16th May 2025

Welcome to our weekly bulletin,

Our exams are now in full swing and Year 11 have been excellent. We fully understand the intensity of the exam season and they have handled the first week with a calm ambition to succeed. Please make sure they are fully prepared for next week and balance revision with relaxation over the weekend. The rest of the school have been highly respectful, walking past exam areas quietly and considerately. We have also had some VERY exciting news this week so read on and see how busy we have been...

Waiting in anticipation for final checks and planning

We are now into final preparations and planning and we can not wait to show you more details when they are available.

Getting ready to be part of Lumiere again!

Some of you will remember that our students had the privilege of working with artists and designers as part of the Lumiere festival a few years ago.

The theme was around student voice and our then Year 10 cohort produced some absolutely amazing neon artwork expressing their experiences of life post COVID and lockdowns, exhibiting their work in Silver Street next to commissioned artists. We were so very proud of them ands we are now absolutely delighted to inform you that we will be working with Artichoke again!

Our students will get to work with engineers, artists and technicians to produce pieces of art that will be seen and talked about by thousands of people.

We know this will be a life long learning opportunity and we will update you on their progress leading up to Lumiere 25.

This is yet another unique experience for Durham Academy students and one that absolutely demonstrates our commitment to developing confident, ambitious and respectful citizens who really make a difference to the community they live in.

Thank you Artichoke and ThisisEngineering!

Behind the magic of #LumiereDurham… is engineering!

Did you know that Lumiere is made possible by the work of talented engineers and technicians behind the scenes?

Thanks to funding from @ThisIsEngineering through the #RAEngIngenious programme, we are working with Kromek and @Durham University on Bright Ideas, a new programme designed to raise awareness of the hidden engineering behind Lumiere.

With funding from Ingenious, young people from @durham_acad will co-create a brand new light artwork for Lumiere Durham 2025 with artists & engineers.

We're proud to be part of the 19th Round of #RAEngIngenious – and excited to see what the other 15 brilliant orgs create too!

Celebrating genius

Dr Atwal has been extremely excited this week and sharing a huge congratulations to Lily and Wan for their outstanding achievements in the Year 9 Next Level Genius Challenge! Both students completed an Interview Challenge, showcasing their vision for their dream jobs and strong interview and writing skills, alongside their innovative ideas in the Business Innovation Challenge on using AI to solve complex problems. Both students truly showed their ambition and creativity. Lily and Wan have both earned £40 Amazon vouchers as a well-deserved reward for their hard work and ingenuity. A thank you must also go to Dr Atwal as without her tireless dedication to STEM our students would not experience these fantastic opportunities.

Listening to our students

Our students have adapted extremely well to the changing before and after PE and uniform in lessons and around school has improved.

Our school council have asked whether it is possible for students who have PE at the end of the day to remain in their full PE kit rather than getting changed again and they shared their proposal with the Senior Leadership Team this morning. They proposed that providing that students change quickly and sensibly during the day and they are in full DUA PE kit, they be allowed to remain in it for the journey home.

Given how sensible the students have been adjusting to our new routine, the Senior Leadership Team agreed that this is a reasonable request and providing they are in the correct and full PE kit, students who have PE period 5, may now wear it to go home.

Please remember that students can purchase a DUA PE kit bag for £3 or in exchange for achievement points if they do not have room in their school equipment bag. Please also check that your child's uniform is clearly labelled with their name.

Carrying out risk assessments for work experience

Our ALP Careers Advisor has been carrying out the relevant checks in preparation for Year 10 work experience this week and we still have a small number of students who have not submitted their forms. If your child is one of them or you can offer a work experience placement for a child who may be struggling to find one, please let us know.

Promoting excellent attendance

Mr Kenmure's Tutor group takes the top spot for the second week running with 99% attendance , closely followed by Miss Burke's 98%.

If your child's attendance is not 96% or better they are at a disadvantage and will have gaps in learning that they will need to fill. This can all improve during the summer term when there are fewer illnesses.

All schools have a legal responsibility to ensure that students on roll are safe if they have not arrived at school and so if your child is absent, we will be checking up on their wellbeing.

If your child's attendance continues to fall below the required number of days in school we have no option but to follow the legal process.

Well done to all students who have good attendnace or who have really improved their attendance this term- you will be rewarded for your excellence.