6 December 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
In school this week, we have officially marked the start of the festive period with our annual Christmas Concerts. Both nights were a sell out, and those attending were treated to a festive feast showcasing the amazing musical talent of our students. The quality of the performances was testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, who balance extra-curricular commitments alongside their studies, and of our music department who nurture and develop their talent. Keeping with the performance theme, we also hosted an amazing school dance show last week. It was fabulous evening where it was lovely to see our Year 7 and 8 students having the confidence to perform routines they choreographed themselves, in front of a large audience. Thank you to all our parents and carers who come along to school and support these events.
In other exciting news, I am very pleased to share with you today that the school has been given two awards in The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2025* this year; Northeast State Secondary School of the Year and State Secondary School of the Year for Academic Excellence in the Northeast.
Helen Davies, editor of Parent Power, said: "The educational landscape is challenging – teacher shortages, rising student mental health issues and special educational needs and the VAT rise – but there is also so much to celebrate from the hard work of passionate and committed teachers who are finding ever more innovative and impactful ways to boost their students and give them the very best start in life. As well as celebrating the academic excellence of the top schools it is fantastic to see how they are shaping their students to be ready for the 21st century."
This is the third year in a row we have won the Northeast State Secondary School of the Year award, and we are very proud this year to add the Academic Excellence award; this is only awarded when attainment is high in comparison to national standards. Whilst we are very proud of these awards, we are aware that there remain things that we could do more effectively, and we are committed to continuing to improve and adapt to ensure the best possible outcomes for all of our students.
The success of our students and the school would not be possible without the hard work of all our teachers, support staff, and parents and carers, so thank you for everything that you have done and continue to do to support our school community.
Have a lovely weekend
Mrs McFadden
*The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2025 (£)
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 Assessment Calendars, and 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
Examination Certificates
For students who sat GCSEs this summer, examination certificates are ready to collect from reception between the hours of 9am and 3pm.
Former Year 13 students who left Durham Johnston in Summer 2024 are warmly invited to collect their A Level certificates from the 6th Form Area on 17th December 4-5pm. Refreshments available!
Class Charts
Many thanks to all those parents and carers who have set up an account with Class Charts. A reminder that emails were sent to parents and carers with information and an activation code, and you can read the letter with more information at this link. We are keen to begin using announcements function of the app as a means of communication, so would like as many parents as possible to have access.
Thank you for your support.
Mrs Bell
Deputy Head
Christmas Lunch
Cyber Explorers Careers Day
Students who have attended this year's Cyber Explorers club were treated to a Cyber Security Careers Day at Northumbria University this week!
The students were given a number of different challenges including securing a laptop which had been compromised and finding out the perpetrator and completing a quiz on the cyber security industry. They thoroughly enjoyed the day and a considerable number of them are now considering a future career in cyber security.
Cyber Explorers club runs every Wednesday lunchtime from 12:00-12:45. It is never too late to attend, and there will be a Cyber Explorers Cup to prepare for in March (watch this space!)
Also, Mr O'Connor couldn't avoid the chance of a selfie with QA partner / Cyber Security Ambassador Baasit Siddiqui (from Gogglebox!)
Mr O'Connor
Lead Teacher of KS4/KS5 Computing
CyberFirst Girls Competition 2024/25
We were so close in this year's CyberFirst Girls Competition, finishing second in the North East rankings!
Congratulations to all the girls that took part in this year's competition. There were 35 girls from Durham Johnston who took part this year (a school record!), which is a fantastic achievement in such an under-represented field. The top 10 schools in the North East have been listed, as well as the top 5 teams from our school (house points will be given to every student who participated).
Durham Johnston has won 2 out of the 4 years it has participated. Can we get back to winning ways next year? If you are currently in Year 7 and are interested in the competition, please keep an eye out in the form notices at the start of next academic year.
Teams who have participated may also be interested in the Christmas Challenge from GCHQ (more information to be released soon...)
Top 5 Teams at Durham Johnston:
1st place - Team Lamarr = 5891 points
2nd place - Team Lovelace = 5117 points
3rd place - Team Allen = 4630 points
4th place - Team Hamilton = 4128 points
5th place - Team Goldberg = 3739 points
Top 10 ranking schools in the North East:
Mr O'Connor
Lead Teacher of KS4/KS5 Computing
House System News – Christmas Appeal
The first phase of our Christmas appeal concluded today as the final gifts were laid under the tree. This is a wonderful appeal which supports families and young people in our local community. Every year I am overwhelmed by the generosity of our students, parents and carers, and staff. To see the gifts piled high, each one carefully chosen to make Christmas special this year was so incredibly emotional.
The work Family Action do is amazing and we are proud to support them.
Thank you to everyone who made the magic possible.
Miss Forbes
Senior Teacher, the House System
Music Notices
What a week it has been in the Music Department - two stunning concerts on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and pupils representing the school at County Hall carols, and still a Brass trip to Beamish and the Carol Service to come! Congratulations to all pupils who performed this week, both for their focus and quality of performance but also the commitment to weekly rehearsals – and maybe a bit of practice too...? The concerts showcased the musical talent here at Durham Johnston, and it was a joy to see James Hall packed to capacity on both evenings. As Mrs McFadden said, "Christmas really begins with the school concerts" - both were truly festive occasions.
The festive season continues, and rehearsals next week are as follows,
Tuesday 10th - Lunchtime - Chamber Choir
Tuesday 10th - 2.45pm - NO Junior orchestra or Wind Band - see you on 7th January
Wednesday 11th - 2.45pm - Junior Choir and Senior Choir
Thursday 12th - 2.45pm - Senior Orchestra
We are privileged to have our school Carol Service in the Cathedral, and we need to ensure the highest level of performance at this event too, so we look forward to seeing everyone at rehearsals next week.
Mr Holmes
Subject Leader for Music
PE News
would like to start with a couple of highlights from last week.
The Area cross-country championships took place at Framwellgate School. It was another outstanding performance by all our runners. We had a clean sweep:
- Year 7 girls - 1st (Scarlett G - 1st and Area champion)
- Year 7 boys - 1st (Noah D - 1st and Area champion)
- Junior girls - 1st
- Junior boys - 1st (Dominic L - 1st and Area champion)
- Inter girls - 1st
- Inter boys - 1st (Will J - 1st and Area champion)
- Senior girls - 1st (Charlotte D - 1st and Area champion)
- Senior boys - 1st (Sam M - 1st and Area champion)
Incredibly, 50 of our runners have qualified to represent the Area at the County Championships in January.
Our Year 7 basketball team remained unbeaten to win the first Junior NBA tournament.
On Tuesday evening Miss Fairclough and her dance club treated a large audience to a great evening of high-quality dance. 21 different dancers performed some amazing routines showcasing many different styles. Thanks to Miss Fairclough and the dancers for the hours of practice which went into the show.
On Monday our Year 10 girls’ basketball team travelled to Dame Allan's for a friendly match. We played some excellent basketball and dominated the match, eventually winning 68-12 with Lily G POM. This was excellent preparation for a much tougher challenge next week when we travel to Trinity School, Manchester in the English Schools Cup.
Also on Monday, our Year 7 football team were at Walker Academy in the National Cup. We battled well against a strong team and held our own for most of the game. However, they proved too strong in the end as we lost 4-1. Rory H was POM.
On Tuesday our Year 7 & 8 boys and girls sportshall athletics teams were at Maiden Castle competing in the Durham & Chester-Le-Street championships. It was another clean sweep for Durham Johnston as we comfortably won all four competitions. All our teams now go forward to the County finals in February.
Following that, our Year 8 boys futsal team were at King James for the district tournament. We remained unbeaten conceding only 1 goal to become champions and now progress to the next round in the new year.
On Wednesday to celebrate the end of a busy term of girls’ football, our teams from years 7-10 played friendly matches against Durham High. All the games were played in a great spirit, and everyone had a chance to shine.
Also on Wednesday, our U13 and U16 boys table tennis teams took part in the County Championships at Hurworth School. The standard was very high but our U16 team won all their matches to become County Champions. They now qualify for the northern regional round which takes place in Blackburn in January. Our U13 girls have already qualified for that event.
Yesterday our Year 9 boys' basketball team played their first English Schools game against St Robert's. Despite leading in the first half, we ran out of steam eventually losing 58-44. POM was Manos M.
It was a similar story for our Year 10 boys football team who faced St Bede's in the County Cup. We were 1-0 ahead at half-time and missed several to increase the lead before eventually losing 4-2. A great game of football in difficult conditions. POM was split between Ray W, Joe S and Aidan L.
A busy week finishes tonight with football, rugby and basketball fixtures as well as a house netball competition. Good luck to our Year 7 boys football team who face Emmanuel College in the County Cup. Also good luck to our Year 8 basketball team, who are playing in the Junior NBA tournament. Finally, good luck to our Year 8 boys and U13 & U15 girls rugby teams who all play St John's in friendly matches.
Disappointing news regarding tomorrow. Our Junior and Senior girls’ cross-country teams were due to be competing in the English Schools national finals in Leeds. However, due to the storm warning the event has been postponed.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin:
Sports Bulletin
We have also been asked to share the following:
School Immunisation Team
Please click here to see information about community clinics for the flu vaccination. These are available for any child did not get the flu vaccine when the team visited school. Parents can call the immunisation team team on 0333 3583 397, option 3, option 2 if you have not originally consented for your child to have the flu vaccine.