Plymstock School was very fortunate to receive funding from the Savoy Educational Trust to support the refurbishment of our Design and Technology kitchens during the summer holidays. Our kitchens, although functional, were ageing and needed a refurbishment. We applied to the Savoy Educational Trust for a matched funding grant and we were lucky enough to be successful. Our original rooms were very tired and desperately needed an upgrade, as you can see below.

Work started just before the end of the summer term, with the Premises team and helpers demolishing the old cabinets . All of the electric cookers were salvaged and repurposed to Devon & Cornwall Furniture Reuse Ltd, where they would be refurbished and distributed as needed.

Once the demolition was finished, the Premises team got to work painting the two rooms. The Design and Technology team were also there with their paintbrushes to lend a hand. The new flooring was laid and the furtniture/appliances fitted. We think the rooms look great and are much more refelctive of our wonderful young people. A huge thank you to everyone involved.

This week saw a lunchtime visit from the Devon Freewheelers, an organsiation that Ms Pring (our Head of D&T) volunteers for. For those that may not be familiar with their work, the Devon Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service are the Devon Blood Bikes and have been providing their services to the people of Devon since 2009. They are a team of volunteer riders, drivers, call handlers and fundraisers who are dedicated to providing a 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, service, supporting the NHS in delivering essential whole blood, medical samples for testing, medication, patient notes, medical equipment, tissue samples and donor breast milk to hospitals, and other NHS establishments and patients throughout Devon. The charity is a 100% voluntary organisation. Our pupils got the opportunity to meet some of the riders, see the equipment and hear the bikes being fired up! Over the course of this year, we will be taking part in various activities to help raise money for the charity.

On Tuesday the first two lessons of the day were devoted to our Life Education curriculum. This gives pupils the opportunity to learn, debate and discuss wider issues and risks in society. Each year group had a different focus for the morning. Topics included:

• Year 7: Anti-bullying
• Year 8: E-safety – Exploring reliability in the online world
• Year 9: Equality and Diversity – challenging disablist attitudes
• Year 10: Working out relationships
• Year 11: Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)
• Post-16: Financial education / NSPCC campaign focusing on racisim, discrimination and harassment

We were really impressed with how well our pupils engaged in the activities – as ever, a credit to the school community.

We’ll finish this week with a photo of some of our Post-16 pupils who have been taking part in the Hello Yellow Day for Young Minds to celebrate World Mental Health Day.