9 June 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week’s update is brief, as our focus in school is on supporting students through the exam season and the preparing years 7-10 for their next steps. Whilst Year 11 and 13 are currently sitting their exams, we are preparing Years 10 and 12 for important mock examinations.
We were delighted to receive news this week that we were awarded a National School Attendance Award for the Spring Term 2023. We are proud that so many of our students achieve high levels of attendance, and are grateful for the support that you as parents and carers provide in prioritising their education. There is a direct link between regular attendance in school and student achievement; against a national picture of declining attendance, it speaks well of our community that we have received this award.
I will share a number of impressive individual student achievements next week, along with important charity work being undertaken by Year 8 and information about the success of former students and their involvement in local and national events.
Have a good weekend.
Mr O’Sullivan
Structure of the Day – 12th June to 21st July
A reminder that from Monday, we are moving to a single break and single lunch for all students until the end of term. The practical arrangements for this have been shared with students during form time.
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
Year 11 Maths and Pizza
On Tuesday 13th June, the mathematics department will be hosting a study session to help pupils to make final preparations for the GCSE Mathematics Paper 3 examination on Wednesday 14th June. The session will run from 3 pm until 5 pm and the programme will include opportunities for group work and one-to-one tutorials. There is no cost to pupils. Light refreshments will be available at the start and end of the session.
Mrs Emsley
Mathematics Department
Year 7 Language Choices
Parents and carers of Year 7 students have been emailed a letter concerning their choice of languages for Year 8. The letter contains a link to a MS Form to indicate their preferred options; the deadline for this is Friday 16th June.
If you have any queries about the language options process, please contact me via the school email: school@durhamjohnston.org.uk
Miss Schwaiger
Subject Leader for Languages
Relationships and Sex Education Update: Summer Term 2022-2023
We are currently reviewing the curriculum model and programme of study for personal development/RSE and health education.
The new model will build upon previous good practice, will continue to respond to the needs of all pupils, will consider local and national issues and will be reflect the views of the school community (pupils, parents and teachers).
Updates, including the new RSE and health education policy with be shared with parents via the Friday Bulletin and also on the RSE page of our website; this will include any additional consultation periods as well as opportunities for parents to attend RSE and health education workshops.
Year 9 sessions
We are very pleased to welcome Dorothea Scales back on Monday 19th – Wednesday 21st June and then again on Monday 3rd to Wednesday 5th July 2023 to complete a series of RSE workshops with our Year 9 students as part of wraparound support. The sessions will focus on consent and the Law.
As part of their RSE week activities next week, Year 9 students will take part in a workshop looking at the topic of sexual consent. This workshop will be delivered by an ex- Detective Sergeant for Safeguarding who now works directly with universities, colleges and schools to deliver bespoke training sessions which explore comprehensively the victim’s and suspect’s journey. This is such an important topic for young people to grapple with, and the session is tailored to be appropriate for students in Year 9. The list below outlines the topics to be covered and will include signposting to local support services.
- Consent-what is it?
- Consent and the law
- Emotional/Physical/Legal consequences of sexual assault
- A victim’s journey
- The suspect’s journey
- The criminal justice system
- Being in control
- Myths
- Where and how to get help
The session will run for two hours altogether. Please note that there will be welfare support provided for any students who may require it, and students will be invited to step out if at any point they are struggling with the content of this session.
Year 10 sessions
Just to remind you Wayne Stevenson is working with 10MK, 10JW, 10CW and 10SW on Wednesday 21st June 2023 to complete a series of RSE workshops with our Year 10 students as part of wraparound support. The sessions will focus on substance misuse, binge drinking and the risk of sexual harm, STI's, consent and the Law.
You can find out more about Wayne here.
Miss Robson
Assistant Headteacher, Personal Development
Languages Translation Bee
Well done to Amy Harrison, Ayesha Khan and Caio Westwood Jenkins who travelled to Lancaster University on Thursday to attend the regionals of the Routes Into Languages Translation Bee. As the top 2% of competitors in the North of England, they competed for a place in the nationals next month. Whilst they just lost out on a place, they performed admirably and did the school proud!
Ms Anderson
Languages Department
Debating Matters Competition
Yesterday five of our sixth formers, Elodie, Matthew, Edmund, Lukas and Piotr, participated in a day of debating at the Durham Union Society. The competition was organised by Debating Matters and our teams were assigned sides of two motions: "Should Billionaires own Media Companies?" and "Should nurses have the right to strike?". They won their first debate but failed to persuade the judges of their very tough brief, that nurses should not have the right to strike. Two of our debaters were recognised as worthy of honourable recognition; well done to all of them.
Mr Patterson
History Department
Geography Club Update: Young Geographer of the Year Competition 2023
Students are welcome to attend Geography Club this half term. Geography Club will continue in IT4 after school on Thursday 15th September from 3:00-4:00 for the rest of the academic year. The focus of the club this half term will be to complete entries for the Royal Geographic Society's annual competition, Young Geographer of the Year 2023. Students will be informed of the competition entry criteria in the next session. If there are any new students or students who have not come to Geography Club earlier this year that are interested in the competition, then they are more than welcome to come along and take part. Further information about the competition can be found at this link.
Mr Ray
Geography Department
Year 12 Psychology
Year 12 psychology students investigated this week whether interactions with puppies could alleviate the symptoms of stress. No animals or participants were harmed during the investigation but all involved were sad to see the puppies leave!
Miss Robson
Social Sciences Department
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 for Guidance
PE News
This have been a very busy week of tennis. cricket and athletics.
It started on Monday as our U13 girls’ tennis team made the short journey to Durham High for league matches against the hosts and Barnard Castle. We played some great tennis to win both games - 5-1 against Durham High, and 6 - 0 against Barnard Castle.
On Tuesday our boys’ and girls’ tennis teams travelled to Barnard Castle. These were much closer games but after an excellent evening of tennis we lost both matches.
Also on Tuesday, our Junior boys, Junior girls and Inter girls athletics teams were at Middlesbrough Sports Village competing in the regional round of the English Schools Track & Field Cup. The best 8 teams from the North-East gathered for each competition and we produced some excellent performances to achieve the following results:
Junior boys - 2nd
Inter girls - 5th
Junior girls - 8th
Our junior boys missed out by a few points on reaching the national finals.
On Thursday, our Year 8 cricket team were at Jesmond CC to play RGS. We batted first and scored 111 runs. A great team bowling and fielding performance saw us bowl them all out to win by 10 runs.
Also yesterday, our U13 and U15 tennis teams had another away trip, this time to Egglescliffe School. Our U13 boys won their match, however our U15 teams lost.
Good luck today to our Year 8 & 9 cricket teams who are both in County Cup action; our Year 8 team face Framwellgate at Sacriston CC, and our Year 9 team take on Lanchester St Bede's at Durham City CC.
Also, good luck tomorrow to our athletes who are at Monkton Stadium competing in the county championships.
Finally good luck on Sunday to our U15 boys and girls handball teams who have both qualified for the English Schools national finals which take place at Nottingham Uni. They are one of only a handful of state schools who have made the finals.
All the games are being streamed live on all England Handball sites via You Tube, which you can see at this link.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
Finally, we have been asked to advertise the following:
Vacancies - School Crossing Patrol – outside Durham Johnston School
Durham County Council Road Safety Team are keen to appoint a School Crossing Patrol at two vacancies to work on the A167 outside Durham Johnston School
The hours of duty to be worked each week [term-time only] are:
7.30 – 8.40am
2.40 - 3.15 pm Monday to Friday [1hr 45 mins daily / 8hrs 45 min weekly].
Grade 1 £4,248 (approx.) £10.79 per hour.
Further details of these roles and application forms are available from the following links:
A167 Traffic Island outside Durham Johnston School
A167, Durham outside Durham Johnston School
Paper application forms are also available by contacting the Payroll and Employee Services Team on telephone no. 03000 264469/266838 or email PESREG@durham.gov.uk
Interested applicants can contact the Road Safety Team for an informal discussion on 03000 268171.
Closing Date for applications is 4 July 2023