2nd May 2025

Welcome to our weekly bulletin,

This might be a very short half term but it will be a very full one with the start of Year 11 exams, competitions and preparation for end of year celebrations and rewards. School reopens to students on Tuesday 6th next week. In our first week back we have been very busy...

Waiting for our ground breaking date to be confirmed.

Next term will give us the start of the building work and we can not wait to organise our breaking ground ceremony and tell you about the fabulous projects our building are going to include our students in.

Visiting Amazon as part of Careers Education

30 students in Year 10 have been working with the Department for Work and Pensions and have visited Amazon this week to learn more about this huge local employer.

Students reported that the visit had been extremely interesting and they saw how robotics and new technology are used within the twelve storey building and what career opportunities the company has to offer.

Thank you to Mr Talbot for organising this and to Amazon and the DWP for providing this opportunity.

Launching our latest ACCESS Offer

We want all students to leave our Academy as confident, ambitious and respectful individuals but have the skills, qualities and characters to succeed in life. In addition to our carefully constructed curriculum, we also offer a wide range of enrichment activities that we call 'ACCESS'. We expect all students to attend at least one 'ACCESS' session each week either at a lunchtime or after school as these additional experiences will give them access to all areas in the future. Please encourage your child to sign up if they have not already done so.

Recalling our values

Following on from our Tutor sessions before Easter, students have been reflecting on confident, ambitious and respectful they have been and what they can do in the next 11 weeks to secure end of year rewards.

Chasing up work experience forms

All Year 10 students are required to organise a work experience placement for the end of term. As you can imagine this is a huge logistical challenge and in order for all the relevant health and safety checks to be completed students must confirm their provider by handing their form (or ask for another one) to Mr Talbot. If your child is struggling to find a placement our staff are able to support but they must be proactive in completing their paperwork as this is part of preparation for adulthood.

Adapting to new routines

We have now changed our PE uniform policy to be inline with other schools in our Trust and Local Authority and students are expected to get changed before and after PE. This is common practice in all schools.

We recognise that this means they will have an additional bag to carry and based on parental feedback and a great idea from the school council, we can now offer a school PE kit bag for the cost of £3 via parent pay or in exchange for 300 achievement points via the student reception reward shop. The bags have a drawstring and are lightweight with plenty of room for trainers and PE Kit.

Please also be aware that most PE lessons will be outside during the lovely summer weather so students should wear sun cream and bring a water bottle. Durham Academy water bottles can also be purchased from the reward shop in exchange for achievement points.

2025 Exam Timetable TDF.docx.pdf

Preparing Year 11 for exams

This week has seen the last subject content lessons being delivered before exams begin in full swing next week. Every subject has a scheduled revision session prior to their exam and it is vital that all students attend every day and every session.

Please remember that your child is under a great deal of pressure and so will need all of our support. Making sure they have their uniform ready the night before and checking they have had breakfast will all help to settle nerves and displaying the attached timetable to keep track of each day will allow them to focus on their very important exams. If your child is a Young Carer and you have not let us know about this please ensure you contact the school reception so we can assist them further.

Increasing the number of reward points available to students every day

We believe in praise over criticism. We want all students to be rewarded for getting it right every day and so we have increased the number of reward points available to them. Rewards at the end of the year are purchased using reward points and so the more your child receives, the more activities they can take part in. Being ready to learn is the first way to receive rewards and Tutors complete an equipment check at the start of every day. The rewards shop is open from 8.15am so that students can buy equipment using points before being checked. For that reason, all students should be ready for learning. Please support your child by ensuring they have their chromebook (something other schools do not provide) and that it is fully charged or they have their charger. Please track your child's achievement and behaviour points via the class-charts app.

In addition to this, their other vital equipment can be seen below.