We would like to sincerely thank pupils, staff and parents for their full engagement and participation in the recent ISI inspection. Your children are a credit to you, and the school, and we are so proud of how they represented themselves, and our community, this week.
The inspection report will be published in about 5-6 weeks and is confidential until then. We are, however, able to say that we are happy with both the process and the outcomes and look forward to sharing the full report with you before the end of term.
Scholars’ Concerts
It was a joy to be in the audience for two wonderful Scholars’ Concerts this week in The Studio, with an array of talents on display. We were treated to vocal and instrumental solos from pupils across Senior Department, as well as skilled performances in dance and drama too. A huge well done to all of the pupils that performed and our thanks to Mrs Lonsdale, Mrs Lawrence-Wills, Dr Hardy, Mr Bell and all the staff involved, for helping to ensure both evenings were a success.
Christmas Panto Tickets
The Parents and Friends have secured a discounted rate of £14 per ticket to this year’s Panto, Sleeping Beauty, at Gala Theatre Durham. The offer is open to the whole school community. The date is Friday 16 December, which is the last day of term and the performance is at 2pm. Please note the school day will finish as usual at 12:00noon and parents and students will need to make their own arrangements to get to the Gala. Tickets can be bought securely online here. The final order date is this Sunday, 16 October so if you are interested, please book as soon as possible.
INSET Day reminder
A reminder that pupils will break up for half term at the end of the day on Thursday 20 October, as staff will be taking part in an INSET training day on the Friday. Homework Club will run as normal on the Thursday.
World Mental Health Day
It was lovely to welcome award-winning Nutritional Therapist Christine Bailey into school on Monday, as part of World Mental Health Day 2022. Christine, who was brought in by our caterers Thomas Franks, led a whole school assembly on the link between nutrition and mental health, before she introduced the Nourish to Flourish programme to our Senior Department Mental Health Ambassadors.
She led sessions with Year 3 about eating well and Year 11 about Food for Mood and managing stress. Christine also took part in Year 9 and Sixth Form PE lessons, where she educated pupils about how food affects performance. There was also a smoothie bar set up in the Dining Room during Breakfast Club and at breaktime on the day, offering some delicious tasters to pupils.
Sport Update
It was a brilliant day for the U14 Hockey team at the Tier 2 Regional North Semi-Finals yesterday. Earlier this week, the U12, U13 and U14 Hockey teams also played friendly matches against Barnard Castle and the U18 team played Durham School.
Elsewhere, there were superb wins for the U15 and U13 Netball teams against St. Leonard’s this week. The competition was tough for the U14 and U12 teams, but they displayed positive attitudes and great effort.
Reports
A reminder that the latest pupil reports will be available for parents to view on School Gateway at the end of next week. They will be emailed to each individual parent and will also be available to view under ‘Reporting’ in the School Gateway app.
Communication over half term
There will be nobody monitoring telephone calls in school after 6pm on Thursday 20 October until we return after the holidays. If you have any reason for which you need to contact the school, please email [email protected], but please be aware that you may not receive a response before Monday 31 October. Thank you for your understanding.
