24 November 2022
Dear Parents & Carers,
A shorter update rather than a Friday Bulletin this week, as school is closed to students on Friday. There is still a lot to share, however, as there are some important updates in relation to our final three weeks of the school term.
Firstly, thank you to all those who completed our parental survey to date. The survey deadline is Friday 25th November and I would encourage all those who haven’t had the opportunity to share their feedback with us. There are also a number of important updates in relation to the personal development of our students, with a focus on support for others.
As part of a recent student voice survey completed as part of the work of the house system, students requested the opportunity to complete first aid and defibrillator training. We are delighted to share that training will be offered to all students on 1st and 2nd of December, with different year groups accessing training over the two days. The house system is also central to our annual Christmas Appeal, which is focusing again on food for families within our local community. As part of 2022 appeal we intend to split the donations between the young carers gift appeal (Family action), Durham Foodbank, Feeding Families and we will also support some of our own families in school with an individual Christmas hamper.
We are also very pleased to welcome Wayne Stevenson back next week to complete a series of RSE workshops with our Year 11 students as part of wraparound support. That wider support helps to prepare students for life in modern Britain and offers guidance on future employment and study, with a number of external partners booked to share careers support for Year 11 on 16th December.
We have a number of Christmas events planned too, with our wonderful Christmas concerts (tickets are available now), a return to the Cathedral for the first time since 2019 and our Drop Everything & Read programme and book swap planned for the final week of team. All members of our community will swap books, read on each day of the week from 12th December onwards and we will be encouraging students to give or swap a preloved book for Christmas. We have a lot to pack in to the final 15 days of term.
Have a good weekend.
Mr O’Sullivan