, the action plan is designed to help all families support each other during these extremely challenging and unprecedented times.
We hope that you and your family can find time to sit down together and discuss the 'five ways to wellbeing' and potential activities that promote a healthy and active lifestyle.
Sixth Form News
Ms Wilkinson, Deputy Head of Sixth Form, has asked students this year to have a growth mindset, an open mind to new experiences and to take advantage of opportunities that might contribute to their own wellbeing or the wellbeing of their peers.
When the new curator at the Karst Contemporary Arts Gallery, Ben Borthwick, invited students to visit, Ms Davidson was thrilled that a number of students signed up to experience what the gallery has to offer.
Ms Davidson said, “A group of students attended the gallery after school hours on Wednesday. We were treated to an excellent talk given by Ben about Curation as a viable role and career in the arts industry as well as great insight into how a commissioned piece (in this case, the mural planned for the civic building) is developed through collaborative work. Students were invited to view the photographs on display and to comment on what the images showed and meant to them as well as contemplating how to observe without assuming an artist’s intent”
She added, “The exhibition was produced in collaboration with Plymouth city centre skaters and at the end the students were invited to use the mini ramp to skate. I am proud of this group who listened attentively and were bold in coming along. They were lovely company and a credit to their families and school”.
The Karst Gallery has been chosen to host the British Art Show in November 2021 and we are keen to look for further opportunities to work with them in the coming year so watch this space!
Student News
Usually the Head’s Blog is full of sports news but with no fixtures taking place at the moment I have asked students to let me know what they are doing outside school.
If you have taken up a new hobby, are learning a new skill or taking part in a sports team then I’d like to hear from you.
Elliot Mair 8C wrote to tell me that he has combined two of his interests, swimming and photography, by taking underwater pictures of bubbles.
Elliot took this image at Firestone Bay near Devil's Point - well done!
eSafety Advice
This week it was the turn of the Learning Commons to deliver the year group assembly.
There were two different focuses with Year 7 looking at how to access online services and help here at DHSB, in preparation for working efficiently with g-suite and Years 8 - 11 evaluating our current services so that we can improve our provision of educational technology moving forward, which is particularly important in these uncertain times.
Year 7s were also introduced to our Be Strong Online Ambassadors; students that have been trained in the delivery of e-safety material, with Noah and George producing an excellent virtual lesson on Critical Thinking. The video lesson gave the students some fun activities and discussions to build the critical thinking skills that they need online - particularly important for home study particularly when a recent Ofcom study found that one in five 12 - 15s believe information returned by a Google search must be true!
The rest of the school looked at life with digital media and thought about what they could do to lessen the negative relationship that some people have with some aspects of our digital devices.
Students discussed if they could complete a digital detox and were encouraged to try some of the following over the next seven days - perhaps you can all give it a go?
Ms Buckler
And finally
We're finding new ways of doing things at DHSB and Lunch with the Head (traditionally eaten at Refuel on Fridays) is now a takeaway option served in my office with students from a single year group.
Today I met the students who joined Year 8 in September and was able to find out how they are settling into life at the school.
