Recent Events

The UK Youth Pro Cycle team visited Hummersknott School & Language College

The cycle team was participating in the Halford Tour Series road race on Tuesday evening in Durham and cycled to Darlington as a light training exercise.  UK Youth, which sponsors the team, was previously the National Association of Youth Clubs and has Nigel Mansell as its president. 

Whilst at the school the team met some of the squad of 17 student cyclists who are in training to cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats next year. 

A presentation was made by the pro cycling team to one of the school cyclists, Adam Taylor, 14.  Adam came third nationally in the annual CTC Young Volunteers Award in recognition of his enthusiasm and attitude to cycle training.

Gary Morley, who leads the school cycle club said,  “The trip is a wonderful opportunity to see the whole country, but more importantly it’s about the challenge and how the young people respond and build a team that supports each other over what will be a very hard 14 days next July.   The cyclists were delighted to meet the cycle team and have the opportunity to find out about the life of a professional cyclist.”

Success  Figured Out

Hummersknott Academy is celebrating the achievement of one of their students, Jack Parnaby, 13, in coming in the top 0.5% of a national maths challenge.

40 of the Academy’s most able maths students aged 11-13 entered the UKMT Junior maths Challenge, which attracts over 235,000 entrants from across the UK.  Nationally 40% of students receive a certificate and Hummersknott were delighted to achieve 9 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze certificates.

After the challenge Jack was invited to take part in the follow on competition – the Junior Mathematical Olympiad.  Only the top 0.5% of the country’s brightest young mathematicians can enter the competition.

Jack was delighted to be invited to sit the 2 hour test.  He said, “I am hoping to study A level maths before possibly studying accountancy at university.”  Brian Janes,  Assistant Principal said, “It was an incredible achievement for Jack, that reflects the calibre of student that we are privileged to work with at Hummersknott.”

The students’ success in the Junior Maths Challenge follows on from their winning achievements in the Darlington Schools’ Maths Challenge when the year 9   and 10 students both won their respective competitions.

Year 7 Girls Triumph in Football Competition

The year 7 girls won the Darlington schools’ 5-a-side football tournament, beating every other team.  This was an excellent result as it was the first time they had played together. 

As a result of winning the Darlington cup they went on to represent the town at the Durham County Schools’ Championship held this month in Stanley.  The girls finished a very creditable second, narrowly missing out on the chance to progress to the North East finals.  Connie Smith, the team captain, was the top scorer.

Hayley Millar, PE teacher at the school said, “We are delighted with the girl’s achievement – this is the highest position any girls’ football team from the school has finished in this competition.  We have high hopes for the future with this team.”

The team consisted of Connie Smith, Anna Jordinson, Bath Lamont, Alice Denham, Jade Hutchinson, Laura Mutton and Olivia Thompson

Samba Band at the Sage

The Hummersknott Samba band is to take part in the showcase event at The Sage, Gateshead, to mark the 10^th anniversary of CoMusica.  The event, which will take place on 7 February will feature music groups from across the region.  The Hummersknott band will be playing with Pure Drumming an ensemble based at Skerne Park Primary School in the town.

CoMusica was set up as a music in the community project and works with groups throughout the North East.  The Samba Band at Hummersknott School & Language College was set up as part of the project over 4 years ago and has since flourished.  The band has members aged from 11 to 16 and have played at a variety of venues.  Last year the band led the Darlington Carnival Parade and has been asked to do so again this year.

The band has an ever-increasing repertoire of pieces, which have been composed in the school by the band members and staff.  Chris Johnson, Music teacher in the school, said, “The students in the band have great fun and have developed skills which allow them to play quite complicated pieces.  We are really grateful to CoMusica for their help in initially setting up the band.

Fund Raising Day

Following a successful fund raising day and sponsored cycle ride to Barnard Castle Hummersknott School & Language College were delighted to be able to present cheques totalling £2,000 to five different charities.  The amounts and charities were:

£500 St Theresa’s Hospice

£500 North Tees Hospital Chemotherapy Day Unit

£400 Teenage Cancer Trust

£400 Butterwick Hospice

£200 Livestrong

The students paid to wear casual clothes as well as organising fund raising activities in small groups.

Mr Brian Janes, Assistant Headteacher, said, “We were overwhelmed by the amount of money raised for the five charities on the fund raising day and would like to thank students, staff and parents for their generosity and support for these very worthy causes.  Not only have the charities benefitted from the day, but the students thoroughly enjoyed organising and taking part in various activities and supporting their local community.”

Hockey Win

Hummersknott School & Language College girls’ U16 hockey team were delighted to win the Town Hockey Cup this year having narrowly failed to do so last year.  The cup, which was first awarded in 1968, has not been won by Hummersknott School since 1998.

The girls beat Longfield School 3 – 0 and Carmel 2 –1.  Carmel College came second in the competition.

Hayley Millar, PE teacher, said, “The girls were a credit to the school, playing extremely well and supporting each other as a team.  They were delighted to win the cup after such a long time, especially the Year 11 girls, who were in the team who narrowly missed out last year.

The matches were very competitive and there was excellent play from all teams who took part.”

The Hummersknott team consisted of Year 11 girls: Jen Greaves (Capt), Rachel Banks, Emily Bonham, Catherine Lucas and Molly Storey and Year 10 girls Victoria Bain, Nicole Fenton, Imogen Jennings, Lauren Jordinson, Charlotte Lakey, Daneille Murdock, Helen Murray, Maddy Wood and Grace Wright.

Hummersknott School Count as Maths’ Champions

Hummersknott School have been organising events for the more able maths students in the school.

A lecturer and several students from Sunderland University came in to work with 20 students from year 8 for a day designed to extend the students’ thinking and to give them experience of mathematics software that will be of use to them should they decide to study mathematics in higher education.

A team of 4 year 9 students took part in a Maths Challenge at the Queen Elizabeth 6th Form representing the school. They were Ben Donaldson, Alice Maynard, Kieran Lobb and Helen Murray. The team came first out of 11 secondary schools from the area. To decide which pupils represented the school and to get more students involved, a 'preliminary round' for the two top sets in the year was organised and the winning team won the chance to attend the event at the QE.

A similar event took place for the year 10s at Carmel School and again we held a preliminary round here to decide which team would represent the school. The team of John Henderson, Tom Charlton, Tom Wilson and Richard Jones finished second, a point behind the eventual winners. The two top sets in year 10 also worked with a maths teacher from the QE for one afternoon, to get a taste of what to expect at A level maths. 

Diana Award and Certificate of Excellence

Hummersknott School & Language College is delighted to announce that Callum Hunter, 13 and Richard Cumiskey, 13 have been honoured with the Diana Award and Diana Certificate of Excellence.

This prestigious award gives public recognition to young people who make an outstanding and selfless contribution to their communities and demonstrate the qualities associated with the late Princess – compassion and a commitment to improving lives.

Callum has cerebral palsy but is involved in every area of school life, especially college activities.  He is tenacious and independent and an inspiration to others.  Never does he believe that cannot participate in an activity, he does things at his own pace, always with a big smile and wins the admiration of his peers and staff alike.

Richard also has medical problems, which he has learned to cope with.  He has given presentations on his condition to his class to help their understanding and has increased his own self-confidence in doing so.  In Science he is a valuable mentor, helping other less-able students.  He has a well-developed sense of humour, which he uses to raise the spirits of others.

Swimmers Raise Cash for Darlington Memorial Hospital

38 students and their swimming teacher, Dawn Stokell, from Hummersknott School & Language College participated in a sponsored swim in aid of the haematology ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital. 

The students, many of whom are in the school swimming squad swam in their own time and raised the grand total of £1000 for the ward.

This was an excellent effort on behalf of all concerned and the cheque has been presented to the ward.

Prize Winning Art

Six students at Hummersknott School & Language College received vouchers donated by The Art Shop in Darlington.

For several years, Ian Hughes, owner of The Art Shop, has supported students at the school by giving prizes following the annual art exhibition.  Visitors to the summer show, where work of final year art students is exhibited, have the opportunity to vote for their favourite piece in different categories.  The winners this year were:  Painting – Emily Ingleson; Mixed Media – Naomi Sandhu; Drawing – Georgie Lock; Sculpture – Grace Edwards; Most Creative – Samantha Whinn and Favourite – Amber Kasagic.

Nick Johnson, Head of Visual Arts said, “We are extremely grateful to Ian for his support over many years.  The prizes recognises the individual student’s achievements and help them purchase art materials for the courses they will follow over the coming year.”

School Classed as Gold

Hummersknott School & Language College has achieved the ARTSMARK GOLD award.

Steve Jeffries, Director of Creative Learning said, “We have worked over several years to achieve this, first by gaining the ARTSMARK and then the ARTSMARK SILVER and now the GOLD. It has been achieved by the hard work of all our creative arts teachers and our students in their art, music, drama and dance lessons and the many clubs, events and performances that go on outside of lessons.”

Headteacher,  Pat Howarth said, “The ARTSMARK is a national award, which recognises the commitment of the school to the arts.  We are justifiably proud of our staff and students in achieving this.”

The award is given by the Arts Council of England.

5 Star Award

Hummersknott School & Language College were delighted to be awarded the Tees Valley Hygiene Award with 5 stars for the second year in succession following a surprise inspection.  This is a recognition of the high standard of hygiene maintained in the kitchen area.

The catering has recently been taken over by the school with a view to giving more variety, whilst meeting the Government Nutritional Standards.  They are aiming to source more fresh produce locally in order to ensure that they can maintain the highest possible quality and reduce the carbon footprint.  Students have been fully involved in the decision to change and have welcomed the variety being offered by the new menus.

Ceramic Workshop

Judy Caplin, a ceramic artist with the Teesdale Artist Network, has spent two days running a ceramic workshop for Year 10 OCR art students at Hummersknott School & Language College.

The 19 students are creating slab built teapots as part of the unit looking at Ceremonies and Rituals.

It is the first time for many years that students at Hummersknott School have had the opportunity to try ceramics, but as a kiln was part of the new Creative Arts facilities it is hoped that it will become a regular feature of learning at the school.

Head of Art, Nick Johnson said  “ The ceramics workshop was a great success and our year 10 students thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Celebrating an Outstanding Year

Hummersknott School & Language College have been celebrating the achievements of their students this year with special award ceremonies for years 7, 8, 9 and 10 students.

In his opening remarks to Year 7 students and their parents, Headteacher, Pat Howarth, reminded the students and thei parents of how he had challenged Year 7 to improve on their predecessors’ total of 205 awards in 2008 and revealed that they had managed this with 220 out of 240 students receiving awards.   Commenting on the numbers Mr Howarth said that students should be very proud of their efforts and that they had helped to make the new school into an exceptional place to work.

Awards were given for positive attitude to learning – where students had been judged good or better for behaviour, effort, achievement and homework – as well as for the top achievers in each subject and service to the individual colleges and school.

Presentations were made by Moira Bayne, Chair of the Governing Body, Chris Reed, BSAC Diving School leader from Leeds and Jason Henderson, Project Manager for Walter Thompson Construction.  Mr Reed was invited as a group of students have recently achieved diving qualifications and Mr Henderson as his company are entering the final phase of their £16 million rebuilding and refurbishment of the school.  Mr Henderson commented that it had been a please to work within such an impressive school community and wished the students well for their future.

Artwork Celebrated

Ian Hughes from the Art Shop in Darlington visited Hummersknott School & Language College to present 6 GCSE art students with vouchers, which he had kindly donated.

The exceptionally high quality GCSE artwork was exhibited at the recent Summer Show held at the school and visitors had the opportunity to vote for the winning entrant in six different categories.

The winners were:  Best Painting – Elliot Todd, Best Drawing – David Stobbart, Best Sculpture – Iona Hill, Best Mixed Media – Clare Storey, Most Creative – Adam Alderson and Most Favourite – Rebecca Robson.

Nick Johnson, Head of Art at the school said “ We are very glad to be able to give these prizes which reflect the effort, and commitment that these very talented students have shown.

Language Prize

The school are celebrating having won a prestigious European award for its innovative language project.  As part of the winning initiative, students from every year took part in international events in Russia and Germany to explore what it means to be a citizen of the world.

The ‘Bridging West and East’ project made great use of links with Russian and German schools in St Petersburg and Mulheim.

Lana Briton, Russian Teacher and Louise Farnell, Head of Quaker College travelled to Bristol to collect the award, accompanied by Lily Thompson (14), who has participated in Russian exchanges and Ben Thompson (15), who has been to Mulheim on an exchange.  The two students spoke briefly in Russian and German to the audience at the awards ceremony.

In addition the school was also awarded the German Embassy prize of £800 for its work to further the study and enjoyment of the German Language.

CILT, the National Centre for Languages, are to fund the two teachers to present their winning formula at the London Language Show in October.

Town Rounders Tournament

Year 8 girls have continued their winning ways, with the A team being victorious in the town rounders tournament, which took place at Branksome School.  The following schools were represented Carmel, Eastbourne, Branksome, Haughton and Hummersknott (2 teams).

The tournament saw some excellent play, with several matches being closely fought, but Hummersknott A won all of their matches to take the title. 

Hayley Miller from the school said, “She was proud of the way in which all the players had played and worked together as a team”

The team consisted of Victoria  Bain, Nicole Fenton, Imogen Jennings, Lauren Jordinson, Charlotte Lakey, Daneille Murdock, Helen Murray, Abbey Peacock, Maddy Woo

Football Champions at the First Attempt

A group of Year 7 students, who started at Hummersknott School & Language College in September have made a great impact in their first two terms. 

The boys, who make up the U12 football team are celebrating winning the tow schools’ league for their age.  They have been undefeated in every league game and are justifiably proud of their achievements.

Stewart Souter, Head of PE, hopes that the boys will build on this year’s success in coming seasons.

The squad consists of Declan Brown, Callum Oakes, Matthe Johnstone, Jack Fullerton, Rory Elliott, Nathan Wright, Luke Wilson, Ryan Stainsby, Rory Hunter, Jack Adams, Matthew Burton, Joe Craggs, Sam Henderson, Luke Hewitson, Jack Procter, Connor Briggs and Mark Hasley

Girls’ Cricket Success

In the recent girls’ U13 town schools’ cricket festival Hummersknott School & Language College entered two teams and, as last year, are celebrating their A team’s victory.

The A team won all 5 games in their group and then met Carmel in the final.

The girls will now go to the Durham CC Riverside Ground to represent Darlington in the county festival.

The team consisted of Maddy Wood, Lauren Jordinson, Nicole Fenton,  Helen Murray, Charlotte Lakey, Jade Wakelin, Claire Alderson, Victoria Bain, Heather Gore,  Beth Hindle,  Holly Short

Exchange Students Return Visit to Mulheim

13 year 7, 8 and 9 students from Hummersknott School & Language College have today travelled to Mulheim to spend a week living with families there.  Children from Gymnasium Heissen are returning the hospitality they experienced, when they visited Hummersknott School in September last year.

The Hummersknott students accompanied by Louise Farnell, Assistant Headteacher and Chris Ward, IT teacher are looking forward to a varied programme visiting Mulheim and nearby Cologne, as well as spending time taking part in lessons with their exchange partners and visiting a local primary school. 

The Mayor of Mulheim will be receiving the students and they will be making an entry in the town’s visitors’ book.

This exchange is one of several offered by Hummersknott School & Language College to their students.  It is felt that the language and social benefits of living with a family in a foreign country are enormous.

Royal Academy Life Drawing at Hummersknott School

The Year 10 art students took part in a day of life drawing with the Royal Academy Outreach Programme. Working with an artist and a model, they explored figure drawing and experimental mark making. Throughout the day, they made numerous drawings, investigating shape and form and the different qualities of mark produced by charcoal and soft pastel. They also listened and responded to descriptive writing and images.

Nick Johnson, head of Art said, “The students immediately became immersed in the activities and enjoyed a physically, intellectually and emotionally challenging day. Their understanding of the nature and purpose of drawing has been greatly enhanced by this experience and the day will have a real impact on their personal artwork.”

Drawing from the life model has been central to the education of artists at the Royal Academy since its foundation in 1768. The Outreach Programme gives students across the UK the opportunity to draw from life in one day workshops led by practising artists.

Aimed mainly at GCSE and A-Level students, the programme develops young people’s understanding of the processes of drawing and the powerful role it plays in developing creativity.

Over 50,000 young people in schools as far a field as the Channel Islands and the Shetland Islands have participated since 1988. The programme currently reaches 100 schools across the UK each year.

Hummersknott Girls represent Darlington

The U13 girls football team represented Darlington in the Northern Area Finals, played at Barnsley Football Club.

In the league competition on the day they played teams from Bradford, Huddersfield, Scunthorpe and Rotherham.  Many of these were hard fought and Hummersknott, who won one, drew two and lost one, finished second in the league.

The girls, although disappointed not to win the trophy, were delighted with their finalist medals.

The team consisted of:  Nicole Fenton, Maddy Wood (capt), Lauren Jordinson, Helen Murray, Jodie Barker, Danielle Irvin and Beth Hindle.

Blue Peter Science Correspondent Explodes into Hummersknott School

Steve Mould the Blue Peter Science Correspondent exploded into Hummersknott School & Language College on Monday afternoon to demonstrate exciting and exploding science to a group of year 7 pupils and 4 year 8 boys.

The year 8 boys, Joseph Green, Kieran Lobb, Matthew Robertson and Samuel Kirkman have produced a film of a scientific experiment replicating a volcano erupting, which will be entered into the SciCast film competition run by the Institute of Physics.  Steve Mould of Blue Peter is involved in the launch of the North East regional heat of the competition.   The film has been produced as part of the boys’ activities in Science Club, run on lunchtimes and after school by science teachers Tamsin Scales and Angelina Cooke.

Tamsin Scales said  “The boys enjoyed making the film and getting involved in creative ways of demonstrating scientific principles and of course, having Steve visit has been a brilliant bonus.  Hopefully some of the younger students here today will be motivated to join Science Club.”

Volleyball Team digs deep for success

The year 10, under 15 volleyball team  are celebrating their success as Northern Region Champions in the National Volleyball Cup.

The regional qualifier was held at Middlesbrough College with five teams travelling from as far a field as Hull.  The Hummersknott team played extremely well and managed to win all four of their games.

The team will now travel to Birmingham University on 29 March, for the national finals, to compete against the best seven teams remaining in the competition.

Last year the team reached this stage and came 5^th in the final, with a year’s more experience they are hoping to improve on that performance this year.

The team consisted of Ryan Gray, Robert Lucas, Adam Pearson, Alastair Leigh, Oliver Robinson, David Hookway, Benjie Kilcran, Andy Peacock and Tom Gray

Hockey Success

The U14 girls’ hockey team are celebrating their success in winning the Town Hockey tournament.  This success has added to their impressive list of wins – since starting to play hockey when joining the school both the year 9 and year 8 teams have only lost one match – when they were knocked out in the third round of the U14 County hockey competition.

In this year’s tournament played on the new all weather 3G pitch at Hummersknott School, the team beat Carmel A, Polam, Longfield and drew against Carmel B.

Hayley Miller, PE teacher was delighted with the way in which the girls played and behaved and is hoping for continued success as the refurbishment of the playing facilities is completed.

The team consisted of Jodie Purves, Catherine Lucas (Captain), Niamh Caverhill, Jen Greaves, Rachel Banks, Emily Bonham, Lauren Jordinson, Nicole Fenton, Imogen Jennings, Charlotte Lakey, Helen Murray and Grace Wright

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