4 November 2022
Dear Parents & Carers,
A very brief update this week as we are entering a very important half-term. We held a very useful parent information for Year 10 on Tuesday and have an equivalent for Year 7 next Wednesday. Both years are settling into a new key stage and we feel it is very helpful for parents to have a detailed understanding of the shape of the year and the key figures who will offer guidance and support.
We will be hosting a ‘School of Sanctuary’ meeting next week and will be remembering the former students who lost their lives in the Great War and the Second World War. We will also consider the impact of current warfare. 6th form Students have also considered the consequences of extremism and racism with a small number accompanying Mr Wilbraham, Deputy Head of 6th Form, on a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They will share their experiences with the wider school in a series of assemblies in January 2023.
The current economic context is very difficult for families and, as you would expect, that financial hardship is being felt by our school community too. A recent ASCL survey suggested that 90% of schools are worried that they will be in deficit by the 2023-24 financial year and I will share more information about those wider educational concerns in the coming weeks. Like each household, we will have to make difficult decisions unless there is a view in Government and Parliament that education is a national priority and that an additional plan of cuts or ‘austerity’ will impact negatively on children. My intention is not to make a political point, but to simply share a social justice concern that anything that makes the lives of children harder than necessary, particularly those who are already disadvantaged, is unacceptable.
With that in mind, a number of school staff have recommended the following company, which helps businesses to become zero waste by redistributing food which would otherwise just go to landfill; visit their website to download their app: https://olioex.com/
We are thinking very carefully about the help that we can provide, and parents and carers might find this free sharing app of use.
We have updated term dates for 2023-24 on the school website and will also share information next week about a vacancy for a parent governor.
Have a good weekend.
Mr O’Sullivan
What is my child learning?
In the Learning section of our website you can find guidance on what every student at the school is studying. As well as an overview of our curriculum and principles behind it, you can find an overview of each subject area. You can also find a guide to the content being covered in every subject and how you can support your child for each half term here: Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 | Year 12 | Year 13.
These have been updated to provide information about work to be covered in November and December.
Lessons from Auschwitz
On Wednesday this week, six Year 13 students flew to Poland to take part in a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme. Tilly Stacey, who took part in the visit, reflects on the day below:
The trip to Poland was interesting and eye opening in many ways. Visiting the town of Oswiecim (later renamed Auschwitz by the Nazis) showed how normal life was before and what a gaping hole in its culture was made by the Jews being taken away. We visited Auschwitz I, which had been made into a museum to house pictures and exhibit lots of the belongings taken from people when they arrived at the camp. Piles of shoes, glasses and hair showed the mercilessness of the Nazis and how much they wanted to dehumanise and animalise their victims. Auschwitz II (or Auschwitz-Birkenau) was much bigger than any of us expected, and the sheer scale of the camp was almost unbelievable, even while looking right at it. The LFA and museum guides told us stories of those who survived or didn’t survive at Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau, to give both the victims their humanity and personal experiences back, instead of just turning them back into statistics and numbers. A remembrance ceremony was held before we left with other participants reading poems and Rabbi Hassebrock saying a prayer in Hebrew to remember all the Jews who were involved and killed in the Holocaust.
The students will reflect further on their experiences via online seminars and will also share their thoughts and reflections with the wider school community through assemblies next term.
Miss McKenzie
History Department
Future Business Magnates
On Thursday our Year 8 Future Business Magnates Team were invited along to the Riverside at Chester-Le-Street for the FBM launch event. This is an initiative run by Business Durham, and we have a good history of success in previous years! Over the next 8 months the team will be working collectively to design, market and develop a product under the brief heading "Solving today's problems with tomorrow's technology". Students met with the Chair of DCC, local business partners and the FBM team. An excellent event and I look forward to sharing their progress with you!
Miss Forbes
Subject Leader for Business & Computing
Geography Photography Competition
A reminder of the Geography Photography Competition, which has been shared in-school via Geography lessons – a good project for this weekend?!
This is a national as well as an in-school competition and the theme this year is 'Your Everyday.' Your photograph needs to be accompanied with details of the location where it was taken, an appropriate title, and a caption of up to 250 words that identifies what has been captured and explains what is occurring or how the key feature in the image is linked to ‘Your Everyday.’ There are some examples and tips on how to create a good entry here on the World Photography Organisation website.
To submit, you can attach your entry and email it to: s.scott@durhamjohnston.org.uk.
The deadline for all entries both in school and nationally is Monday 7th of November.
Mrs S Scott
Geography Department
‘Around the World’ Challenge
As part of celebrating the heritage and diversity in our school community we have launched an "Around the World" with Year 8 forms .
8DA were the first to produce a display for Mr Blake's noticeboard - and what a superb job they have done. The students researched South Korea and their findings can be seen in the image below. The form learnt so much doing this, and it has definitely helped them to understand more about traditions, food and values! Well done 8DA!
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Miss Forbes |
Miss Anderson |
Sixth Form Notices
Please click the link below to read the weekly digest of news and information for Sixth Form Students.
Careers and Guidance Department Notices
Please click here to view this week’s Careers Notices.
Mr Kennedy
Subject Leader, Guidance
PE News
Can I start by reminding parents of those going on the school ski-trips this year that an important parents meeting is taking place on Tuesday (8th November) starting at 6.00pm in the James Hall?
On Tuesday our U16 basketball team were due to play Jesmond Park in the English Schools Cup. Unfortunately, they had to postpone the game at the last minute.
Our U14 girls’ football team were also due to play against Castleview. They also conceded the game.
One football match did however take place. Our U19 team travelled to Sunderland to face St Aidan's in a national and county cup double header. We were ahead three times in the game but kept getting pushed back as the game finished 3 - 3. Unfortunately, we then lost a penalty shoot-out.
On Wednesday our U13 girls’ football team hosted St Bede's in the county cup. This was an exciting match played in awful conditions. We conceded early in the second half but never gave up and equalised with minutes to go. In near darkness extra time couldn't separate the teams. Unfortunately, we lost our second penalty shoot-out of the week- this time 3 - 1.
Yesterday our U18 girls’ football team faced Whitley Bay High in the National Cup. Incredibly this was almost of repeat of the boys’ game on Tuesday. The match ended 3 - 3 and then we managed to lose our third penalty shoot-out of the week.
Also last night, our Year 7 & 8 netball teams played St Bede's in the league. Our Year 7 team won 14 - 1 with Ellie Richardson POM and our Year 8 team won 11- 6 with Chloe Smith POM.
Good luck tonight to our Year 9 basketball team who travelled to Emmanuel College for a friendly match.
Finally, excellent news this week that our Inter Boys’ swimming team have qualified for the English Schools national finals which take place on Saturday 19th November at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in London. Good luck to them.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE