30 June 2023
Dear Parents & Carers,
Twice in the last week it was suggested to me that I am an unlucky Headteacher. Both times the comment was meant kindly, once in a parental meeting, once in a conversation with a representative of the Local Authority. They were referencing that my time as Headteacher at Durham Johnston has coincided with, amongst other things, the pandemic, extreme weather (heavy sustained snow in 2018, the hottest temperatures recorded in the UK in 2022), a national funding and teacher retention crisis, serious IT issues and now prolonged industrial action. On reflection, it clearly isn’t a list that reflects good fortune. My immediate response, on both occasions, has been to say how lucky and privileged I actually feel to be the Headteacher at Durham Johnston and I’m sure that similar sentiments would be echoed by other Headteachers in relation to the schools that they lead. I also wouldn’t choose those difficult issues as being characteristic of my nearly 6 years in the role. However, all Headteachers increasingly have limited room to manoeuvre, whether that is caused by insufficient funding, or the lack of a coherent national plan for the future of education. I always want to think the best of those with national responsibility as they clearly have difficult choices to make. On Tuesday, all schools received an email from the Secretary for Education, and I opened it with the hope that clarity, or a sense of direction, regarding a wide range of very difficult issues might be offered. The email read:
Good morning,
I’d like to speak to you, and everyone working in our schools directly - teachers, leaders, and support staff - to update you on the key issues affecting you and your school.
The government will soon make a decision on teacher pay for next year and I will email you as soon as we have published our response. Moving forward, I will use these newsletters to share regular updates on important areas that affect you like pay, school funding, teacher retention initiatives and other key policy announcements.
If you’d like to hear from me in this way, please subscribe using the link below and forward this email to all staff in your school inviting them to subscribe.
The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP. Secretary of State for Education
At a time of national industrial action and difficulty, it is disheartening to receive such limited information, simply outlining the intention to write again at some unfixed point in the future. School leaders will never agree wholeheartedly with any new policy or governmental decision, but they will always seek to accentuate the positive and to build upon things that could work. Unfortunately, there is a political vacuum at present, and we only have three weeks left before the end of the school year. Greater urgency and new thinking would be appreciated, but that is only one part of school life. There are other reasons to feel fortunate and to think positively about the future.
That is best demonstrated by two positive letters that I have received recently. The first included a book that, upon opening, had been co-authored by a former student, who attended Durham Johnston between 1997 and 2004. The book features a collection of essays written by history teachers offering classroom advice and innovative approaches to creativity in the classroom. I have used two of those ideas successfully since and they have made think about how to share certain ideas with students. That exemplifies why I feel fortunate; not only do we get to teach a wide range of students over time, but we also get to learn from them in a variety of ways when doing so; even after they leave. Sometimes that is very obvious as in the example that I have shared, at other times it is far more subtle.
The second encouraging development was a card from a family with ties to the school dating back to 1999. In a very brief note, they thanked the school for offering their children such a positive experience and made a much-appreciated contribution that will help us to keep doing so. You may have noticed several recent educational stories that highlight how uncommon our curricular offer is in terms of what we always try to offer. That is another reason why I feel incredibly lucky. For example, 65% of secondary schools only teach and offer one language; we are fortunate to have a department that teaches 5 languages. 70% of secondary schools nationally have a non-specialist teaching Maths or Science; we have a full complement of well qualified subject specialists. There are other examples that I could share, and I feel fortunate to lead a school that does all that it can to maintain such experienced and dedicated staff.
There are always points when people feel very thankful to the school (a good example being the lovely messages that staff have received from the students, parents and carers of Years 11 and 13 this week) and times when there is a feeling that we have made mistakes, have miscommunicated or have let people down. That is inevitable in any large organisations, but this is the time of year when we reflect upon those things and make changes for September. With that in mind, I will share an end of year letter with all members of our community in the next two weeks and we will think very carefully about parental feedback from our current survey and communication in 2023-24. That too is another reason I feel fortunate, as those of you reading this understand that the school cannot always do the things that you would like us to do.
That last point is illustrated by the upcoming industrial action that will affect the school on Wednesday 5th and Friday 7th July. I want to thank all parents and carers for being so understanding and supportive of the decisions that we have made. The letter that I have shared (please click here to read it) outlines our plans. I am sure that you will appreciate that there are a huge number of other things that we have had to consider before sharing that detail with you. I am genuinely sorry for any inconvenience that may be caused.
Whether lucky or not, I am always optimistic that things will improve, and I feel fortunate to be Headteacher at our school.
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
Parental Survey - Reminder
Many thanks to those parents and carers who have already completed our second parental survey of the year. This is still open for another week, closing on Friday 7th July. The link to complete the survey, and an explanation of the context and reasons for issuing it, have been emailed directly.
If you have any technical issues with the link, or have not received it, please email school@durhamjohnston.org.uk marked for my attention.
Thank you in advance for sharing your views.
Mr Wright
Deputy Headteacher
National Poetry by Heart Competition
On Monday 26th June Taygan Van Der Klashorst (Year 8) attended the national finals of the Poetry by Heart Competition and won the KS3 category. This is an incredible achievement for Taygan, being chosen from other 2,000 entries across the country. He performed 'Hyena', a long and complex poem, twice; once in the Sam Wanamaker theatre and once on stage at Shakespeare's Globe in front of a huge audience. He gave such a confident, assured and compelling performance. Well done to Taygan!
Dr Johnston-Mckee
English Department
Public Speaking Competition
The English Department warmly invites you to the final of this year’s public speaking competition. Students in Years 7 and 8 work hard to produce persuasive speeches as part of their English lessons, and the early rounds take place in school time. The 2023 final is on Tuesday 11th July, starting at 4:00pm and expected to finish by 5:30pm, in James Hall. This year our guest judge is The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Durham.
DofE at DJCS
Applications for Silver now open
Many congratulations to the 60 pupils who have completed their Bronze DofE Award this year. This is a fantastic achievement, and we are very proud of you!
Those students in Year 9 who have completed their Bronze award are now invited to continue on to their Silver award. Letters have been handed out this week; you can also read the letter at this link or download an application form at this link. Students wishing to continue on to Silver need to return the attached enrolment form by Friday 14th July.
Mrs Gibb
DofE Manager
Sixth Form Notices
Please click the link below to read the weekly digest of news and information for Sixth Form Students.
Music Notices
14th Durham Johnston Music Festival
Last night in James Hall parents, carers and other supporters were treated to solo performances in a wide range of musical genres. Over the course of the evening twenty-nine pupils performed a piece from their current repertoire and they received feedback from former pupil Alexander Chisholm-Loxley, who was our adjudicator for the evening. In his adjudication Alex made it quite clear that it was the performing of the music that was the most important thing rather than who was selected as the winner of the cup, however the pupils below were commended for their extra special qualities.
Many congratulations to all performers!!!
The Whinney Hill Cup (Grades 1-3):
Runner up - Joe (Clarinet) Year 7
Winner - Eve (Clarinet), Year 7
The Crossgate Moor Cup (Grades 4-5)
Runner up - Joe (Guitar), Year 7
Winner - Alastair (Saxophone), Year 9
The Durham Johnston Cup (Grades 6+)
Most Promising - Eleonora (Piano), Year 9
Joint Winners Edmund and Joe (both Piano), Year 13
Music for a Summer Evening
This will take place next Thursday (6th July) at 7.00pm. This is an informal ‘cabaret–style’ event taking place in the Cafe, where Year 13 pupils and staff entertain their guests whilst they enjoy drinks and a light buffet. It is an opportunity to say ‘goodbye’, and ‘thank you’ to the leavers for all their commitment to extra-curricular music over their years at Durham Johnston School.
Tickets are available until Wednesday morning from the Music Department at a cost of £7.00. This includes food and your first drink. If any Year 13 pupil or staff member would like to provide a musical item, please let a member of the music department know and it can be added to the running order. Please note that performers still need to purchase a ticket to cover refreshment costs.
Mr Holmes
Subject Leader for Music
PE News
I start this week by congratulating the U15 girls’ cricket team who were competing in the county finals last Wednesday at Burnopfield CC. Despite losing a very close first game against High Tunstall, they then went on to win all their other games, including a victory in the final against High Tunstall to become County champions. They now go on to represent Durham in the regional finals next week at Rockcliffe CC.
On Monday, our Year 9 boys’ cricket team were at Swalwell CC taking on Whickham in the quarterfinal of the county cup. We produced an excellent performance to secure a comfortable 35 run victory to reach the semi-final. Jim Twiddy was the top scorer on 61 not out. Also on Monday, our Year 9 rounders team took part in the Durham Schools U15 tournament. All the matches were very close, and all the girls performed very well with excellent team spirit. We won two games, and narrowly lost one to the eventual winners - Durham High. However, we were delighted to finish as the top Year 9 team in Durham.
On Tuesday, our U13A & B boys’ tennis teams were at Yarm for league games. Despite the challenging conditions each of the boys won their singles and doubles matches for a clean sweep.
Also on Tuesday, our Year 7 & Year 8 basketball teams were at Maiden Castle competing in the Junior NBA play-off finals. It was a similar story for both teams who lost very close semi-finals but then went on to win their next games to finish 3rd in the North-East - a great achievement for both teams.
A shooting contest was also held for each age group, and it was excellent news for Durham Johnston as both Luigi Fortis and Reuben Varley won the competition, receiving an NBA basketball and t-shirt.
On Wednesday, our U13 boys’ and girls’ and U15 boys’ tennis teams travelled to Darlington to take on Polam Hall. Despite the rain it was an excellent afternoon of tennis with lots of close matches. Our U13 boys and girls teams both won 4 - 2. However, our U15 team lost 5 - 1.
Yesterday it was the turn of our Year 7 rounders team to take part in the Durham Schools tournament. Despite all the games being close they played 4 won 4 to become Durham Central champions.
Also yesterday, we hosted around 300 primary school children for a mini-tennis festival. This event was run by our Year 10 BTEC PE students. It was a fun day for everyone and staff from all the primary schools praised our students on the leadership qualities.
We also hosted the U13 & U15 Tyneside tennis tournaments yesterday. After over 3 hours of high-quality tennis, our U13 and U15 teams both finished runners-up to strong teams from Kings School.
The highlight of a very busy Thursday was a dramatic Year 8 Tyneside cricket cup final against Dame Allan's. We batted first and scored 112 runs with Ben Beale top scoring on 32 not out. They batted well, and only needed 6 from the final over, but some good fielding meant they only scored 5 runs to tie the match. This meant we needed a super-over. We batted first and scored 10 runs. Ranvir Nagyar bowled for us and kept his nerve as we took two wickets in the first 4 balls to win and become Tyneside champions.
Finally, good luck today to our U15 cricket team who face Whickham in the county cup semi-final.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
Community Notices
Durham Youth Council have been working with Durham County Council to adapt their adult survey about Housing in County Durham for children and young people.
This survey is now live, but only through July and August. All students are encouraged to complete it.
You can find the survey at this link.
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