Friday Bulletin

David Almond – Author Seminar

On Monday 22nd November, we were delighted to have the celebrated author David Almond speak to our Year 7s. We have been studying his book ‘Skellig’ this term and to have the author discussing how the ideas came to him and why he named certain characters really brought the book to life.

David, also, spoke about being an author and how he took five years to write his first book – only for it to never be published. However, he wrote another book, which was ‘Skellig’ and has never looked back! His messages about resilience, imagination and believing in yourself resonated strongly with many of our young people and I have since heard that some of our students were inspired to begin writing their own stories that evening.

Another special moment was when David read to us from the manuscript of his brand new book ‘Puppets’ – a world exclusive for Durham Johnston!

Mrs Clark
Subject Leader, English

A Star Future

Mark, a representative from ‘A Star Future’ delivered a presentation to Sixth Form students this week about studying abroad and the options available to students. The presentations were very thorough and gave brilliant insight into the requirements to study abroad, as well as the devastating implications of Brexit and the effects of the pandemic on the opportunities available to students. From a student’s perspective, the presentation provided key information on the programme’s goals, as well as covering aspects, such as the expenses often associated with studying abroad – and how exactly these can be subsidised in a post-Brexit world. The presentation overall was engaging and provided brilliant insight into how students can prepare for a future studying abroad.

More information can be found on their website.

Nadine Weatherspoon (Year 13)

Oddballs

This week Sixth Form boys attended an assembly from the Oddballs Foundation, as part of the school’s programme for Life After A-levels. This campaign is important for everyone: testicular cancer can affect all men, particularly those aged between 15 and 49, as well as their families. Every year around 2400 men in the UK are diagnosed, according to Cancer Research UK, and though the mortality rate is low, untreated testicular cancer can soon spread throughout the body. Yet we hear very little about it. It is naturally awkward to talk about, but that should not stop us.

Lumps, bumps, and swelling are the warning signs – the foundation recommends checking monthly as a precaution. An early diagnosis is key: the survival rate for testicular cancer, caught early, is between 98 and 99 per cent. The key barrier to men seeking help is a sense of shame, which the Oddballs Foundation is trying to combat with talks like this. Established as a charity in 2016, they have worked with over five hundred schools across the country through their university ambassador scheme – Fergus, from Durham University, was the one who came to speak with us. All the Sixth Form boys have seen the poster in the toilets, breaking down how to check for symptoms, and you may have seen the Oddballs car parked around Durham. The priority is awareness.

If you notice any irregularities, the foundation tells us, let someone know right away and book a GP appointment. It may be nothing, or nothing severe (many lumps are cysts or other conditions, not cancer) but the most important thing is to catch it early. I am glad the Sixth Form boys had the opportunity to learn more – even if it is a slightly awkward topic to discuss.

David Weeks (Year 13)

Studying Medicine and studying in Scotland

This week, a guest speaker from the University of Dundee kindly came in to explain the application process and give a general insight into what studying medicine in a Scottish University would be like. This talk clearly outlined what universities would expect from each candidate in terms of grades and highlighted key things that could place students in a better position, for example, how to best approach interviews. He also included various factors which students should consider when deciding which universities they wish to apply to as he stressed the importance of finding universities with teaching styles which complement the student’s own study methods. Some students may prefer an integrated teaching style rather than a traditional approach.  Overall, this presentation was informative and reassuring to both students who have already applied and to those who have yet to apply.

Dua Ghanbasha (Year 12)

Our guest also spoke about studying in Scotland more generally:

Studying in Scotland is a great opportunity to enjoy university life and experience another country. Scotland offers more flexible 4 year undergraduate degree courses for most subjects, allowing you to pick a wider range of subjects to study each year and ultimately gives better opportunities to tailor your studies to your individual needs. There are many forms of support for students living in England & travelling to Scotland for study, for example, Dundee offers up to £5,000 each year for meeting certain criteria. You study up to 3 different subjects from within the same faculty in first year. In second year you can continue with these or switch out modules & try something different; this gives you the chance to really figure out what you want to study and gives you a wider range of opportunity. First and second year are not counted as part of your overall university grade, giving you 2 years to learn the skills needed to excel in third and fourth year where you study just one subject; this doesn’t even have to be the subject you originally applied for! There are so many benefits to studying in Scotland, not the least of which is the beautiful country around you & the chance to experience a different culture and see more of the UK.

Em Law (Year 13)

Music Notices

Evensong at Durham Cathedral

Congratulations to Chamber Choir for an excellent performance in Durham Cathedral on Monday evening, where they provided the music for Evensong on St. Cecilia’s Day. Their hard work and commitment (even with only 20 minutes rehearsal a week!) enabled them to produce a really secure choral sound, which filled the building. There have been many positive and encouraging comments from those at the service and those watching the live stream, which is still available to view on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel: Evensong 22.11.21

We are aware that friends, family and former colleagues were able to join the service from around the world, including in Canada, Iceland and Nigeria. This was the first time that any of our school ensembles have performed live since the start of the pandemic, and such an outstanding performance bodes well for the recovery of our excellent standard of music here at Durham Johnston School.

Christmas Concert Tickets

There is still ticket availability for all four of the School Christmas Concerts. Please see the Friday bulletin from last week for more details.

Music Examinations

We are aware that over the next three weeks some pupils will need to seek permission to arrive late in school or leave the school site so that they can attend in person graded music examinations. Please note that there is no need to apply for leave of absence for these appointments. Parents and carers should write a note in the pupil organiser, in the same way they would if they had a medical appointment. Please do include in the information if they are being collected from school or are making their own way to the examination centre. These can then be counter signed by their form tutor and then shown to reception so that they can be issued with an off-site pass.

Mr Holmes
Subject Leader, Music

Y9 Hacking Minecraft Club

Y9 students have been hard at work learning how to hack the world of Minecraft using the programming language Python!

A big congratulations to Elijah Cann who is the first to complete all 9 hacking challenges, with many more students on their way to becoming expert hackers of Minecraft!

Mr O’Connor
Computing Lead, Business and Computing

Careers and Guidance Department Notices

Please click here to view this week’s Careers and Guidance Opportunities Bulletin Board.

Mr Kennedy
Subject Leader, Guidance

PE News

The first of this years’ Tyneside basketball tournaments took place on Monday as our U16 team travelled to Dame Allan’s. Four schools competed, with the winners going through to the finals after Christmas. Unfortunately, we had a slow start, losing a close game to the hosts. However after that we remained unbeaten including an excellent 6 point victory over Whickham. Three schools tied in first place so it went down to points difference, and we finished runners-up to Whickham despite beating them.

Also on Monday our U14 girls’ football team were away at St Joseph’s Hebburn in the English Schools Cup trying to reach the last 32 schools in the country. Despite an excellent battling performance, they proved too strong for us, eventually winning 5 – 1.

On Tuesday, our Year 7 basketball team were at Sedgefield, competing in the BASFA tournament. We completely dominated this competition, winning all of our games easily to become champions. We only conceded 1 basket in the entire competition, with our closest game a 16 – 2 victory over Staindrop.

Our U16 girls football team took on Cardinal Hume in the County Cup. We controlled the game leading 5 – 1 with only 10 minutes to play. A late push from Cardinal Hume saw them close the gap, but we reached the next round with a 5 – 4 victory. Well done to Tamsin Burnham, who scored 4 goals and was player of the match.

Wednesday was a busy night of football as we had three matches. The highlight was our U16 team taking on St Aidan’s School, Harrogate for a place in the last 32 schools in the country. We had a slow start going 2 – 0 behind at half-time. A goal from Tom Haden just after half-time got us back into the game, and we completed a great comeback  progressing with a 3 – 2 victory.

Our Year 7 team travelled to St Thomas More in the Tyneside Cup. It was more success as a fantastic team performance saw us reach the quarter-final with a 4 -1 victory. Well done to Zack Smith, who scored a hat trick, and Isaiah Moore, who was player of the match.

Finally on Wednesday, our U14 girls were at home against Lanchester St Bede’s in the County Cup. Everyone who witnessed this game said it was the best game of county cup football they have seen in a long time. We were winning 2 – 1 with only minutes to play when we conceded from a corner to make it 2 – 2. With the light fading a penalty shoot-out started. We missed our first kick, and struggled to get back in the shoot-out, eventually losing 4 – 3.

You can read our most recent match reports from our Sixth Form Football ambassador here.

Mr Hopper
Subject Leader, PE