We are excited to remind you that our Year 7’s first Presentation of Learning (PoL) will take place at the Parish Church of St Mary, Heworth, on Tuesday, 16th December, from 4:30pm to 6:00pm.
This historic venue is deeply rooted in the mining heritage of our region. St Mary’s is the final resting place of Thomas Hepburn and many victims of the 1812 Felling Pit Disaster, making it a meaningful and fitting setting for our students’ presentations.
Public speaking and sharing learning through PoLs are key elements of our school’s approach to education. To support students in building character and showcasing their academic progress, it is important that each child has a family member in attendance.
What to Expect
The evening will include:
Students recounting the story of their expedition.
Presentations answering their guiding question.
Reading of extracts from their creative writing which will form part of our end product of this expedition.
Performances of choral poetry, drama scenes and folk songs that students have written about significant local people as their final product for this expedition.
Arrangements for Tuesday
In the afternoon, students will walk to the church to carry out some fieldwork and then to rehearse before the presentation begins at 4:30pm. To ensure they are prepared for the day, and because inclement weather is forecast, students must bring:
Comfortable walking shoes.
A water bottle.
Plenty of layers to stay warm.
A warm, waterproof coat.
As this is a formal occasion, students are expected to dress smartly in line with our dress code. XP polo shirts are a great option for this event.
Lunch will take place as normal at school. Students who typically bring a packed lunch should do so as usual. Sometime between 3:30pm and the start of the event at 4:30pm, students will have a short break and may eat healthy snacks provided by you. Please remember we are a ‘nut free’ school. Additionally we would remind you that fizzy drinks and energy drinks are not appropriate.
Attendance and Capacity
Due to the limited capacity of the church, a maximum of three family members per child can attend.
We look forward to celebrating Year 7’s achievements with you in this special setting!
Raffle tickets will be sold at the event (£1 per strip) for a lovely Hamper provided by Simon Musgrave, National Sales Manager for local family run business Ringtons.
The raffle will be drawn at the end of the POL and all proceeds will go towards St Mary’s Church funds.
Our G28 ‘Bad Romance’ POL will take place from 4.30pm on Wednesday the 17th of December. We are doing staggered stage times, so the audience remains small enough to move around the school. Doors will open at 4.15 for the first performance to start promptly at 4.30pm. Parents and carers for Crew Angelou, your staggered start will be at 4.30pm. Parents and carers for Crew Frank, your staggered start will be at 4.40pm. Parents and carers for Crew Parks your staggered start will be at 4.50pm. Parents and carers for Crew Stanton, your staggered start will be at 5pm. You will be treated to an immersive theatre experience, showcasing G28’s knowledge and performance skills in …….Romeo and Juliet. Once you arrive, you will be led through the school by our student directors to view each key scene from the play.
The performances are expected to last around an hour and a half, with the last scene being performed for the final time at 6.20pm. For those who are not in the final round of the audience, refreshments are being provided in the dining hall while you wait for your budding actor or director to leave the stage.
This is a culmination of all the hard work G28 have put in this term, and, in fact, throughout their time at XPG, so we hope you are ready to be amazed as ….
“Never was there a tale of more woe, than that of Juliet and her Romeo”
It’s been another busy and productive week at XP Gateshead.
In these final weeks of term, rather than wind down, our students step up in their work and dedication to craftsmanship and quality. They are all working hard on final products, responses to their guiding questions and preparing for upcoming Presentations of Learning. This brings lots of challenges as you can imagine but I am proud, as always, of the courage, determination and resilience shown by our staff and students on a daily basis.
Character and Integrity
As you know we are relentless in our focus to ensure students grow their character and are guided by our Character Traits & Habits of Work and Learning (HOWLs)
On Friday, I held a whole school meeting after it was brought to my attention by other students that some students had not been following our acceptable use of ICT policy. This was quite a serious breach of trust from a minority of students, in terms of a lack of integrity and actions which are completely counter to our culture. This puts our school’s reputation at risk – something that the overwhelming majority of our students, staff and you as families have worked so hard to establish and maintain. We are a community. More than that ‘We are Crew’. Therefore it is important that I am honest with you in calling this out, and in asking for your support – as always – moving forwards, in line with our home-school agreement.
In short, a small number of children in our school have been making videos during the school day and posting these on social media. Disappointingly, a further minority of students have then liked or commented on these videos without calling it out. Our huge appreciation goes to the students across year groups that brought this to our attention – it is really important that we are able to have a school community where we hold each other to account, holding true to our character traits and strong culture.
The actions described above are in clear conflict with the following statements from the acceptable use of ICT policy that all families and children have signed:
I will use the technology provided to me by XP, or my own personal devices, only when permitted and only for learning purposes.
Permission must be given by a staff member to use personal devices for anything other than permitted learning purposes.
I will report any unacceptable use to my Crew Leader.
The culture of any organisation rests upon how honest we are able to be with each other and about ourselves. Our character traits of integrity, courage, compassion, respect and above all… compassion are not just words on a wall, they are an expectation from each of us. This is an expectation that we can all be excellent, that we may and will all make mistakes and importantly that we can have the courage and integrity to put it right, and the compassion to support each other when we do get it wrong.
Navigating an increasingly tech-oriented world
As we continue to inhabit a world where developments in technology change at pace, it can be challenging to know what is best for our children as parents, guardians and indeed as educators and professionals.
For those of you who are finding navigating tech at home challenging, there is a wealth of information available online. A particularly good source of advice is the NSPCC website. This offers guidance from topics such as ‘setting up parental controls on devices’ to being vigilant for signs of grooming when our children are online.
As families, and a crew together it is important that we maintain healthy boundaries with regards to our children’s use of tech, balancing the need to prepare them for the modern world, with the need to also expose them to the other things in our world that will enrich their lives: conversation, exercise, reading, solving a puzzle, the arts or simply time invested in each other’s company.
The Week Ahead
G28 Teacher/Student-Led Conferences – Monday 8th December
Following their recent round of mocks, G28 students continue to reflect on their progress at our Teacher Students Learning Conference (TSLC). Students will sit alongside their subject teachers to present their learning and share their revision plans and readiness for KS4 exams.
Thank you to the families of Class 1 who joined us on Thursday. This week is the turn of G28 Class 2 along with those students from Class 1 who didn’t attend TSLCs on Thursday due to Further Maths at RGS. G28 Class 2 will have their TSLCs tomorrow from 4pm – 7pm
Each student has a booking sheet which has been shared with them through their Google Classroom.
G30 PoL at Farrell Centre and Great North Museum, Newcastle University – Tuesday 9th December, 4:00pm-5:00pm
We are really looking forward to seeing our Y9 present their learning this week at Newcastle University. They will be sharing their responses to the guiding question from this expedition – “How are structures important in helping us to explain our world?”
Students will be travelling over to Newcastle after an early lunch in school. They need to be prepared for the weather, as they will also have a campus tour as part of their day.
Families should arrive at theFarrell Centre on Newcastle University Campus from 3.45pm. We will put out a separate post with further information. The presentation is taking place at two sites close to each other – families will be directed to the correct starting point for their children – the PoL start at 4pm.
Parking is available further north on Claremont Road, or the two presentation sites are within walking distance from Haymarket Metro Station.
G29 PoL at XP Gateshead – Wednesday 10th December 4:30pm-6:00pm
Our “A Change Would Do You Good” POL takes place from 4.30pm on Wednesday 10th December. Doors will open at 4.15 pm so that the lessons can start promptly at 4.30pm. Yes, you read that right… lessons. Our PoL will take the form of taught lessons where students will teach you about transformations during Viking History; Chemical reactions; and in Dickens A Christmas Carol from our expedition all in service of answering our guiding question: “To what extent does transformation benefit society?”
G31 PoL at XP Gateshead – Thursday 11th December, 4:30pm- 6:00pm
G31’s POL will take the form of a series of speeches inspired by “TED talks” answering the brilliant guiding question of “What does it mean to be Human?”. Each family will see their own child’s talk which could look at the answer to the guiding question through the lens of: The Arts, or Human History and many more. You will then see one more TED talk, which gives our children the opportunity to step up further in terms of presenting to less familiar and more intimate audiences, with a chance to look at the student work that has inspired the talks at the end of the evening.
PE sessions this week
Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.
For G32 students (Year 7)
G32 Class 1 students have PE on Monday.
G32 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
All G31 students (Year 8) have PE on Tuesday.
All G30 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
All G29 students (Year 10) have PE on Monday.
All G28 students (Year 11) have PE on Monday.
Christmas Jumper Day 2025 and our charity work
Christmas Jumper Day 2025 in the UK is officially on Thursday, December 11, 2025. At XPG many students have already chosen to wear festive jumpers but we are encouraging as many of our students as possible to wear their festive knits this Thursday 11th and next Thursday 18th when we will be enjoying our Christmas Lunch together.
We’d like to encourage as many of our students as possible to wear festive jumpers and donate to support children in need. Many charities will benefit from donations alongside Save the Children with charities such as UK Sepsis Trust and local hospice care also joining the festive fundraising. Collections will be taken by Crew Leaders on Thursday.
We will share how much we have raised in our charity update at the end of this term which will also include an update on our Y7 ‘Reverse Advent Calendar’ and their donations for the Gateshead foodbank along with our Y8-11 shoebox Advent Challenge which supports the Children’s Heart Unit. Thank you to all families who have contributed donations so far.
Looking ahead – important dates
Presentations of Learning
G32’s PoL will be on the evening of Tuesday 16th December 2025 at St. Mary’s church in Heworth from 4:30pm until 5:45pm
G28’s PoL will be on Wednesday 17th December in school at 4.30pm
Christmas Lunch – Thursday 18th December
XPG Christmas Lunch will take place on Thursday 18th December. There will be a vegetarian option for Christmas lunch but none of the usual deli options on this day. If your child does not want a Christmas lunch, please provide a packed lunch on Thursday. We are really looking forward to our whole school community having lunch together, it’s always a special one thanks to the hard work of our kitchen team. We’d love to see students in Christmas jumpers again here too!
End of term – Friday 19th December
Don’t forget that school finishes at the earlier time of 1.30pm on Friday 19th. We return to school on Monday 5th January 2026.
As usual if you have any questions about your son or daughter please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance or email general enquiries to [email protected].
Our “A Change Would Do You Good” POL takes place from 4.30pm on Wednesday10th December. Doors will open at 4.15 pm so that the lessons can start promptly at 4.30pm. Yes, you read that right… lessons. Our PoL will take the form of taught lessons where students will teach you about transformations during Viking History; Chemical reactions; and in Dickens A Christmas Carol from our expedition.
We are asking you to sign up for two sessions. Your child will be able to tell you which session they have planned and are carrying out. This will be the first choice you make on the form, but you will need to attend a second session in the evening, that is not your child’s. This means you will be with your child at the close of the evening and be able to take the “Are you smarter than a Year 10? “ challenge, competing against your child!
The sign up is below and we will confirm your choice of sessions on the evening. We will cap the sessions at 15 people. The evening will close at around 6pm.
Over the next few weeks we will be fully into preparation for Presentations of Learning (PoLs).
At XP we make our work public. One of the most important ways we do this is through PoLs. They are used as an opportunity for students to showcase their learning from their most current learning expedition. PoLs enable students to grow their character and further embed their learning through presenting their work in front of a range of authentic audiences and in a variety of contexts. In addition, students develop oracy skills by presenting to different audiences and in different contexts which builds confidence and further allows students to grow their character whilst developing key skills.
We look forward to seeing all families at the following Presentations of Learning for their children:
G32’s PoL will be on the evening of Tuesday 16th December 2025 at St. Mary’s church in Heworth from 4:30pm until 5:45pm
G31’s PoL will be on Thursday 11th December in school at 4.30pm
G30’s PoL is on Tuesday 9th December – starting at 4pmat The Farrell Centre in Newcastle.
G29’ PoL is on Wednesday 10th December at 4.30pm in school.
G28’s PoL will be on Wednesday 17th December in school at 4.30pm
Staff Days
Over the past two staff days our staff teams have spent time focussing on long and medium term planning for term 2 expeditions and our wider support and pastoral provision for all students.
The Week Ahead
G30 Student Led Conferences
This week sees the second week of SLCs for Year 9 students. All families should have booked their SLC slot. Please contact [email protected] if you need more support with this.
G28 Teacher/Student-Led Conferences
Following their recent round of mocks, G28 students will begin the preparation needed to reflect on their progress and at their next round of Teacher Students Learning Conference (TSLC). Students will sit alongside their subject teachers to present their learning and share their revision plans and readiness for KS4 exams.
Slots will be available from 4pm – 7pm on each evening.
G28 Class 1 will have their TSLCs on the evening of Thursday 4th December.
G28 Class 2 will have their TSLCs on the evening of Monday 8th December.
Each student has a booking sheet which has been shared with them through their Google Classroom.
Students in Class 1 that are attending Further Maths at RGS on Thursday are able to attend on Monday 8th December instead of this Thursday.
PE sessions this week
Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.
All G32 students (Year 7) have PE on Wednesday.
All G31 students (Year 8) have PE on Tuesday.
All G30 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
For G29 students (Year 10) and G28 students (Year 11)
Due to the staff day there is no PE session this week.
As usual if you have any questions about your son or daughter please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance or email general enquiries to [email protected].
The next school immunisation programme is the Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio (Td/IPV) and Meningitis ACWY (MenACWY) campaign for YEAR 9 PUPILS. This programme will take place in school on 28/01/2026.
Can all G30 parents or carers please use the following link to complete the consent/non-consent form as soon as possible.
We have these items in our lost property, if you see anything that belongs to your child, please contact the office or ask your child to come to the front desk to claim.
Morning revision continues to be very impactful, here are some quotes from students who have been regularly attending:
‘Morning revision is good because it feels like an additional but relaxed lesson. It helps boost confidence for when we get into lessons.’
‘We are provided with the information we need to know. It is a good starting point for us to then do our own further revision.’
‘It is only 25 minutes in the morning and lots of students are at school at that time anyway so it is a good use of time.’
‘I felt much more confident going into this round of mocks because of these sessions. I found revision quicker and easier at home because I had something to build from.’
Morning revision starts at 8:05. On Tuesdays it is English Literature in G6 and on Thursdays it is History in G8. Until Christmas, Literature revision is A Christmas Carol and History revision is People’s Health. These sessions are laying good foundations for returning to these topics in the coming terms. We do not have enough time to fully re-teach texts and topics we have done previously, so this additional time is invaluable!
