Dear Parents/Carers
We have had a wonderful start to the new school year. Many thanks to you, our parents and carers, for your continued support. We were all pleased to return to subjects being back in their areas, assemblies and all the usual activities that make our school special. Due to the dedication and expertise of our staff and the hard work and determination of our students we have had a half term full of success with much to celebrate.
We have been delighted to meet our fantastic year 7 students, the newest members of Team Durrington. They are a brilliant addition to our school and so many are taking advantage of all the opportunities available to them here at Durrington.They have already earnt 29 KAPP badges which indicates what a great start they have made.
The term got off to a fantastic start as we came together to take on the DHS Play Your Part challenge. This was the first event organised by our student leadership team and involved students walking ‘across the globe’ by way of completing 1km laps of the field. The event was a huge success and everyone played their part. We raised £488 for school eco initiatives, £244 for The Woodland Trust and collected hundreds of pairs of used trainers which have been distributed to the wider community.
This term we opened our doors to prospective students and their families, a much relished opportunity to showcase our incredible school. We are so proud of all the students involved in these open events, each one was a credit to you and us, and clearly showed our guests how special our school is.
It’s been a pleasure to welcome parents/carers back onto the school site this half term. Our careers team launched Project College and hosted an informative and inspiring careers event to help our year 11 students with decisions about their pathway after Durrington High. We were also delighted to welcome year 10 parents/carers to our GCSE support evening and hosted a celebration evening for current year 11 students and their families.
Students have enjoyed getting back to a full enrichment programme including maths club, science club, eco club, debate club and much more! Our sports teams have been competing in fixtures and are once again enjoying great success. Rehearsals are well underway for a Christmas performing arts celebration, Dance Live and the whole school musical. Alongside the many enrichment opportunities students have also enjoyed taking their learning outside of the classroom with trips to places such as Bletchley Park and The Better Business Show.
KAPP continues to grow and this half term marked a new milestone in our KAPP journey. The KAPP cup was awarded for the first time to the company that had earnt the most KAPP badges this half term. Congratulations to Coubertin who won the cup this half term. A special mention to year 8 student Bethany who became the first student to earn a silver seahorse. We know more students will be following suit and can’t wait to hand out more KAPP awards next term.
We are looking forward to building on these successes and have a busy and exciting half term planned. In the meantime we wish you a restful and enjoyable week.
Sue Marooney
Executive Headteacher/CEO DMAT
Chris Woodcock
Head of School
