11 September 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week I have had the privilege of delivering assemblies to all year groups alongside Mrs Bell and Mr Wilbraham, our Deputy Headteachers. These assemblies have been focused on our two priorities for this year “Dare to Be Wise” and “Dare to Belong”. I have also had the pleasure of having many positive conversations with your children, across all year groups, and it is wonderful to see how keen they are to be back, how well they are engaging in both lessons and social times and how strongly Dare to Belong is already embedded within our school community.
Dare to Belong encompasses three of our five core values; social justice, public service and diverse opportunities. We aspire for all of our students to feel part of something bigger than themselves and rooted in our culture and history is the belief that every child should have access to the same rich, diverse opportunities.
One of the clearest signs of belonging at Durham Johnston is the sheer number of educational visits our students have taken part in over the last year, from the Malaga Sports Trips in June and July, to the Battlefields Visit, Lockerbie Manor, Lindisfarne, Hamsterley Forest, Ski trips to Italy, Languages study visits to Pompeii, Austria and France and the Operation Wallacea expedition to Honduras. Our students have visited Cambridge, Leeds, Northumbria and Durham Universities, taken part in national competitions, performed in venues such as Birmingham Symphony Hall and Durham Castle, and engaged in whole year group events such as the trip to Beamish and Alnwick Castle and the whole school carol service at Durham Cathedral. Our staff work hard and often give up their own time to provide exceptional experiences and we are incredibly proud of the exceptional way our students have represented the school on 83 different school visits with a total of 3341 individual student places last year.
We are also delighted to share that Mrs Hardwick (Geography teacher and our Educational Visits Coordinator) has been nominated as a ‘School Travel Champion’ by a national organisation. This nomination recognises the meticulous preparatory work she undertakes to ensure trips are safe, inclusive and enriching for all students. The award also includes a cash prize to support disadvantaged students in attending future visits which would allow us to subsidise even more places. Many of your children will have been on a school trip with us, and I know from the emails I receive that you appreciate just how much work goes into making these experiences possible. We would be very grateful if you could take a moment to vote for Mrs Harwick in the national poll: School Trip Champion Award 2026: Meet the Finalists | School Travel Organiser. It would be wonderful to see her recognised nationally for the contribution she makes to our community.
Alongside trips, our extra‑curricular offer continues to be one of the strongest features of school life. Last year, our students had access to over 80 different clubs, ranging from sports and music ensembles to STEM societies, creative arts, debating, environmental groups and academic masterclasses. Some clubs run on rotation and sports change with the season, but the message remains the same: there is something here for everyone. In assemblies, students have been reminded that joining a club is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to “Dare to Belong”. It helps them make friends, build confidence, discover new interests and feel part of a community that values their contribution. If your child has not yet joined a club this term, please do encourage them – the benefits are significant and long‑lasting.
Our House system has also gone from strength to strength this year, providing inclusive opportunities that bring students together across all key stages. Led by our Sixth Form House Leads, the programme has offered a wide range of events spanning sport, academic excellence, competition and charity. Form tutors continue to play a central role, and regular meetings with House representatives ensure that student voice remains at the heart of the system. Whole‑school events have seen exceptional engagement — including a record 380+ participants in the Colour Run and over 80% participation in Spooktacular and Urban Games Night. The Houses have raised over £6,000 for school initiatives and local charities, and students have been recognised through Breakfast of Champions, House Point Heroes, Community Stars and Headteacher awards. The House system remains a powerful expression of our values of public service, social justice and community.
As ever, thank you for your continued support. Durham Johnston is a school where students are encouraged to Dare to Belong, and your partnership helps ensure that every child can access the opportunities, experiences and relationships that help them grow. If you are interested in finding out more about some of our students' recent experiences on the end of year trips and events there are some delightful student and staff perspectives below.
Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs McFadden
Extra-Curricular Activities
We are continuing to update our extra-curricular programme; please keep checking back!
Access to the School Car Park
We would like to remind you that parents and carers without permits should not be driving onto the school site at the end of the usual school day.
Those parents and carers who do have car park passes should collect their child at 3:00 pm when the site is quieter in order to keep our school site as safe as possible. Students may wait in the atrium until this time. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work together to keep our school community safe.
National School Travel Awards
Mrs Hardwick (Geography Department and Educational Visits Coordinator) has been nominated as a ‘School Travel Champion’ with a national organisation in recognition of the excellent preparatory and support work she undertakes to enable school trips at Durham Johnston. Along with this national award for our school, there is a cash prize to be used to support disadvantaged students in attending future trips with us. So many of your children will have been on a school visit, and so we are sure that parents appreciate how much work goes into ensuring all the students have an excellent experience.
Mrs Hardwick is one of only four finalists, and the outcome depends on a public vote; we would welcome your voting at the link below!
School Trip Champion Award 2026: Meet the Finalists | School Travel Organiser
KS3 Talent Show
Our first Key Stage 3 Talent Show as held on Wednesday 8th July and was a hugely successful evening, celebrating the creativity, confidence and talent of our students from Year 7, 8 and 9. The audience was treated to an incredible variety of performances, including musical acts, dance routines, a self-written French play, a hilarious murder mystery comedy and even a magician who left everyone amazed.
It was a real pleasure to see so many students take to the stage, some performing in front of an audience for the very first time. Their courage, enthusiasm and commitment shone through.
A huge thank you goes to all of the students who took part, the families and friends who came along to support them, and the staff who worked tirelessly both backstage and front of house to ensure the evening ran smoothly. Special thanks must also go to Mr Scott, whose brilliant compering kept the audience entertained throughout the night and helped make the event such a memorable success.
We are incredibly proud of everyone involved. Bravo!
Mrs Anderson, Mrs Banner, Mrs Cummings and Mr Digby
Year Leaders
Music Department Summer Events
Music For Youth, Birmingham Symphony Hall
The School’s Senior Orchestra enjoyed a memorable and hugely successful trip to the Music for Youth National Festival in Birmingham on Saturday 11th July, representing both the School and the North East with distinction on one of the biggest stages they have ever encountered.
The day began early and students went straight from the coach into the backstage area at Birmingham Symphony Hall before taking to the stage to perform. Despite the busy schedule and the scale of the occasion, the orchestra rose magnificently to the challenge, delivering confident and accomplished performances of Stravinsky and Dvořák.
What made the achievement even more impressive was the calibre of the ensembles performing alongside them. The orchestra found themselves sharing the stage with some of the country's leading combined county youth orchestras and held their own with equal measure.
Our students responded brilliantly. They performed with maturity, musicality and determination, demonstrating the hard work and commitment that has characterised the orchestra throughout the year. Their performance was outstanding and they represented themselves, the School and Durham exceptionally well.
There was also an opportunity to enjoy some time away from the concert hall, with a quick visit to Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre. Although temperatures were soaring, students made the most of the chance to explore, relax and enjoy the city before beginning the journey home.
We are immensely proud of our musicians.
‘Momentum’
On Monday 13th July our talented brass musicians had the privilege of taking part in Momentum, a collaborative performance between Durham Music Service and NASUWT Riverside Band at Locomotion, Shildon.
Set against the remarkable backdrop of historic locomotives, with sunlight streaming through the museum onto the performers, the concert created a truly memorable atmosphere.
Momentum was a unique musical celebration that brought together young brass players and experienced community musicians. More than 60 students from Durham Johnston School, Thornhill Primary School, Shildon, and St Margaret's Primary School, Durham, performed alongside leading players from NASUWT Riverside Band.
Together, they presented a vibrant and inspiring showcase of musical talent, celebrating the North East's proud brass band heritage. The event provided an invaluable opportunity for our students to perform with accomplished musicians, develop their skills, and experience the joy of making music as part of a large brass band ensemble.
We are incredibly proud of all the students who took part and represented the school so brilliantly. Their dedication, enthusiasm and musicianship helped make Momentum a truly unforgettable occasion.
Mr Haworth
Subject Leader for Music
Year 10 Battlefields Study Visit
The annual study visit to the battlefields of the First World War in France and Belgium is a long-standing tradition for the History department, enabling our Year 10 students to experience first-hand some of key the sites of this catastrophic conflict. The school’s memorial to the fallen in James Hall, exhibiting the names of 36 former students and one teacher from Durham Johnston who died in the Great War, offers a permanent commemoration on behalf of the school community. Further to this, we show our respect for this collective sacrifice through the Battlefields trip by visiting some of the school alumni’s graves and memorials in France and Belgium, laying wreaths and hearing their biographies. Below, Mr Doyle (Subject Leader for History) and some of our Year 11 students who attended the trip, offer their thoughts on the importance of this unique school visit.
‘There is an important question about this annual visit: why do we bother? The further we go from the end of the conflict – and we are well over a century since it ended now - the easier, in principle, it would be to start considering the 'Great War to End All Wars' as 'Just Another War'. Humans have been fighting each other since there have been other humans to fight with, after all. So, what is so different about this one? This is the key question that we have in my mind when planning our visit: why have we remembered this conflict in particular? Why do we see poppies every November? Why did it leave its scars behind in a way that other conflicts didn't? Should we view the monuments in nearly every village in the country as an ugly scar? Or a wound suffered for a righteous cause? Was the war special? How have those memories been used, for good or ill?
The places that we visit all serve to provide arguments about these deeper questions, as well as giving students the opportunity to visit some utterly remarkable and unique places. When we visit the graves of some of the school’s Old Boys and tell their stories, like that of James Archibald Laing who lived in Neville's Cross, we ask questions about whether the soldiers would want to be remembered as they are. Whether the men who died were fundamentally different to the children visiting these sites – children who have lived in a world where their peace has rarely been troubled, and who haven't been asked to risk their lives for principles. When we see the grave of a Victoria Cross winner who died continuing to fight until his last breath literally twenty yards from the near identical headstone of a soldier executed for cowardice, we ask whether they deserve to be remembered in the same way. And when we visit the German cemetery in Langemarck and consider the way the Nazis used the memory of that place to justify their evils, we ask whether choosing to remember is the right thing to do, or whether the world might be better if we simply chose to forget.
These are hard questions, asked in places of enormous emotional power – and the answers vary from student to student. This is the thing that has kept the History department coming back to these sites for years - and the thing that makes this visit so popular with the students. I know from my own experience visiting these sites when I was at school that the memories will stay with these students for the rest of their lives.
A few years ago, we were gifted a diary of when students from the school visited these sites in the 1930s. The students at that time wrote about their friends and family, the journey, feeling seasick, eating too much food- and asked the same questions that we do.
We are proud to continue the tradition every summer.'
Mr Doyle
'What stood out to me the most during the battlefields experience was how you don’t feel the same learning about the war in the classroom as you do actually being near those who died. The raw emotion that not only the sites themselves, but the stories of the young men who fought in the war brings out of people really solidifies why the wars are on the history curriculum. My favourite site was Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest cemetery for commonwealth forces in the world. It has so many stories attached to it that you literally can’t grasp until you’ve been there. On this trip there are some extraordinary places to see, and I strongly recommend it to any students who are possibly wanting to go.’
Olivia A
'The history trip was amazing! The whole experience was really eye opening and has definitely helped with my work on the First World War in class. All of the sites that we visited were incredibly powerful and moving; I'm very grateful.'
Daiso G
'I think the history trip was a really enjoyable learning experience, since the best way to learn and understand things is by being surrounded by it, and there was so much to take in. It makes you realise the extent of the horrors of the war and you become eager to know more. I've very grateful to have been able to experience so much on the trip.'
Cherry L-H
The school will continue to show its respect for its war dead by observing Remembrance, in November, with a series of events involving all students in the community. We encourage students to wear poppies and conduct a minute silence, as a collective, reflecting as we do on the human sacrifice made in two world wars and subsequent conflicts.
Mr Wilbraham
Deputy Headteacher
Malaga Sports Trip
When I was in Year 8, I was given the opportunity to go on the school sports trip to Malaga and I had the time of my life. Towards the end of last year, I was lucky enough to go back – this time as a sixth form leader. It was an unforgettable experience that combined competition, teamwork and a chance for me to develop my leadership skills in the sun.
Throughout the trip, we played countless games such as volleyball, football, handball and my personal favourite, padel tennis. Quizzes and talent shows filled our evenings with even more fun and excitement. It was great to support the younger students; encouraging them to get involved and helping them develop their skills and confidence throughout the trip.
Having responsibility for my own group taught me a lot about communication and patience, while also allowing me to build positive relationships with the students. Seeing their enjoyment, enthusiasm and growth throughout the trip was one of the most rewarding parts of the experience and I am sure they too created lasting memories. This trip taught me valuable life skills, and I really enjoyed giving back to the PE department.
Harry M (Sixth Form Helper)
The Malaga trip was by far the best school trip I’ve ever been on. The staff members were very supportive and helped everyone step outside of their comfort zone and build confidence. The sixth form leaders were friendly and within hours, myself and other students already felt respected and comfortable to be in a group with them.
The football was tremendously enjoyable and everyone had a chance to play in a position they wanted. As someone who plays football (not with the school) there wasn’t a second where it felt uncomfortable or awkward.
The point system was set up really nicely and it ensured that all the teams were giving their best shot and supporting each other.
On another day we did beach volleyball. It was definitely one of the best activities (especially when we got to play against the staff and sixth formers). Beach Olympics were also really fun and challenging – so all the teams had to try their best.
After each day we were given some pool time where we could hang out with our friends. This was one of my favourite things, and I made countless new friends during this time.
Then there was the waterpark and shopping trip. The shopping mall was massive and there were a lot of shops that we don’t have here. The waterpark had so many slides and pools so there was so much to do. They also had food to buy there, and it was delicious – especially the crepes.
I also tried a new sport which Spanish people were insanely good at. It was similar to tennis but it had different rules: padel. We spent a few hours there and it was my favourite sport activity. That was in gender groups so after we switched and played handball, which too was enjoyable.
There was a night where we had to speak in front of everyone and give an interesting thing about ourselves. It was a great way to get to know everybody and whilst uncomfortable at the time it was a great way to get more confidence.
Malaga was beautiful and I would love to go again. The beach was perfect and whilst travelling round the shore we went past a lot of really lush places.
There was a buffet and new food every day. I got to explore a lot of the Spanish culture and try some of their dishes. The environment there was great and after a quiz we went to watch the Spanish watch the football match. Since they won there was a big celebration and I felt everyone’s vibe was great.
Overall, Malaga has been one of the best places I’ve ever been to and going with the school made it better.
Priya W
Operations Wallacea Expedition
In July, 15 Year 11-13s embarked on the expedition of a lifetime to Honduras with Operation Wallacea. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing their adventures via diary entries and images.
Honduras 2026 Diary - Part 1
It feels surreal to finally be here in Honduras with Operation Wallacea. Before we left, we learned how Opwall started out in Indonesia back in 1995 and grew into this massive global research network, helping to publish hundreds of scientific papers. Knowing that the data we collect out here actually helps protect these habitats makes all the sweat and exhaustion worth it.
The journey to get here was a marathon. We flew from home via Miami before finally touching down in San Pedro Sula. The moment we stepped outside, the tropical air hit us like a wall, but our adventure started before we even left the city. Last night, we headed out to a local supermarket to top up on snacks for the jungle. While we were there, we ended up crowded into the delicatessen section around a big TV with a bunch of locals, watching the Swiss win on penalties. Everyone kept coming up to chat with us, and we were made to feel so incredibly welcome. Afterward, we had a brilliant group dinner at a local Mexican restaurant – the food was amazing, and it was the perfect, lovely end to our long journey.
This morning, it was time to venture high up into the cloud forest of Cusuco National Park. Getting to base camp was a complete adventure. We piled into a bus, then crammed into the back of open pick-up trucks to tackle incredibly rugged, steep dirt tracks. After a bumpy ride, we finished the journey with a "short-ish" but very steep hike into the dense forest to reach base camp.
We’ve just finished our first two days here, shadowing field scientists who are experts in different taxonomic groups. We’ve been living like real field researchers—spotting exotic lizards, trapping beetles, and running transects to count trees.
Tomorrow, things get even more intense. We are moving 10 kilometres deeper into the jungle to the remote Cantiles forest camp for a few days. There is absolutely no phone signal up there, so we are all bracing ourselves for a massive digital detox. We'll be sleeping in hammocks and swapping stories by the campfire each evening, completely cut off from the outside world.
Once our forest week is done, we get to head to the coast for week two to complete our PADI scuba dive training and work alongside marine biologists in the Caribbean. But for now, the phones are going off and the headtorches are coming on. Time to see what the jungle has in store for us!
House Competition
This week we held our annual Y7 egg and spoon house competition. Our new Y7 students were superb and so organised - love to see it!
Everyone contributed "Egg-sactly" as we had hoped, and were clearly very "Egg-cited". OK... I promised that's the end of the egg jokes from me.
However, seeing the students having fun, cheering each other on and never giving up is what it is all about! Everyone took part, including our wonderful tutors (they even wore their trainers for that extra bit of speed!).
What a team effort, well done to all involved, and a massive well-done to 7RH who took the coveted first prize – Year 7, a brilliant start to the year!
Miss Forbes
Senior Teacher, the House System
Extra-Curricular Drama
All drama activities begin next week:
Tuesday 2.45-3.30: Technical Theatre club in the drama studio- no sign up needed.
Tuesday 2.45-3.45: Year 9 drama Club in EN8 - no sign up needed
Wednesday: 2.45- 3.30 Drama Studio: Drama Club for the students who have already signed up.
The notice board next to the drama studio also offers more details of these clubs.
We are happy for students to try any of these out and understand that they may want to try something else so drop out. If this is the case, they should inform the teacher running the club, so their place can be offered to others on the waiting list. If your child is on the waiting list, they will be informed via their tutor when a place becomes available for Year 7 and 8 Drama Club.
In the acting club we will be having acting workshops around comedy theatre up to half term. Then we will start rehearsing for a selection of comedy scripts with a performance before Easter. This date is to be announced.
Ms Ayrey
Lead Teacher of Drama
PE News
It has been amazing to see so many students rushing down to the PE corridor at the end of the day to participate in our extra-curricular clubs and trials. We have had well over 100 students here each night taking part in football, basketball, rugby and cross-country. The atmosphere has been excellent.
A reminder that all clubs are free and there is no need to sign up. There are also open to everyone whether they are successful in making teams or not.
The amount of talent on show has been outstanding, and we are looking forward to another very successful year of sport when fixtures start next week.
We would like to congratulate three of our students, Ethan H, Tom B and Jim T, who represented the Durham Cricket Second Team in their 4-day match against Somerset. The match ended in a draw with Tom and Jim both scoring 50s in the second innings, Ethan and Jim taking wickets with their bowling and Ethan and Tom holding catches in the field.
All three boys were also part of the Durham Cricket U18s team that topped their County Championship North group for 3-day cricket following wins over Derbyshire and Leicestershire and draws with Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.
Finally, can I congratulate all of the 100 students who attended our Malaga sports trips at the end of last year. You can read some accounts earlier in the bulletin; their attitude and behaviour was exemplary throughout the visits. Everyone had an amazing time, and they received of many positive comments from staff and other visitors in the hotel.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin:
