The Super-Curriculum
At Durrington we are proud of all the achievements and successes of students whether this is in performing arts, in sports or their academic endeavours.
The Durrington Super-Curriculum programme aims to take our students beyond the boundaries of their normal curriculum, exposing them to knowledge beyond their normal lessons and encouraging them to aspire to achieve the highest levels of academic success.
Our Super-Curriculum provision has multiple pathways that students can openly take part in and/or be invited to be a part of. Engaging in these pathways will help develop students love for their favourite subjects, gain greater insights into how our world works and show them the rewards that can come with hard work and perseverance.
Year 9-11 St John’s College Oxford Scholar’s Programme
We are very proud that Durrington is one of only approximately 30 schools in the southeast to have developed a strong working partnership with St John’s College Oxford as part of their Inspire Scholars Programme. Joining the Inspire Scholars Programme marks the beginning of a 3-year partnership with the University of Oxford which we hope will support our students in their academic endeavours, provide them with a wealth of extra-curricular opportunities and prepare them for life beyond Durrington.
Membership to the program group is by invite only, with approximately 30 of our highest attaining students in year 9, 10 and 11 having the opportunity to attend after school workshops designed by Oxford staff and led by Durrington teachers on a wealth of subjects. In addition, members of the program have the opportunity to attend virtual and face to face summer schools at the University of Oxford, take part in national critical thinking workshops, and have priority visits to the St John’s College to speak to current undergraduate students about university life.
To find out more about the activities and opportunities available to our Oxford Scholar’s please see the links below or visit the Inspire Scholars Programme webpage.
Year 7 Scholars Academy
The Scholars Academy Project is aimed at providing our highest achieving students in years 7 a series of enrichment sessions, activities and workshops across multiple subject areas allowing them to explore topics and develop skills beyond those in their normal curriculum. Membership of the project is by invite only and is based on student entry data and their start to their Durrington Journey that they make during the autumn term.
Year 7 scholars will attend half termly subject enrichment sessions, as well have specific careers guidance, opportunities to meet the school leadership and student leadership teams and additional support on how best to prepare/revise for secondary school assessments.
To find out more about the activities and opportunities available to our Year 7 Scholars Academy members please see the link below:
KS4 Platinum Academies
In years 10 and 11 between 40 and 60 of our highest performing students are invited to be part of our Platinum Academies. The Platinum Academies meet frequently during the year and are intended to support our KS4 students with the challenges of GCSE assessments, while also helping them to explore potential further education and career pathways. Many of the Platinum Academy sessions are run by former Durrington students, who come back to share their stories and provide advice on how best to prepare for life post Durrington. To see some examples of the kind of support and sessions on offer for our Platinum Academy students please see link below:
Winter and Summer Lecture Series
New to 2024 – 2025 is our Winter and Summer Lecture Series. The Winter Lecture Series is open to all staff and students in years 9 -11 and will be run by leading academics from local and national universities, talking on a range of specialism from world peace to the cosmos. The Summer Lecture Series will have a greater vocational focus and will be led to leaders from different employment sectors discussing how our students can best set themselves up to enter the careers they want in the future. For a taster of the kind of talks on offer as part of our winter 2024-25 Winter Lecture Series please see the flyer at the link below
