What does it really mean to be part of XP? Don’t take it from us – hear it from the students themselves.
If you’re a teacher who believes in creativity, challenge and doing work that matters, this is the role for you. We’re open to applications across a range of subjects – find out more here
https://xptrust.org/were-looking-for-great-teachers-at-xp-doncaster/
It was an honour to spend time with Year 9 students at XP Gateshead as they held their second annual public health conference with a focus on the dangers of smoking and vaping on Friday. The conference was the culminating event to the learning expedition entitled, ‘You Give Me Fever’ where students had engaged in a thematic study of health, considering how approaches to, and learning about health has changed over time from the Medieval Period to the modern day. Students were challenged to answer the guiding question,
In order to do this students focused on factors which can affect our health, such as wealth, poverty, science and technology and the role of the government. Combining what they studied in history and science this helped us to complete a human geography study of our local area. Students had investigated the difference in life expectancy in the local area by studying deprivation and its contribution to risk factors. Case studies blended English, History, Geography and Science to give the students a breadth of knowledge and understanding about key health issues, in particular smoking and vaping.
Student key note speakers eloquently outlined the causes and long term effects of smoking on health and related social issues. They articulated the desperate link between smoking and deprivation and presented some chilling and compelling research about the impact of smoking on reducing life expectancy and increasing the chances of life threatening diseases like cancer, respiratory illnesses and strokes.
XPG Year 9 students lead an expert question and answer session about the risks of smoking and what we need to do to address this public health issue.
After this thought provoking start, students conducted a question and answer session with local experts from local government and community health services. Questions ranged from:
Should smoking be banned?
Does social media contribute to participation and smoking?
Have public health changes made a difference to health in our community of Gateshead?
What is the local council doing to address deprivation in our community?
The next phase of the Presentation of Learning involved all students hosting a stall where they articulated the report they had written that linked to their learning in the expedition. Reports were wide ranging, informative and extremely well written. Titles included:
The wide range of expert reports produced by Year 9 students at XPG
Students ended the conference with a call for the community, local authority and health professionals to collaborate more effectively to reduce the negative impact that smoking still has on the health and well being of the wider community in Gateshead.
After the conference I caught up with Georgia and Scarlet who spoke to about the importance of the work they had undertaken. I asked them why it was important to hold a Health Conference.
Georgia and Scarlet shared their thoughts with me about the importance of their work
Georgia commented:
And Scarlet built on this:
In conclusion, it was a privilege to be invited to an event that confirmed how our curriculum empowers and enables students to make a positive change in their communities. The level of understanding, confidence and quality of work was, quite simply, breathtaking. I made a pledge that the reports now need to be available for a wider audience to access and read. Our civic leaders and politicians must support and realise this important work and I know XPG students will not stop demanding this until they do!
Another week of great work at XP Gateshead, even though we only had 4 days in school!
Our second annual Public Health Conference, ‘Is Public Health Going Up in Smoke?’, took place last Friday hosted by our Year 9 students. G29 students brought their final products: a public health report exploring the impact of smoking and vaping on the local community to the attention of local councillors, health professionals, invited experts and families. We enjoyed an afternoon of youth-led activism, informed debate, and meaningful dialogue which really showed what young people are capable of when supported and challenged to engage with important issues such as health in their community.
The conference was an in-depth look at inequality in health outcomes and life expectancy in Gateshead viewed through the specific lens of smoking and vaping. This is just one aspect of what our Year 9 students have been studying as part of a longitudinal expedition looking at the people’s health since 1250 in the UK. To be ready for the conference students had to read widely and internalise data to be able to defend propositions when quizzed by delegates. After keynote speeches and expert panel interviews written and presented by our students, Year 9 then ran marketplace information stalls and important discussions around public health.
On Monday, Crew Day takes place for G28, G29, G30 and G31. We will take time to reaffirm the importance of Crew, building positive relationships through shared experiences and challenges. Students at XPG are ‘Crew not passengers’ and it is vital that we continue to build our crews and culture strong as this is the bedrock of our work at XPG.
G31 students will participate in a fundraising effort to support Walk2Water. This event will take place at Gateshead International Stadium from our arrival at around 9am, until departure after lunch time. Families are also welcome to come and support students’ efforts and cheer on students should they wish! We are asking families and friends of XP Gateshead to support the efforts of G31 to help us reach the required total by donating, if they can, using the Enthuse platform linked here.
Students will start school at the regular time. We will be travelling to the stadium on foot and by metro and returning during the school day so students will finish at the regular time of 3.15pm.
Year 7 students will need a packed lunch for the day and to come prepared for all weathers and for walking a distance. See post for full details.
Our year 8 students will be working in their crews getting stronger together.
Crew Darling and Crew Einstein will be offsite taking part in a 7-mile walk along Hebburn Riverside and back, with a cultural visit to the Buddhist monastery, which will help consolidate the students’ learning from our first learning expedition of the year, Being Human. Crew Darling are taking the opportunity to gather sponsors from their walking efforts to raise money for a special visit to the Farne Islands inspired by the legacy of Grace darling, the namesake of their Crew.
Crew Earhart and Crew Kahlo will be onsite working outdoors on team building including den building with their Crew leaders and Wayne Dobson, an expert in Outdoors Education: High Tide Adventure Company.
Year 8 students will need a packed lunch for the day or their agreed crew picnic contribution and be prepared for outdoor activity and weather.
Our Year 9 students will spend Crew Day carrying out campcraft training in readiness for their DofE bronze practice expedition on Friday 16th May. G29 Crew Leaders will be checking their crews to ensure students have all the required kit and are fully prepared. Please see the recent post for more details on the practice and final expeditions along with the kit needed.
Our Year 10 students are heading to Tynemouth Longsands for their Crew Day, where they will take part in a range of activities including sports and art. After working incredibly hard over the past two weeks during their mock exams, this day is a well-deserved opportunity for students to unwind, enjoy the outdoors, and reconnect with the spirit of Crew.
Students will start and finish school at the regular time and will need a packed lunch for the day. Some Crews have organised a Crew Picnic please ask your child about this. See post for full details.
SLCs start for our Year 7 and 8 students and their families this week. Students have worked hard to prepare for their conference, preparing to share their recent work, evidence of work around the pledges they have shared and responses to the questions parents and carers have asked to be addressed in the conference. Please can I remind all families that SLCs, like PoLs, are key moments in the development of our students and it is vital that parents, carers and families fully support SLCs.
You should already have received an email from your child with an updated snapshot and a link to ask questions of them in advance of the SLC. Here is that link if your child has not yet sent that on to you. You will also receive a link to sign up for a time slot from your child’s Crew Leader. Please contact [email protected] if you do not receive this.
There are some changes to PE sessions this week due to Crew Day and G28’s DofE practice expedition . Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit for sessions.
Extended study and after school clubs will not be running over the next two weeks due to G31 and G30 Student led Conferences.
Please note that Thursday and Friday lunch options will swap this week. Please see our menu for details (we are on week 1).
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
Principal
On Monday 12th May, G29 students will be developing invaluable skills to prepare for their Duke of Edinburgh Practice Expedition on Friday 16th May, and ultimately the final expedition in July.
As outlined in the previous blog post, students must bring their full DofE kit into school on Monday so they can pack their bags ready for the practice expedition on Friday.
Please note: students do not need to bring a rucksack, as this will be provided. A shopping bag or similar is fine for transporting kit on Monday.
Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust from this week. To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.
G28 Fishing Success @ XP Gateshead
Class Five journey to space… @ Norton Infants
Crew Peake tackle the litter @ XP
On Monday, G28 will head to Tynemouth Longsands for their Crew Day, where they will take part in a range of activities including sports and art. After working incredibly hard over the past two weeks during their mock exams, this day is a well-deserved opportunity for students to unwind, enjoy the outdoors, and reconnect with the spirit of Crew. We hope the day allows them to release some energy and reflect on the value of teamwork and community.
Students will start school at the regular time. We will be travelling to Tynemouth on foot and by metro and returning during the school day so students will finish at the regular time of 3.15pm.
Children will need a packed lunch for the day. We can provide packed lunches to children that usually have free school meals – requests will need to be passed to crew leaders for this.- Some Crews have organised a Crew Picnic please ask your child about this.
The weather forecast at the moment is humid but cloudy, though we’d ask all students to come prepared for all weathers including rain.
If students do not come to school dressed appropriately then they will have to borrow school kit.
Students will need:
As part of the upcoming Crew Day on Monday 12th May, G31 students will participate in a fundraising effort to support Walk2Water. This event will take place at Gateshead International Stadium from our arrival at around 9am, until departure after lunch time. Families are also welcome to come and support students’ efforts and cheer on students should they wish! Please be aware seating is not guaranteed.
This will build on the phenomenal efforts of our G28 cohort who have already raised close to half the target to allow the charity to set up a water well on behalf of XP Gateshead for a community in need. We are asking families and friends of XP Gateshead to support the efforts of G31 to help us reach the required total by donating, if they can, using the Enthuse platform linked here.
Students will start school at the regular time. We will be travelling to the stadium on foot and by metro and returning during the school day so students will finish at the regular time of 3.15pm.
Children will need a packed lunch for the day. We can provide packed lunches to children that usually have free school meals – requests will need to be passed to crew leaders for this.
The weather forecast at the moment is humid but cloudy, though we’d ask all students to come prepared for all weathers including rain.
Students will need:
Congratulations to Mason who was awarded RNB Anglers United Junior Club Champion 2024/25 and to Katie who was runner up!
Here we are at the end of our first May Bank Holiday weekend. I hope you have enjoyed the additional family time this weekend.
Last week saw a lot of hard work from students across all year groups and a highlight for me was the way all of our students have supported G28 mock exams which started last week. Our Year 10 students have approached their mocks with real maturity and commitment and we couldn’t be prouder of them. Their courage is admirable as they had their first real experience of GCSE exam papers and conditions and they deserve full congratulations. We will be working with them to make sure they understand that this is the start of their journey and we will be supporting them all the way. In the coming weeks after marking and moderation takes place, we will share the mock results with students along with our predictions at this stage for their final outcomes next year.
I also want to congratulate our year 7, 8 and 9 students for their support of year 10 this week. On Thursday an exam paper was set to finish after 3:15pm and the whole school exited the site in silence to make sure students in exam spaces were not disturbed. This really showed the respect and compassion students at XPG have for each other, knowing that as a community we all support each other to get to the top of the mountain!
We have enjoyed meeting many of our new students and their families this week online. Family meetings will continue this week. This is all part of us getting to know our new students and their families as much as possible before they start with us on Tuesday 26th August 2025. Our transition timeline is shown below and, as you can see, after our family meetings, we will start our visits to feeder primary schools to meet our new students in person and their current teachers.
Our Year 7 and 8 students have started their preparation work for SLCs which take place over the fortnight beginning Monday 12th May. G31 and G30 parents will be receiving emails from their child which includes the pledges they have made to improve their work and a request for questions which students will prepare responses to as part of their SLC. Please note that we expect all families to attend SLCs. These, like PoLs, are key moments in the deliberate development of character for our young people and it is vital that parents, carers and families are present to support these events.
You should have already received an email with an updated snapshot from your child and a link to ask questions of them in advance of the SLC. Here is that link if your child has not yet sent that on to you.
You will also receive a link to sign up for a time slot from your child’s Crew Leader this week. Please contact [email protected] if you do not receive this.
This week we have held a Year 9 community meeting to talk through our finalised KS4 offer.
Slides with more information on the nature of the courses in our offer can be found here.
As you can see from the timeline below, over the coming weeks, students will get more details around courses from subject experts to support their choices and families will be involved in discussions ready for finalising choices with Crew Leaders after Summer half term.
On Tuesday 3rd June we are inviting all G29 families into school in the evening to meet with subject teachers of GCSE courses. This is so that families can talk to our staff about their child’s suitability for courses based on their motivation, capability and capacity.
Our Year 9 students will be hosting an inaugural Public Health Conference on Friday 9th May. We will be opening our doors to families and delegates from 1.30pm. Please use the pedestrian gate if arriving on foot, or push the bell on the vehicle gate if using our car park. Car parking spaces on site are limited, so if parking on the street please be considerate of our neighbours.
The event starts at 2pm and we expect to be finished at around 4.15pm.
There are some changes to PE sessions this week due to the bank holiday and mock exams. G28 (Y10) students will not have their usual PE sessions. G31, G30 and G29 students PE sessions are shown below, please ensure that your child has their full PE kit for sessions.
Extended study and after school clubs will be running Tuesday to Thursday this week.
Every half term, we look to run a Crew Day which is an opportunity to ‘tend’ to crew and culture. Crew is our support network at XPG and key to the continued success of everyone at our school. We will revisit what it means to be crew, and our responsibilities in getting everyone to the top of the mountain.
We will put out separate posts this week for each year group to give further details of each Crew Day and the kit needed for each year group.
Our Y9 students will be carrying out their DofE bronze practice expedition on Friday 16th May. This will take place offsite for most of the day with the final part taking place on our school site until 4:30pm. This is part of getting them ready for the final assessed expedition which will take place on Friday 4th July – Saturday 5th July. Please see the recent post for more details on the practice and final expeditions along with the kit needed. G29 Crew Leaders will be checking their crews to ensure students have all the required kit and are fully prepared.
Students should arrive at school for the normal time on the morning of Friday 16th May. They will travel by Metro with their packed rucksacks and complete a 10km walk whilst carrying their gear. They will return to school by Metro in the afternoon and students will practise setting up camp, cooking a meal, pitching a tent and re packing their bags independently. We expect the day to conclude at around 4:30pm to allow time for these tasks. Students will be expected to stay beyond 4:30pm if necessary to complete all activities and the spirit of crew and stewardship will be vital – it is essential that all students complete the practice expedition successfully to ensure they are fully prepared for the final expedition.
As a school, we fully fund DofE and last year allocated a significant budget for start-up costs (tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, etc). We would also like to add to this kit over time and be able to loan hiking boats, waterproof coats and trousers to support families who are not in the position to be able to buy these items for their children.
We have been approached by several parents over time who have wanted to make voluntary financial contributions to the school to support XP Gateshead and the work we do in learning expeditions and other activities. We have decided to open up an option on Parent Pay ‘XPG Voluntary School Donation’ to allow for any parent/carer to be able to make a contribution if they would like to. At the moment, we will use contributions to build our DofE loan kit so that all students have access to the required kit and this will be in place for Year 9 students. We also welcome kit donations from Year 10 families who want to add to our loan kit for this year’s expedition.
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
Principal
It is with profound sadness that we at XP Gateshead acknowledge the deeply upsetting news regarding the incident at Fairfield Industrial Park in Bill Quay on Friday night. Our thoughts are with all of the families and individuals affected by this tragedy during this difficult time. We understand that this news will be concerning for our school community, and we want to assure you that we are here to support our students and families.
In light of this event, we have received the following important message from the local police service:
“We are aware of footage and information circulating online in relation to an incident at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area of Gateshead on Friday night.
We would like to remind members of the public not to speculate on details of the incident.
What might seem like an innocent post on social media to you, could in reality disrupt an on-going investigation.
It is also important to note that anyone suspected of a crime must not be named publicly for legal reasons and those who are under 18 have anonymity.
Thank you to those of you who have cooperated so far. We would ask that if you have information in relation to what has happened, please speak to us directly by sending us a direct message on social media, or by using the live chat on our website.
If you’re unable to contact us online, please call 101.”
We urge everyone to respect the police’s request and to be mindful of the impact of sharing unverified information. Our focus remains the wellbeing of our students and staff. If your child is struggling with this news or requires support, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to listen and provide assistance.
