Dear Parents and Carers
I wanted to write to you one last time from Darton High School. Approximately 65,000 students have come through these gates, have enjoyed their years here and I am sure feel sad that the old building is finally closing its doors. On Saturday 12th February we held a coffee morning for those who wanted to say goodbye to their school. One family found four generations in the old registers that were taken out of storage for the occasion. All the documents used will be stored in the Barnsley Archives and we will be looking at a regularly changing display for Darton College to recognise its history. A final opportunity is on Saturday 26th February when there will be a sale at 10am in Darton High School hall to raise funds to purchase a mini bus.
On our target review day approximately 1800 of you came to review your child’s targets and to look around our new building. The results of our survey were very positive and are published below. We will be reviewing the day in the light of comments made and ensure that we try to give you an even better experience next year. One of the queries I received most often was about dropping students off. I would like to encourage students to use public transport or to ride bicycles to help minimise traffic. For those of you where this is impossible I have included a map of the drop off area and would ask that you approach the school from the Huddersfield Road to again minimise the traffic on surrounding residential areas.
The catering at Darton College is varied, ranging from ‘Grab Bags’ to sit down dinners. The Cyber Cafe will be open all day and there will be food available at Breakfast Club before school, at break time and at lunchtime. Unfortunately we have been hit by the rise in food prices and have had to raise our prices accordingly. A Meal Deal, for example, which consists of a main course and a pudding or drink, will go up from £1.70 to £1.75. I hope you will see that this is still very good value and is still cheaper than many schools where the average is £1.87.
We will continue to keep you informed of developments and are looking forward to getting your children settled into Darton College as swiftly as possible. Events throughout our first year will be set up so you can see how we intend to showcase the talents and the work of your children. It will be an opportunity for you to see how they are benefitting from new ways of learning, the facilities and the technology available to them. There will also be the chance in March for you to say what you would like the College to be able to offer the community on evenings and weekends.
I look forward to meeting you again soon.
Yours sincerely
Sharon Rossides
Headteacher
Results of Target Review Day Questionnaires
| Questions – we asked for feedback on: | Outstanding/Good Responses |
| Information received regarding target setting day | 92.2% |
| Booking procedure for appointments | 90.8% |
| Time allocated for each meeting | 89.7% |
| Quality of discussion at the meetings | 92.1% |
| Organisation for the tour of the new college | 96.6% |
| Information you were given regarding the new college | 95.3% |
| Your impression of the new college | 96.1% |
