As part of our ‘North East Inspiring People’ programme, Durham Sixth Form Centre was proud to welcome Conservative MP for Sedgefield, Paul Howell. Paul kindly took time out of his busy schedule to come and talk to our students about his career journey and to inspire a belief in themselves that anything is possible in terms of a career.

The vibrant celebrations of Sharad Navratri swept through the sixth form in an unforgettable manner. This year, students and staff had the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich culture and traditions of India as they attended a Garba dance class, held in collaboration with Durham University’s Bollywood Society.

An incredible week of engagement and interactive learning took place at Durham Sixth Form Centre, as part of UK Parliament Week.

This annual world wide event saw our refectory transformed into a hub of ideas and discussions, with engaging tasks that got everyone thinking about the role of parliament in our lives.

After competition from a strong field of County Durham students, Year 12 Durham Sixth Form Centre student Emma Price was one of the two students to be selected to take part in the launch year of an innovative work experience programme at BHP Law in Darlington.

At the start of our autumn term, our newly appointed Enrichment Lead organised a busy Freshers’ Fair to give our Year 12 and Year 13 students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the vibrant spirit of our community.

Year 13 student Jaden Dixon has had a very busy summer volunteering with 11Arches, the organisation responsible for producing the Kynren live performance event throughout the summer in Bishop Auckland. 

Jaden began volunteering as part of Kynren in 2016 when the event was first established.

Every year Durham Sixth Form Centre enters teams into inter-schools debate competitions. After a very good showing in the annual European Youth Parliament Inter-Schools Debating Competition in March, a team was also entered for the North-East Regional Debating Matters competition held in Durham at Pemberton Buildings near Durham Cathedral.

Our Year 12 students were busy during the final week of the summer term taking part in a wide variety of work experience placements and tailored sessions on site to deepen their careers knowledge. Our BTEC Sport students have been particularly successful in their search for placements and have organised a very varied range of opportunities as part of their course.

Law students visited Newcastle Combined Law Courts to observe a broad range of cases. Although a little apprehensive about walking into courtrooms on their own whilst cases were ongoing, students soon gained confidence and were quickly dispersed across the four floors to observe a range of cases.

Students and staff from Classics, Religious Studies and Philosophy departments all enjoyed a wonderful trip to Rome during the summer.

On the first day they set out for The Ara Pacis, the stunning altar of the Augustan Peace, built by the Roman Senate to honour Augustus in 13BCE.