DHS Fortnightly update – 10th February 2023

We have had a great start to 2023 and a very busy half term here at Durrington. Over the last two weeks year 9 have been learning more about the option choices available to them at KS4, and we have welcomed year 9 parents and carers to our options information evening. The year 11 parents and carers evening was well attended as we continue to work together to support students as they approach their final exams, and 220 year 10 students have enjoyed their first taste of work experience this week. Over the half term break 40 students will be visiting New York with the art department, and 100 students will be travelling to Austria to experience the thrills of skiing.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing students return refreshed and ready to learn after the half term break.

Shaun Allison & Chris Woodcock

Company news

This half term students have received a total of 668 KAPP awards! This includes 94 for Kindness, 170 for Aspiration, 318 for Perseverance and 86 for Pride. We have also given out 65 Seahorse awards with 49 bronze, 11 silver and 5 gold.

We are exceptionally proud of all our students and their continued hard work in and out of the classroom. At the beginning of next half term students are invited to bring a piece of work they are proud of into the LRA so we can photograph their achievements and share with the whole school community. This could be a piece of work they have done in school or something they have created at home, anything they are proud of and would like to share.

Department updates

Performing Arts

The Drama and Music departments have been working really hard this term with lots of exciting events coming up in March. Tickets for our school musical ‘Back to the 80s’ will be released after half term with students from all year groups enjoying rehearsals and learning classic 80s numbers like ‘Footloose’, ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and many more.

Our Dance Live team are also working incredibly hard in preparation for our competition in Eastbourne on 30^th March. The team are so supportive of one another and are rehearsing tirelessly every Friday to bring our version of ‘Countess Dracula’ to life. Tickets are available on the Dance Live website if you wish to come and support the school.

Mrs Isham – Director of Performing Arts

Citizenship

A group of year 11s have been working on their citizenship in action project and have designed an information leaflet on ‘Hidden disabilities and what we need to know’. This week they have distributed their leaflets to the Company teams who will share this information with their tutor groups.

To find out more follow the link here: Citizenship in Action campaign

Mrs Ward – Assistant Headteacher

Modern Foreign Languages

We have received some lovely letters from a group of French High School students and some of our year 7 and 8 students have been busy writing replies. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to practise their French reading and writing skills and to find out more about student life in France.

Mrs Cooper – Head of MFL

Computing

Another busy fortnight in the department.

The year 11 BTEC Digital IT students sat their final exam last week and they were all delighted that their hard work and revision had paid off and most said they really enjoyed the paper!

They now have their final controlled assessment to complete before the end of the course.

Year 9 students have been investigating the algorithms that computers use in searching and sorting data. The year 9s have also been talking about GCSE options and future careers with their teachers as we continue to educate the students of the role of Computers and Business in careers.

Year 8s are starting to put together their websites this week in class and they are looking really good. We have some future web designers in our students.

Our year 7s are learning how variables are used in programming as a way of storing data. They created their own step counters to record the number of steps they take and display this on the LED screens. Some students managed to add a tune once a set number of steps were reached.

We took a walk outside in the beautiful winter sun to test the step counters – students were testing if they recorded accurately, if they included stairs as steps, running and lastly if they could trick them into counting steps when they hadn’t moved.

We love using the micro:bits to bring programming to life, to solve real life problems.

Mrs Taylor – Director of Business and Computing

Huge congratulations to the U14 girls basketball team who are district champions after beating Shoreham 27-26 in the final. The game was really intense and the girls played fantastically! Player of the game was Harriet Hopson-Northam and opposition player of the match was Daisy Hopson-Northam. Well done to you all, a brilliant achievement!

Well done to the Y9 boys basketball team who reached the Southern Area Sport District Final! The boys played a great game against Bohunt with the final score Bohunt 44 – DHS 39. The whole team are a credit to our school and can be proud to be the runners up in the district.

Mr Pickford – Director of PE

Maths

A huge well done to our Scarlett Westlake, Scott Robinson and Lena Stanowska in year 8, Finn Mountifield in year 9, and Rozerin Bulut in year 10 who have all gained over 10,000 Maths Sparx XP points!

Mrs Buchanan – Maths Teacher

Extra curricular activities

New sports clubs for the Spring term 2023

Check out all the DHS extra-curricular activities on the link below.

Extra-curricular clubs at DHS

Trips and visits

Science Live at the Brighton Dome

We took a group of 50 year 10 students to Science Live at the Brighton Dome. It was a fantastic day and students were able to see and hear from some of Britain’s top scientists, they were also able to ask questions. The speakers were all really interesting and are all at the cutting edge of their field.

Students learnt about advances in computer science from a very passionate and enthusiastic Professor Dave Cliff. Dr Hannah Critchlow taught them about the fascinating world of neuroscience. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, the presenter of The Sky at Night, spoke to them about her life in science and the solar system. Professor Jim Al-Khalili, who has several series on the BBC, spoke to them about the prospects of time travel in the future.

They also had a talk from a lead examiner who gave them tips on answering science exam questions and how to prepare for their exams. It was a great day where students and staff learnt lots about the future of science.

Mrs Chan – Co-Director of Science

The Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award at Durrington High

We currently have a cohort of twenty-five Year 10 students working towards their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award, find out how they are getting on here: DHS DofE

The DHS Ski Trip 2023 & New York Art & Design trip 2023

140 DHS students are off on a trip of a lifetime during the half term week!

100 students depart today, Friday 10th February, to the Austrian ski resort at St Johann in Alpendorf, where they will spend a week in the mountains skiing and sledging.

Staff are also taking 40 art students across the pond to New York to discover American culture, art and sightseeing.

We are so grateful to our staff for providing these fabulous enrichment opportunities for our students, and we look forward to hearing all about it when they return.

Year 10 work experience week

After a 3-year absence we are delighted to welcome back our work experience programme. This week over 220 of our year 10 students have been out on work placements in our community. Placements this year have been provided by a wide range of employers including Waitrose, HMRC, Nationwide, David Lloyd and Ricardos. We have even had students out as far as Crawley and the Grand Hotel in Brighton. We are also grateful to so many of our local infant and junior schools who provide valuable insights for those interested in becoming the educators of the future.

A huge well done to all those who have taken part and a massive thank you to all the businesses who have supported them.

Year 10 Careers Day

On Friday 10^th February we welcomed over 30 volunteers from our business and career communities into school to get students thinking about their options after year 11 and beyond. Students will take part in a carousel of activities and workshops, ranging from a ‘What’s My Line’ style job game to mock interviews and workshops on Post 16 options. There will also be time to reflect on work experience and have a go at making their first CV on Xello, our school careers platform.

We look forward to reporting more about this event in the next fortnightly update!

Can you help?

STEM week recycling request

Our annual STEM week takes place at the end of March and the science team is busy preparing and needs your help. Donations of empty 2 litre plastic bottles and empty toilet/kitchen rolls are required and can be dropped off at reception.

Recruitment

Executive Assistant to Deputy Headteachers and School Administration Leader

We are looking to appoint a highly professional individual to provide confidential executive support to the Deputy Headteachers; and to plan, coordinate and manage the administrative support provided by the school main office team ensuring that the school runs smoothly and the needs of all stakeholders are met in a timely and efficient way.

Closing date: 9am Friday 17 February 2023

Cover Supervisor

To cover lessons for absent class teachers and company tutors, and to effectively communicate the work set by the class teacher to the students ensuring an excellent learning environment. To implement and uphold school rules and ethos, be an excellent role model for students and play an active part in school life working with students in a range of settings.

Closing date: 9am Friday 17 February 2023

If you feel that you can bring something special to our school and Trust, we want to hear from you now! Please complete the online application form and if you would like more information please email Aggie Gemel on agemel@durring.com