Dear Parent/Carer
Year 11 Parents’/Carers Evening and Duke’s Sixth Form Open Evening – Wednesday 2 November 2022

Students in Year 11 will shortly be submitting applications for the courses they wish to study post 16.
To support them with this decision, Duke’s Sixth Form will be holding an Open Evening on Wednesday 2 November 2022 between 4.00pm and 6.00pm. The Open Evening will take place alongside the usual Year 11 Parents’/Carers Evening.

This will give you the opportunity to:-
 Discuss your child’s progress and any concerns you may have regarding specific subjects
 Speak to the Head of Year and Year 11 Raising Achievement Team
 Find out what Duke’s Sixth Form could offer your child in September 2023
 Speak with subject staff and current students about courses on offer next year
 Receive personal advice from senior staff to ensure the correct post 16 pathway for your child
 Speak to our careers team about post 16 options including sixth form, college and
apprenticeships

There are no specific appointment times. You will be given a sheet with locations of staff who teach your child on arrival as well as a copy of the Duke’s Sixth Form interim prospectus.
We look forward to welcoming all parents/carers and students to showcase what Duke’s Sixth Form has to offer.

Yours sincerely

Mrs D Towers
Head of Sixth Form & Careers

Please find below a copy of the important information pack for those students joining or returning to Duke’s Sixth Form in September 2022. Please pay particular notice to the changes we have made to our dress code.

Should you require any further information, please contact the sixth form team directly on 01670 816111 extension 370.

Important Information pack 2022-23

Please find below letters regarding arrangements for the collection of results in August for Year 11-13 students.

GCSE Results letter.docx

Year 12 results letter

Year 13 results letter

Occurring through messaging apps, on social media and in online games, group chats are among the most popular ways that young people engage with their peers online. Involving, by definition, three or more individuals, these groups allow users to send messages, images and videos to everyone in one place. While they are useful for helping friends, people with shared interests or members of a club to communicate and coordinate activities, they can also leave young people feeling excluded and bullied – as well as providing opportunities for inappropriate content to be shared and viewed.

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as bullying, inappropriate content and unknown members.

Pupils at a secondary school in Northumberland have been gaining valuable insight into what goes on behind the scenes at some of our region’s biggest employers as part of an ‘Industry Insight’ event.

The Year 11 and 12 students from Duke’s Secondary School in Ashington visited employers such as AkzoNobel, Bernicia, ORE Catapult, Northumberland Fire and Rescue and the Centre for Life to help them broaden their understanding of the wide range of career paths available to them in the local area.

The event comes just months after the school, which operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, announced its pilot programme with North East house builder, Bellway, which also has its roots in helping pupils to raise their aspirations and explore career opportunities in sectors they might not otherwise have considered.

Danielle Towers, Head of Sixth Form and Careers at Duke’s Secondary School, explained:

“The pupils of today are the workforce of tomorrow, so it’s absolutely vital that while children and young people are still at school that they have the opportunity to explore as many different employment opportunities as possible, to help them make informed decisions about their futures.

“As part of the Industry Insight event, all of our Year 11 pupils had the opportunity to visit an employer which specialises in a subject area which was relevant to their current studies ahead of their exams in the summer.

“We were incredibly fortunate to gain support from so many fantastic local businesses so a big thank you goes out to everyone who got involved. The pupils all thoroughly enjoyed their experiences and took a lot away from them.”

Amongst the list of employers who took part in hosting visits for the event was not-for-profit organisation, Smart Works Newcastle.

An exclusive service for women, Smart Works Newcastle is a local branch of a national organisation which supports unemployed women aged 16 plus and from all backgrounds to build their confidence and skills to help them secure work.

Offering a range of services for those attending job interviews, including a high quality interview outfit (free and theirs to keep) and interview coaching, the charity also supports with CV writing and general careers advice. Smart Works Newcastle has supported hundreds and hundreds of women across the North East into successful employment.

A cohort of Year 11 and 12 students who had expressed an interest in careers that involved helping others took part in a full day’s work experience at Smart Works’ headquarters in Newcastle, supporting staff and volunteers with tasks such as stock taking, styling and dressing mannequins.

As part of the day, the students also got to participate in some career coaching and enjoyed a ‘working lunch’ with employees from the charity who shared their own experiences and varying routes into working in the sector.

Helen Boyd, Centre Manager at Smart Works Newcastle, commented:

“It was a pleasure to welcome the group from Duke’s Secondary School into Smart Works Newcastle for a Volunteer Experience day.

“The students helped us with stock sorting, visual merchandising, displays and mock client dressing. Throughout the day the students had a 1:1 next steps planning session with our experienced coaches to offer guidance for their career choices. It was great to hear their plans for the future and we hope they got as much out of the day as we did.”

For more information about Duke’s Secondary School and Sixth Form, visit www.dukes.ncea.org.uk or to find out more about Smart Works Newcastle, visit https://newcastle.smartworks.org.uk/.

We recently spoke to Culture Bridge North East to tell them all about our Duke’s DNA (Differentiated for support and challenge; New and exciting learning opportunities; Active Learning) Creativity Symbols project.

Our DNA is embedded throughout school life at Duke’s, it’s in our curriculum, teaching & learning, and CPD structures and creativity plays a central role in this. Check out the fabulous case study the team put together about our project below.