Dear Parents and Carers,
OFSTED
I am pleased to be able to inform you that Darton College no longer requires Special Measures. On the 12th and 13th May 2011, the school was due to have a monitoring visit. This was converted into a Section 5 Inspection and the school was given a satisfactory grading with good capacity for further improvement. Overall there were 10 satisfactory judgements, 12 good judgements and 2 outstanding judgements. The report in full is attached for you to read, it will also be on our website and from Friday on the Ofsted website. To achieve this in sixteen months has been a massive task and is a testament to the students, staff and the Interim Executive Board (IEB) that we have been able to do this so quickly. I also want to thank you for your continued support through a difficult time and that you continued to trust us with your child’s education. There is still a great deal of work to be done for us to ensure that your children receive the outstanding education they deserve. We will keep you informed about further improvements as our goal is to be one of the best schools in the country and therefore to provide the best education for all.
CURRICULUM
Enclosed is information on Darton College’s curriculum from September 2011. Should you wish to discuss the curriculum further please contact Marc Doyle, Vice Principal at the College. Please click here to view the attachment.
REPORTS
In a bid to ensure that you are kept fully informed of your child’s progress over time, their contribution to school life and their behaviour and motivation, we are currently in the process of reviewing the style of student annual reports to parents. The new format does not include detailed teacher comments any more but instead shows the progress of teacher assessments in all subjects as well as other important information listed above. Parents will continue to be encouraged to attend parents evenings in order to discuss their child’s progress in more detail. The first example of this will be the current Year 7 Annual Report. Any comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
The school uniform for September remains largely the same. We have introduced blazers and these will be arriving during the summer holiday with the logo sewn in place ready for distribution to all students during the first few days back in September. For this year only the blazer is a gift from the College to each student to celebrate the inaugural year of the College; it is an expectation that it will be worn. School jumpers / cardigans can also be worn depending on temperature. Please note either black school trousers or black skirts may be worn. The trousers must not be fashion items and the skirt must be a reasonable length, either just below or just above the knee. Students wearing a skirt deemed too short will receive a letter home. White shirts, not blouses, are to be worn with the top button fastened and a tie done up to the neck. In the weeks from the Spring Bank holiday to the summer holiday the students may wear white polo shirts with their blazers. Flat, plain, black school shoes with no logos must be worn with the uniform. We are phasing out coloured polo shirts for PE, these can still be worn by our existing students but will now be replaced with a plain black polo shirt for all new students or as a replacement when necessary for older students.
CHEQUES PAYABLE TO DARTON COLLEGE
Please note that with immediate effect all cheques paid into school for dinner monies, educational visit deposits etc. must be made payable to DARTON COLLEGE.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
- Year 11 Prom Thursday 30th June 2011
- Year 6 Induction Days Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th July 2011
- Year 6 Parents Evening Wednesday 6th July 2011
- Launch of Inaugural School Year Tuesday 12th July 2011
- Year 7 Parents Evening Thursday 14th July 2011
- Start of Summer Holidays Monday 25th July 2011
- GCSE Results Day Thursday 25th August 2011
- INSET Day Monday 5th September 2011
- Start of School Year 2011/12 Tuesday 6th September 2011
- October Half Term Monday 24th October – Friday 28th October 2011
- INSET Day Monday 19th December 2011
- Start of Christmas Holidays Tuesday 20th December 2011
There are two more INSET days, dates to be decided. You will be notified of these before the end of
term.
Finally, can I thank you again for your support over the last year.
Yours sincerely
Mrs S Rossides
Principal
