6 February 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
One of the best parts of my day is lunchtime duty. There is something wonderful about being completely immersed in the weekday whirlwind of the atrium and the yard that reminds me why schools are such brilliant places to be.
My week started strong with second lunch on Monday. The highlight was checking in with a Year 10 student who I’d been told by several teachers had really turned things around, and been working hard in lessons. It was one of those lovely moments where he tried his best to play it cool, but you could see the flicker of pride underneath. He was genuinely pleased that his teachers had noticed the change, and even more so that they had taken the time to pass it on.
On Tuesday, it was second lunch again and I had a great time reviewing the delicious dishes created by our Year 11 students in their GCSE Food practical exam. One student casually said, “I think it went well, Miss. I just made Mongolian Beef, Lime Sriracha and Peanut Butter skewers, and a couple of fresh fruit and crème anglaise shortcrust pastry tarts.” “Just…” I thought! The other dishes were just as impressive. I tell you; M&S wouldn’t have had a look in on the gourmet delights and culinary masterpieces produced in Food 2 that morning! I hope some of them made it home for you to taste...
Wednesday was the infamous ‘chip day’, the busiest lunchtime of the week. Most of my time was spent sorting the queues, and there were a plethora of excellent micro interactions with lots of different students from different year groups – ranging from trying to charm their way to the front of the line (they didn’t succeed), to regaling me with tales of lost hair brushes (Year 10 boys are very into sweeping fringes at the moment). Forty-five minutes flew by filled with lots of little moments that made me smile and chuckle.
Thursday, I wasn’t on duty, and instead at lunchtime I found myself working through maths past papers with some Year 11 students in preparation for their mocks next week. I know what you are thinking: it doesn’t get much better than that. And honestly, for a maths teacher, it really doesn’t! Not quite the high-octane experience of a lunchtime on the yard or in the atrium, but a different kind of joy all the same.
And finally, Friday, the only day of the week I am on first lunch with Year 7 and 8. I spent most of the time strolling around the yard baffled by how much energy they all still had. I watched some highly competitive four-square games, helped search for a lost ball in the trees at the back and opened the gate what felt like a million times for all the balls that went under it. I also got to chat to some Year 8 students who wanted to tell me how much fun the Urban Games night was and how brilliant the Sixth Formers had been at hide and seek. What a fantastic way to end the week.
Every lunchtime duty is the same but also different, and therein lies the beauty. Everything I have written probably seems very ordinary, but it is these small, very real moments that emphasise to me how special our students are, and their ability to brighten the most ordinary part of my day.
And that is why duty really is one of the best parts of my job.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs McFadden
Access to the School Car Park
A reminder that we are changing the system for those parents and carers who have car park passes to collect students from the school site. After half term, students should be collected at 3:00 pm when the site is quieter in order to keep our school site as safe as possible. The students may wait in the atrium until this time. This change will begin from Monday 2nd March 2026 and new parking permits will be issued. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work together to keep our school community safe. We would like to remind you that parents and carers without permits should not be driving on to the school site at the end of the usual school day.
SEND Clinics
We are holding a SEND clinic Friday 6th March 9.30-11am with the theme of neurodiversity.
Parents/carers or family members are invited to come into school to find out more about the neurodevelopmental pathway process, the needs-led support offer and to talk to staff about any concerns or queries you may have about your child. Alongside school staff, Liz Jackson from the Communication and Interaction Team will be available to answer questions you may have. If you would like to attend, please come in at any time between 9.30-11am; there is no need to book. If you do have any questions prior to the SEND Clinic please email learningsupport@durhamjohnston.org.uk.
We look forward to welcoming you into school.
National Storytelling Event
On Tuesday 3rd February, Year 8 took part in a live online event for National Storytelling Week, where they soundtracked their story with Jeffrey Boakye. The theme for National Storytelling Week 2026 was “Soundtrack Your Story”. Research from the National Literacy Trust highlights that exploring stories through lyrics can be an effective way to re-engage young people with reading for enjoyment and writing for pleasure. Slightly more than 3 in 5 (60.7%) children and young people age 8-18 regularly read song lyrics digitally. Writing song lyrics is also popular among children and young people age 8-18, with slightly fewer than 1 in 5 (17.8%) reporting that they write lyrics on a screen at least once a month.
8P English classes took part in the live event, with 8Q watching the recording of it the next day. The event was interactive and included tips on writing, music, rapping, rhyme and poetry.
English Department
Music Notices
On Thursday afternoon Senior Choir undertook their first rehearsal with visiting professionals from the Gabrieli organisation. This is leading towards a showcase performance next Thursday evening at the Cathedral of Vivaldi's Gloria. The senior choir will join with teenagers from across the North-East the form the chorus, and Gabrieli’s professional singers and orchestra Gabrieli orchestra will provide a world class accompaniment.
Next Wednesday renowned conductor Paul McCreesh, and the founder of the Gabrieli choir, orchestra and youth choral project, will work with the choir in preparation for Thursday's performance.
It will come as no surprise for you to hear that the visiting choral specialists from London were deeply impressed with our young singers. We are all looking forward to a very exciting performance next Thursday.
If you would like to hear what we hope will be the first of many very special musical events working with the Gabrieli organisation, tickets are available from the Cathedral website at this link.
Mr Haworth
Subject Leader for Music
PE News
Last Sunday our U19 netball team were at Sports Central, Newcastle competing in the regional netball finals. The best 8 schools in the North East gathered for an outstanding day of high quality netball. We started with a comfortable 15-6 victory against Ponteland High before gaining an excellent 18-11 victory against a very strong Yarm team. We lost to the eventual winners Bede VIth Form Academy, meaning we needed to defeat RGS in our final game to finish runners up and therefore qualify for the national finals. The result was never in doubt as we secured a 16-8 win. We now travel to Sheffield on Saturday 14th March to represent the north-east in the National finals.
On Tuesday our Year 7 netball teams were at Maiden Castle taking part in the Area Tournament. After a great afternoon of netball our A team finished runners-up after losing only 1 game to the eventual winners from Durham High. Our B team also did very well, finishing in 5th place - ahead of many A teams. Elodie VW was POT.
Our U13 girls’ cricket team were also in action on Tuesday, at the Beacon of Light for the County Tournament. We played some great cricket, winning all of our games to reach the final where we faced Macmillan College. They just edged a close game as we had to settle for runners-up.
Finally on Tuesday, our U13 boys’ handball team were at Hermitage School for the County Tournament. We started with an excellent 8-4 victory against High Tunstall. We also beat Hurworth but finished runners-up after losing the final game to Hermitage. POT was Roan P.
On Wednesday the weather caused the postponement of the Year 10 cup football match at Whickham. However, our VIth Form boys’ football team did play as we hosted St Joseph's in the league. We dominated the game winning 6-2 with 2 goals from Dom W and 4 from POM Cole C.
It was not such good news for the VIth Form team on Thursday as we played Framwellgate in the cup. We dominated possession and were 2-0 ahead in the second half. However, we let them back into the game as they levelled at 2-2 to force penalties. Our penalty curse stuck again as we lost the shoot-out.
It was the turn of our U15 boys’ handball team to receive some expert coaching from the Durham Uni team this morning. A great experience for them, and excellent preparation for their County Tournament in two weeks’ time.
Good luck tomorrow to around 20 of our cross-country runners who are making the journey to Sedbergh School, Cumbria to represent the county at the Northern Schools Inter County Championships. We will hopefully bring news of their success next week.
Finally, can I remind anyone going on the sports trips to Malaga this summer that the second instalment is due today. Thank you to those who have already paid.
Mr Hopper
Subject Leader for PE
A reminder of our weekly sports bulletin:
