Dear Parents, Carers and Families,
There’s something amazing about Year 7 students. All of you will have been one at some point, or at the very least been 11 to 12, and everyone reading this should have had one at this school at some point. Year 7 students say hello to you with greater frequency than anyone else. They ask me more questions than anyone else, but often without any of the necessary context that would make it easier to answer them – in the space of a week I can be asked, “Why aren’t Belmont playing football anymore?”, “Do you want to see my pen?”, “What’s your favourite tree?” and endless variations of “Do you know Tommy?” I’m unsure why Belmont aren’t playing football (but suspect they are, just had to postpone one game), I always like looking at a nice pen, don’t feel I know any tree well enough for it to be my “favourite” and I never know who they’re referring to in the moment I’m asked, even when I’m told I waved at them once when I was on duty. Year 7 students will tell me it's their birthday, forgetting that the dinner plate sized 12 badge they’re wearing already suggests this, and just this week a Year 7 came up to me said, “Do you want to see the muffin dance?”, did a dance and then ran off all before I could say or do anything. There is something open and honest about the vast majority of Year 7 students that makes them a collective delight.
On a surface level this openness, honesty and crucially happiness seems to disappear for many as students reach Year 8. Partly this is hormones, this is being a teenager, partly it’s that slight loss of innocence as young people start to realise that the world is more complicated than they maybe thought it was and they’re not sure where their place within it is. However, students can still be happy and many are, even if they hide it from adults. I can see it on the faces of students as they take part in the Spring concert, when they’re praised for solving the maths equation that would certainly be beyond me, when they take part in a sports team. Most frequently you see them being happy with their friends as they learn how to be adults together. A frequent message that schools give students, and I’ve given myself, is a variation on “school is about your education, not about friends” and this true to an extent but for many students school feels like it is about their friends above anything else and honest schools recognise that these two things don’t need to be mutually exclusive; schools can be places that offer formal education and places where young people make friends and know how important these social bonds can be, both in terms of learning how to navigate the world as an adult but also in terms of their immediate happiness.
At this school we want students to be happy. For this to be true we recognise, to use a phrase from someone who founded a school that I admire, “School is necessary but not sufficient” to achieve that goal. Education is important, grades are important, they give you access to more choices and therefore more freedom later in life, but we shouldn’t pretend that school is just grades, a transition where you get grades to get a better job and that’s it. School should be about care, about wider opportunities and about the creation of well rounded, balanced and responsible adults. If we as a community can do that, with your support, I think the happiness and openness we see in our Year 7 will be there for them as adults and therefore in turn for their own children. These might seem like lofty goals, that trying to establish if all children are happy is an impossible task, but if schools can’t be ambitious in what they want to do for their children, then I don’t know what their purpose is. This school featured in the local news this week as a place where students are happy (see below for more details) but my inspiration for writing this this week was both to give greater context to you as a parents and carers but also because of the muffin dance; it really was something.
Many thanks for your continued support of the school; I hope you all have a good weekend.
Michael Wright
Headteacher
Training Update
We gathered as a whole staff body this week to hear again from some external experts about understanding ADHD. This will lead to departments next week once again exploring practical strategies about how to implement this within their settings.
Rebuild Project
We shared this news item earlier in the week but if people missed it, please click here for an update about the next phase of the rebuild project: Framwellgate School Durham - Rebuild Project | Framwellgate School Durham
Fram in the News
The school featured in a short article in the Northern Echo this week which you can find here at this link. It’s lovely to see the school being recognised as a happy place although I have to confess that some of the grammatical errors in the online article I read did make me slightly unhappy...
Spring Concert
Many thanks to all who took part in the Spring Concert on Tuesday, a true festival of music and talent.
Bus 2
Those of you who pay privately for your children to use bus 2 provided by Lees Coaches from Pittington and Sherburn will be aware that Lees have decided not to offer this service anymore. This decision was taken on commercial grounds and without consultation with the school. At this point I have been in contact with the council, but I can’t offer any potential solutions. I wanted parents to know that a) we are aware and b) I will keep them updated with what information I have when I have it.
6th Form Update
Year 12 Work Experience
A number of our Year 12 students have found it particularly difficult to find a work experience placement this year, despite contacting a number of different places. If any parents or carers can offer a placement at their workplace during the week commencing Monday 28th April, please get in touch with Mrs Moss, our Careers Development Lead and Sixth Form Guidance Manager.
Thank you very much in advance for your support.
Exam Results
Congratulations to our health & social care, sport, business studies and applied science students, who received the results from their January exams this week - we are very proud of your achievements!
Sports Leadership Award
Well done to our Year 12 sports leaders, who supported in the delivery of a key stage 1 'invasion games' festival as part of the Durham School Sports Partnership's primary programme this week. The Sports Leadership Award is one of the additional qualifications that are available for key stage 5 students to complete at Fram alongside their main A level and Btec qualifications.
Mrs King, Head of 6th Form
Safeguarding Update
Stranger Danger
We know a lot of teenagers might feel they are too old for ‘stranger danger’ talks, but we think they can still benefit from reminders about their own personal safety, how to keep themselves safe and what to do if something worrying happens outside of school, whether this is online, walking to and from school or generally being out and about in the community.
We believe it's important to raise awareness regularly and believe it's important to encourage students to remain vigilant at all times.
We would appreciate it if parents and carers could reinforce key messages to their child and remind them of key safety tips.
This includes:
Staying alert and being aware of your surroundings and avoiding distractions such as headphones or mobile phones when walking.
Don’t talk to strangers. Do not engage in conversations or accept gifts, a lift home or help from people who you do not know, even if they offer you something nice – such as sweets. Always trust your instincts.
Use safe routes and walk in areas that you know and that are well lit at night. Avoid shortcuts or routes you are not familiar with. Stay with your friends if you can.
Report anything that worries you. If you feel uncomfortable or someone talks to you that worries you and makes you feel uncomfortable, report this straight away. If you are still in the vicinity of school, you can come back onto the school site, and we will help you.
We would always encourage students to ring 999 if they felt they were in immediate danger.
Mrs Osborne, Designated Safeguarding Lead