Dear Parents, Carers and Families,
Earlier this academic year, I wrote to everyone to say that as a school, we were responding to some comments from parents about our use of the stage system, our warning system for students lacking focus in lessons, common in many schools, and that to achieve better levels of consistency, we would be focusing on this for a short period. From within the school community, I would say this was successful, but I’d also acknowledge that this is something that we will return to as inevitably, like all organisations based around real people and not just machines, over time different approaches and inconsistencies creep back in. When we take actions like this as a school, we call them “sprints”, borrowing the idea from industry, where everything is focused on one goal in the organisation for a sustained period. We’ll be undertaking another sprint next week, but this time the focus is on rewards, celebrating the vast majority of students who get it right, with one attribute in particular being our focus.
There will be some changes you’ll see as parents and carers, hopefully in the form of an increased amount of praise points on ClassCharts. We have already been focusing on this much more, and the number of positive points awarded across the school has increased astronomically. This has all been part of an effort to ensure that the culture here in the school matches our values. I speak about every person in the school community having the right to be known and valued, and this is one of the ways we live that value. However, no child should think they’re only valued if their ClassCharts pie chart is only green. Children, and I think adults, respond best to people who have time for them consistently and treat them as individuals, knowing them by name and knowing who they are as people, what they do and don’t like. In an inclusive school, that means seeing the positives in everyone and celebrating these, while recognising that these will look different for each child. The praise point on ClassCharts is a symbol of that culture.
Our particular focus of reward and celebration will be on resilience, the ability to keep going even when things aren’t easy. We might see that with many of the Year 11 students currently going through their mock exams, it takes real mental strength to focus all day in exams before going home to revise ahead of doing it all again the next day. We might see it in classrooms when students persevere with difficult problems or, when the first flash of inspiration escapes them, don’t just put their pen down but accept that they need to think a little harder. Resilience for some students means getting out of bed and coming to school every day, even though they’re tired and hungry. It’s normal in life to find some things, or even most things, hard at first, and resilience is always the key to being successful in the longer term and thinking beyond the immediate. Lots of children need help at different times, but it’s a rare world where the help is an immediate fix; they need to show resilience to engage with that help and take the time to work with others to make things better. All of the successful students I’ve worked with have at different times shown this quality, and I’m pleased that as a school, it’s something we’ll be celebrating with renewed focus in the coming weeks. There will be more details to follow, but on 16th July this year, we’ll be holding a rewards evening at the Gala theatre here in Durham to celebrate as many of our students as possible.
Many thanks as always to you all 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 Easter RAS
During the Easter break, students need to keep on top of their revision and exam prep, as well as have a well-earned rest. To help, many teachers have offered to run sessions to help focus students during this holiday period, as some may find it difficult to revise at home and prefer to come into school to work with friends and subject specialists. Please see below a comprehensive Easter study programme that all Year 11 students can access during the upcoming Easter holiday.
Please look at this with your child and decide together which sessions they are able to attend. Students can then factor this into their own revision schedules and start to plan their Easter break to make the most of this time.
To attend - students must use the link sent out to them via ClassCharts
Miss Lutynski, Assistant Headteacher
GCSE Art & Photography Exams
Please be aware of the upcoming GCSE practical exam dates for Art and Photography:
GCSE Art Exams
- Thursday 26th March and Friday 27th March
GCSE Photography Exams
- Monday 30th March and Wednesday 1st April
It is essential that all pupils are in school on these allocated exam days and that they arrive fully prepared with all of their prep work (sketchbooks) and materials they need for the two days.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Mr Carney, Curriculum Leader of Art & Design
VEX Robotics
A huge thank you to all the parents and carers for supporting, transporting and enabling their amazing children to take part in this year's VEX V5 UK National Championships. Against an incredibly high standard of competition this season, Fram was the only school from the North East to get teams through to the quarter finals in both the Middle School and High School divisions. A just reward for the Pink Potatoes and Hyper Bots’ teamwork, camaraderie and determination. Great work everyone!
Generous donations have given our students this unique opportunity. Please help to give next season's teams the same chances if you can. Thank you. https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/framvexrobotics
The Pink Potato team and their alliance partner, The 3 Amigos, waiting to begin their quarter-final match against the top seeds from the qualification rounds!
In an exciting North East showdown, the Hyper Bots prepare for their knockout match against the RGS Seagulls team, who they beat to reach the quarter finals!
Mr Earnshaw, Teacher of Computer Science
Upcoming Assessment Dates
KS3 Assessment Week will take place during lesson time, in the week beginning Monday 1st June.
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 from Monday 27th April to Thursday 30th April. Further details will follow after Easter.
Year 12 Mock Exams will take place during week beginning 30th March and the week beginning 20th April at the Sjovoll Centre.
Progress Evenings
Year 7 - Thursday 19th March
Year 8 - Thursday 7th May
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
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