8 May 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
A member of staff mentioned to me today that there are 70 days left until the end of the school year, and it got me thinking, what can you achieve in 70 days? For a Year 7, it’s almost 2% of their entire life so far — which suddenly makes it feel like a surprisingly generous stretch of time. 70 days is long enough to learn something new, build a habit, finish a project, or set yourself a challenge.
It could be that today a Year 7 decides to pick up a guitar. In just 10 days, they could learn 3–5 chords;, that’s enough to play dozens of songs. Or perhaps a Year 8 is inspired by our 8 before Year 8 challenge and decides to read more: if they read one book every eight or nine days, they could have completed the challenge by the end of term! Perhaps a Year 9 is an avid writer; if they chose to write just 200 words a day, they could have 14,000 words – the beginnings of a novella, a short story collection, or the first chapters of a future bestseller.
Seventy days is also long enough to change a body as well as a mind. The popular Couch to 5K programme takes 63 days, so by the end of term a student could run a full 5K without stopping. They could learn to touch type in under a month, juggle three balls in a fortnight, or finally crack the mystery of the Rubik’s Cube in two to four weeks.
Even small daily habits can start to add up. Saving £1 a day becomes £70; saving £2 becomes £140. Perhaps there’s a new pair of headphones or a new pair of trainers they have their eye on? A 70 day “famous language app” streak could introduce them to the foundations of Spanish, French, or Japanese – around 300–500 new words, enough to hold simple conversations. Said famous app can also be used to learn or improve your chess game, a fantastic way to sharpen your memory and strategy. And if they planted a sunflower seed this week, it could be taller than them by the time we reach July.
When you start adding these possibilities together, the picture becomes almost magical. In 70 days, a young person could run a 5K, complete the 8 before Year 8 challenge, learn to play the guitar, cook five new meals, grow a sunflower, write a novella, learn 300 new words in a language, master a new skill, and save £70–£140. That’s not just a school term, that’s a transformation.
Perhaps you might set a 70-day challenge as a family; a shared project, a new skill, or simply just spending more time together. Whatever you decide, I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Mrs McFadden
Year 10 Virtual Parents’ Evening
We are holding a Parents’ Evening via video conferencing software for Year 10 on Monday 18th May, between 3.30pm and 6.30pm. The software we use is provided by SchoolCloud and you will be able to register and make appointments using this link:
To register and to make an appointment you will need the following information:
- Your title, as held on the school system – i.e. Miss, Ms, Mrs, Mr, Dr, etc…
- Your surname, as held on the school system.
- The date of birth of your child.
The appointment system will be accessible from Monday 11th May and will close at 12.00pm on Thursday 14th May. We will send reminders via SchoolCloud to you of these times when bookings open and during the booking period if you haven’t made appointments.
One person should make the appointments but can then invite others if, for example, two parents or carers are not in the same physical location.
You can join the parents’ evening on any internet enabled device, for example a smartphone, tablet or computer. You can find out how to make and attend appointments via video call by following this link. Where possible we would advise people to use the latest browser and operating system on their device.
Appoints will be 4 minutes in length and you will be able to speak with one of the teachers of your child for the majority of their subjects.
Durham Johnston Public Lecture Series
Following Mrs Bothwell's popular and prescient first lecture on what Athenian democracy can teach us about compromise and agreement, Mr Sutcliffe fascinated and baffled staff and students with his lecture on the maths of knots in the second of our series. Last week, we learnt how to mathematically define, identify and manipulate knots. Some were tied in knots while drawing knots...!
Mr Patterson
Associate Assistant Headteacher
PE News
Last Friday our Year 7 boys’ cricket team had an excellent victory in a friendly against Castleview School. POM was Xander B for an excellent batting and bowling performance.
Also on Friday evening, our Year 10 boys’ football team were at Maiden Castle taking on St Bede's in the County Cup. This was an excellent match between two very strong teams. We were 2-1 behind at half-time but couldn't find an equaliser in the second half eventually losing 3-1. POM was every player for their hard work, resilience and positive attitude.
On Tuesday our VIth Form boys’ basketball team played their final school game as we hosted Emmanuel College in a friendly. It was a great way for our Year 13s to finish their school basketball career as we won 74-36.
Also on Tuesday, our Year 7 boys’ football team played Wolsingham in the League Cup semi-final. The score was 1-1 at half time but Wolsingham started the second half strongly and took control of the game eventually winning 5-2. POM was Elliott K.
On Wednesday our Year 8 boys’ football team played Whitworth in the League Cup final. It was a similar story to the Year 7 game as we missed several chances in the second half eventually losing 4-2. Joint POMs were Noah W and Scarlett G.
The Year 10 boys’ football team bounced back from their County Cup defeat as they won 4-0 against Wolsingham in the Ben Potts semi-final. Joint POMs were Cameron O and OT.
Yesterday our Junior and Inter athletics teams were at Monkton Stadium competing in the county round of the English Schools Cup. 14 schools gathered for an outstanding day of high-quality athletics. Every member of our teams gave 100% and we achieved excellent results. Our Junior and Inter boys both won the competition and our girls’ teams both finished second. We were the best school overall. We are now waiting for official confirmation that all of our teams have qualified for the regional final which takes place in York on 17th June.
Also yesterday, our Year 7 boys’ football team were at Meadowfield facing Whickham in the Tyneside Schools final. We lead 1-0 at half-time but this time we produced an outstanding second half performance going on to become champions with a 6-0 victory. Joint POMs were Elliott K and Arlo N.
Finally, to complete a busy day our Year 9 boys’ football team hosted Ferryhill in the league cup semi-final. This was a straightforward victory as we dominated the game reaching the final with a comfortable win.
Good luck today to our U18 boys’ cricket team who are at Chester-Le-Street playing Parkview in the northeast final of the English Schools Cup. A victory would put us into the last 16 schools in the country
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin: