End of week bulletin – 18 November

A tremendous effort from Keira in Year 11 and Georgia in Year 13, who both competed at the Acrobatic Gymnastics British Championships last weekend.

Both girls finished in second place, bringing home silver medals.

Well done also to Kaitlyn and Darcie in Year 11, who were first at the GSR Dance Stage Event Competition over the weekend.

In Hockey, the U12 team continued to improve in their match against RGS and the U15’s narrowly lost to Dame Allans 1-0 in a very well contested game. In league Netball games against Durham Johnston, the U12 team lost and the U13 team won.

Finally, huge congratulations to the U18 Netball Team (right) who won the County Round of the National Schools’ Competition yesterday. They beat Durham School (17-1), Durham Johnston (17-9), Harton College (14-4), Whitburn Academy (15-6) and St Robert’s (30-2) and will now play in the Regional Round in January. Good luck to the U14 and U16 teams, who play in the competition on Saturday.

Christmas Fayre donations

We are excited for the upcoming Christmas Fayre, which will be taking place on Friday 25 November from 2pm – 4.30pm. We would be extremely grateful for any donations of tombola prizes, bottles, chocolates, new toiletries or beauty products, unwanted toys or gifts, or cakes, biscuits of savoury treats. Please bring any non-perishable donations into school on Monday 21 or Tuesday 22 November. Food donation should not be brought in until the day of the fayre.

In addition, if you are able to spare something or have a business which can provide a fantastic raffle prize or gift experience, this would also be gratefully received. These can be dropped into Main Reception. Thank you, as always, for your support and we hope to see you at the Christmas Fayre on 25 November.

Bin Bag Challenge for Children in Need

The Women of Art – Lecture

As part of our ongoing Artsmark journey and the generation of our curriculum in the Arts, we are keen to involve parents and families in the methodology behind our projects. We are committed to providing our students with a wide-ranging Arts curriculum that reflects the skills necessary for all career paths and our aim is to inspire them with the artistic context that shapes our creative world.

Mrs Sneddon-Brown, who is a lecturer on Art History outside of school time, will be holding another informal lecture on The Women of Art on Thursday 1 December in the Main Hall at 6pm. No prior knowledge of Art is needed and it is open to students, staff, parents or indeed anyone who may want to learn more about the history of art. We hope to see you there.

Guide to School Gateway

We have produced a parent guide for using School Gateway for giving consent, making payments and communicating with the school. The School Gateway app can be downloaded from your smartphone’s app store or accessed from www.schoolgateway.co.uk. All priority contacts can have their own School Gateway account, so more than one parent can sign up.

The guide shows you how to register your account and log on for the first time, how to give consent for a trip, how to make a payment and where to find the school calendar, food menus and extracurricular timetables. You can access the guide by clicking here.

Nine Lessons and Carols

This year, our Nine Lessons and Carols Service will take place in Durham Cathedral on Wednesday 14 December at 2.15pm and we warmly invite you to join us for this celebration. If you require assistance with accessibility, please let us know so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

The service will involve pupils from Year 3 – Year 13, who will be transported by coach to the venue. A reminder for parents to please complete the form on School Gateway by Friday 25 November to let us know whether your child is to be dismissed from the Cathedral or needs to return to school to access Homework Club or School Transport. This is so appropriate arrangements can be made.

In Pre-Prep, the school day will run as normal. After School Care will be available although there will be no extra-curricular activities. Please collect girls in Nursery-Year 2 as normal.