Dear parents, carers and families,
Twice a year we run a Parent and Carer Survey, one in November and one in June. You can find the link to this November's survey below.
Parent and Carer Survey November 2026 - Framwellgate School Durham
The survey is a version of the standard Ofsted parent survey they issue when they inspect a school, but we’re running this for our own internal benefit. The survey will be open from today, Friday 6th November, until Friday 20th November. Brief feedback will be shared with you all prior to the Christmas holidays in one of these weekly updates.
Please note that at the end of the survey there are two open text boxes. Please feel free to fill these in, but note that the survey is anonymous, so we won’t be able to respond. We recommend that people use the contact section of our website to communicate when they want a direct response. You can find that section of our website here: Contact Us | Framwellgate School Durham
Some of you will have multiple children in school. Please feel free to complete the survey multiple times if that’s the case. I appreciate that you may have had different experiences and therefore views of the school relative to where your children find themselves in their educational journey.
Parental Forum – Working in partnership
In addition to asking people to complete this survey, we'd love to talk to a group of parents in more detail. We ran groups around specific themes two years ago and this was helpful for the school. This time we'd like to invite a cross-section of parents to discuss some specific questions that we'll share in advance, as well as explore what parents and carers would like the school to do differently.
There are a range of issues young people face here in Durham, and the school should be part of the solution. As Headteacher I think the way we solve some of these issues is by trying to bring together as many of the different organisations as possible – what can schools do, what can local businesses do, what can local services do, local charities, local people. I'd like to talk directly to some of you about this.
We intend to hold this forum on Wednesday 25th November at 5.00pm. If you'd like to be involved, please click on this link to sign up.
FSD Parental Forum - Wednesday 25th November - 5.00pm
We will aim accommodate as many parents and carers who sign up as possible, ideally from a cross section of the school. The ambition would be to meet on a termly basis, but signing up to this event doesn't commit people beyond this one-off event.
Thank you in advance to all of you who’ll take the time to complete the survey. It’s helpful to us as a school to have an honest picture of how the school is seen by you all. Thanks also to everyone willing to give up their time to talk to us in more detail.
Many thanks for your continued support of the school; I hope you all have a good weekend.
Michael Wright
Headteacher
Please find this week's key messages below.
Year 11 Mock Examinations- Week Beginning 16th November and 23rd November.
All students have now received their individual examination timetable, including their allocated seat number. Students must ensure they arrive at school on time and are fully prepared for their examinations.
The morning examination will begin at 8:45am.
A copy of the mock examination timetable and a study booklet outlining what students will be assessed on is still available on the Class Charts announcement sent to parents and student last half term. Students have also been provided with a paper copy.
Please encourage your child to make use of the Resource Hub, which can be accessed through Office 365. This contains a range of revision materials and past examination papers to support their preparation.
We would like to wish all students the very best of luck during this examination period.
School CPD Day closure
A reminder that the school will be closed to students this half term on Friday 27th November.
Student Christmas Dinner
This year the school Christmas Dinner will be served to students on Tuesday 15th December.
End of Term arrangements
On the last day of term, Friday 18th December, lunch will be served to students at an earlier time, and they will be dismissed from school at the earlier time of 12.45pm for the Christmas holidays.
Youth Wellbeing Ambassadors
Live Well North East, based in Sacriston, provides emotional wellbeing support for children, young people, adults and families across the local community.
In January, they will be launching their new Youth Ambassadors Programme and are looking for enthusiastic young people aged 12-15 to get involved. This exciting opportunity will enable participants to share their views, influence future support for young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, and help shape local services. Youth Ambassadors will develop valuable skills, build confidence, make new friendships, and play an active role in creating positive change. Together, they can help make a meaningful difference to the wellbeing of young people in our community. If you are interested please speak to your child about this and use the following QR code to express your interest. This QR code is also accessible to students on their weekly slides.
Mrs Osborne, Director of Safeguarding
Parent SEN Information Evenings
Last term we held a parent information session to enable parents of students with special educational needs to hear from experts and ask questions. The session last term focused on neurodivergence, and we had a number of Durham's SEND and Inclusion Advisory Teachers in attendance to share their expertise.
We plan to hold these information sessions on a termly basis if there is enough demand, but before arranging the next one, we would like to gather parents' views on what we should focus on.
Sessions could focus on anxiety, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, developmental language disorder, or another topic of your choice. Your child does not need to have a diagnosis for you to attend - even if you think your child MIGHT have a difficulty in one of these areas, come along for an informal chat and find out more.
To help with the planning, please click on the link to fill in the online survey, and tell us what you want to know more about.
Parent SEN information sessions – Fill out form
Details of the next session will be shared via the newsletter as soon as they are confirmed.
Mrs Forrest, SENCo
Family Hubs
Family hubs are local authority‑led centres in England that bring together health, education, parenting, and welfare services into a single “one‑stop shop” for families with children aged 0–19 (or up to 25 with SEND). They provide integrated support such as infant feeding help, parenting classes, mental health services, and early years development programmes. Durham has several Family Hubs, you can find out more here: Find out what's on at your nearest Best Start Family Hub - Durham County Council.
There are a number of excellent services available, but those we would particularly signpost are listed below.
Safer Choices - For young people of secondary school age to understand risky behaviours, peer pressure, consequences and how to make safer choices.
Staying Cool Teen - For teenagers, looking at anger management and ways to deal with their feelings.
Durham SEND Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) drop-in.
Teen Zone - For young people of secondary school age who are struggling with confidence and self-esteem.
Educational Psychology drop-in - Talk to the Educational Psychology team about any concerns you may have about your child such as learning, communication and language, social and emotional wellbeing, practical skills or being independent.
In general, Family Hubs offer a great service – we'd urge all parents to be aware of them and consider what support, if any, they may wish to access.
Miss O’Neill, Assistant Headteacher
In School Assessments
An overview of when students will be assessed in Term 1 can be found at:
Assessment | Framwellgate School Durham
Further to this KS3 End of Year Assessments will take place on the following dates:
Year 7: Week Beginning 24th May 2027
Year 8: Week Beginning 7th June 2027
Year 9: Week Beginning 14th June 2027
Key Stage 4 Mock Examinations
Year 10: Mock Exams Weeks Beginning 12th April and 19th April 2027
Year 11: Mock Exams 1 Week Beginning 16th November and 23rd November 2026
Year 11: Mock Exams 2 Week Beginning 22nd Feb and 1st March 2027
Key Stage 5 Assessments/ Mock Examinations
Year 12 and 13 Week 1: Week Beginning 2nd November and 9th November 2026
Year 12 - Assessment Week 2: Week Beginning 1st February and 8th February 2027
Year 12 Mocks: Weeks Beginning 21st June and 28th June 2027
Year 13 Mocks: Week Beginning 1st February and 8th February 2027
Summer 2027 Exams – Contingency Day
All students taking GCSE, AS, or A Level examinations in summer 2027 must be available up to and including Wednesday 23rd June 2027.
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:
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severe weather
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widespread transport disruption
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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.
Key Dates
Year 7 Progress Evening Tuesday 27th April 2027
Year 8 Progress Evening Tuesday 18th May 2027
Year 9 Progress Evening Tuesday 19th January 2027
Year 10 Progress Evening Thursday 18th March 2027
Sixth Form Progress Evening Thursday 10th December 2026 and Tuesday 9th March 2027
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:
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Knowledge organisers
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Revision checklists
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Past exam papers
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‘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. Learning how to use this excellent resource early in their time here will be very beneficial to students 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: