21 March 2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
Firstly, and most importantly, we wanted to make parents and carers aware that this week there was a report that a car approached a secondary school pupil on their way into school in central Durham and asked if they wanted a lift and offered them sweets. They said it was two men who they think were in their early 30's; they didn’t remember any further details like the type of car. You may wish to remind your child about these types of dangers and to be alert whilst travelling to school. Please alert the police if you hear of any similar incident.
This week the House Team launched our Easter "Twenty is Plenty" campaign for the Foodbank. The message is simple “by working together, and by giving a little, we can achieve a lot!” The idea being that if every member of our school community brought in 20p, together, we would raise over £380. We are then going to use this money to buy Easter Eggs to donate to Durham foodbank for families finding it tough at the moment. The Foodbank are incredibly low on items such as this and it would be lovely for us to spread a little cheer. This thoughtful idea from the House Team exemplifies two of our core values of social justice and public service. Durham Johnston is a very large school made up of diverse individuals, but it is through collective endeavours like this that we can positively impact out wider community. I am very proud of our students, and looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.
Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs McFadden
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
Biology News
Congratulations to the 26 Sixth Form students who have recently participated in the British Biology Olympiad - a highly prestigious national competition, where students are faced with challenging biology questions to demonstrate their understanding of core biological principles, as well as problem-solving skills. Students have all been awarded participation certificates and many students have achieved Silver, Bronze, Highly Commended and Commended Recognition. Well done all.
We would also like to congratulate Sara B in Year 13 who teamed up with two other students from different schools, to win first prize in the International Youth Neuroscience Association's Ideathon competition. Participants had to form groups of up to three people and had to write a proposal for research on a modifiable risk factor linked to a neurodegenerative disease. The top 10 teams internationally were then shortlisted for the finals event, where they had to give a presentation on their proposal, and answer some questions posed by a panel of judges. The judges were academics from various US universities, including Chicago University and Harvard. There were also members of the Alzheimer's association (who are in partnership with the IYNA). The host university of the event was Yale. Over 200 proposals were submitted, from over 60 countries. A huge achievement indeed - well done to Sara and her team members!
Miss Murphy
Subject Lead for Biology
KS3 Drama Production
The KS3 Drama production will take place on Wednesday 9th April. This year’s theme is “Railway Drama.” We apologise that this had to be postponed from the earlier advertised date.
6-6.45 p.m: Year 7 and 8 plays
7-7.30 p.m: Year 9 play
(Running time is approximate)
Tickets are £1, payable on the door.
Year 7 and 8 students must be in school by 5.30 pm and they can leave in the interval, unless they want to stay and watch the Year 9 production.
Year 9 students must return to school at 6.30 pm.
Students have permission to stay in school if they are not able to get home and back in time. However, there will be no catering facilities in school during this time so students must provide their own food and drink.
Costume: Most students have been provided with a costume or part of a costume from the drama store. They may have been asked to look for something appropriate from home.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Ms Ayrey
Subject Leader for Drama
PE News
On Monday our Year 7, 8 & 10 boys’ football teams were at St Johns for league games. Our Year 7 team continued their good goal-scoring form, winning 6-3. Noah W was POM. Our Year 8 team went 1-0 down in the first two minutes but fought back to lead 3-1 at half-time. Neither team scored in the second half, so we secured another excellent victory to keep us top of the league. Sam G was POM.
Unfortunately, our Year 10 team was badly hit by illness and injury and despite never giving up we lost 8-0. Joint POMs were Isaiah M and Harry D.
On Wednesday, we hosted the U16 County Rugby Sevens tournament. This was an excellent afternoon of rugby in perfect conditions. We won two games and lost the others by small margins to finish in 4th place.
Also on Wednesday, our U15 boys’ handball team were at Hermitage for the County finals. We started with a comprehensive victory against Polam Hall. The final was against the hosts. This ended 8-8 so went to extra time. This still couldn't separate the teams, so penalties were needed. Unfortunately, we lost 2-1 to finish runners-up. Zack S was POM.
Last night, our Year 7 & 8 football teams were back in Bishop Auckland for league games against King James. Our Year 7 team secured a comfortable 7-0 win which include a Harry F-H hattrick. A clean sheet due to POM Charlie K. Our Year 8 team also produced an excellent display to win 4-0 and remain top of the league with two games to go. We were also supposed to play Year 9 & 10 but they were conceded by King James.
Also yesterday, 17 of our Year 10 girls were at the Riverside Stadium running a corporate leadership event for a new major sponsor of Durham Cricket. The girls had a great day and were complemented by everyone on their maturity and understanding of the tasks involved.
Good luck today to our Year 11 football team who are at Carmel School in the semi-final of the County Cup. Also, good luck to our Year 7 - 10 girls’ rugby teams who are hosting St John's in friendly matches in preparation for the County Cups which take place in two weeks’ time.
Finally, good luck to 4 of our athletes who this weekend are making the long journey to Bath to compete in the English Schools National biathlon finals. The boys compete on Saturday and the girls on Sunday.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin:
Sports Bulletin