XP Gateshead

Dear Families

As we come to the end of term, we continue to celebrate our expedition work with Presentations of Learning where our students publicly share their final products and answers to their guiding questions with an audience of peers, staff, families and invited guests. To mark the end of the term, our expedition work always culminates in Presentations of Learning. During these events, students share their final products and the answers to their guiding questions with an audience that includes their peers, staff, families, and invited guests. This is a continued celebration of students’ hard work from this term.

Our Year 9 students took over the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University, creating a living expedition. They shared their knowledge around art and architecture, atomic structures in science, structures in government and society and made connections to the anchor text for this expedition, Lord of the Flies. 

We owe a huge thanks to all of the people who supported us at The Farrell Centre, Newcastle University and also a special thanks to Max Farrell who ran a workshop with our students.

Our Chief Academic Officer Andy Sprakes joined us for the preparation in the afternoon and has written about his experience of working alongside our Year 8 students here.

Year 10 presented their learning through a series of lessons connected to their guiding question “To what extent does transformation benefit society?”. Students used our learning model to teach their families about topics from metallic bonding to the trading partnerships of the Vikings.

Year 8 students presented their learning through a variety of Ed Talks answering the guiding question of “What does it mean to be Human?” through multiple lenses such as the importance of the arts and music, or the future of humanity’s relationship with tech and what history teaches us about our shared humanity. 

We are delighted to be able to share with you now the draft layout of the final product for G30, which will be an art installation at The RVI Hospital in Newcastle highlighting the importance of organ donation. Students have reviewed and critiques the initial plans and will work with our Comms Team to develop the final design.

Standing back and listening to our students ‘lead the learning’ in every sense of the word was simply stunning and we all could not have been prouder of G29, G30 and G31. Thanks to all families that supported their students and for your feedback through our exit tickets. Your feedback is invaluable to us in helping to sharpen the formats for PoLs year on year whilst holding to a step up in expectations as they move through the school.

 

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G29 Work Placements – May 2026

Here are the slides that Mr Said shared with G29 families about work placements for Year 10 which will take place in the week commencing 11th May 2026.

Please start having conversations at home now about potential placements and employers and we will pick this up with students as soon as we return in the new academic year.

Our week ahead 

As always, we will be working hard until the end of Friday at XP Gateshead and students will be continuing to complete work on end of term assessments, final products, answers to GQ’s (guiding questions) and preparing for presentations of learning.

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. 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.
    • Please see Miss Simpson’s post for more details.

No Extended Study and Clubs

We are not running our extended study offer or clubs this week due to Presentations of Learning this week.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• G32 Class 1 students have PE on Monday
• G32 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
• G31 students have PE on Tuesday
• G30 students have PE on Thursday
• G29 and G28 students have PE on Monday.

Christmas lunch this week on Thursday

• XPG Christmas Lunch will take place on Thursday 17th 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 on Thursday; it’s always a special one thanks to the hard work of our kitchen team. We’d love to see students in Christmas jumpers if they do have them too!

Early closure this Friday

Don’t forget that school finishes at the earlier time of 1.30pm this Friday. This is to allow us time to “degunge” and set up for the next term. Please make arrangements to pick up your children at the school gate for 1.30pm. As always, please be conscientious of our neighbours if parking as it is always very busy when students all leave school at the same time.

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].

Julie Mosley

Principal, XP Gateshead

Dear Families

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.

You can access the NSPCC’s range of resources here; this page is updated frequently.

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 the Farrell 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?”

Please see Mr Mead’s post from last week if you have not signed up for sessions. 

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].

Yours, in the spirit of Crew

Julie Mosley

XP Gateshead

Dear Families

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 4pm at 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].

Julie Mosley