10 January 2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
Happy new year!
I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable Christmas break filled with fun, relaxation, and time with those you care about. It was lovely to welcome back our students into school rested, focused and ready to embrace a fresh start and make the most of the opportunities ahead.
It's been a cold first week and it was good to see so many children dressed for the weather. Please could you remind your child to bring with them everything they might need for the day including a warm coat / hat / gloves etc. On that note, in form period we will be discussing contingency plans and emergency procedures with our students. Please can you reinforce this message at home. We are keen to establish that children know what to do if, for example, they have forgotten their key, or there's a change in collection or transport arrangements, or a bus break down. Does your child know what you expect of them in these circumstances?
A recent example was when a service bus that a large number of our children use to get home came early, and the students had to wait for an hour for the next bus. In an emergency like this, students are able to return to school to seek support from a safe adult or contact home if they do not have a mobile phone.
Please note, our school transport is provided by the Local Authority; we are not in control or responsible for providing transport to and from school. When we are alerted by our school bus/taxi providers that there is an issue with one of the modes of transport, we will alert parents and carers through a message on our school website and social media. We would encourage you to contact your child to ensure they are safe.
Wishing you all a fantastic start to the new term and to 2025, which, as I told my Year 11 maths class this week, is a super cool number for a couple of reasons. I was very proud when one of them asked is “it a square number?” because it is - 452! But that isn’t the coolest part – not only is 45 the sum of 1 to 9, making it 1 to 9 squared, but 2025 is the sum of the first nine cubes. I’m not sure they were quite as excited as I was, but they were at least polite enough to smile!
Mrs McFadden
School Social Media
We have taken the decision to move away from X/Twitter as our social media presence as a school. You can now find us on Instagram @durham_johnston; follow us for the latest school news! The PE department will also migrate there – look out for more information soon!
Extra Curricular Opportunities
The school website has been updated with this term’s extra-curricular programme. This includes lots of study support sessions for exam years. We encourage you to have a look at this with your child – the new year is a perfect chance to try something new!
Parents of Year 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13
During the week beginning 20th January 2025, students will receive an assembly from the Alice Ruggles Trust on the subject of relationship safety, specifically recognising and responding to stalking.
The Alice Ruggles Trust was set up in memory of Alice, who is from the Leicestershire area, after a campaign of controlling behaviour and stalking led to her tragic murder. Her story is used to raise awareness amongst young people, to teach them about the risks associated with stalking, and to empower them with the knowledge to seek help and report it.
We are aware that this is a difficult topic but it is one of increasing concern. According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales 220,000 young people aged 16-19 experienced stalking in 2020. As a school we are committed to supporting our students in developing healthy attitudes to relationships and supporting their emotional well-being.
The assembly will cover:
Stalking behaviours
What to do if you are being stalked
How to help a friend who is being stalked.
Any student who is affected by the contents of the assembly will be directed to speak to Mr Bowman (DSL)
You can find out more about the Alice Ruggles Trust on their website.
Miss Robson
Assistant Head, Personal Development
PE News
Despite the freezing weather conditions, it has been great to get 2025 underway with clubs and fixtures starting up again this week.
The final sporting event of 2024 took place on Sunday 29th December as 14 of our athletes made the journey to Lancaster to compete in the northern regional biathlon championships. The run took place in the morning then we headed to the warmth of the pool in the afternoon for the swimming.
All of our athletes finished in the top 12 in the north. However, Will B won the Year 8 boys’ competition to become regional champion. Katriona R and Leo H finished 3rd in their events. Wilf has definitely qualified for the national finals, and we are waiting to hear which other DJ students have qualified for the national finals which take place at Bath Uni in March. Durham Johnston got a special mention as the only school in the north to have 4 complete teams participating.
On Tuesday our U19 boys’ basketball team took on Bede VIth Form College in the English Schools Cup. Unfortunately, we fielded an under-strength team and despite leading for most of the game we ran out of steam eventually losing 86-74. We now need to win our final group game, against Queen Ethelburga's College next week to progress to the knockout stages.
Our U16 boys table tennis team were due to travel to Bradford on Sunday for the northern regional table tennis finals. Unfortunately, they have been postponed and will now take place next Friday.
Tomorrow’s County cross-country championships have also been cancelled due to the weather.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin:
Sports Bulletin