2 October 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is always lovely at this time of year to be able to show off our fantastic students through our Open Evenings. On Monday we welcomed large numbers of families at our Year 6 event, and I was so proud to hear the many compliments from our visitors about the brilliant tour guides and volunteers around the school. You can see some exciting highlights of of our subject showcases on our Instagram page. As we look forward to our Sixth Form Open Evening on 12th October, Mr Wilbraham has been speaking to some of our new Year 12s about their experience so far – you can read more below.
Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs McFadden
We have a new cohort of year 12 students, who been studying their A level subjects for around a month. I spoke to four students – all of whom are new to Durham Johnston, having studied at other schools for their GCSEs and asked them if there was anything they had noticed about their first four weeks of studies that I could share with parents.
Evie: Sixth Form gives me the opportunity for independence, to be myself, to express myself more freely than I did at Secondary school. I like the Sixth Form Area – it's an excellent social and learning space. Only two other people came to DJ from my school – and I'm pleased I've made a circle of friends, experiencing a fresh start with people from here and other schools. People appear kind and welcoming and there’s a sense of community. Year 12s seem willing to be friends with new people and the teachers are really helpful. I like the Sixth Form seating plans, created by teachers: to be near people you don’t know helps to encourage friendships and new people to speak with each lesson. The Sixth Form team have been very helpful in explaining the school to me and I’m learning new things, every day, about being a student here.
Loni: Students here aren’t scared of working hard – it’s a good atmosphere to mix with other students who want to do well with their education. People are friendly and aren’t scared of talking to each other – they’re confident! This is a good thing!
Charlotte: I've experienced a good balance of work and friendships. Group discussions in class help – it's refreshing to not just hear the teacher telling you things but you being encouraged, as a group, to share your own thinking. It’s nice, it helps you settle in, to learn and make friends.
Finn: It’s easy to integrate here. I was worried when I joined as I was the only student to come from my school. I really worried about making friends. However, it’s actually been easy and taken off a lot of the pressure associated with settling in. I was concerned about having to be a different version of myself to make friends, but I’ve found I can just be myself and meet nice people, really quickly. It’s also nice as some classrooms have air conditioning!
We have been speaking a lot with all of our students during these past four weeks about daring to be wise and the importance of them belonging to the school community. It is important for all students to be engaging fully in lessons and participating in the extra and super curricular opportunities on offer to them. In the past, when I’ve shared student voice about learners’ experiences of Durham Johnston’s Sixth Form specifically, there has always been a quote that resonated with me, that I return to again:
‘You share my ambitions.’
The comment itself seems very simple, yet it communicates so much about the potential experience of belonging and learning in our school. The student – who left us for university six years ago now – was clear in explaining to me what they meant: they felt their teachers shared the ambition for them that they had for themselves. In this case, it was leaving with the very best A levels in Maths and Science and studying Medicine at university. Her teachers were ‘on their side’, they wanted the best for them and would do everything they could to help them fulfil their academic and career ambitions. As a Sixth Form leader at the time, I was very proud to have heard a comment such as this. I was even more delighted for the teachers about whom the student was speaking, and even more importantly, it was fantastic for the student herself to have experienced exceptional academic preparation and help with university admissions, alongside excellent, personalised pastoral support to enable them to reach their goals. Daring to be wise is only possible if students feel that they belong, that their teachers care about them and want them to fulfil their personal, academic and career ambitions.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to social justice, in providing this academic ambition and pastoral care for all Durham Johnston's students.
Mr Wilbraham
Deputy Headteacher
Dates for your diary
A reminder of some upcoming events in school:
Wednesday 7th & Thursday 8th October
Nasal Flu Vaccinations
Monday 12th October
Sixth Form Open Evening, 5.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 14th October
Year 11 Mock Exams begin
Medical updates
First Aid and administration of medication
We try very hard to keep parents regularly informed about first-aid incidents and medication administration at school. To help make improvements in these areas, we have decided to use a service called Medical Tracker. Medical Tracker allows us to inform parents/carers of first aid incidents and medication administration by email; please be assured we will still continue to contact parent/carers by phone.
Medical Tracker will:
- Notify parents/carers immediately after a first-aid incident by email
- Notify parents/carers immediately after medication has been administered by email
Important – Email messages will be sent from donotreply@medicaltracker.co.uk Please add this address to your email address books (or approved sender list) to prevent messages from being blocked by your spam/junk filters.
Allergy Safety in School DfE 2026
Over the next term, nationally all adults working in educational settings are required to complete allergy/anaphylaxis awareness training and this training is underway in school. We have multiple AAIs available both in school and for residential trips.
Actions for parents:
To ensure we are able to support your child effectively in school, it is essential that all medical information we hold is accurate and up to date. If your child has an allergy or asthma care plan please ensure that this is shared with school. If there have been any changes to your child’s medical needs, please contact us via email at: djcsmedical@durhamjohnston.org.uk
If you would like to discuss any medical or dietary requirements, medical care plans, or consent for medication, please contact Mr Urwin (First Aid/Medical Coordinator) using the same email address.
Year 7 Library Access
We are pleased to announce that Year 7 students will be able to use the library from Monday 5th October. All Year 7 students will be issued with a barcode, which will be stuck into their planner, to allow them to scan out books from the library.
Students will be able to borrow one book at a time, with a loan period of three weeks. They can renew the loan, or return the book, by visiting the library. Students will be given an overdue reminder via their form tutor if the book is not returned by the given date, allowing for a further week for the return. If the book is not returned within five weeks of the initial issue date, we will presume the book is lost and a replacement charge of £5 will need to be made via ParentPay.
For your child to start borrowing books from the library, please agree to these borrowing terms via the form shared on Class Charts. Please also confirm whether you would like your child to read KS3 only or KS3 and KS4 books. For more information on KS3/KS4 books and content please see the letter linked below.
Miss Bailey
English Department
Surgical Masterclass
We were delighted to welcome back Mr Andy Burns, consultant Maxillofacial surgeon from Sunderland Royal Hospital, to visit some of our Sixth Formers this week. He addressed our prospective medics, vets and dentists and many more of our student body who were just interested to find out more about life as a surgeon in the NHS today. Andy shared his advice on medical careers, illustrated his surgical skills with thought-provoking case studies and gave an amazing insight into the world of modern medicine. Following this he led us through a hands-on surgical workshop teaching our students how to tie a surgical suture knot with forceps, needle and thread. All of our 40 students thoroughly enjoyed stitching up their pig-skin models with great skill. It was wonderful to see them so engaged learning their new skill and to hear their excellent questions and discussions with Andy.
Opportunities like this are so important at Durham Johnston, and go a long way to help inspire our young people and open their eyes to life beyond school. We all gained a better understanding of what it takes to literally save lives and put people back together in the operating table, and our healthcare hopefuls will have something to take to interviews in the future and a contact should they have any further questions.
Thanks to Andy Burns for his time, energy and enthusiasm and we look forward to welcoming him back soon.
Dr Jenkins
Science Department
Operation Wallacea Expedition
In July, 15 Year 11-13s embarked on the expedition of a lifetime to Honduras with Operation Wallacea. Here’s the final instalment of their expedition diary.
Honduras 2026 Diary - Part 3
Diary Part 4
The final leg of our adventure begins with a check dive to ensure we can all remember the scuba skills we learnt before leaving the UK. Two of our team are doing the whole PADI course and thankfully complete it by the end of the week. The dive centre in Utila is right on the jetty and we are all very well looked after by the OPWAL staff and dive masters.
The typical day is an early start: load up the gear onto the boat, have a dive briefing with our dive master, and then head out to one of the spectacular Mesoamerican reef. Dropping beneath the surface, we are instantly greeted by an alien landscape of Elkhorn and Staghorn corals, alongside boulders of brain coral and gently swaying purple sea fans; you can sometime spot a beautiful Flamingo Tongue invertebrate on these.
We return for lunch and a lecture on the OPWAL coral reef ecology course, then head out for the second dive of the day. We have seen a huge array of fish, coral, and some truly unusual invertebrates. We often spot Blue Tangs and Creole Wrasse across the reef edges, and vivid colourful Parrotfish crunching loudly on the coral rock and literally making sand. We've seen elegant French Angelfish gliding in pairs and school of Sergeant Majors darting through the water. Looking closely on the tops of corals you can see Christmas Tree worms that vanish into their tubes as you brush past them.
Sadly, there are no sharks spotted – sad because it is a sign that many Caribbean reefs are overfished today. Later in the week, we took part in a Coral Watch survey – an international initiative to monitor coral health, inspecting the majestic Boulder Star corals and branching species for signs of bleaching or disease.
We also have a chance to explore the island of Utila a little and find an amazing Caribbean community with roots in the British Empire. Today, while Spanish is widely spoken due to mainland migration, English remains a primary language for the original islanders. The relaxed Caribbean atmosphere, the colonial-style wooden architecture over the water, and the diverse community are all direct descendants of its unique and short British colonial history.
Utila is a complete contrast to the forest week on the mainland: proper toilets and showers, more food, shops, more sun, time to swim and relax, and thankfully less hill walking. At the end of the week, we say farewell to the OPWAL staff and our hosts on Utila to catch the ferry and then fly back home.
It has been an amazing adventure and more than just a scientific expedition, we have discovered so much about Honduras, its people and ourselves. It has put our students out of their comfort zone, taught them new skills and given them the confidence to travel, meet new people and see the world.
PE News
On Monday our VIth Form boys’ football team hosted St Bede's in the National Cup. We dominated possession but missed several chances. The game looked to be heading for extra time before a goal from St Bede's with the last kick of the game saw us lose 2-1. James O scored our goal, but Harry C was POM.
Boys’ football continued on Tuesday as we hosted Whitworth in league games. Our Year 7s played some outstanding football scoring 5 first half goals. We continued to control the game eventually winning 8-0. We had 7 different scorers with joint POMs Hugh R and Owen P. It was also a straightforward victory for our Year 8 team who dominated the game winning 12-3 with 4 goals for POM Blake I and Isaac G. Arlo N also scored a hattrick. Our Year 9 team suffered the only defeat of the night as we lost 5-3 despite leading 3-2 with 20 minutes to go. They punished us for missing too many chances. POM was Euan P. Our Year 10 team also had a comfortable double figure victory to remain unbeaten in the league.
The first netball games of the season also took place on Tuesday as our Year 8 & 10 teams hosted Consett Academy. Our Year 8s were too strong for them eventually winning 17-1 with Elsie J voted POM. The Year 10 game was closer, but we lost 24-14 after an excellent second half shooting performance from Consett. POM was Beth G.
On Wednesday we hosted the Area U19 netball tournament. It was an excellent afternoon of high-quality netball played in perfect conditions. We never gave up but struggled against some very strong opposition eventually finishing in 4th place. Captain Zia C was our POT.
Also on Wednesday, our Year 10 boys’ football team hosted Mortimer in the National Cup. It was another outstanding performance by this team as we progressed to the second round with a 4-0 victory.
Yesterday our Junior, Inter and Senior boys’ and girls’ swimming teams were in Sunderland for the regional round of the English Schools Team Championships. All of our teams produced outstanding performances against some of the best schools in the north-east and Yorkshire. We are hopeful that some of the teams will have qualified for the National Finals which take place in November, but we are still waiting for official confirmation.
Also yesterday, our Year 9 boys’ football team hosted High Tunstall in the English Schools Cup. We conceded the first goal but then got back into the game equalising with a well taken Fraser C goal. We then missed several chances to take the lead before they got back on top eventually winning 5-1, a harsh reflection on our hard work and performance. Joint POMs were Archie B and Thom B.
Good luck tonight to our Year 8 boys’ football team who are taking on Carmel in the county cup.
Finally, good luck to 18 of our runners who are travelling to Sedbergh School on Sunday to compete in the English Schools Fell running championships.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin: