Dear Families
As we move towards the end of this academic year we get ever closer to the moment when we have completed the first full five years of XPG. This means that we have laid the tracks of our curriculum for every year group, completed our first set of GCSE exams and had a full school of 250 students y7-11.
The last couple of weeks have been really special as we said our final goodbyes to our G28 Pioneers. Our Y11 students presented their Final Words, celebrated at their Prom and joined all staff for a final G28 community meeting on Friday 26th June . I had the privilege of listening to the Final Words of every Y11 student in the company of their crew, staff and families. To listen to our students reflect on their 5 year journey at XPG with real integrity and compassion was beautiful and then listening to the admiration and appreciation from others (students, teachers and parents) was just stunning and a definite highlight of my teaching career to date. In true G28 fashion though, we have already had Pioneers back with us supporting transition work in school this week when we welcomed our new G33 students.
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Here are the final words I wrote and shared with G28 and their families – Final Words for G28
We achieved so much last week with Staff days, Transition Days, G29 Spanish Speaking Mocks, G29 Crew day alongside some great fieldwork.
Staff Days
On Friday 26th and Monday 29th June our staff team spent time together planning upcoming expeditions for the Autumn term. This included working with colleagues across Trust planning with expedition teams and subject teams. We also had the privilege of hearing new staff present their first Educator Led Conference, answering the question “What type of Educator do I want to be?”. To hear staff talk with genuine care for our students, each other, our culture and the school we are building together is unique and even more, the honesty and depth of personal reflection staff shared with their peers. As you know we are a small staff at XPG and the quality curriculum that we offer our students to support and challenge them to produce beautiful work, grow in character and see academic success is down to the hard work, commitment and quality of our staff crew.
G33 Transition Days
We finally got to meet our new cohort of students last week and G33 got to know each other on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week. Transition Days were a huge success and it was great to see new friendships form, confidence grow and smiles on the faces of our new students. G33 enjoyed two full days in school which included crew along with sessions in Spanish, PE, Art, Human, Science and Maths. At the end of each day it was great to circle up for community meetings with all 50 students and hear their appreciation of each other and their answers to the guiding question we had set for transition days ‘What will it take for me to be the best version of myself at XP Gateshead?’
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The work of our G30 student leaders across transition days was exceptional from supporting sessions and end of day community circle to running clubs at break and lunch time. The vast array of student-led social time sessions is a testament to our students and the warm welcome they gave to our new year group – basketball, dance, book club, music, games club, robotics, arts and crafts, football, netball.
G31 Fieldwork – Discovery Museum
Last week, students visited The Discovery Museum to take part in a workshop and guided exhibition tour titled ‘Destination Tyneside‘. Students worked as historians interacting with and analysing primary source materials that documented migration to the North East over time.
Students also carried out Geography fieldwork, gathering primary qualitative and quantitative data at 3 sites along Westgate Road to help them to answer the enquiry question ‘To what extent has migration created a unique character of place on Westgate Road?’
G29 Additional Crew Day at the Beach
On Wednesday our G29 students enjoyed a day at the beach as a reward for the hard work they put into their mock exams, work experience and their SLCs this year. Crews enjoyed beach games, sand art competitions and a picnic lunch followed by ice cream. As is the case for every Crew Day, the opportunity to tend to Crew and character is key and G29 took time with peers building the foundations of support that will help them through Year 11 next year. The weather, like the metro travel, did not always go to plan but in true G29 style, they threw themselves into every challenge.
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G32 Expert and Fieldwork
Students in G32 had an expert session this week with Anne Hayward. Anne is a strategic partner for Gateshead, with expertise in SEND. Anne is also a marine photographer and gave Year 7 students an insight into the world beneath the water, bringing in her extensive collection of kit and her stunning photographs. Anne was also able to share how she has seen the impact of human activity on ocean biodiversity across her many visits which are worldwide in nature.
Students also carried out some environmental fieldwork in partnership with Surfers Against Sewage, completing a beach clean at South Shields Sandhaven.
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Student iPads
We continue to experience issues with student iPads and internet access in Safari and other apps. We apologise for the inconvenience to students and families. We have made allowances for this around extended study and are in consistent contact with our ICT provider to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
This week
Registers held open until 10.30am on Monday
A reminder that due to the very early start for England vs Mexico we have a flexible arrival time in place for tomorrow morning only.
- Flexible Arrival: Students may arrive later than usual, but must be in school by 10:30 AM at the latest to receive their morning registration mark.
- Normal School Operations: School will be open at the usual time (8am) for any students who wish to arrive at the normal start of the day. Lessons will take place for all students who are on-site.
- Attendance and Lateness: Any student who arrives after 10:30 AM will be marked as an unauthorised absence for the morning session.
Could parents of students who plan on coming in later, please email the office before 9:30am to confirm their lunch choice. Lunch tomorrow is Southern Fried Chicken Burger, Jacket Potato or Ham Salad Sandwich.
End of year assessments for G32, G31, G30 (Years 7-9)
As we come towards the end of the year, students will continue to complete end of year assessments in all KS3 cohorts.
Students are working on an end of year reflection which will be shared, along with comments from your child’s Crew Leader as well as their final snapshot.
G33 Meet your child’s Crew Leader – Tuesday 7th July
Our ‘Meet the Crew Leader’ will be hosted in school. This is an important opportunity for families to meet their child’s Crew Leader and begin forming the strong relationship that will be needed to support and challenge your child to become the best version of themselves. This event is for adults from families only, you should not bring your child to this event.
This event will start at 5pm on Tuesday evening this week and is expected to last for around 45 minutes.
G30 Presentation of Learning – Thursday 9th July, 4-5:30pm
The final Presentation of Learning by G30 of Year 9 takes place on Thursday this week, beginning at 4pm, with an estimated finish time of 5.30pm. Families can arrive from 3.45 onwards. It is essential that all students have at least one supportive guest in attendance. I know you will all be keen to see what students have achieved this term!
Part of this event will be held outside on our school site, so please come prepared for the weather. The forecast is currently warm and sunny!
Students will share with you their final product as well as their learning from their current expedition: What a Wonderful World, with the guiding question: “What is our relationship with the natural world?”.
Crew Sports Day, Friday 10th July
We are looking forward to Sports Day, our final Crew Day of the year this week. Crew Days allow us time to build and tend to our culture and celebrate the greatness of our crews; this time the theme is sport and physical challenge.
This year our Sports Day will be held at Gateshead International Stadium and the whole school will be travelling there to get involved in track and field events alongside crew challenges. Crews are getting organised with their sign ups for Friday’’s events. Sports Day will involve a range of activities with healthy competition within each cohort between Crews.
Students will need a packed lunch for the day and should come dressed in full PE kit. A reminder of PE kit can found by clicking here.
All students will also need:
- A packed lunch
- Sun hat
- Sun cream (the forecast is warm and sunny)
- Water bottle
PE sessions this week
Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.
- G32 (Year 7) students
- Class 1 have PE on Thursday
- Class 2 have PE on Wednesday
- All of G31 (Year 8) have PE on Tuesday
- G30 (Year 9) do not have PE this week due to PoL preparation
- G29 (Year 10) have PE on Monday
Extended Study and after school clubs
After school clubs and extended study are cancelled this week and next (apart from Mandarin on Tuesday) due to ELCs (Educator Led Conferences), Transition events and PoLs (Presentations of Learning).
As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance.
Thank you as always for your ongoing support.
Julie Mosley
