Interim Ofsted inspection results – Jan 2022

11th February 2022Leanne Tonks

On Thursday 20 January, we received an interim inspection from Ofsted to see how we have been getting on with our plan to improve professional standards across Duke’s Secondary School.

A great deal of work has been going on behind the scenes and we are delighted to see that our collective efforts have been recognised in our latest monitoring report, a full copy of which can be found below.

Key summary points:

  • Leaders have taken significant strides towards the removal of the serious weaknesses designation.
  • Leaders have developed a culture in which school improvement is everyone’s responsibility.
  • Faculty leaders, working with their teams, have developed curriculums that clearly identify key learning aims for each year. It is now clear what pupils need to know, and when.
  • Staff and pupils are unanimous in praising the transformation in the behaviour strategy since the previous inspection. It is allowing teachers to teach, and pupils to learn.
  • Two external reviews of SEND provision have helped to refine the school’s development plan so that pupils with SEND are better supported.

Details of all of our past Ofsted inspections can be found here.

Exam update 2022- Advance Information

8th February 2022Louise Gatti
Advance Information is the exam boards’ way of supporting students’ preparation for examinations after the disruption to learning caused by the pandemic. It is a list of the content , or part of the content, that will be assessed in the summer examinations and is intended to help guide and prioritise areas for revision.
Advance information is available for most subjects at GCSE and A-Level with the exception of Art, English Literature, Geography and History where subjects are either not assessed through an examination or have already had additional support built into their curriculum or examination process.
Each exam board has now released its advance information and students can access it to help focus their exam preparation. Please see the links below to the Student Guide to Advance Information and Frequently Asked Questions.
 

Youtube – what do parents/carers need to know?

27th January 2022Leanne Tonks

YouTube is a video-sharing social media platform that allows billions of people around the world to watch, share and upload their own videos with a vast range of content – including sport, entertainment, education and lots more. It’s a superb space for people to consume content that they’re interested in. As a result, this astronomically popular platform has had a huge social impact: influencing online culture on a global scale and creating new celebrities.

In the guide below, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as connecting with strangers, inappropriate content and high visibility.

Duke’s Alumni Assemblies

21st January 2022Louise Gatti

A big thank-you to Duke’s alumni Alex Brown and Cameron Donnelly, who helped deliver assemblies to Y10 and Y11 this week.
They provided key ‘tips’ on revision, planning, discipline, time management and the importance of a strong work ethic to our students. This will hopefully help our students with their forthcoming mock exams.
They are both inspirational role models to our students.
Cameron is studying Sports Science at Sunderland university and Alex is studying Physiotherapy at Northumbria. They both work part time

, alongside their studies.

Horror games: are they suitable for your child?

20th January 2022Leanne Tonks

This week’s Online Safety guidance focus is around apps that go under the broad title of ‘horror games’. A PDF of the advice and guidance poster can be found below.

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as adult themes, psychological horror and violent content.

Horror video games come in a such a variety that the genre can hard to define. The overlapping element is that these games are designed to scare or unsettle the player through gameplay, atmosphere, story, music, setting and ‘jump scares’. The most common sub-genres are survival horror, action horror, psychological horror, jump-scare horror and reverse horror. These games originate from a range of developers, including smaller indie studios which release download-only titles (that is, they aren’t physically sold in shops) and therefore aren’t subject to age ratings.

A thank you from Wansbeck Food Bank

19th January 2022Leanne Tonks

Over Christmas, pupils across Duke’s worked incredibly hard to collect hundreds of food items and raise money for our local food bank which supports people living across our community.

We’ve received a lovely thank you letter from Wansbeck Food Bank which we want to share with you (see below). Well done again to everyone who got involved!

Do you know who your child is communicating with online?

14th January 2022Leanne Tonks

Each week, through our school-wide subscription to National Online Safety, Duke’s receives information about new and ‘trending’ apps and tech which might have a harmful impact on our pupils. This week’s update is about an app called ‘Replika’.

Replika is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot companion that its developers claim users can form an actual emotional connection with. Once users have created an account and chosen a 3D avatar, they select the type of relationship they want with the chatbot: friend, mentor or romantic partner. Using a neural network to hold an ongoing one-on-one conversation, Replika gradually becomes more like the user as it gathers data from their responses. It isn’t the only AI chatbot app available, but Replika pushes the boundaries of the concept to offer a highly realistic conversational experience.

In the guide below, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as possible addiction, inappropriate content and in-app purchases.

Keeping your children safe online

5th January 2022Leanne Tonks

As school returns after our Christmas break, please see below a really useful guide on how to set up parental controls on new (and existing) devices for your children. It might be that you think that setting up such controls might require difficult to follow instructions, or be tricky, but this guide explains in very simple terms how you can add an extra layer of protection for your son / daughter.

The term ‘devices’ includes X-boxes, PlayStations and any other piece of technology that can connect to the internet.

Adding parental controls can help to prevent and restrict access to inappropriate content, block in-app purchases, restrict who can contact your child online, help you with setting automatic screen-time limits.

If you have any questions about this or need any further advice or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.