This link was established following the visit of the Deputy Head from San Francisco de Asis, Ms. Edit Alarcon, who was attending a course for teachers in Plymouth that was hosted by DHSG.  Since then two DHSG teachers have visited the Chilean school as part of the Teachers International Professional Development TIPD programme and have been instrumental in promoting projects based on English literature, Chilean culture and studying natural disasters.

Students and staff of Hojmeskolen and DHSG started collaborating through a Comenius project funded by the European Union.  Students worked on the topic 'Common Values - Values in Common?' researching a wide range of topics which interest European teenagers to judge the extent to which they shared common views/values and to what extent they differed.  This project also included partner schools in Finland and Spain.

A partner school since 2007 through a link established by the Afri-Twin organisation, staff from both schools have made several reciprocal visits through the Global Schools' Partnership and more recently through the Connecting Classrooms programme.  A 3-way link including Zimasa High School, a township school, was based on the impact of the 2010 World Cup on Cape Town and the 2012 Olympic Games on London.  Subsequent projects have covered traditional dance and music (involving a third school from Zimbabwe) and all the schools have established Afri-Twin clubs to maintain regular contact between students

Linked with DHSG since 2012 Nsezi has been the third partner in the partnership with DHSG and Wynberg.  Staff from Nsezi have been involved in two visits to South Africa and the UK, funded by the Connecting Classrooms programme.  They have contributed some very interesting and colourful aspects to the projects based on traditional dance and music.

Partnered with Llanilan Koulu since 2006 DHSG has collaborated on two Comenius projects with the Finnish school:  the first was a bilateral project based on the sustainability of the environment where students investigated and learned much from each country's approach to this important environmental issue.  The second was the multilateral project with the Danish and Spanish schools on - 'Common Values - Values in Common?'  Each Comenius project ran for 2 years and involved reciprocal visits by up to 24 students from each school.

The partnership with Archbishop Porter Girls' Secondary School was established in 2010 through the Plymouth-Ghana link which spans the education sector, medicine, sport and commerce.  At DHSG and APGSS the projects set up through funding from the Connecting Classrooms programme have been enterprise projects based mainly on the Business Studies departments.  Staff have made reciprocal visits to each school and the students have looked at using recycled and fair trade materials and products in their research.

The link to Shree Maheshwori Secondary School, located in the Kaski district of Nepal, was made through British Council in Kathmandu and strengthened once again by the partnership established through Plymouth city council and that area of Nepal.  The schools have worked together since 2012 overcoming basic communication difficulties to learn about each other's quite different  cultures and to exchange ideas on recycling.

DHSG has linked very recently in 2015 with Hagi Nishi Junior High School in Hagi city and students in both schools have made power point presentations which they have sent to the other school.  Students at DHSG have also enjoyed a Japanese Enrichment Day which they shared with pupils from Mount Street Primary School in Plymouth, also partnered with a school in Hagi City.

The link with IES Manuel de Cabanyes was part of the Comenius multilateral project with Denmark and Finland - 'Common Values, Values in Common?'  Some of the students were able to develop their Spanish speaking skills as well as researching a wide range of topics which interest European teenagers to judge the extent to which they shared common views/values and to what extent they differed.  

DHSG is involved in the Mayflower 2020 partnership on two levels.  The councils of both cities set up the partnership to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Plymouth UK to Plymouth Mass. and among the many activities already underway is a city-wide venture involving choirs from several schools.  In the summer 2015 DHSG students were part of a joint performance at the Guild Hall and will participate in a reciprocal visit to Plymouth Mass. in the summer of 2016.  At school level we have linked with Plymouth North High School since 2013 through the geography. art and music departments. 

DHSG and XV. Gimnazija in Zagreb have been partners since 2012 and are now working on their second European project together with German and Romanian partner schools.   The first Comenius project was based on Maths and the 'Magic of the Möbius Strip' which also involved several other curriculum areas - Physics, Art etc.  The current project - the 'Magic of Sound' looks at sound through Music, Language and other areas.

DHSG and Colegiul National 'Moise Nicoara' have been partners since 2012 and are now working on their second European project together with German and Romanian partner schools.   The first Comenius project was based on Maths and the 'Magic of the Möbius Strip' which also involved several other curriculum areas - Physics, Art etc.  The current project - the 'Magic of Sound' looks at sound through Music, Language and other areas.

DHSG and Justus-von-Liebig-Gymnasium in Southern Germany have been partners since 2012 and are now working on their second European project together with German and Romanian partner schools.   The first Comenius project was based on Maths and the 'Magic of the Möbius Strip' which also involved several other curriculum areas - Physics, Art etc.  The current project - the 'Magic of Sound' looks at sound through Music, Language and other areas.

This is the longest-standing partnership enjoyed by DHSG, established almost 20 years ago when the schools first linked in 1996.  Groups of students exchanged regularly, with DHSG students enjoying the sights in Hannover and Berlin, as well as developing their language skills.  In 2012 the schools embarked on a Comenius bilateral project which looked at the celebrations to commemorate the arrival of the Hanoverians on the British throne and the links between Hannover and UK since then.  Among the many excursions were a visit to Marienburg Castle, the seat of the Electors of Hannover, and to Saltram House in Plymouth which has strong links to the Georgian era and was visited by King George III in the late 18th century.

DHSG entered into a partnership with the Nicolaus Copernicus High School, Kolobrzeg in 2013 to bid for a European Comenius funded project - Sea and City - based on the maritime influence on each location of the partner schools.  The project involved researching lifestyle, career prospects, exploration both current and historical, and many other aspects which linked the three coastal cities.  Students from DHSG and the third partner school from Ireland visited Poland, and featured among the excursions was a visit to the naval city of Gdansk.

This successful partnership continues and is involved in the current Erasmus+ Social Enterprise Europe project which will run until 2017. 

The partnership with the Matyas Kiraly Gymnaxium in Fonyod is a new one, established at the beginning of 2015 when we began preparing a bid for the new Erasmus+ funded programme.  Along with the Polish partner school, students from the three schools will be finding out about Social Enterprise, looking at SE companies of varying size in their local area and nationally, as well as setting up a fictitious SE company, experiencing job interviews, running departments etc. and above all working in teams with partners from Poland and Hungary to produce a magazine on Healthy Living and an App on Social Enterprise.

Students from DHSG and Loreto College have been partnered since 2012 on the Comenius Sea & City project, which involved researching lifestyle, career prospects, exploration both current and historical, and many other aspects which linked the three coastal cities of Plymouth, Dublin (DunLaoghaire), Kolobrzeg..  Students from DHSG and Poland visited Loreto and featured among the excursions was a visit to the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast.

Students from DHSG first participated in a Euroscola Day at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 2005 and have done so every year since, gradually extending the opportunity to Sixth Form language and politics students in many other schools in the South West.  Sixth Form students, successful in winning a place on the visit, travel to Strasbourg for 3 - 4 days where they take part in a European Youth Parliament with 500 students from EU member states, discussing a variety of European issues, including the environment, education, travel and transport, immigration, citizenship etc. etc.  In the past they have had the opportunity to meet or have a video-conferencing session with one of the MEPs who represent the South West region.  They also  take part in a survey of opinions on the EU by speaking to passers-by in the streets of Strasbourg, and adapting this information to help prepare them for Euroscola Day.  Many students have said that this was a life-changing experience for them and some have gone on to pursue a career in Europe and its institutions.

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Euroscola students representing the South West:
Left - introducing the UK group in the hémicycle (debating chamber);
Below - listening to their peers discuss European issues while sitting in seats normally occupied by MEPs

Partner school since 2006

Staff and students have visited Jiaxing as part of a Plymouth-Jiaxing link, both on an exchange visit and as part of a Shakespeare drama project (see below).

In 2011-12 DHSG won funding to be involved in the Dickens 2012 project, where students in both schools looked at school life in both countries in the 19th century ‘Dickensian era’.  As the lead school for the Peninsula Group Confucius Classroom, DHSG students have also taken part in study camp visits to China in the summer organised by Institute of Education IOE Confucius Institute for Schools.