This half term is always extremely busy, with many events in the build-up to Christmas. Below you will find just some of the key upcoming dates, with further details to follow. For more information on what is happening in school, please remember to visit the calendar on our website, which is updated regularly.
Wednesday 9 November Sixth Form Taster Day
Friday 11 November 16+ Scholarships Exams
Friday 18 November Children in Need (Non-Uniform Day)
Saturday 19 November Open Day
Friday 25 November Christmas Fayre
Thursday 1 December Women of Art Lecture
Friday 2 December Year 5 Christmas Performance at St Oswald’s
Monday 5 December Year 3 Christmas Performance
Tuesday 6 December Year 4 Christmas Performance
Wednesday 7 December Year 6 Christmas Performance
Wednesday 7 December Senior Department Christmas Concert
Thursday 8 December Pre-Prep Christmas Performance
Friday 9 December Christmas Lunch
Wednesday 14 December Nine Lessons and Carols at Durham Cathedral
Thursday 15 December Pre-Prep and Prep Santa Dash
Friday 16 December End of Term at 12noon
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 December. 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.
Charity House Christmas Competition
Feeding Families are in need of some help collecting wrapped sweets for their Christmas Hampers. Feeding Families is a North East charity that offers support to those in the region experiencing food poverty.
We are hosting a House competition to help and support this fantastic cause. We are asking pupils to please bring in donations of wrapped sweets (nut-free) and take them to their House box in the Main Hall
by Monday 28 November. Good luck!
Sport Update
Last weekend Georgia and Keira competed in the South Tyneside International Acrobatics Cup. Keira and her partner came 1st in the W11-16 pairs category and Georgia’s trio came first in their W12-18 category. Huge congratulation to both Keira and Georgia.
In school sport, the U18 Netball team played against RGS in the 3rd round of the Independent Schools’ Netball Cup on Monday. It was a really exciting and intense game which we won 29 – 27. Good luck to the team in the next round.
The U18 Hockey friendly against Barnard Castle on Wednesday was a great game, finishing with a 3-0 victory for Durham High School. Well done to the girls in Year 11 and the Sixth who played.
The U12 and U13 Netball team played in league matches against Park View on Wednesday. Despite making huge improvements throughout the game the U12 team lost. However, the U13 team dominated the court and won 32–0.
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.
Politics discussion with Lord Mann
Year 12 and Year 13 Politics students enjoyed a live Q&A session with Baron Mann of Holbeck this morning. The online opportunity is part of the UK Parliament’s Learn with the Lords programme, which aims to help young people develop their understanding of the vital role of the House of Lords. The students questioned Lord Mann about his work as a crossbench peer and other topical issues.
Durham Youth Council
A number of DHS pupils have been successful in their applications for the County Durham Youth Council. Congratulations to Maanashi in Year 8; Darcie, Chloe and Yasmeen in Year 10; Selina in Year 11 and Chloe in Year 12. Darcie is also an elected member of the UK Youth Parliament, who have been meeting today in the House of Commons in Westminster.
