14 January 2022
Dear Parent/Carer,
Key Stage 4 Option Choices 2022-2024
This is a very important term for Year 9 pupils as they make their subject choices for next year and is the start of a very important stage in your child’s education. As a school, we are pleased to be able to continue to offer a wide range of subjects, including both GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, to accommodate the different interests and abilities of our pupils. To support your child in deciding which subjects to study in Years 10 and 11, there will be a progress update, a Virtual Options Information Event and a Virtual Parents Consultation. In addition, our pastoral transition team will be working with individual students during form time to ensure all students have the best possible support in making these important decisions.
To support our planning for the academic year 2022-2024, the deadline for submitting option choices will be Friday 18th February 2022.
Progress Update
Students will be issued with their Year 9 progress update today, Friday 14th January 2022 and this update will be available to view on the SIMs parent app from Saturday 15th January 2022. The report will reflect students’ work ethic and progress from September to December 2021.
Should you have any concerns about your child’s current progress in any subject, these can be addressed either at the Virtual Parents Consultation or by emailing school@durhamjohnston.org.uk.
Virtual Options Information Event
The Virtual Options Information Event will be available on the school website from Friday 21st January 2022. This will be an opportunity for students, parents and carers to find out more about the courses available and the options process. There will also be a virtual assembly for students on Monday 17th January 2022 to explain the options process to them.
If you have any questions relating to the options process, please contact us at options@durhamjohnston.org.uk.
Virtual Parents Consultation
There will be a Virtual Parent Consultation for Year 9 on Monday 31st January 2022. Appointments will be available from 3.30-6.30pm. Each appointment will be 4 minutes in length. The event will be hosted via the SchoolCloud online video conferencing system which can be accessed by following this link. Details on how to register and use the system are included in the email sent to parents and carers along with this letter. The appointment system will be accessible from 12.00pm on Monday 24th January and will close at 12.00 p.m. on Thursday 27th January. Please note appointments must be made in advance.
Due to the nature of the online format, there is a limited number of appointment slots for each staff member. Our staff are dedicated to supporting our students however, given the breadth of the curriculum offer in Year 9, for a few subjects it is not physically possible to offer every parent an appointment. In order to provide the best possible support to students with their options, and to maximise appointment length, we would ask parents to only make appointments with subjects that your child is interested in taking at GCSE. Should you be unable to make an appointment for a subject that your child is considering next year, please contact the school and we will do our best to facilitate an appointment with an appropriate member of staff. All families should be able to make appointments with the teachers of English, Maths and Science. To facilitate this some staff are seeing students beyond the advertised hours and we thank them for this.
In order to ensure that you do not miss any important information, please can you contact us at school@durhamjohnston.org.uk if you are not receiving any emails from the school to check we have an up to date email address.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs R McFadden
Deputy Headteacher