Dear Parents, Carers and Families,
At the time of writing, the government's white paper on education is due to be published next week, having been delayed since autumn. Within schools, we already have a sense of what it will be saying. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is currently having its amendments finalised, so we can also see how some of these will impact schools, students and you as parents and carers. With this new legislation approaching, I wanted to highlight just some of the key changes that may soon impact your child's experience of school, some linked directly to this legislation, some linked to other developments.
Mobile Phones
Schools are to be required to have a robust mobile phone policy that in effect bans their use completely in school. As you will be aware, we as a school currently operate on the principle that phones should be away and out of sight for the entire school day, from bell to bell. However, it is likely we’ll have to move to a system where mobile phones are locked away over the course of the day to remove the temptation for students to access them during any unsupervised period. I’m broadly in favour of this, although I also recognise that phones are a factor of modern life; most students will, for example, use theirs to pay for things outside of school. In a large school like this, some of you will very much support this move, and some of you will feel very strongly that your child needs their phone. We’ll be sharing details next half term on what this will look like specifically for students here at this school, once we’ve considered all the various issues and practical implementations, but I would encourage you all to mentally get into the space of thinking about the fact that your child will have to hand in their phone during the school day. In some ways related to this, we know that there is to be some form of ban on social media for under-16s, something that I again broadly support, although I recognise that there will be different views on this issue.
Uniform
From September of this year, as a school, we’ll only be requesting that students wear four specific branded items, in line with the government’s statutory guidance. I do agree that uniform should be as affordable to parents as possible, which is one of the main reasons I changed our stance on footwear last year to allow any type of footwear as long as it’s black, instead of insisting on formal shoes. At the moment, we only have one supplier for our branded items. While the government suggests we should have more, in practice, if we grant the licence to multiple firms, then all could raise their costs as they don’t hold the monopoly. In addition, while it’s possible to argue that we could offer a cheaper uniform overall, changing it would in the short term raise costs for everyone. I do think uniforms are important in terms of school identity, as well as preparing students for the adult world. The majority of occupations in this country have a uniform or dress code. I’m required to wear a tie for example, and it’s important that our students recognise this and are used to it now rather than when they’re trying to enter the world of work.
SEND
Just under 80% of our students, your children, aren’t classified as having any Special Educational Need, but for those of you with children who do fall into this category, you’re possibly aware of significant national debate on this issue, much of the focus being on funding. That 1 out of 5 of our students is SEND puts us above the national average, the County Durham average and that of Durham City. I support the general outline of the proposed reforms. I do think more children should be supported here in mainstream education, but I’m not convinced the scale of change or the money behind it will be enough to deliver meaningful change. For example, the money announced to support the training of teachers around SEND amounts to around £6,000 for a school of this size. Within the context of our budget, this isn’t going to be an amount that leads to anything substantive, or certainly not quickly.
There are of course many other issues and new legislation that schools will have to deal with. I’ve tried to pick out three that I think will have the most immediate impact on many of your children, and by extension, yourselves. Change is a constant in life; how well we all adapt to that change is often the clearest measure of our success. The single most important thing is that all of these new or adapted systems need to work to deliver the best possible education to every child here.
A reminder that school closes for the February half-term holiday today, opening up again as normal on Monday 2nd March.
Many thanks as always to you all for your continued support of the school; I hope you all have a good weekend and a great half-term holiday.
Michael Wright
Headteacher
Please find this week's key messages below.
Book Week Competition Winner
We’re pleased to share this poem from a Year 9 student, written as part of our book week activities. There was some really thoughtful writing from all the entrants. All the winners from the competitions have been notified via ClassCharts.
When the pages disappeared
First, the books were gone.
Not burned, not stolen-
Just forgotten
shelves stood empty,
Waiting for hands that no longer reached.
Words shrank to function
Used to survive,
Never feel
Then the dark settled in
No heroes to fail and rise.
No monsters to name our fear.
Children learned silence before wonder,
and pain sat heavy with nowhere to go.
History looped itself,
Because memory had no
spine
The world kept breathing,
But meaning thinned,
Page by page
Until even questions felt useless.
But something refuses to die.
A story hummed in a voice.
A memory clung to a sentence.
Someone, somewhere,
Starting telling it again-
Softly
Clumsily,
Like relearning how to hope.
And from that telling, pages returned.
Because as long as hearts remember,
As long as humans ache to be understood,
A world without books can never last.
Shema, Year 9
Year 11 Mock Exams
Good luck to Year 11 students who will have their mock exams the first two weeks after half-term. All students now have an exam timetable with their assigned seats and start times of the examinations. Attendance is key and all students should aim for 100% attendance during these two weeks.
Can I remind students that they should be prepared each day with the correct equipment and that a calculator is part of this essential equipment. Not having a calculator can disadvantage a student in Maths, Science, Technology and Geography examinations. Please reach out to the year team if you have any issues around having the correct equipment.
Students will receive their results of the examinations on mock results day before Easter.
Upcoming Assessment Dates:
KS3 Assessment Week will take place during lesson time in the week beginning Monday 1st June 2026.
Year 10 Option Subjects' Assessments will take place in lesson time between Monday 20th April and Friday 8th May.
Year 10 Core Mock Exams in the Main Hall will take place Monday 27th April to Thursday 30th April. Further details will follow after half-term.
Year 12 Mock Exams will take place week beginning 30th March and the week beginning 20th April at the Sjovoll Centre.
Progress Evenings:
6th Form – Thursday 5th March - Bookings can be made now.
Year 7 – Thursday 19th March - Information will be emailed to parents and carers after half-term.
Year 8 – Thursday 7th May - Information will be emailed to parents and carers before Easter.
Year 9 GCSE Options
Thank you to all parents and carers for completing the GCSE options form. Students’ options will be confirmed in early July.
Year 11 Summer Study Leave
All Year 11 students will be expected to attend school and all timetabled lessons until Friday 22nd May. A leavers’ assembly will be held for students on this final day. Further details and information will follow from the year team. A quick-tips and grade booster timetable that will support students while completing exams in school will follow.
Year 11 Leavers’ Prom
The prom will take place on Monday 29th June at Ramside Hall. Invitations will be sent at a later date. Students are required to have 2000 positive achievement points to receive their invitation. Students’ behaviour and attendance will also be taken into account by the year team and SLT. Any further queries about the prom will be addressed by the year team.
Summer 2026 Exams – Contingency Day
All students taking GCSE, AS, or A‑Level examinations in summer 2026 must be available up to and including Wednesday 24th June 2026.
This date is known as the contingency day. It is set nationally by the exam boards and the Department for Education as a safeguard.
The contingency day is only used if there is a major disruption that prevents an examination from taking place as scheduled. This could include events such as:
- severe weather
- widespread transport disruption
- a national emergency
If such a disruption occurs, affected examinations may be rescheduled to this contingency date.
Students should therefore avoid making travel or other commitments that would prevent them from being available on this date.
Mrs Mersh-Roberts, Deputy Headteacher
Safeguarding over Half-Term
I wanted to share some important information that you may find useful for over the half-term break. We know that some families find the school holidays quite challenging, so we want to make you aware of all the support there is available to you as a family.
We have a strong safeguarding culture in school and we prioritise our students’ safety and wellbeing at all times. However, I feel it's important to share the following links with you regarding remaining safe outside of school.
I would also like to share the following contact details with you in case you have any safeguarding concerns or are worried about the safety of any young people during the half-term break.
You can call First Contact on 03000 267 979 and report your concerns or discuss any worries you may have about the safety of young people. There is also the website https://www.durham.gov.uk/firstcontact# which offers further guidance.
You may also find the following links useful if you need any additional support or health information:
The Mental Health Crisis Team can now be reached via 111 option 2.
Fearless: Anonymous Reporting for a Safer Community | Crimestoppers
If any child or person is in immediate danger, we would always advise you contact 999, or Durham Police on 101 for non-emergencies.
Help and support from local foodbanks can be found here:
Ending hunger together | Trussell
County Durham Foodbank | Helping Local People in Crisis
Mrs Osborne, Director of Safeguarding
What is my child learning?
A reminder that you can find curriculum details about what your child is studying here on our website: Curriculum Overview | Framwellgate School Durham
How to help support your child at home?
Students can use the link below to access resources that will help them study independently at home, such as:
- Knowledge organisers
- Revision checklists
- Past exam papers
- ‘How to Revise’ instructional videos
Students have been shown how to access this SharePoint site and a 'how to' sheet has been sent to you via ClassCharts. As parents and carers, you won’t be able to access this, but the link will work for all students. Students learning how to use this excellent resource early in their time here will be very beneficial to them later as they approach their GCSE studies. All GCSE students should be making regular use of it as a matter of course.
For information about different A-Level and GCSE exam boards and programmes of study, please follow this link: Exams | Framwellgate School Durham