Students from Polam Hall School in Darlington have been using their linguistic skills to promote businesses in the Tees Valley as part of an educational exercise, designed to show the importance of learning foreign languages.

Pupils took part in the ‘Eurolinks’ project, organised by the Polam Hall languages department alongside the Routes into Languages North East Consortium and supported by students from Newcastle University.

For part of the event, students were asked to imagine themselves as an employee of a company seeking to promote the North East region at an international trade fair, using their language skills to promote the products of local businesses.

The students were also asked to receive and deal with a telephone enquiry from a European company interested in exploring the possibilities of future investment in Darlington.

Local business owners were also involved in the Eurolinks event asking the pupils to use their skills to create product advertisements for their businesses in different languages.

Involved in the event were staff from The Bannatyne Hotel Darlington, who allowed the school to use the conference facilities, Durham University, Wood Pohl, Cooks and Kitchens, HSBC Bank, and Catherine Hart Millinery.

Christine Harvey, Head of Modern Languages at Polam Hall School said: “Foreign languages play an extremely important part in education as they can open the door to many future opportunities.

“Eurolinks is a fantastic event, which showcases the knowledge of our pupils and the involvement of local businesses helps to highlight the increasing need for linguistic education.

“I would like to thank all those who were involved in making Eurolinks such a fantastic event.”

Support for the event also came from Darlington Tourist Information Office who provided the materials.

Polam Hall has joined forces with four students from the University of Durham’s Geology Department.

Their remit is to produce an interactive Geological Walk around Darlington Town Centre. At the initial meeting several girls from M5 and L6 had a brainstorming session and provided some innovative ideas which the Geology students took away to develop.

Rock investigations

Within six weeks the four intrepid geologists returned to trial their practical ideas with a group of U4 students (year 8, KS3). Now all that remains is for the self-guiding pamphlet to be produced and then the M5 and L6 students will take to the streets of Darlington to “road test” it prior to publication.

Copies of the Walk will be located in Darlington Library and the Tourist Information Centre where it can be accessed by anyone wanting to discover a little of Darlington’s geological history.

Perhaps this brief article will inspire you to rock in the streets of Darlington!

Polam Hall School has introduced a new and motivating teaching method to its Junior School, which moves away from a rigid, prescriptive curriculum and promotes learning through creativity, using the children’s curiosity as the stimulus.

The creative curriculum ethos at Polam Hall is helping pupils to understand core subjects by using exciting and interesting ways to get messages across.

It changes the way in which subjects such as Maths, English, History, and Science are taught to pupils of a younger age, by turning the classroom into an interactive learning space.

Children are still taught the important requirements of the national curriculum, but the way in which the creative curriculum is taught helps them to get inside their own education and become part of the lesson.

The new creative curriculum method has been used to give children a ‘taste of the Orient’ in time for this month’s Chinese New Year. Instead of opening a book about Chinese culture, the school has been using its cross-cultural strengths and inspirational learning to educate younger pupils.

This has meant that children have been making Willow Plates, releasing Chinese lanterns, having a Chinese lunch with chopsticks, and getting their faces painted by Sixth Form pupils from China.

Polam Hall is helping its pupils to think creatively and allowing them to take the lead in interactive lessons, which are aimed at putting a twist on the national curriculum.

Parents have been extremely supportive of the creative curriculum concept, which Polam Hall is spearheading across the Tees Valley.

Angela Foster, Headmistress at Polam Hall Junior School, said: “The inclusion of a creative curriculum means that education is changing from the rigidity of the prescriptive national curriculum, to inspiration, engagement and empowerment.

“Our pupils are using their skills to get more out of their own education and boost their knowledge.

“They are learning about foreign lands, their environment, and historical figures by thinking ‘outside the box’ and taking the lead in their lessons.

“Attending Polam Hall School is fun for both staff and pupils, which is how a learning environment should be.”

After months of deliberation and discussion, the Governors are proposing that Polam Hall would become a Diamond Model School from September 2010. At the same time, the governing body of Hurworth House School were also considering their school’s future direction. Following sensitive joint discussions, the Governors and Head Teachers of both schools now share a vision for the future of independent education in Darlington, based on the introduction of the diamond model. Clear educational principles, strong research and the success of existing diamond schools prove the excellence of this model where girls and boys enjoy the benefits of integration, where appropriate, but retain all of the advantages of being taught separately for the vital 11-16 years.

It is proposed that with effect from 1 September 2010, the Hurworth House Senior School would relocate to the Polam Hall site in order that this model could be delivered effectively from that date. The vision involves Polam Hall School continuing to operate its junior, infant and nursery schools, a girls’ secondary school and mixed sixth form, but Hurworth House School operating separately its own boys’ secondary school on the Polam site. Throughout the summer term and holiday period, work would go ahead so that the Hurworth secondary boys would move in September to a specially adapted and completely refurbished building to be known as Hurworth House Darlington. In a separate decision, the Governors of Hurworth House School have announced the proposed closure of its Junior School and nursery. Hurworth House junior pupils would, of course, be welcomed into Polam Hall Junior School before the boys and girls progress to the separate schools at age 11.

This vision offers many opportunities for investment and growth which would in turn ensure the continued excellence of a Polam Hall education. Polam Hall and Hurworth House already have a long established link and share the core values which would allow our young people to continue to flourish.

CDW Pratt, Chair of Governors
M Green, Head

Polam Hall School pupils are taking parents all the way to the Emerald City hoping to wow audiences with their end of year Wizard of Oz production.

In what is the 70th anniversary year for the popular tale, both Infant and Junior School pupils are taking part in the play portraying lovable characters such as Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Wizard of Oz.

The cast are gearing-up for two evening and one matinee performance this week with Year 6 pupils Jasmin Kareem, Ellie Dalby, Jessica Mitchell, Caitlin Godfrey and Harry Warren taking centre stage.

Angela Foster, Headmistress of Polam Hall Junior School, said: “Everyone has worked really hard to get the play to the standard it is today.

“From the costumes to the set design, pupils, staff and parents have all pulled together to ensure that it is a fantastic performance for audiences, in what is a special year for the Wizard of Oz.

“The school has had a great year so far academically and what better way to end it than with an exciting performance like this.”

Polam Hall School is giving art lovers the opportunity to see the work of budding Picassos at an exhibition, which features pupils from schools across Darlington and the surrounding areas.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Our Heritage Matters’, will display various forms of art, entered by school pupils as part of a competition organised by Polam Hall School, Darlington.

Youngsters between the ages of 3 and 11 from local nurseries, primary schools, and independent schools have submitted pieces in four categories around the topic of why their heritage matters to them.

Members of the public can see all the entries and winners, which are yet to be announced, in Polam Hall’s Liddiard Theatre on Saturday 6th February between 10.30am and 12noon. The entries will then be on display at Darlington Town Hall the week commencing 15th February followed by an exhibition at Darlington Arts Centre between 20th and 31st July 2010.

Angela Foster, Headmistress of Polam Hall Junior School, said: “Some of the artwork that has been submitted is fantastic and really demonstrates the creativity of young people from across the area.

“As a school, we pride ourselves on the learning and development of our pupils, and felt that the competition would not only highlight the skills of our own students, but would show the strong artistic development that is evident across the town.

“I hope that people enjoy the exhibition and that it gives them a taste of the talents of Darlington’s budding Picassos.”

Polam Hall students have shown that they are ‘model pupils’ by taking to the catwalk in aid of children’s charity Helen and Douglas House.

The group of Sixth Formers helped to raise £1500 by linking in with local fashion retailers to model their ranges of informal and eveningwear in front of an audience of 300 guests.

Family members and teaching staff took part in the show, as did Year 4 pupils who modelled their own headwear designs, made with the assistance of milliner Catherine Hart of Sedgefield-based Catherine Hart Designs.

The annual fashion show raises thousands year-on-year for charities designated by the students who spend their valuable time organising it.

This year the students chose Helen and Douglas House after one girl’s family member received respite care at the Oxford-based hospice, which cares for children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

Fashion Show 2009

Headmistress Marie Green said: “At Polam Hall we always encourage pupils ‘to do their bit’ for the wider community and the fashion show is a great example of how they use their time for the benefit of others.

“Our pupils have organised the event from start to finish, showing their maturity, leadership and passion for good causes. I would like to thank local businesses who have worked alongside the pupils to make this event such a success.”

Mary Boullin, community fundraiser for Helen and Douglas House, said: “It is so wonderful to have been chosen by Polam Hall School and we are very grateful for their support.

£1500 is an incredible contribution and could, for example, pay for one of our nurses for 100 hours.”

Local shops involved in the event included Leggs, Republic, Chestnut, I Love Gorgeous, Bertie, Cheeki, Geoffrey Gillow, Binns, Poppy Bridal, Affleck and Moffat, and Boho Milano. Hair was styled by Twelve Central and staff from department store Binns applied make-up to the models.

Polam Hall students celebrated outstanding A level results with a number of students achieving multiple A grades and the school once again having a 100% pass rate.

Lucy Downes gained 5 A grades including a perfect score (300/300) in her A level Physics. Lucy intends to study Astro or Particle Physics at University and plans to spend part of her Gap year at the CERN Institute in Geneva. Lucy also achieved 2 A grades at AS level.

Equally impressive was Lucinda Thompson who gained 5 A’s and whose Geography result was a stunning 600/600. Lucinda is going to read Environmental Science at Southampton University.

Completing the perfect scores were Eunice Chan, with 100% in A level Mathematics, and Suzie Millar who gained 100% in her AS level English Literature examination.

One hundred percent was the overall A level pass rate, with over 40% of all papers awarded an A grade. Catherine Hannigan, Gemma Harvey and Amy Luckett join Eunice, Lucy & Lucinda in celebrating a full set of A grades.

Headmistress Marie Green said, “These results reflect the dedication and hard work of staff and students. I am delighted with the success of these conscientious young people and wish them well as they go on to pursue courses in everything from Advertising to Zoology. They deserve their fine results and I am sure will go on to great things.”

Polam Hall School are once again celebrating outstanding results for GCSE Exam results with six students achieving a full set of 10 A* and A grades.

Almost half of all papers taken at the school were graded A* or A with a third of the students gaining 7 or more A* and A grades.

Modern Languages, Spanish, German and Chinese were the standout subjects this year, all gaining 100% A* and A pass rate.

Juliet Edwards-Heathcote, Esme Montgomery, Katie Riley, Sarah Scott, Anna Stephens, Lara Tysseling all achieved the full set of 10 A* and A grades.

Headmistress Marie Green said, ‘It is always a pleasure to see hard work rewarded. This particular team have collaborated superbly with their teachers and have most certainly realised their goals. All of our 2009 candidates can approach their next steps with well-earned confidence.’

Polam Hall School is to undergo exciting redevelopments that will see the school able to offer a unique early years education to girls and boys aged 2 to 5.

Governors at the Darlington school have made investment proposals for a new generation of pre-school age children in the Junior School. They will include the redevelopment of existing buildings to create the Foundation Stage programme that will be offered to girls and boys from the age of two and allow boys to stay in the school until the end of what is currently known as Reception. Currently Polam Hall School accepts boys only from the age of three to school age. The SureStart Nursery Grant continues to be available for 3 and 4 year olds and, dependent on the child’s date of birth, is payable during the Foundation Stage.

This innovative concept by the independent school is in accordance with new government guidelines and will allow for development through play and child initiated learning in a wonderfully creative environment.

Three to Five year olds will be housed in the new-look facility which will offer lower foundation, upper foundation (reception), quiet room for formal work and an outdoor classroom. Children aged three to five will work together, regardless of age and be grouped according to activities, skills and teaching aims.

The existing Early Steps Nursery will be modified to cater for the two to three year olds who will be welcomed at the school from September.

The changes are the first by an independent school in the area.

Angela Foster, Junior School Headteacher at Polam Hall School, said: “I welcome the decision by the Board of Governors. It shows our continued commitment to providing the best possible education for our pupils and the new Foundation Stage will allow us to continue to focus on the growing academic, social and emotional development and needs of our pupils and learning will be fun!.”

Michael’s inspection, with the help of the Eco Warriors, included measuring the girth of the tree and observing its overall condition. His enthusiasm was infectious and everyone enjoyed learning more about trees in general.

We were very pleased when Michael offically verified the Cedar as an ancient tree and the details have been recorded by the Woodlands Trust. Michael presented us with a different type of Cedar tree to plant in our grounds. Who knows, maybe someday it too will be verified as an ancient tree.

Polam Hall School student Harriet Wigley-Smith has raised hundreds of pounds for the Butterwick Hospice, by selling a CD showcasing her musical talents.

Harriet, who’s 16 and will be studying for her GCSEs later in the year, recorded songs she’d written herself, as well as some cover versions.

The GCSE music student was given a session in a recording studio as a birthday present from her parents.

The gifted student then decided to sell the CD to raise money for the Butterwick Hospice.

Despite the current economic times, kind-hearted staff and students were prepared to dig deep into their own pockets with 100 CDs sold to the wider Polam Hall School community and in 10 minutes Harriet raised a whopping £317.54.

Harriet said: “I really enjoy my music. I love singing and it was a great opportunity to do something for charity when my parents gave me this great birthday present. Polam Hall is a great school and everyone was so generous in giving whatever they could give to charity.”

Marie Green, Headmistress of Polam Hall School, said: “The efforts by Harriet to raise money for charity were outstanding. Her work demonstrates that at Polam Hall, we offer a fine education and always encourage pupils to do their bit for the wider community. Her music skills are being developed by our exceptional team of staff. Harriet is a superbly talented student, and will take her Music GCSE alongside 9 others later in the year.”

She added, “Whilst we pride ourselves on our fantastic academic results, extra curricular activity is a crucial part of education in the 21st century.”

Harriet has now set up her own MySpace music site and was invited down to a recording studio in London by record label, Relentless Records, a company which heard her music on the website. On her visit, Harriet composed a song with professional songwriter and musician, Neil Athale.

After setting up her MySpace Music website in December 2008, over 10,000 people listened to Harriet’s music in the first month.

Her song recorded with Relentless Records, One Day At A Time, is available on her MySpace website

The Durham School Under 16 Sevens team has won the inaugural Weston Sevens Competition held at Durham School on Wednesday 18 March. On a glorious spring day they remained undefeated in their 5 matches to lift the trophy which was presented by Mr Michael Weston, former Durham School pupil and former British Lion and England captain.

Victories in the group stages against Dame Allan’s (40-0), Ampleforth College (14-7) and Harton Technology College (26-7) secured a semi-final place against Ashville College who they beat
20-12.

In an exciting final (their second encounter of the day with Ampleforth) Durham won through by 26 points to 10. In the Plate competition final RGS Newcastle beat Harton 21-7.

Congratulations go to all the participating teams who made the event so successful: Durham School, RGS Newcastle, Barnard Castle, Ashville College, King’s Tynemouth, Dame Allans, Harton Technology College and Ampleforth.

Photo: Winning U16 Durham School squad in action

Durham School, one of the oldest established schools in the country, staged A Festival of Music at one of the country’s newest and most spectacular venues, The Sage Gateshead, on Friday 6 March at 7 p.m. Every single pupil in the senior school (450) performed on this world renowned stage, which was an outstanding musical showcase for the school.

The evening included the schools very own salsa dancers ‘Salsa Sabrosa’, the Bow, Durham School Ceilidh Band, the choir including guests from the Galilee Choir of The Chorister School, the winners of Durham School’s Got Talent (held last term) and the much awaited annual Durham School House Music Competition.

In the House Music Competition each of the 5 Houses performed a Part Song, Instrumental piece and a whole House Unison Song. The event was eventually won by the girls of Pimlico House who performed three outstandings items to delight the audience and just pipped strongly fancied Poole House at the final post. Natalie Carroll, who, in the first part of the evening’s concert, had given a stunning performance on the flute, received the trophy on behalf of the girls from judge Mr Mark Mawhinney, Director of Music at Barnard Castle School, whose expert comments and sympathetic manner contributed hugely to the success of the evening. Commiserations to Poole House whose oustanding performances in the first two categories gave them a 2 point lead over Pimlico as they went into the final section and won them a special award cup. It is the second time that Poole have found themselves narrowly beaten at The Sage Gateshead. Two years ago they were runners-up to Caffinites House.

However, the real winner on the night was the school itself, for the Festival of Music really lived up to its name in every way. It was the second time that the event has been held at The Sage Gateshead and, as on the first occasion, The Sage was packed to the rafters with every seat sold. Mr Martin George, who on April 6th officially becomes the 43rd Headmaster of Durham School, rounded off the evening with a well-received vote of thanks. Thanks go to all involved in the event: sponsors and advertisers, to the staff of The Sage Gateshead for their marvellous support and help, to the expert judge Mr Mawhinney, to Mr Muttitt and Mr Duff and all the music staff, to all the parents and friends of the school who came and supported the event and especially to all the pupils themselves who by virtue of their impeccable demeanour and breath-taking talent were the real stars of the show in every way!

Following on from the successes of the Bow, Durham School U11 rugby squad, who finished runners up in the Terrington School 7‘s Tournament and the U9 football team’s triumphant win at the Woodleigh Tournament, comes the win at the HMC North Eastern Division U11 7-a-side Football Tournament on Thursday 5 March 2009.

16 teams entered this prestigious tournament held at Hymers College, Hull. This was an unknown situation for the boys from Bow, Durham School who had never entered a tournament of this size, or played against such large schools, previously. The format was 4 groups of 4 teams with the top 2 moving forward into the Cup competition which in turn was 2 groups of 4 teams. At the end of these group games the winners of each group would contest the final.

Bow got off to a flying start in their qualifying group beating Barlborough 2-1, with both goals coming from Daniel Marsh, and then toppling the mighty Leeds GS with a Jed Howey shot from long range. Their last game saw a little hiccup as they lost by a solitary goal to Silicoates leaving them runners up in the group.

The main Cup group started with a hard fought goalless draw with RGS Newcastle before further Daniel Marsh goals saw great 1-0 victories against Birkdale and Hymers. This was enough to send us into the final against Yarm. At the end of a pulsating match, which could have gone either way, neither side was able to break the deadlock and the game ended goalless. With both sides exhausted the organisers felt it only right that the trophy be shared by both schools. This was an outstanding achievement by the boys from Bow, Durham School. The squad was James Elliot(captain), James Holmes, Alasdair Denby, Jed Howey, Luke Henderson, Daniel Marsh, James Ward, Ben Langthorne and Will Rogers.

A Sixth Form pupil (and Head of School) at Durham School, David Quinn, has been offered an Organ Scholarship at St. Peter’s College, Oxford.

After attending for auditions and interviews in September, David heard the good news by letter from Dr. Roger Allen, the Music Tutor at St. Peter’s College. The place, which is for October 2010 is conditional only upon David’s achieving the requisite grades in his A-level exams next summer and will enable David to take a GAP year and thus broaden his experiences before going up to Oxford.

The omens for David seem promising – he already achieved four Grade As in his AS examinations in the summer!

David said: “I am absolutely delighted to be offered the scholarship and will now be concentrating on getting the grades required to make this happen.”

In the summer, David was one of only two awarded an Organ Scholarship to the RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) Bath Summer School where he studied choral directing with Adrian Lucas of Worcester Cathedral.

Eight former pupils of Durham School qualified to play in the finals of the FA Umbro Fives, 5-a-side football tournament at Wembley Stadium and were chosen as the team to be photographed as the face of next year’s competition!

The team – called simply THE OD’S (Old Dunelmians) – comprises a group of eight former pupils who play football regularly at Durham’s indoor stadium Soccarena. They are: Luke Flunder, Rob Flunder, Paddy Dias, Ali Blair, Kenny Reader, Davis Reader, Andrew Bell and James Walton. Along with 2000 other teams nationwide, they entered the national competition earlier in the year and found themselves among the 8 teams to have the honour of contesting the final on the hallowed turf of England’s national stadium, courtesy of a lucky draw!

The OD’s were also chosen as the team to be photographed on finals day at Wembley to represent the face of next year’s competition!

Girls’ hockey at Durham School, one of the region’s leading independent Schools, has enjoyed its most successful season since the School became fully co-educational ten years ago.

The U18 and U16 sides are both County Champions with the U14 competition still to be played. All three teams (U18, U16 and U14) reached the North semi-final stage of the National Cup, with the U16 team progressing through to the North finals after coming in joint 1st place in the semi-finals.

The 1st XI has only lost one match throughout the season, their latest triumph being a 3-2 victory against Sedbergh and the U14 XI have also won most of their matches against other schools.

15 girls in all have played County hockey; 3 have been selected for North trials and pupil, Sophia Ward, was selected for an England training tournament during half-term.

Hockey coach, Mike Fishwick, said: “This has been a fantastic season for girls’ hockey here at Durham School and all the age groups have played with great team spirit and determination. They thoroughly deserve their successes.””

Organisations are assessed on a variety of factors, including their types of food and methods of handling, compliance with safety, and cleaning, management, control and processing procedures.

The catering team at Polam Hall School is made up of 12 staff, who prepare lunch for the nursery, junior, senior, sixth form students and staff, together with breakfast for the early arrivers, and dinner for the school’s boarders.
Led by Catering Manager David Bell, they provide a daily selection of hot and cold meals which are designed to ensure that all students and staff enjoy a balanced and varied diet.
Mr Bell said: “Being awarded the highest rating is a great credit to the entire catering team, who work hard to achieve excellent food hygiene and safety standards at Polam Hall.
“The Tees Valley Food Hygiene Awards help provide a recognisable sign of excellence in standards of food hygiene and allow the public to see how organisations are performing in this area.
“Our five star award demonstrates to parents of pupils that their children are receiving safely prepared food, which dovetails in with our policy of offering students a nutritious, healthy, varied menu.”

The charity was chosen because one of Polam Hall’s Sixth Formers, Laurence Whiteley, was a patient there while having treatment for bone cancer.

Fashions on display during the two-hour show included clothing from a mixture of High Street names and a number of local stores and designers including Leggs, Object Trouvé, Cheeki, Bertie, Kiltz, Kate Atkinson, Guru, Geoffrey Gillow, Officers Club, Harriet Crossland, Top Shop, Joseph M, Chestnut and Heart & Soul.

Also taking centre stage were designs from Revamp, a clothing business set up by Polam Hall pupils. This business studies group has already made its mark locally as it won the inaugural Bannatyne’s Bright Sparks competition where nine teams from schools in the town went head-to-head in a Dragons’ Den-style contest. Among the judges was one of the stars of the TV show, Duncan Bannatyne.

Revamp buys clothes from shops including Oxfam and eBay as well as receiving donations and then customises the items making them unique and stylish. The restyled clothes are then sold to fellow students.

Polam Hall former student Ellie Riley, creator of the online Oh! Riley collection, also provided outfits for the fashion extravaganza.

Marie Green, Headmistress at Polam Hall School, said: “Polam Hall’s annual charity fashion show is a great learning experience for our students as well as being good fun. It teaches them about event organisation and logistics; the whole evening is put together by members of the Upper Sixth Form. The school is delighted to have raised so much money for such a worthy cause with the show’s success all down to the hard work and creativity of our students.”

Charlotte Hindmoor, a member of the Blackwell Grange Golf Club and Durham County Junior team, has been selected for the England Super Birdie Squad, an elite training team that receives coaching from EWGA coach Pat Smillie. She has also been named England’s Most Improved Girl Golfer after scoring a narrow victory in the final of the Abraham Trophy at Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club at Durham.

She recently won the Young Sports Achiever Award in the Darlington Sports Winners’ scheme and now will go onto the grand final. This achievement was also marked by a special Mayoral Award, presented by Darlington’s Mayor, Cllr Ian Haszeldine.

During the past 12 months, Charlotte has dropped her handicap from 20 to 9.

Charlotte has entered numerous competitions including the Scottish Ladies Golf Association Open Stroke Play Championship, the Northern Girls’ Region Close Championship and the English Girls Championship.

Members of Polam Hall’s lacrosse team have notched up some notable achievements too.

Polly Enevoldson has been chosen to captain Yorkshire U19 Lacrosse Team, with Dominique Forrest and Krystal Forster-George being vice-captains of the Yorkshire U19B Lacrosse Team. Kaitlyn Robinson, Polam Hall’s lacrosse coach, is assistant coach of U19A Yorkshire lacrosse squad.

Marie Green, Polam Hall’s head teacher, said: “Polam Hall encourages the skills of its pupils whether they lie in the academic, vocational or sporting fields.

“We are pleased to see that the achievements of some of the school’s hard working and talented sports players have been officially recognised beyond the school environment.”

Pupils at Durham School, one of the region’s leading independent Schools, are performing ‘Black Comedy’ a play by Peter Shaffer, which all takes place in the dark!

The play, performed over 3 nights, (20 -22 November, 7.00 pm) takes place in the school’s own Luce Theatre, with the plot revolving around a party which is plunged into darkness when the main fuse bows – only the audience can see what is happening! It is a lot of fun, full of mishaps and embarrassments as people fall down stairs and constantly bump into doors and furniture and each other!

The play’s humor hinges on a highly theatrical concept: when the lights are on at the party at the beginning of the piece, the actors are in total darkness; when the lights go out, the stage is then lit, allowing the audience to watch the cast stumble about and fumble as they try to complete the simplest of tasks.

The first half of the programme for the evening sees pupils perform in a series of brief and varied sketches giving a snapshot of the pupils practical work in English and Drama including snippets of Shakespeare; the second half sees the perfomance of Black Comedy.

“It is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening with a balanced programme of serious drama and light entertainment” said Mr. David Woodhead, Head of Theatre Studies and Drama at Durham School, “Pupils of all ages demonstrate their theatrical skills in a refreshingly informal setting”.

Durham School, one of our region’s leading Independent Schools, has marked Anti-Bullying Week 2008 this week by making a “blue wall” of over 150 pledges made by pupils from Years 7 to 9. Each pupil was asked to reflect on the theme ‘Being different, belonging together’ and to take their own individual stand against bullying.

Durham School’s Deputy Head in charge of Pastoral Care, Mrs. Fiona Parker said: “It is so important to take every opportunity offered by national events such as this to raise the profile of bullying issues and reinforce our zero tolerance approach to bullying – in particular name-calling and cyber-bullying. A relatively simple thing such as a mass of pledges is a powerful statement to all of us that bullying in any form is wrong.”

Prizes were awarded to the writers of the most thoughtful pledges which convey the pupils’ promise to tell a teacher or a parent and to support receivers of bullying in small practical ways. As Mrs. Parker highlighted in a recent chapel service “Durham School celebrates its diversity of talents. We are all part of one cohesive whole.”

Jack, a pupil at Durham School, has had a truly remarkable year, launching and editing the school’s own newspaper ‘The Durham Eye’, as well as steering the Durham School 1st Eight rowing crew to qualification for the Henley Royal Regatta (it has been 21 years since an Eight from the Durham School Boat Club has qualified for the Henley Royal Regatta). Jack also steered the school’s Boat Club to gold medal success at the Ghent Spring International Regatta, held in Belgium earlier in the year.

In this special Olympic year, launched on the Eighth Day of the Eighth Month of 2008, the number 8 has certainly proved to be lucky, not only for Team GB, but also for Jack!

GCSE congratulations also go to: Alastair Galbraith-Brown (7 A*, 2 A grades and 1 B grade), Matthew Tiffin (6 A*, 3 A grades and 1 B grade), Alex Turnbull, Josh Tognarelli and Johanna Kellett, who all achieved 5 A* grades, and James Grant, Fraser Jackson and Byong Choi, who each had 4 A* among their 10 passes.

Quote from David Goodhew, the new Deputy Head (Curriculum) at Durham School:

“Well done to this year’s GCSE candidates: their hard work, combined with good teaching, has produced a very pleasing set of results. In particular, I am delighted that so many students have significantly outperformed their target grades, demonstrating very strong ‘value-added’ across a range of subjects.”

Congratulations also to all the many other candidates who did not necessarily score the highest grades but whose excellent individual performances are a personal triumph.

Durham School sixth formers, Alex Duell and David Quinn, are celebrating straight A’s in this week’s A level and AS exam results. Alex, who has held the position of ‘Head of School’ for the last year, is delighted to be celebrating together with David, who will succeed him as ‘Head of School’ in September.

At A2 level, Alex Duell, a member of Caffinites House, has been awarded straight A`s in all his subjects – English Literature, French and German and also History (AS) – an excellent set of results. On hearing the news, Alex said he was thrilled and very much hoped that he will now be offered a place at Dublin, where he wants to study languages; French and German. Alex already has an offer from Bath University, but will have to wait until Monday to hear from Dublin.

At AS level, David, a member of Poole House, has been awarded straight A`s in his exams – Ancient History, Art & Design and Music in which he gained top marks in 2 of his Music modules. He was hardly able to contain his excitement and commented, “I am absolutely delighted with my results. I am thoroughly looking forward to the new academic year and hope to repeat Alex’s success at A2 level.” He added:” Alex will certainly be a tough act to follow as Head of School, but he has passed on some excellent advice and I have a superb team of monitors to assist me in my new duties.” In the meantime, David is due to travel to Bath next week to attend the RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) Summer School, for which he was awarded an Organ Scholarship.

Alex and David have both played a huge part in the school’s successes over the past year and should be highly commended for their commitment to both their academic studies and their contribution to school life; Music, Drama and their Houses in particular.

Special congratulations also go to Sarah Jones was amongst the Top 10 candidates in the country who sat A Level German this summer, according to Edexcel, the UK’s largest awarding body. Out of 2931 candidates, Sarah achieved one of the highest overall marks. Edexcel’s Managing Director, Jerry Jarvis, said: “This is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work students put into preparing for their exams. We send our congratulations to Sarah.”

Head of Sixth Form, Mr Paul Gerrard, was delighted with the performance of his students. “

“All these students worked very hard and deserve their success. Our results represent a very solid improvement at the top end of the grades. A 5% improvement on our grade A percentage from last year, an 8% improvement on our A/B percentage. Overall they are our third best set of results since the new exam format came out in 2001. Another very pleasing aspect was the improvement the students showed from the percentage of A’s they scored in their L6 AS exams, to the percentage of A’s they eventually scored at A2. There was a 12% improvement in this area.”

The Assistant Deputy Head of Curriculum, John Everatt commented: “I am particularly pleased for our star students but we must not forget that there are some equally significant, or even more significant, success stories lower down the ability range where boys and girls have worked just as hard for their grade Cs, Ds and Es. It is easy to overlook their efforts.”

Photo:
David Quinn and Alex Duell ‘Talking Heads’