Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP visits DAOS!
Our School was once again delighted to receive a visit from the Secretary of State for Education. Visiting on Thursday 27th April, Mr Hinds spent the afternoon in the company of our students improving his Spanish, discussing the ways in which the curriculum needs to keep up with changes in technology, plans for university tuition fees and the role of Education in improving social welfare. He was entertained by the beautiful music performed by our Senior Strings and admitted regretting giving up the trumpet before he became really good at playing it. Mr Hinds was keen to be kept after school and enjoyed speaking to our staff; he asked about how the demands of teaching have changed over time and what the purpose of marking really was.
Mr Hinds told us that he thoroughly enjoyed his visit to DAOS and that he would be writing to the students with whom he spoke to further expand on his thoughts on some of the issues they raised.
Year 10 Art students visit Pitts Rivers!
'Our annual visit to Pitt Rivers provided the inspiration for the theme; Adorn, Decorate and Embellish. Its atmospheric galleri es hold one of the best collections of anthropology and archaeology from around the world and throughout human history.
Our year 10 students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and produced some wonderful drawings.
DAOS students debate at the Rotary Youth Speaks finals!
Saturday 21st of April saw the Regional Finals of the Youth Speaks public speaking competition run by the Rotary club. We had two teams competing in the two age groups and both performed extremely well.
The intermediate (Year 8) team of Kasra Daemi, Noah Burrowes and Will McGeady spoke eloquently on 'Is Rugby too Violent?' and finished as narrow runners up with Kasra winning the award for best chairperson. The boys were competing against students a year older than them so this bodes well for next year!
The senior (Year 12) team of Tara Daemi, Dorothy Burrowes and Thalia Witherford stunned the audience into silence with their topic 'Why Slavery still exists in the UK'. They put their argument across extremely emotively and powerfully, and were rewarded by winning their category. They go through to the National Finals in Exmouth on Saturday 12th May – a massive achievement!
Just a reminder that Friday 4th May is Non-Uniform Day! Please could students give £1 to their Form Tutors on the Friday morning.
All proceeds will go to Herts Young Homeless which is a unique charity in Hertfordshire providing services to support vulnerable people. Their focus is on preventing homelessness – from education in schools and family mediation through to supporting 16-24 year olds in their first homes or caring for adults of all ages who have mental health issues and housing needs.