Students from Duke’s Secondary School are celebrating their exam results today marking the end of their GCSE journey.  In addition to a range of excellent individual performances, the school has again celebrated some high performances, including excellent results in vocational qualifications and maths results that are the highest since the government introduced much tougher GCSEs exams three years ago.

The majority of the students plan to move in to sixth form within the school to continue their future study, although some have opted to pursue apprenticeships and other styles of work related learning outside of the school environment.  European Boxing Champion Alex Brown has added the top grade of 9 to her gold medal collection in PE and Geography, along with grade 8s in science, proving that her mental agility is just as good as her physical standards.

Rachel Younger achieved 9 grades at grade 7 or higher, including a grade 9 in Religious Studies and grade 8s in Biology, English, Geography and Music.  Rachel is on track to study A Levels at Duke’s School’s sixth form following her impressive results today.

Former Head Boy and Head Girl of the school, Dylan Wilson and Heidi Hamilton, have impressed with 10 high grade achievements each.

Steve Gibson, Principal at Duke’s School, said: “Our students strive to do well, and we are proud of what they achieve.  These results don’t define the individuals, but they do reflect the work that they have put in both in and out of school.  We look forward to welcoming them, and a growing number of students from elsewhere, into our sixth form in September.”

We are delighted to announce that Duke’s School has achieved the School Games Bronze Mark Award for the 2018/19 academic year.

The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.

With a significant number of young people competing in local inter-school competitions this year, we are extremely proud of our pupils for their dedication to all aspects of school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our competitions possible.

As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas of participation, competition, workforce and clubs, and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.

A special thanks to the Duke’s Sport staff team for their hard work in supporting and coaching!

Congratulations to Emily Brown, who has been appointed as Head Girl at Duke’s School today.  Emily will be assisted by Alana Brogan and Jasmine Lloyd as Deputy Head Girls.

Congratulations to Aidan Fairholm, who has been appointed as Head Boy at Duke’s School today.  Aidan will be assisted by Dillon Cosway and Aaron Woodward as Deputy Head Boys.

Mr Gibson, Principal at Duke’s School, said, “I am delighted by the calibre of students who have been appointed into these senior roles within our student body, and I know that they are excellent examples of all that is good about Duke’s School for others to look up to.  This year was a particularly difficult year to choose  as so many of our students have the potential to work in these roles so well, but I am delighted to be working with Emily and Aidan and their deputies for the next year.”

Although the weather tried to spoil the annual Duke’s School Sports Day, held at Gateshead International Stadium, the pupils showed their resilience despite the occasional shower and demonstrated some amazing sporting achievements.  With a range of track and field events, there was something for all pupils to get involved in, and to also show their support in the stand for their house team.  Pupils really showed their house colours in their dress and various other colourful additions, and the support shown to all competitors was outstanding from the crowd.

Another fantastic day at Gateshead Stadium!  Thanks to all the pupils and staff for their hard work, and especially to those sixth form and Y11 pupils who came back to help out in running events and making sure all went smoothly.

Congratulations to Hild House who won the overall Sports Day Trophy this year!

** more pictures to come!! **

An appreciative and responsive audience gathered at Duke’s School for our annual Summer Concert, presented by the Music Department.  A wide range of music was performed, and the sound of the Steel Pans started the concert off with their distinctive summer sound!  With soloists, ensembles and larger groups, the audience were given a fantastic evening of music charting the progress that our pupils are making.

It has been great to meet our new Year 7 cohort this week as Year 6 pupils came to Duke’s School from their primary schools to help the transition into Duke’s.  Pupils had a good time meeting new friends and some of the teachers that they will be working with in September.  It was good for pupils to begin to get to know the layout and feel of the building, and experience some of the lessons that they will be able to participate in.  Pupils also came together in the hall for a concert from some Duke’s musicians which included everyone on their feet in a sing-a-long to a George Ezra hit!

After day 1, there was a chance to meet with new friends in our Year 6/7 disco, where pupils coming in to the school were able to mix with those who have been here for the last year, making new or rekindling old friendships.

Mr Gibson, Principal of Duke’s, said, “This has been a fantastic couple of days, and it has been great to meet our new cohort of Duke’s pupils.  They have great potential, and I am really looking forward to seeing how they settle in and what achievements they make during their time with us.”

Year 11 at their Prom

Pupils from Duke’s celebrated the end of their GCSE exams in style with their Year 11 Prom.  This year, the celebration took place at the Village Hotel in North Shields, and was attended by most of the year group and the teachers who had worked with the pupils over the years and wanted to mark the occasion together.

Pupils had a fantastic evening sharing together, and having fun – including receiving some awards that probably won’t get them as far as their GCSEs!  It was a good end to a great year with a super group of young women and men.  For those going on to pastures new it marked the end of a chapter, and we look forward to welcoming those returning to Duke’s for sixth form in the autumn.

Well done to Miss Graham and her team for planning another excellent night to remember!

Duke’s Staff at Prom

Duke’s School is proud to announce that the School Physicist of the Year Award, awarded by the Ogden Trust for pupils who have achieved excellence in physics, has been presented to two Duke’s pupils.

Ryan Atkins and Mollie Macinnes attended the awards ceremony held at Northumbria University and were presented with their certificates.  Both pupils have demonstrated incredible resilience through times of adversity this year but have still managed to produce high quality work and their efforts towards achieving high attainment were unmatched.

Ryan and Mollie are truly inspirations to their peers and Duke’s is very proud of them indeed!