Durham High School
End of Week Newsletter
Issue 6 – 12 October 2024
Dear Parents
Last night we came together as our Durham High Community to dance the night away at a new event in our school calendar. Our fabulous Parents and Friends Association organised a Ceilidh. It was an absolute triumph of an evening with a first-class band and a fantastic hog roast. The vegetarian option went down a treat too. Thank you to Mrs Todd and Mrs Beattie for organising and to Ramside Hall Hotel for providing the wonderful food. It was wonderful to see the girls dancing with their friends and with their family members. I am hoping this becomes an annual event.
This week our Interact team have sold yellow ribbons to raise much needed funds for Young Minds. Thank you to everyone who supported ‘Hello Yellow’. On Monday, our Mental Health Prefect, Ruth and Deputy Head Girl, Amy, delivered an assembly to Senior Department on the importance of good mental health and the plethora of extra-curricular activities the girls can take part in each week, to aid positive mental health.
On Friday, Mrs Platt’s Lower Sixth Tutor Group, 12LP, delivered an assembly recognising and promoting the rights and well-being of girls worldwide as part of International Day of the Girl
Child. International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations. It promotes support for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide. This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced child marriage.
A number of our girls in Year 11 and Sixth Form have secured impressive results in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. It was my pleasure to present their certificates in assembly yesterday. Congratulations to all girls who received a certificate. Special congratulations to Chloe and Ruth who have been invited to take part in the next round, the Senior Kangaroo. Good luck when the time comes!
I have been delighted with how well our Pre-Prep and Prep girls have settled into their Lingotot French lessons with Lisa. Our Nursery and Reception girls are especially enjoying their French songs and games. It is wonderful that we have a Lingotot star each week too.
With best wishes
Year 9 Sport, Music and Performing Arts/Drama Scholarships
Pupils who joined Senior Department after the general entrance in the September of Scholarships are invited to apply for 13+ Sport, Music and Performing Arts/Drama Scholarships. The deadline for a
If you would like your daughter to be considered, please complete the Microsoft Forms
13+ Music, Drama and Performing Arts Scholarship Application Form
Parent Communication dated Wednesday 2
Visiting Actor Puts Sixth Form Students on the Stage
The English Department secured a workshop with Actor, Cristina Barreiro from Elysium Theatre, to enhance the learning of our A-level English Literature students’ study of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’.
On Monday 7th October, Cristina joined us in the Studio to deliver a dynamic and interactive workshop including reading and interpreting Shakespeare’s language and revising the relationships and power dynamics within this iconic tragedy. Students were actively involved in a range of activities including, identifying iambic pentameter and its purpose, heckling each other to hone in on specific themes and using gesticulations to bring the reading of lines to life!
It was a wonderful opportunity for lower and upper sixth students to blend their learning opportunities and see the play from an actor’s perspective. I am sure this will enhance our enjoyment of the live performance of Othello, by The Elysium Theatre, which we are going to see on the evening of Thursday 17th October at The Assembly Rooms, Durham.
Senior Department Swimming Successes
Congratulations to Milly in Year 7 who won gold in the 200m Freestyle at the Durham City Aquatics Gala and gold in the 50m breaststroke at the South Tyneside Gala
Megan in Year 9 won four medals at the Derwentside and Gateshead Autumn Gala last weekend. She achieved silver in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and bronze in the 50m and 100m butterfly.
Well done, girls!
Pre-Prep and Prep Successes
This week’s Pupils of the Week in Pre-Prep and Prep were:
Nursery: Phoebe for being brave and spending a full day in Nursery (and enjoying a lovely lunch!)
Reception: Layla for effort in completing her written tasks.
Y1&2: Jessica for super determination in learning her spellings at home.
Y3&4: Wren for outstanding contributions during our inference lesson on ‘The Tin Forest.’
Y5: Bea for being an incredible ambassador for the school when showing families around at the Open Day
Year 5 Black History Month
Y6: Shaan for listening carefully and producing a super piece of writing.
Mrs Hopper presented Lydia with a Headteacher’s Award for delivering her speech so confidently at last week’s Open Day.
Florence was this week’s Lingotot’s Star of the Week.
In addition, we also recognised the following out of school achievements: Cameron’s level 2 swimming award; Seren’s dancing trophies and Rose’s Brownie badges.
Year 5 have been learning about Rosa Parks for Black History month. In art, they are currently studying portraiture and exploring different mediums. The girls have created water colour portraits of Rosa Parks. A selection of the finished portraits are below:
Cross Country Competition
Last Friday afternoon our Y2 and Y3 girls had an exciting trip to Mowden Hall School to compete in their first Cross-Country competition. This event provided them with an opportunity to take part in a fun and enjoyable event and it was wonderful to see all our girls trying so hard. They were also brilliant at cheering each other on! Well done, girls!
On Saturday afternoon it was the turn of our U9, U11 and U13 teams. They raced on a more challenging course covering a range of terrains against girls from schools across the North East and Cumbria. Congratulations to all our girls and their super effort.
Year 7 Historians
Congratulations to some of our Year 7 Historians, who produced exceptional models and research on Norman Castles as part of a project. They clearly put an amazing amount of work and effort into their creations. Well done, girls!
Year 11 and Sixth Form Historians
On Friday morning, our Year 11 and Sixth Form Historians took part in a very rare opportunity- a Question and Answer session, putting their questions to a member of the House of Lords. What a fantastic experience for them.
School Gateway – New SMS Number
On 11 October, the number we use to send and receive text messages through School Gateway is changing from 01915807237 to 07507279610. If you have this number saved in your contacts, please save this new number and delete the old number from your contacts.
School Photographs
A reminder that the order deadline for free delivery to school is Sunday 13 October. Any orders placed after this date will be sent direct to home addresses and will incur postage and packaging costs.
If you have not received a proof card for any reason and would like to make an order, please contact Gillman & Soame quoting the name of the pupil and the security token: durhamhigh8v2agu2024.
• If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Gillman & Soame directly at enquiries@gillmanandsoame.co.uk or on 01869 328200.
Netball Camps
Netball Camps will be returning to Durham High School this October half term and is now open to pupils in Year 3 - Year 7. The camp will run on Tuesday 29th October 9:30- 3:30pm. The camp is open to all girls, those who attend Durham High School and girls who attend other schools too.
Activities will include games, group drills, individual player development, and plenty of match play. For more information and to book a place for your daughter, please email Netballcoachingcamps@gmail.com
