Newsflash
December 2015
Every child - whatever it takes.
WWW.THEDUSTONSCHOOL.ORG
01604 460004
www.thedustonschool.org
Berrywood Road,
Northampton NN5 6XA
Issue 37
1
WWW.THEDUSTONSCHOOL.ORG
Executive
Principal's
Message
Dear Parent / Carers,
As we draw to the end of the
Autumn Term for the 2015 - 2016
school year we have so many
successes to celebrate. It has
been an eventful half term with
high quality performances that I
am truly proud of. The young
people here have been so
involved in many life experiences
inside and outside of school
which is really developing and
rounding them into confident
young people.
TDS has its first Christmas
Carol Service
What a joy it was to attend a
Carol Service created and
orchestrated by Mrs J. Giovanelli
Vice Principal and Mrs Gant,
Assistant Principal.
It was a
delight to see so many talented
pupils and staff demonstrate skills
that, in some cases, we were
unaware of. It was also positive
to see so many new friendships
being formed as people here old
and young practiced and learnt
new versions of carols and
musical arrangements together.
We hope that this will be a new
tradition to continue next year. I
know that staff are busy planning
an Easter musical event and also
something to mark the Queen’s
90th Birthday in the summer
term.
Primary Phase Nativity
Again we had our first nativity
this year as we saw Reception
and Year 1 join together to tell
the story of Mary, Joseph and
Baby Jesus, in the whole context
of the bible.
The shepherds,
donkeys, sheep, stars and others
were unforgettable.
My thanks go to Mrs D Robinson,
Vice Principal, Primary Phase
Leader and her primary team for
their patience, resourcefulness
and nurturing support to produce
such a high quality event.
Wizard of Oz
Our whole school musical this
term, The Wizard of Oz last was
the best I have seen here in
terms of a high quality student
performance and professional
acumen of all involved.
Thankyou to Mr D Routledge,
Director of Learning, in particular,
also to Miss N Wilson, Lead
Teacher Drama and Miss D Brown
Acting Lead Teacher in Music for
the musical arrangements.
The Duston School Christmas
Fayre 2015.
Thankyou to everyone who
donated gifts and/or attended
this event, we had an impressive
80 plus stalls and doubled our
usual takings making £990.00.
Obviously having primary pupils
and our new Santa’s grotto in the
Hub which was extremely popular
was a huge appeal.
Thank you to Miss S Nelson,
Assistant Principal, and her
Events Team for Co-ordinating
this growing and successful
community event.
Children in Need Day 2015.
This raised a healthy £1,212.00
for a number of worthy national
charities that Children in Need
support. Staff and students joined
forces together to run fun events
and activities across the school.
Thank you again to Miss S Nelson
and Mr A Elliott and The Events
Team in overseeing this.
WWW.THEDUSTONSCHOOL.ORG
Remembrance Day
November 2015.
This was a particular moving
whole school activity that Miss
Nelson orchestrated in which all
pupils were asked in Tutor
groups to remember a loved one
who had sadly passed away.
Students wrote messages on
paper poppies which were then
displayed in the main school
foyer which had a real poignant
effect as the school also
considered whole World War
events at the same time.
Young Leaders Award Praise
Young Leaders is a leadership
course that students do in Year
10 right the way to year 13 to
show leadership skills in sport
and coaching younger students.
We have many students that
complete this worthy award in
our primary cluster schools and
the praise that they received this
year has been the best we have
ever had. Students can use this
to help them apply for jobs and
e ven in their unive rsity
applications which demonstrate
the leadership skills.
Bar Mock Trial
It was such a privilege to speak
to 16 students in Years 11, 12
and 13 who attended a bar mock
national event at the end of
November in which they were
given special praise by a real
Judge at Birmingham Crown
Court for their professionalism
and exceptional mock trials
against other school in the
country. Miss S Deshi, PSHE
Teacher said their determination
was a credit to the school and
themselves.
Sixth
Form
Applications
University
The current Year 13’s have had
the highest number of offers
from Universities this year so far
to study courses when they
leave next summer from Russell
Universities or the higher
performing universities than we
have ever had before.
Well done to Miss N Weston
Assistant Principal / Director of
Sixth Form and her team for
their support, encouragement
and guidance with our students
here.
I would also like to
congratulate 3 of our year 13’s
who have achieved interviews at
either Cambridge or Oxford.
Which is a first for The Duston
School.
I am so proud that the Young
People go on to do exceptional
things once they leave us.
And finally …
In line with National Christmas
Jumper Day 2015, I would like to
which you all a very happy
Christmas and a Healthy and
Prosperous New Year in 2016.
Have some good quality family
time together over the break and
I look forward to working with
you all next year.
Yours faithfully
Mrs J S Herriman
Executive Principal.
2
Congratulations to
Mrs J Giovanelli, Vice Principal and
Mr B Baines, Assistant Principal
for presenting to a
National SSAT Conference
to other schools on the exceptional
work that they are doing here at
The Duston School.
3
WWW.THE DUSTON
SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Community
Events
On Thursday 3rd
December The
Duston School
held an evening
of festive
shopping and
family fun as we
held our annual
Christmas Fayre.
There were a variety of stalls
selling their unique crafts
and gifts and the chance to
win a prize on the Raffle
with over £300s worth of
prizes that were donated
from local businesses.
Over 50 quality craft stalls
selling
their
unique
Christmas goodies and gifts
came along on the evening,
and there was plenty of
family fun to keep the
children amused including a
visit from Santa.
There was an opportunity to
treat yourself to a well
deserved manicure or a hot
hand wax by students that
are currently studying Hair &
Beauty at the school.
Thank you to everyone that
came along and supported
the event £990.00 was
raised.
This amount will be donated
to our international charity
Freshstart Foundation, who
are currently supporting
rural schools within the
Lower River Region of The
Gambia.
For latest news and
events, like us on
Facebook facebook.com/
thedustonschool or
follow us on Twitter @thedustonschool
The Literacy Team
4
The Halloween
Event was a
Huge Success!
Students worked really hard and were focused.
See in The Hub for more details.
Assistant Principal
Year 7 SLT
The Duston School
On Thursday 17th December,
The Literacy Team held its
second half-termly event:
Winter Wonderland! Students
and parents took part in a
range of literacy events which
culminated in a group readalong (accompanied by mince
pies)! It was another great
opportunity for students to
develop literacy skills in a
different environment than the
classroom.
We are looking forward to the
next event in February: antiValentine’s Day!
MAGT Club
This half term, the Most Able, Gifted and Talented club worked on
developing horror screen plays. This group of Year 7s and 8s had
to look at the conventions of the genre and how screenplays are
put together. This culminated in a film shoot where the students
were able to see their creative ideas come to life through using
LEGO and stop-animation applications on the iPads. A successful,
challenging and terrifying experience!
The groups for MAGT club will change next half term; keep an eye
out for letters and invites.
The Literacy Team is excited to
announce the launch of a new
reading challenge for Years 1011. The 18B418 is designed to
get students challenging
themselves to read more widely
and more complex material.
Students (and parents) can
take part in the challenge by
reading 18 of the books on the
list and taking part in
discussions and writing reviews.
18B418
WWW.THE
DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Student
Elections
5
Election of
This Year's
Student
Councillors
Election day has been a
huge success, with a
massive turnout of over
95%, and over 50
candidates putting their
names forward for
election!
We were very pleased to see
how students conducted
themselves in the elections, and
how eager they were to take
part in this new opportunity to
have
their
voices heard.
The campaigns from candidates
have been both active and
extensive.
Our new Student Councillors
have been hard at work, visiting
form groups and collecting
suggestions and comments on
all aspects of the school.
We have already begun work on
making improvements to the
school, which you will begin to
SSAT National
Conference
Dear Mrs Giovanelli and Mr Baines
The Duston School was both proud and excited
to be represented at this year’s Specialist Schools
and Academies Trust (SSAT) National Conference
in Manchester on the 3rd and 4th December.
Mrs J Giovanelli (Vice Principal) and Mr B Baines
(Assistant Principal) hosted a workshop sharing
the innovative approaches we take at The Duston
School to planning lessons. The workshop was
attended by over 100 people and the feedback
received was extremely positive with The Duston
School being invited to talk again at another
national conference in 2016, and many
colleagues at the conference asking if they could
visit us at the school.
The theme of the conference was quality and
equity and it was reassuring to see so many of
the practices that we adopt at The Duston School
being recognised as good practice in the sessions
held over the two days. The conference was a
timely reminder about just how crucial our role as
educators is in transforming the lives of children.
The Literacy Team
Year 12 Literature students
spent the day in Birmingham
listening to some fantastic
speakers exploring the novel
'Frankenstein' in terms of
context, gender, genre and
structure.
This was great experience and
offered them a taste of what it
would be like to study Literature
at University.
The students gained a lot from
the day: deepening their
knowledge of the text, a crash
On Wednesday the 25th of
November, Year 12 English
La ngua ge stude nts visite d
Birmingham for a series of talks
linked to their studies. The
students discussed how class,
course in taking notes at top
speed (for four hours).
Thank you to Mr Barton for
driving us and thank you to the
students for being such a
pleasure to take on a trip.
Mrs L Aziz
English Teacher
region, occupation and gender all
influence the language that
society uses. They will now apply
this information to their class work
as they prepare for an assessment
on topical language use.
6
7
WWW.THE DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Maths
On Monday 14th December 2016,
24 students participated in a
Christmas Numeracy enrichment
day in the Hub. The focus of the
day was for students to plan and
prepare a Christmas dinner.
Students engaged in a variety of
tasks that involved using ratios,
temperature, using time and many
more fun numerical skills.
Throughout the day, we had a
guest practitioner in to talk about
how numeracy is used outside of
the classroom.
The students spent the morning
learning about various numerical
skill which they later went on to
apply.
The students prepared a timeline
for the Christmas dinner and split
the food in to correct proportions
where the day finished in the
catering rooms with students
cooking a fantastic Christmas
dinner.
This was later enjoyed in the hub
with the company of some parents
and staff.
The day was a massive success
and a lot of fun. The year 11
students that participated did a
fantastic job in leading their
teams.
This was the perfect way to finish
the term and get staff and students
into the Christmas spirit.
Science
8
CSI Day
Year 9 CSI Day
Year 9 investigated the
murder of Mr Dias. They
analysed blood spattered
crime scenes; evaluated
CCTV and crime scene
photography and had to
make judgements using
hair and fingerprint
samples of the suspects to
identify the killer.
Year 9 then compiled a
report detailing their
findings of the incident.
This was done using Talk For
Writing, which uses lots of
discussion, text mapping and
actions to help the students learn
the ‘rhythm’ of report writing
before they do it themselves.
A big thank you goes to the
Science department, the Literacy
Team and the Events Team for
all their hard work and
enthusiasm for making the two
days a real success.
A group of students from
years 9,
10 and 11
competed at the “Top of the
Bench”
chemistry
competition
at
the
University of Northampton.
Credit and thanks to:
They were an absolute credit to the
school and worked as a team
brilliantly on the day.
Unfortunately the students just
missed out on qualifying for the final
however enjoyed the experience
immensely.
Muhammad Haque
Eleanor Veal
Rebecca Daly
Austin Wilkinson
DUSTON -SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Global WWW.THE
Education
World Studies
9
Jacob Solomon has produced
a
fantastic
piece
of
homework
for
Global
Education, he has included
varied information about two
different
countries
and
analysed how they are very
different to the UK.
He has also included a brief
history of the connection between
the UK and these countries. He
also wrote a brilliant paragraph
on why he believes the British
culture is appealing to others.
Well done Jacob!
Miss E Butcher
Teacher of Business
Mock Trial
Competition
Birmingham
16 Students took part in a
National Bar Mock Trial.
Students were presented with
two mock cases where they
went against other schools to
either prosecute or defend in
front of a real judge at the
crown court in Birmingham.
Students were exceptional in
each case, I was asked to
approach the bench by the
judge where he gave a special
praise to Tommy Chaney Lyon
for his manners and great
professionalism.
Most students attended every
day for two weeks, practising
their roles either as barristers,
witnesses, clerk or usher.
Students independently
understood the procedure of the
trial and worked as a team very
well. This time of year is very
busy for year 11, 12 and 13,
however their determination
yesterday reminded me of why I
love to be a teacher!
I was also surprised that I did
not have any student moan
about taking time out of their
Saturday and it starting at 7 am!
The following students were
personally thanked by Mrs J
Herriman with squash and
biscuits.
Seb Motley
Tommy Chaney
Lyon
Tia Bush
Ryan Horsley
Sharon Boteng
Zuzanna Duda
Vanessa
Marcussen
Sabir Abubakar
Clinton Mujokoto
Louise Clarke
Tatenda Mutazu
Kamil Kubiak
Panashe
Masimira
Chloe Scott
Brandon Stratton
Ginevra Grossi
Miss S Deshi
Lead Teacher of Global Education
World Studies
10
KINGSWOOD 2016
Next Year . . .
The World Studies faculty are pleased to offer a
three day residential trip for Year 7 students to the
Kingswood Centre on the Isle of Wight.
From the 14th - 16th September 2016 students
will experience fun and engaging activities that
build on classroom learning from the Coasts topic
and also work on teamwork and confidence
through exciting activities such as:
 Sea Kayaking
 Zipwire
 Archery
 Raft Building
 Laser Tag
 Problem Solving
 Quad biking
 Climbing
Traditionally the Geography department have
successfully visited the Norfolk Kingswood centre
but want to be able to offer our students some of
the more adventurous activities that can be
experienced on the Isle of Wight. Information will
be sent out January 2016.
WWW.THETechnologies
DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Creative
11
On the 1st December 2015,
The Duston School
welcomed Chef Hoddle
(Adam Hoddle’s Y10 father)
to Design Technologies to
give a cooking
demonstration to
Mrs J Payne’s GCSE Catering
group.
Chef Hoddle prepared several
dishes inspired by a well-known
celebrity chef, including Black
Pudding Sausage Roll with chutney;
Scotch Woodcock and Queen of
Puddings. The Chef explained what
he was doing at every stage of the
preparation and showed the
students exactly how a professional
works in a kitchen environment.
The whole experience re-enforced
the subject syllabus on a practical
level.
All the students were mesmerised
and ‘fired-up’ to experiment with
recipes themselves.
Above:
Homework from Taaibah Miah in Year 7.
This work was two separate tasks set as homework by Mrs
Payne in Catering. As you can see the presentation and
standard of the work is outstanding. It is always handed in
on time and in its own wallet folder to protect it from being
creased. Taabiah always puts 100 per cent effort in
everything she does.
Picture by Harry Witherington 8VWO/8y with in class
Mr M Nightingale and Miss K Britten.
Sport
County
12
Year 7 Football
Team before
their game
against NSB
The Year 8 Boys
football team
have been in
action 4 times
this term.
First up in October, TDS hosted
Weston Favell in the Town Cup.
After falling behind to an early
goal the boys rallied and equalised
through Jordan Pennell. The game
continued to sway back and forth
with both teams leading at
different points. Further goals from
Rhys Noble, a second for Jordan
and a wonder strike from Charlie
Pearson meant at full time the
score was 4-4. The game
continued into extra time however
no further goals were scored
despite Duston’s dominance. The
game eventually went to the
lottery of penalties which TDS
unfortunately lost 4-3. However
the performance from the team
was brilliant and if chances had
been taken throughout the game
TDS would have won comfortably.
Next up was a difficult trip away to
NSB in the Town League. Although
being huge underdogs and being
under heavy amounts of pressure
during the first half, TDS created
the better chances with Jordan
Pennell missing two one-on-ones
with the NSB keeper. At half time
the score remained 0-0 with TDS
buoyed by their committed first
half performance. Early in the
second half Jordan raced through
again and this time converted his
chance to give TDS a 1-0 lead.
This shocked the hosts into action
and they quickly and emphatically
upped the tempo. Within 5
minutes the hosts led 3-1 and at
this point the high amounts of
effort the boys had put in began to
tell. NSB continued to press and
eventually ran out 7-1 winners
with superior fitness and team
work being the telling factor.
However again playing against a
team with a number of students
signed to professional teams and
putting in a high quality
performance for 60 minutes
deserved a lot of credit.
Second up in the league was a
home game against Thomas
Becket. With a few players missing
including Captain Charlie Jones the
boys were again up against it.
During another close first half the
boys found themselves 2-1 behind
with the now prolific Jordan
Pennell scoring the TDS goal.
However head dropped in the
second half after a few defensive
mistakes meaning Thomas Becket
ran out 5-1 winners.
During a break in fixtures the boys
played the year 7 ‘A’ team in a
friendly match. In what was a
competitive but fairly played
contest. Year 8 came through as 5
-0 winners.
Next up is Town league action
again away to Northampton
Academy where the boys will hope
to pick up their first league points
of the season!
County teams
table tennis
championships.
This year's County Teams Table Tennis
Competition took place on Saturday 14th
November at Weavers Leisure Centre. We
entered teams in to the U13 boys, U16 boys
and U13 girls competitions. Both the U13
boys and U16 boys teams faced stiff
opposition, finishing runners up to Sir
Christopher Hatton School in both
cases. Though losing these matches the
boys competed well against strong county
level opposition.
The U13 girls qualified as county champions
without having to play a shot due to a lack
of opposition! They will move forward to
the Zone Finals as County representatives.
Well done to all students involved who
represented the school impeccably:
Jake Townsend, Austin Wilkinson, Morgan
Pert, Kasey McAteer, Emilian Ionita, Owen
Butt, Harley Mallard-Wood, Thomas Hollis
and Corey Pert.
Year 7
County Cup Girls
Y7 Fixture TDS V NSG
Home Fixture
The Squad
Chloe Martin
Honor Austin
Ella Roxburgh
Courtney Bage
Rebecca May
Lucy Lovett
Shannon Connor
Millie Swayne
Beth Bullock
Candice Crook
Tyra Crook
Grace Doherty
Rhianna McAward
Alisha Gaskell
SportWWW.THE DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
13
Year 9
Futsal
On Tuesday 10th November we took the
year 9 boys and girls futsal teams to
Thomas Becket for the Northampton
School Sport Partnership level 2 futsal
competitions.
The boys’ team was comprised of
Stanley Morris, Logan Galbraith, Kasy
McAteer, Tom Smyth, Matthew Owers
and Ryan Pamplin.
The girls’ team included Gemma
Spruce, Jenna White, Sydney Nickels,
Tia Bird and Freya Marshall.
Both teams started with a win in their
fir s t r ound of g a mes aga ins t
Northampton Academy. The boys
picked up an impressive 5-2 win whilst
the girls completed a convincing 5-0
win including an outstanding four goal
haul from Tia Bird.
The boys then suffered a narrow 3-2
defeat against Thomas Becket. On
another evening the result could have
been a comfortable Duston win as we
had three efforts hit the post and other
chances slide narrowly wide.
Next up for the boys were Malcolm
Arnold Academy, and after a tentative
first couple of minutes Duston opened
up the MAA defence with some neat
passing and intricate footwork and took
the lead. From there we grabbed
another goal in a game we defended
exceptionally keeping out all MAA
attacks.
The final set of games saw the girls and
boys teams play Weston Favell
Academy. Both Duston teams needed a
win to have any hope of securing a
place in the next round of the
competition. The girls continued to
dominate with Jenna White scoring a
hat-trick and they eased into a 4-2
lead, however the last few moments of
the game were tense as Weston Favell
pulled another goal back. Duston
however hung on to win 4-3.
The boys took the lead and were
p la ying t he b a l l a r ound w ith
confidence; however after a couple of
defensive mistakes we conceded two
quick goals. As Duston continued to
press forward and attack we had
several chances but Weston Favell’s
goalkeeper denied any hope of an
equalising goal. The game finished 3-1
to Weston Favell.
The boys finished 3rd in their group and
the girls finished 1st. The girls will now
progress into the county futsal
competition which will take place in
early December.
Both Duston teams played some
fantastic futsal, all of the games were
exciting to watch from the touchline
and all of the TDS players showed a
fantastic attitude throughout.
Well done to all of those who were
involved.
Sport
County
14
TDS Sports
Leaders
Impress!
Students from The Duston
School have been training hard
to improve their leadership
skills. Seventeen Sixth Form
students have been studying
sports leadership through the
Higher Community Sports
Leaders Course.
In addition to this, students
studying GCSE PE have also
been brushing up on their
leadership skills through
training sessions led by The
Saints Rugby Club in
preparation for officiating in tag
rugby.
Following their preparations the
Sports Leaders have led at
three primary cluster tag rugby
tournaments, two primary
cluster netball tournaments and
a primary cluster indoor
athletics event. The leaders
have been sensational role
models and have received rave
reviews from staff and students
attending the events.
Looking to the future, the Post
16 Sports Leaders are now
starting to lead sessions at the
local primary schools, sports
clubs and other organisations in
the community.
With more
primary school events in the
calendar and a partnership with
Spectrum established, there are
many
more
exciting
opportunities to come for the
developing Sports Leaders.
Watch this space!
Mr P Wood
Extra Curricular Leader
The following students
supported as leaders at the
Primary School Netball
Event:
Chelsea Robins
Katie French
Robbie Seal
Jamie Goodison
Abigail Ward
Martha Bowie
Sharon Gatua
Niamh Treacy
Millie Mason
Shannon McGuire
15
WWW.THE DUSTON
SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Performing
Arts
Performing Arts
After an anticipated countdown
of 3 and a half months, on the
9th, 10th and 11th December, the
Drama department finally aired
the long awaited production of;
The Wizard of Oz.
The iconic story follows the
adventures of a young farm girl
named Dorothy and her pet
dog Toto through the magical
Land of Oz after they get swept
away from their Kansas home
by a cyclone when the two run
away. On their quest to get
back they meet Munchkins,
talking
Scarecrows, Lions, a
Tin Man, a Great Wizard and
make an enemy of The Wicked
Witch of the West. Through this
long and dangerous journey,
she eventually realises that
there really is ‘No place like
home.’
Students from year 7, all the
way up to year 13 worked
incredibly hard – giving up their
Mondays and Thursday evenings
for 2 hours every week to
ensure the show was a great
success.
As with every show there is a
sense of excitement leading
towards the opening night, and
with students walking around
the corridors in costume during
their breaks, staff working
tirelessly to construct the giant
Yellow Brick Road and the
sounds of ‘We’re off the see the
Wizard’ filling the schools halls
from the student orchestra –
this was no exception.
There was a real buzz during
the whole week and it was great
to see over 500 people come to
watch the show! The work rate
of students and the talent
shown throughout rehearsals
and on performance nights was
second to none.
The show was truly a success
and we would like to take the
opportunity to thank parents for
supporting the show in a variety
of ways, from making costumes,
purchasing costumes and
showing up on the night. A huge
thank you and well done again
to everyone involved.
16
‘‘The Wizard of Oz was
probably the best
performance that I have
ever performed in.
The teachers
(Mr Routledge and Miss
Wilson)
did a really good job of
organising EVERYTHING
and deserve very high
recognition.
The rehearsals were really
funny and used actors
perfectly suited to their
roles. All in all, the play was
a great success and
everyone enjoyed
participating in it.’’
Abbey Johnson, Year 11 –
played Dorothy along with
Athena Grant in Year 8.
17
SixthWWW.THE
FormDUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Year 12/13
Congress to
Campus Trip to
De Montfort
University.
On November 11th
2015, Year 12 and 13
Government and
Politics students got
to experience a day
of higher education
at De Montfort
University on 11th
November.
Students spent the day
listening to the experiences
and opinions US former
Congressman Tom Petri
(Republican) and
Congressman Jim Moran
(Democrat).
The day featured
experienced academics
presenting current issues
across US politics (a topic
which is studied in Year 13
Government and Politics),
commentary on these issues
from the two former
Congressmen, and lots of
opportunities for students to
ask the former Congressmen
their questions.
Students had the privilege of
meeting both Congressmen
after the discussions had
finished. Overall, the
students had an enlightening
and enjoyable experience.
Sixth Form
18
Year 12 Health
and Social Care
Students visit
The Primary
Phase
As part of an
assignment the
group were studying
on Health, Safety
and Security, the
group visited the
Primary School
recently to interview
Mrs D Robinson,
The Vice Principal.
The students were keen to
find out how the early years
provision ensure the safety of
the 4-5 year olds. Their
questions included from daily
routines, checking electrical
equipment, procedures to
follow if a child hurts
themselves, to food
preparation and dealing with
allergies.
A section of a student’s
work
When I visited The Duston
Primary School’s early years
setting I drew a diagram of
what the room looks like…
In the early years room holds
60 children and 6 teachers.
They follow the rule of 10
children per teacher. The
children are split into two
different classes, hence the
room is split into two. Children
are allowed to get their drinks
and have a snack whenever
they want, they are also
allowed to go to the toilet at
any time too. Sinks are
positioned right outside of the
toilet doors so the children
should always wash their
hands after they leave.
“I found the Primary School
extremely creative, welcoming
and a very calm environment.”
Anna-Lea Mullen
“Mrs D Robinson was very
helpful in answering our
questionnaire which has been
very useful for our
coursework”.
Erica Simpson
“From all the questions we
asked we got detailed answers
and all the information we
needed”.
Ellie Roughton-Wells
By Georgina Holland,
Year 12 H&SC
Sixth WWW.THE
FormDUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
19
Head Boy & Head Girl
Duncan
Lauren
Deputy Head Boy & Head Girl
Jack
Head Student Team
As well as their hard work with their
school studies and applications/
interviews for universities, the Head
Student Team plays a large role in
representing the school and the Sixth
Form. In recent months, Duncan
Hamill, Lauren Daly, Jack Barrett and
Laura Johnson have been working
extremely hard organising elections
to form the Student Voice. As well as
managing their own council meetings,
they each attend one or two of the
other year group meetings to ensure
there is a consistent agenda and
communication throughout the
school.
At this year’s Sixth Form Open
Laura
Evening, they spoke to parents and
students, providing tours and giving a
good impression of the school to
external students. Lately the Head
Students have been liaising with the
IT technicians to setup a student
voice email account to allow all
students to communicate with
councillors appropriately.
Sixth Form UCAS Applications
77 students in Year 13 have sent off
their UCAS applications to universities
and so far we have received 183
offers which is a great achievement.
Although most offers have been
based on predicted grades, a number
of students have attended interviews
which have been successful in Mental
Health Nursing, Social Work, Primary
School Teaching, Chemistry, Acting
and related careers. In the last few
weeks, 3 of our students attended
interviews at Oxbridge (1 at
Cambridge and 2 at Oxford). This
has been an incredible experience for
them and they will get their results in
the New Year.
Sixth Form
20
21
DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
TeachWWW.THE
Northants
SCITT for Primary
and Secondary
Schools
“Training high
quality graduates to
become high quality
teachers”
In May 2015, The Duston School was
approved by the National College for
Teaching and Leadership as a provider of
initial teacher training (ITT), operating
under the name of Teach Northants. This
accreditation means that we are able to
provide programmes and assessment
leading to the award of qualified teacher
status (QTS) for successful candidates.
A SCITT course is based in and run by
schools and therefore offers a distinctive
type of training. From the first day,
trainees are in a school environment,
which enables them to acquire quickly the
depth of knowledge and range of skills
required for effective teaching. SCITT
programmes allow trainees to be taught
by experienced, practising teachers,
tailored towards local needs.
We have 13 schools working within our
partnership, offering both primary and
secondary training and salaried routes
into teaching. Secondary courses are
available for Maths,
English, Chemistry, Physics, Biology,
History and Geography and our primary
programme covers all areas of the
curriculum for the 5-11 age range.
Teach Northants are now receiving
applications through UCAS which opened
on 27th
October and a number of
primary and secondary trainees have
already been recruited after successful
interviews.
We have attended many
Train to Teach events locally and
nationally, sharing our teacher training
programme with prospective applicants
and helping them start their rewarding
teaching career.
For further information about Teach
Northants visit www.teachnorthants.org
or follow us on twitter @TeachNorthants.
Primary School
Children in Need
in the Primary Phase
The primary school year 1 class entered four reindeers that they
decorated magnificently and all the pupils involved received prizes
of coloured pencils and chocolates. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed
participating in this competition.
22
25
Parental Engagement
Software
Communication
between, Teacher,
Pupil and Parent is vital
to assist in the
development of our
Children, helping them
reach goals, progress in
their academic studies,
their social
development and
attitudes in their
Education years.
DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
TASC WWW.THE
Insight
During the last academic year,
the school invested in a parent
portal called Insight. This was
trialled successfully with Year 7
and we are now going to roll it
out to the rest of the school.
The portal enables all parents
and legal guardians to login to
view
timetables, attendance,
progress
reports,
exam
timetables and results as well as
booking all Parents’ Evening
appointments. All parents and
legal guardians should by now
have received their login details
for Insight.
If you have not yet received a
login, then please let us know.
When you login to Insight, please
could you take some time to
check all the contact details that
we have for your child. Any
changes can be reported through
Insight and will be actioned
during the next working day.
If you have any questions
regarding anything to do with
Insight, please do not hesitate to
contact our Standards Team
standards@thedustonschool.org
or call 01604 460004 ext 607.
Respect Agenda
26
As part of the continued
When a student has a positive
recognition
incident logged an automatic email
behaviour
of
and
good
positive
is generated that is sent home so
parents can be informed of this.
contributions of students
in school, teachers have
This will include the element of the
been
RESPECT
agenda
Resilience,
Environment,
logging
this
on
Behaviour Watch under
the RESPECT agenda.
Pride,
Engagement,
in
it
eg
Safety,
Community
and Tolerance, in recognition of
the qualities that a student displays
The RESPECT agenda is explained
and deserves to be acknowledged
below.
for.
When
students
display
these positive traits in lessons and
around the school environment,
teachers can acknowledge this on
Behaviour Watch.
Parental Contact
Details
There have been a number of
incidences recently where parents
have been unobtainable when the
school has attempted to contact
them regarding their son or
daughter. We must remind you of
the importance of updating your
contact details as soon as possible
with the school if there are any
changes. It is a serious health and
safety issue if parents cannot be
contacted concerning their son or
daughter. If you need to update
your contact details with the school,
please contact the school as soon
as possible. If you wish to update
via email please use the email
below.
Thank you for your support.
British Values Statement
27
Prevent Strategy - Information for Parents
What is the Prevent Strategy?
Prevent is a government strategy
designed to stop people becoming
terrorists or supporting terrorist or
extremist cause. The Prevent Strategy
covers all types of terrorism and
extremism, including the extreme right
wing, violent Islamist groups and other
causes.
How does the Prevent strategy
apply to schools?
From July 2015 all schools have a duty
to safeguard children and young people
from radicalisation and extremism. This
means we have a responsibility to
protect our students from extremist and
violent views. Importantly, we aim to
provide a safe place for students to
discuss these issues so they better
understand how to protect themselves.
What does this mean in practice?
Many of the things we already do in
school to help students become positive,
happy members of the society also
contribute to the Prevent Strategy.
These include:
 Exploring other cultures and religions
and promoting diversity
 Challenging prejudices and racist
comments.
 Developing critical thinking skills and
a strong, positive self identity
 Promoting the spiritual, moral, social
and cultural development of
students, as well as British values as
democracy.
We also aim to protect students from the
risk of radicalisation, for example by
using filters on the internet to make sure
they can’t access extremist and terrorist
material, or by vetting visitors who come
into school to work with students.
Different schools carry out the Prevent
duty in different ways, depending on the
age of the student and the needs of the
community.
Where to go for more information.
Contact the school
If you have any questions or concerns
about the Prevent Strategy and what it
means for your daughter, please do not
hesitate to contact the school.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Prevent relate to British
Values?
Schools have been required to promote
British values since 2014, and this will
continue to be part of our response to
the Prevent strategy.
British values
include:




Democracy
The rule of law
See our policies
You will find more details about
radicalisation in our safeguarding policy,
available on our website.
External source
The following source may also be useful
for further information:
www.preventforschools.org
Individual liberty and mutual respect
Tolerance of different faiths and
beliefs
Isn't my daughter too young to
learn about extremism?
The Prevent strategy is not just about
discussing extremism itself, which may
not be appropriate for younger children.
It is also about teaching young people
the values such as tolerance and mutual
respect. The school will make sure any
discussions are suitable for age and
maturity of the students involved.
Is extremism really a risk in our
area?
Extremism can take many forms,
including; political, religious and
misogynistic extremism. Some of these
may be bigger threat in our area than
others. Our aim is to give students the
skills to protect them from any extremist
views they may encounter, now or later
in their lives.
Key Terms
Extremism - vocal or active opposition
to fundamental British values such as
democracy, the rule of law and tolerance
of different faiths and beliefs
Ideology - a set of beliefs
Terrorism - a violent action against
people or property, designed to create
fear and advance a political, religious or
ideological cause
Radicalisation - the process by which a
person comes to support extremism and
terrorism.
Spiritual Focus
Termly Theme
Democracy
What are Fundamental British Values?
Shared Human Values
Rights and Responsibilities
Rights and Privileges
Valuing My Vote
Freedom of Speech
School Uniform
It is imperative that your
son or daughter are
wearing the correct uniform
as abides by the school
uniform policy.
In
September 2015, there was
a big focus on uniform
28
across the school which is
continuing throughout the
academic year.
Please
ensure that your son or
daughter is wearing the
correct uniform when
attending school.
One pair of earrings or studs worn in the lower ear lobe only
Blue Shirt.
Year 11 wear white shirts
The Duston School
black blazer with
school badge and
year colour flash
Don’t forget
Please remember to label
all uniform including PE kit
and winter coats now the
cold weather is coming.
V-necked
sleeveless jumper
with school badge
One flat ring
Black school skirt (length
must be to the knee and
free flowing) or black
tailored trousers
Black trousers
Plain black socks. Flat, black leather
shoes that can be polished and are
not patent or suede
Plain black socks/tights. Flat, black leather
shoes that can be polished, are not patent
or suede, and have a rigid sole
We are a chewing
gum free school.
Thank you for
respecting
this.
WWW.THE DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Notices
29
Secondary school places for 2016
Tuesday 1 March 2016
Offers made


Offer letters posted to parents
View your offer online if you
applied online
1 March 2016 onwards
Next steps

We will assume you have
accepted the allocated place
unless you let us know
otherwise





Attend school every day and ontime.
Wear the correct school uniform
according to the uniform policy.
Adhere to all school rules and
treat every member of the
school with the respect they
deserve.
Never use threatening or
abusive language or behaviour.
Be sensible in school so that we
can be happy and safe as we
learn.
Parental contact details
There have been a number of
incidences recently where parents
have been unobtainable when the
school has attempted to contact
them regarding their son or
daughter. We must remind you of
the importance of updating your
contact details as soon as possible
with the school if there are any
changes. It is a serious health and
safety issue if parents cannot be
contacted concerning their son or
daughter.
If you need to update your
contact details with the school,
please contact the school as soon
as possible. If you wish to update
via email please use the email
below.
Thank you for your support.
New Term Begins
Monday January 4th 2016.
Student Services
Student services will not open to students for the first 30
minutes after break and lunch. Student should not need to
be going to student services for the toilet just after a 30
minute break. Students services will of course be open for
any first aid emergencies. We do not allow students to
leave any lesson unless it is absolutely necessary.
Please bring
asthma
inhalers now
the cold
weather is
coming.
Mobile Phone use within school
A reminder for January 2016 that should
your child be seen using their phone, or
the phone is heard within the school
building, it will be confiscated. The phone
will then be returned the following Monday
in accordance with the school policy.
Notices
BehaviourWatch is an advanced webbased system which allows schools to
centralise their own recording systems
and log incidents online, eliminating
the need for paper-based reports.
When incidents are logged automatic
emails will alert relevant staff and
intelligent analysis enables quick
identification of areas of concern.
Most importantly the system is
completely tailored to the individual
school's needs.
It is now over a month since the
inception of Behaviour Watch as the
new behaviour monitoring/ logging
system at TDS. This system is
designed to keep all members of staff
fully informed as to the behaviour
issues of students in their classes. The
system has also been designed with
parents in mind and automated
messages are now communicated via
email and text message. The benefits
of this system are that staff are now
much more aware of behaviour
patterns and as a result, we can
address any issues, a lot more quickly
Homework
As you are aware, homework is an
important part of your child’s education.
It is vital time given over to research,
consolidation or extension of their work
at school. Homework prepares students
for the working world where they will
have to complete independent tasks
and meet deadlines. As the member of
senior leadership team responsible for
homework I have made two changes to
the current system in order to facilitate
better compliance from students in
completing their homework:
Firstly, non-completion of homework will
result in a D30 in the first instance
30
and efficiently.
Another benefit of the system is that
the positive behaviour of students is
now a lot more straightforward to
recognise and log. This has resulted in
many of our students being rewarded
with a RESPECT notifica tion.
Currently, there is twice the amount
of positive behaviour logs (RESPECT)
than there are negative logs. This is
credit to the students and recognition
of their excellent start to the academic
year.
There have been a small number of
parents who have yet to receive
notifications via Behaviour Watch.
Please, ensure that we have your
most up-to-date email address for our
records so we can put this onto the
Behaviour Watch system.
If you wish to emails us this
information, please send your email to
the follow ing ema il a dd ress :
mailinglist@thedustonschool.org
If you have any feedback regarding
Behaviour Watch, do email me at the
school to the following email address:
sbeal@thedustonschool.org
rather than a D10. This is to make the
punishment proportional to the missed
work. Students will have the opportunity
to complete homework in the detention
under supervision.
Secondly, these detentions will take
place in a supervised room on a
specified day according to the subject
where the homework was set. Please
see the timetable at the bottom of this
letter. This is being done in order to
streamline the current system where
staff are expected to supervise their
own detentions individually. As per the
new BehaviourWatch system, parents
will receive notification of these
detentions, including the location, date
and time, by email.
BehaviourWatch is an
advanced web-based system
which allows schools to
centralise their own recording
systems and log incidents
online, eliminating the need
for paper-based reports.
Staff are expected to set homework
according to their individual faculty
policy which are available on the school
website under the ‘Students’ tab. We do
greatly appreciate your support in this
matter. Should you have any questions
regarding either of these changes,
please do contact me via the school
switch board or my email address
twise@thedustonschool.org.
Yours sincerely
Mr T Wise
Assistant Principal – Maths
Notices
VIVOS and RESPECT on
Behaviour Watch
The RESPECT notifications on
Behaviour Watch continue to go
from strength to strength with
14575 RESPECT entries being
recorded for all students across
the school. This is an average of
11 per student which is fantastic.
This shows how much staff are
recognising positive behaviour
across the school and how much
students are working in order to
be recognised through RESPECT
slips. Students should also receive
VIVOS from their teachers
alongside RESPECTS in order for
students to be further rewarded
for good work.
Behaviour both to and from
school
Students need to remember that
their behaviour when going to
and from school must be
impeccable at all times. When
wearing the school uniform, it is
easy for members of the local
community to identify students
from TDS. Please ensure that you
are behaving when in the public
arena.
The Duston School nonnegotiables
Every students must remember
the ‘non-negotiables’ of The
Duston School. We expect every
students to abide by these simple
but very important rules:
31
Attend school every day and ontime.
Wear the correct school uniform
according to the uniform policy.
Adhere to all school rules and
treat every member of the school
with the respect they deserve.
Never use threatening or abusive
language or behaviour.
Be sensible in school so that we
can be happy and safe as we
learn.
Entry to lesson expectations
There is currently a focus on
entry to lesson expectation that
all students must adhere to. This
is to ensure an orderly start to all
lessons. They are as follows:
Line up in an orderly manner
outside the classroom
Wait until the teacher tells you to
go into the classroom
Enter the classroom in an orderly
manner and STAND behind your
desk
Take out your books, planners
and equipment and put them on
the desk in front of you
Put your bags under your desk
Wait for the teacher to tell you to
sit down
Remain silent during the register
(except when your name is
called).
Equipment
Information and data from behaviour
watch is telling us that there is an issue
in school with students being ill equipped
for learning. This means that a number
of students do not have the basic
equipment in order to fully maximise
their chances of attaining in each lesson.
All students should have the following
equipment for each day in school and for
every lesson:
A pencil case
2 pens (Black or blue ink)
2 pencils
A ruler
A rubber
A pencil sharpener
DEAR time book (Please ensure that this
is appropriate)
Detentions and
student
planners:
All detentions being logged by a
member of staff will be done so via
Behaviour Watch but also now be
written into the student planner. In
order to increase communication
between home and school, we
advise that you regularly check the
student planner detention pages so
you can keep up-to-date with the
detentions being logged. 24 hours’
notice detentions (D30s and D45s)
will now all be logged in planners
and the expectation is that parents
will understand this and check the
planner regularly in order to save
on any confusion when it comes to
detentions being served. The
detention logs are at the following
pages in the planner:
Pages 35-38 in the Year 7,
8 and 9 planners
Pages 38-41 in the Year 10
and 11 planners
Thank you for your support
with this process.
Year 11 Reflections
Year 11 students’ reflections on
teachers who have helped them
Alex Swanston – Miss Hitchon – English
Without her support, I wouldn’t feel like I had done well in my
English exam.
Jasmine Groves – Miss Blagrove – Maths
Helps me with my maths when I struggle.
Abi Worley – Miss Nelson – English
Makes me believe I can achieve the higher grades.
Ben Withey – Miss Bickley – Science
She’s very calm and always helps me with my coursework.
Callum Berry – Miss Cooke—English
As she makes me feel more confident.
Ross Tarlton, Austin Bishop, Luke Harrap – Mr Creed - IT
helping me with coursework last year and with computer
science this year.
Jarred Flounders – Mr Elliott and Mr Kouzaris – Hisotry
Never gave up on me.
Simbarashe Dzapasi – Mr Mannion and Mrs Aziz – Are both
really helpful and know my potential.
Ryan Wilson – Mr Luck – Maths
Thank you for pushing me.
Charlie Swallow – Mr Elliott - History
Answers all my questions and always lets me know how to
improve my work. He loves History.
Connor Sprague – Mrs Smith – Maths
I like how she structures her lessons and helps me improve
my learning.
32
33
WWW.THE DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Events
The Duston School
hosted a magical
night on Thursday
17th December
when we held our
Carols by
Candlelight
concert.
This special evening was a
perfect way to end a busy and
successful term. The evening
showcased the musical talent at
the school as the choirs sang a
selection of festive songs and
traditional carols.
Decorate
Dave
competition.
Thank you very much to everyone
who participated in the Decorate
Dave competition.
It has been wonderful to see so
much creativity from different
departments and form groups!
We are pleased to announce the
winner and runners up please see
opposite.
1st
Lost McComb
Creative Technologies
2nd
Super Reindeer
Miss Tappenden – 13ETA
3rd
Santa Hooves
Mandy Littler
Events
WWW.THE DUSTON SCHOOL.ORG.UK
Remembrance Day
Weekly Quiz
This half-term has seen the continuation of the
popular weekly quiz.
The quiz is held every Friday
lunch time with prizes to be
won. The themes this
half-term have been;
 ‘A Series of
Unfortunate Events,’
 ‘The Divergent
Series,’ ‘Percy Jackson,’
 ‘Harry Potter,’
 ‘A Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’
 ‘The Chronicles of Narnia –
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe’ and on the last
day of term the theme will
be ‘A Christmas Carol’ by
Charles Dickens.
The quizzes are based on
popular books that are
available within The Hub for
students to borrow.
34
35
DUSTON
SCHOOL.ORG.UK
TermWWW.THE
Dates
2015
- 2016