At Durrington High School, our vision is very simple:

“Going beyond our best through kindness, aspiration, perseverance and pride”

Our standards at Durrington are unapologetically high.  This is evident from the moment you walk onto our fantastic site and buildings.  We have the highest expectations of our students in terms of attendance, behaviour, uniform,  effort in lessons, engagement with extra-curricular activities and attainment.  Our expectations remain high for all students, irrespective of their background or whether they have an SEND.  These high expectations are reflected in our ambitious curriculum, which is aimed at building powerful knowledge across a range of subject areas.  Having these high expectations enables our teachers to teach effectively as lessons are calm, focused and purposeful. In turn, this means our students are able to learn and excel in their studies.  At Durrington, we understand that education opens doors.

So what does our vision mean to us?

• Going beyond our best – continuous improvement is incredibly important to us.  We celebrate the many successes of our students, and we will always encourage students to think about how they can develop further and strive for excellence in everything they do.  Getting better never stops!  The same is true for us as adults.  Everyone who works at Durrington is committed to getting better and better in their role, whatever that might be. Our students deserve no less.

• Kindness – as a community, we always show kindness to each other.  Our staff care deeply about our students and will go above and beyond to ensure they have the right support available to help them thrive.  Similarly, we expect our students to show the same level of kindness, care and compassion to each other each and every day.  We do this through our actions and our words.

• Aspiration – an important part of our role is to provide students with the confidence, knowledge and academic outcomes to achieve anything they put their mind to.  This is important for all of our students.  Whatever their career path, they should aim to be the absolute best at it.

• Perseverance – we understand that learning, like life, can sometimes present challenges. This is perfectly normal.  At Durrington our central aim is to support students to rise to meet the challenges that life can sometimes bring. The old saying of ‘if you’re not struggling you’re not learning’, is true, but we support students with this through careful scaffolding and helping them to self-regulate their own learning.  This then enables them to become truly successful learners, ready for the next step in their education.

• Pride – we want all students to feel a huge sense of pride in their school and themselves.  Pride in their uniform, their work, their school environment, their behaviour and their academic success.  By taking full advantage of everything Durrington has to offer, by the end of their five years with us, our students leave us full of confidence and proud of their own and others’ achievements.

So this is what it means to be a Durrington student – what we call ‘The Durrington Journey’. We expect the very best from and for every student who attends Durrington and every member of staff who works here.  By working together towards this vision, our students can go on a brilliant ‘Durrington Journey’ and achieve incredible things.  They make us proud every day.

Shaun Allison & Chris Woodcock

Co-Headteachers