Blog: Jo Ricks

A combined effort proves to be the winning ingredients!

DHSG and DHSB combined were crowned Plymotuh Schools Indoor Rowing Champions for the 3rd consecutive year! All the hard work and training proved to be a winning formular for many of the competitor as all members of the teams contributed to an overall fantastic performance.

Thanks to the coaching and training of Amber W, Charlotte EH and Mariella C the girls team performed brilliantly and a large number of the team acheived personal bests to help sucure victory overall. The training provided by the senior students over the past 3 weeks helped the younger girls understand some of the following; indoor rowing race tactics, the importance of stroke rate and the physiologically importance of the each body part in each stroke. Some of the particularly outstanding perfromance included; Year 7 Pheobe T and Lilly H 1st and 2nd only 12 metres seperarted the girls, Year 9 Lauren D 2nd by only 4 metres, Year 11 Alex S 2nd only by 9 metres and Amber W Year 12 1st by 13 seconds!!!! All members of the team regardless of their final position contributed to a very impressive victory.

A smaller team than in previous years represented the DHS boys this year! A large number of students also made their debut in the championships but many achieved a personal best too! Although there were a number of new members to the team the senior students Tom and Dean did a fantasitic job of caoching and advising when and were necessary during the competition. Some particularly outstanding perfromances by the boys include; Alex B the only Year 7 student 4th, Year 8 3 Jacks' 3rd,4th and 7th, Elliott R 2nd by just 3 metres, Year 10 Piran S 2nd and Tom J 1st by 263 metre. Again, an amazing team performance.

Not only did the teams provide a winning formular for competition they also assisted the successful running of the event! I special thank you on behalf of the partnership must go to year 4 year 12 CSL Level 2 students that volunteered 7 hours to man the registration desk, input data, writing certificates, help competitors, take photos and provide first aid support when necessary.

Congratulations all members of the of three teams, enjoy your victory!

               

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U15 Hockey success!

The Plymouth School U15 hockey league started 26th January 2011. The first fixture was postponed due to Lipsons academic mentoring day on 19th Jan. The boys were keen to get the games underway.

The first fixture was against Plymouth College. The boys started nervously and went down to an early goal. Poor marking in the D resulted in a soft goal being conceeded at the far post. This seemed to give the boys the injection of speed and energy that they needed and within no time the boys were level. Half time arrived and the scores were level! The boys were the better side for the whole of the second half, on the attack for the majority. Consequently the boys were caught on the break and again they saw themselves down again, against the run of play. From the push back after the goal a fantastic ariel pass out right was controlled amazingly and a shot from the edge of the D nessled in the back of the net to finish a superb move. The boys were level! Final score DHSB 2 - Plymouth College 2.

Now the boys were warm and had lost the nerves that next school they faced were Lipson. This game the boys turned on the team work, and played some outstanding hockey resulting in a very comfortable win. Final score DHSB 10 - Lipson 0.

Well done all team members, good luck in the next 6 games!

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Trampolining and acrobatics bounce it's way into DHSB!

Thanks to the school sports partnership DHSB have finally been able to provide the boys a lunchtime trampolining club. This Monday saw the return of the trampolining to the school and an 18 strong membership each week.

The club is being run by partnership Coach Kelly Vallis for a block of 9 weeks. If there are any students interested in taking part please collect a letter from resources. The 9 week course costs £18 per person.

New to DHSB is 'etreme acrobatics'! Boys will be given the opportunity to work on tumbling and trampette work. The club will give the students the opportunity to perfect their dive forward roll from a trampette, a front summersult, rebound routines, team displays etc. The club takes place in F-block gym Friday lunchtimes for 9 weeks.

Again, if students are interested in joining the club please collect a letter from resources. The course will cost £18 per person for the 9 week block of work.

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Communicool Crew get to work!

Session 1

All girls arrived excited, yet nervous, as none of them have friends outside of their own tutor group and all were expected to work with people to whom they had never spoken before. 3 of the girls did not appear to find talking to strangers challenging, and naturally took the lead.

All girls worked in pairs on verbal communication, and then in small groups to practise using a variety of communication methods (e.g. gesture, listening, demonstration, visual, etc.)

90% of girls felt that they had either improved or surprised themselves positively) during this session. 1 girl felt that she could not possibly improve her communication skills, saying that she listens well and she does not find talking to new people difficult!   Of the 65% of the group who said they found this session particularly difficult, all felt that they had improved throughout the session. They all felt more confident about contributing to group discussions, but were most pleased at being able to give loud, clear instructions to a blindfolded person to complete a task; this was a major step forward for some!

2 girls, in particular, found listening to other people's instructions more challenging, but thrived when communicating verbally. Both are confident leaders and find communication easy, but they need to develop the ability to work as a team and to allow others to contribute.

The group decided on the name 'COMMUNICOOL CREW', their rationale being that they are working on communication, they are working together and are hence 'united', and that they are 'cool'!

All members of the group agreed that they had enjoyed meeting and speaking to at least one new person during this session, and that they felt more confident. For most of the group, this was a big success!

Session 2

All girls had a very clear idea of the qualities that a good leader requires. 70% of girls graded their own leadership skills (out of 10) 5 or less. Hence, this session was a challenge for most.

Girls' self assessment illustrates a lack of self belief in their ability to lead. The girls reflected at the end of the session - 80% had increased their self assessment as a leader by 1 or more, and 60% by 2 or more.

2 girls did not increase their self assessment grades, and for very different reasons. 1 of the girls appeared to have overestimated her ability, but also misunderstood what is required to lead a group successfully. The other girl already had a high opinion of her ability to lead (she is, indeed, a good leader when given the chance, if a little quiet).

All girls were asked to comment on their feelings both before and after leading a group of 5.  87.5% of the group's comments alluded to being 'nervous' or 'anxious' before leading.  After leading the response was incredibly positive; 87.5% of the group's comments included being 'proud', 'confident' and 'surprised'.

Only 2 girls experienced different feelings, citing 'disappointment' or 'reproachfulness'. From observations, both girls felt confident about leading a team and possibly believed they could complete the task on confidence alone. Both, though, failed to engage the team in group discussion before starting the task. Consequently, they attempted the task with little success. This shortcoming was addressed as a group with the teacher part way through the activity. The leaders reflected on their practice, acted on advice, and there leadership was much more successful as a result.

All girls gained a lot from the session.  They either increased their self awareness of their ability to take the lead or contribute in a small group, or they learnt that to be a successful leader you must listen and engage all members of the group.

Individual girls' self evaluations can be provided if necessary.

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Table tennis goes from strength to strength at DHSB!

The number of boys attending table tennis continues to grow week after week. As a result this year sees the biggest entry in the devon School Individuals Table tennis Championships ever! DHSB will field a 16 strong team that could quite easy be doubled. The standard within both club continues to impress all coaches involved in the clubs.

On average 70 boys per week play table tennis with the the two clubs, proving that the games popularity amongst all year groups. 

A massive thanks must go to Josh Pun and Olly Davies Year 12 for their continued support with the clubs through coaching and advice for players where necessary. As a reslut of their support we now have an icreasing number of boys that are playing at Plymouth's table tennis club Woolwell.

Congratulations also to former DHSB student sJack Daniels who successfully completed his level 1 Table tennis coaching award and now helps run and facilitate both club .

Good luck to all those boys that have been selected to represent the school on 2nd March in the Devon Championships!

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