On Monday 16th March we have a staff day. Students will be able to come into school to prepare for their passage presentations, however we will not be providing lunch on that day.
Tuesday 17th March is not a staff day. Year 9 teachers will be involved in passage presentations throughout the day so we will not be running a regular timetable for this day for Year 9 students. Students that come into school will be supervised and will work on extended study.
There are three options for Year 9 students on this day:
Come into school for the full school day (including staying in school after a Passage Presentation).
Come into school for a Passage Presentation and then leave with their family.
Work on extended study from home.
Please can all G30 families use this Google Form to let us know what your child will be doing, and whether they will need a school lunch.
Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th March are regular school days. Students with passage presentations on these days will be given time to prepare.
On Tuesday I was invited to attend Year 9 Passage Presentations at XP Gateshead. Passage Presentations are a formal, public rite of passage that mark the culmination of a student’s learning journey through Key Stage Three.
In Passage Presentations the emphasis is equally focused on character growth (being an ethical and compassionate human being) as it is on academic progress. As such, students present a comprehensive portfolio of their work to a panel of staff, peers, and community members, demonstrating mastery of Long Term Learning Targets, growth in their Habits of Work and Learning (HoWLs), and their understanding of the XP Crew culture to affirm their readiness to progress to their GCSE studies.
I attended four presentations and whilst very different they were all equally impressive. The first presentation was delivered by Amelia who spoke eloquently about her character growth and her realisation that thinking of others had strengthened her determination to be kind and focus on her studies. She referenced the Outward Bound experience as a turning point in her growth:
“Getting to the top of the mountain made me realise that I shouldn’t just focus on myself but I needed to help others.”
She is keen to pursue events management as a career and her focus on this was very impressive. She shared a metaphor about her time at XP, a key feature of each presentation, which summed up her conceptual understanding of our Crew culture:
“XP is like a garden. It is the right environment to grow and flourish. It’s not about being perfect but doing your best.”
Next up was Finn who confidently and skilfully talked the panel through his learning journey at XPG to date. His reflections were highly articulate, discerning and showed a real understanding of self, impressive for a thirteen year old! Finn focussed on his resilience in both his studies and in his character growth. As a keen football player he talked at length about how his discipline in sport has helped him in his studies. You could clearly see that Finn is going to be successful in whatever he chooses to do. This couldn’t be better expressed than in his comment below:
“I show up ready to learn every day. Not just because I find Maths easy but it’s because of my work ethic… I take my independent work seriously: I’ve never missed a deadline from the start of Year 7.”
Finn showed and discussed numerous examples of ‘beautiful work’ he has created since joining the school. His understanding of the need to pursue high quality was evident in his reference to our Habits of Work and Learning and to critique and redrafting:
“My written work has progressed because I’m widening my vocabulary and I don’t just settle on a first draft.”
Finn delivered an outstanding Passage Presentation in spite of the fact that he was feeling unwell – I think that says it all about his resolve and determination.
A selfie with Finn and his proud parents!
Harrie’s Passage Presentation showed real integrity. He was able to talk about his progress and also how he is determined to become more focussed in sessions so that he is successful in his future studies. His metaphor below captured his honesty and a deep sense of self reflection:
“XP is like a highway. There are twists and turns and I’ve even had some crashes but XP has shaped me as a human.”
Harrie talked about how he has matured, that he is now working more independently and is making sure he is balancing his new found love for boxing and his studies outside of school.
Interestingly, he highlighted Presentations of Learning and creating outward facing products that impact positively on the community as the areas which have contributed most to his growth. He made some impressive pledges and I hope he meets with the success he deserves in the future.
Harrie with me and his justifiably proud parents after his successful Passage Presentation.
The final Passage Presentation I attended was delivered by Warren. This young man had written an extensive reflection on his character growth and academic progress. He talked with honesty and openness about his determination to improve his reading and how by working hard he has done this, it is clearly helping in his sessions. He delved deeply into his assessments across subjects and Learning expeditions to show the progress he is continuing to make. Warren focussed on how the structures at XPG have helped him develop his confidence and oracy, particularly the fact that he has had to consistently participate and share his work in Presentations of Learning. Warren was proud of the progress he has made in developing his written work, showing compelling examples of this, and his growth in Maths:
“At first I wasn’t confident in Maths because I wasn’t good at it but I learned that confidence is essential in order to succeed and so is not giving up no matter how hard the task.”
Warren clearly understood the symbiotic link between character growth and academic progress which is extraordinary for someone of his age. I think the picture below shows how proud Warren’s Dad was of his presentation.
Passage Presentations are not easy. And it is exactly the reason why we do them. Passage Presentations transform traditional assessment into a meaningful “rite of passage” by requiring students to actively reflect on their academic mastery and character growth. This process not only empowers students to take ownership of their future but also strengthens the bond between the school, parents, and the wider community through a shared celebration of excellence.
I think I’ll leave the final word to Finn which pretty much sums up the essence of an XP school:
“It is great to come to a school where being a good person is highly valued.”
We have recently received our new prices from our current catering providers, Gateshead Council Schools Catering Service.
Due to rising food and labour costs, they have increased the lunch meal price across all schools.
Even with our school subsidising costs, we will still need to increase the cost per meal for parents to from £3.00 to £3.10 . The new meal price of £3.10 will be in place in the Summer Term when we return after our Easter break. We have amended Parentpay so charges will reflect this from Monday 13th April.
We will continue to work with Schools Catering to try and keep costs down, whilst ensuring a high quality meal will be provided to each of our students. We will do everything we can to keep the price of school meals affordable for all families.
Tomorrow, G31 will be conducting fieldwork to explore the suffrage movement through a local lens.
We will be travelling via metro to the Discovery Museum, leaving school at 9am. Students must be wearing appropriate footwear (no crocs), have a jacket and a packed lunch.
After lunch, we will be doing a Deeds, Not Words walking tour that will take students from Haymarket metro to Central Station, exploring the key locations from the ‘Battle of Newcastle’.
We will then travel back to school via metro from Central station, arriving back at school by 3:15.
All students will need to walk back up to school from the metro and we will dismiss them from school.
On Friday morning (20th March), G32 will have the opportunity to work in person with Elizabeth Smith from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). She will deliver a presentation on how to interpret war graves and the information that can be gained from them.
Following this, Elizabeth will accompany students, along with staff, to St Mary’s Church to investigate the Commonwealth war graves and apply their learning in a practical context.
This represents a valuable and authentic learning experience. We are very grateful to the CWGC for supporting our students as they explore the guiding question for their current Human expedition: ‘Why should we honour all those who sacrificed during WW1?’
Students should wear comfortable footwear suitable for walking (no Crocs) and bring a waterproof coat in case of inclement weather.
Without a doubt, last week has seen our G30 students step up to the challenge as they get ready for their Passage Presentations taking place this coming week. Students have been working hard writing with deep reflection about their progress since joining us and their readiness for GCSEs.
The presentations we saw today were strong and our students spoke with such integrity and authenticity. We are delighted today that all students have either passed their passage presentations, or passed with conditions that need to be met over the coming weeks. Multiple expert panelists today talked about the high quality passages and the quality of reflection our students show about their learning.
In preparing for passage, Year 9 really are demonstrating their readiness for the next stage in their education and their potential for greatness in the years to come. What a joy and honour it is to sit alongside families watching their children shine and talk so beautifully about themselves with such honesty.
The week ahead
G30 Passage Presentations
Presentations continue on Tuesday during the school day and on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. A huge appreciation to our panellists for helping to make this a rigorous process and for their kind, specific and helpful feedback to our students. And of course thanks to you, our families for supporting your children in this important work.
Year 9 Families: If you have not already done so, please make sure that you have let us know about arrangements for tomorrow and whether your child will be attending school or working from home using the form linked here.
G31 fieldwork – “What is Power?”
On Thursday this week, year 8 students will be carrying out fieldwork at The Discover Museum in the morning – this will involve looking at sources associated with suffrage in Newcastle. This will take place during the regular school day – we expect to be back in school at around 3.30pm.
They will then step back one hundred years to explore the stories of the decades-long campaign for the women’s vote as they walk through the heart of the city centre and learn more about the remarkable local women who contributed to the movement.
The forecast at the moment is cool and dry.
Students will need:
Their regular school kit
A packed lunch
A coat
Comfortable walking shoes or trainers (not crocs)
G32 Commonwealth War Graves Commission Fieldwork – “‘Why do we need to honour all those who made sacrifices during WWI?”
Year 7 students will be carrying out fieldwork this Friday at St Mary’s Church in Heworth with an expert from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. This fieldwork will help students to uncover some of the stories of local people who served for our country during The Great War, ultimately leading to their burial in our local church.
This fieldwork will take place in the morning before lunchtime so there is no impact on lunch.
The forecast at the moment is cool and dry.
Students will need:
Their regular school kit
A coat
Comfortable walking shoes or trainers (not crocs), the church graveyard is likely to be muddy.
PE this week
G32 (Year 7)
Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week
Class 2 have PE on Wednesday this week
G31 (Year 8) have PE on Tuesday this week
G30 (Year 9)
Class 1 have PE on Wednesday.
Class 2 have PE on Friday
G29 (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.
Core PE returns next Monday for Year 11.
Extended Study and Clubs
Due to passage presentations some clubs are not running this week. Please ask your child to check student notices and our timetable for more details.
As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance.
Congratulations to the students who have completed their passage today. I just wanted to remind parents that our G30 9.2 Public Health Conference will be held on Wednesday 15th April, 14.30-16.30 at our school.
We look forward to welcoming you all again. As always, please contact your crew leader if you think you may be unable to attend.
On Wednesday 14th March, XPG collaborated with our friends at NEDES and The Dialogue Society to host our first Multi-Faith Iftar Dinner. XPG welcomed members of our school and wider community of all faiths to come together, building understanding, trust and compassion for one and other.
Ramadan is a holy month in Islam observed by Muslims around the world. During this time, Muslims fast each day from dawn until sunset, refraining from food and drink as an act of worship and self-discipline. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and is intended to encourage spiritual reflection, empathy for those in need and a renewed focus on kindness, generosity and community. The fast is broken each evening with a meal known as Iftar, often shared with family, friends and the wider community.
Our students helped to prepare the food for the event as well as helping the volunteers from NEDES and The Dialogue Society in decorating the event space.
The event was a stunning display of the Diversity and Belonging seam that threads through many of our learning expeditions. It built on students’ knowledge from 8.1 centred around Being Human and the understanding that there is a lot more that unites us than divides us and was a great precursor to the learning expedition G31 will embark upon after Easter.
Our GCSE RS students were also able to build on their knowledge of Islam by participating as volunteers, helping to make the event a huge success.
A special appreciation to Harris (G28) and Yousif (G31) for MCing the event so wonderfully.
We cannot wait to build on this event next year, welcoming even more of our school community!
Some of the feedback received from guests who attended:
‘A quick note to thank you for the invitation to the Iftar Dinner. It was a real pleasure to be able to be part of the event – the words, the music, the food, the fun and most of all, the opportunity to meet so many people. Your students were great ambassadors for XPG. Well done to all who made the evening such a success.’
‘I just wanted to say thank you again for inviting me and the girls to the Iftar event. It was a lovely evening, but more than that, it showed how coherent XPs culture of community, diversity and inclusion is. The whole XP Team work tirelessly to hook our young people into XPs empowering and broad curriculum. And mitigating the polarising impact of current politics and social media trends through education is no easy task. However, the way the students approached the event, gave all who attended an enormous amount to be optimistic about. From the photographers to the hosts, organisers, podcasters and Y8s who were there simply to take part, every one of them took away something special. Whether it was a skill, religious or cultural knowledge, trying a date or just listening- what an opportunity!’
We’d also like to wish Eid Mubarak to all of our Muslim families at the end of the week.
On Tuesday 10th March our G31 Rock Band students visited ‘Blank Studios’, a recording studio in Newcastle Upon Tyne, to record their unique version of ‘People Have The Power’; a song written by Patti Smith about empowering individuals to create social, political and environmental change.
Since opening in 2009, Blank Studios has been Newcastle’s leading music studio, priding itself on being an affordable recording space that is accessible to all, whilst also housing a huge range of high-quality recording equipment that you’d find at the likes of Abbey Road, Electric Lady and many other world-leading studios. The studio has worked with hundreds of esteemed artists over the years, most notable of which being local hero Sam Fender. Here is Abbie playing the guitar used by Sam during his recording session at Blank!
Our Rock Band students had the opportunity to become immersed in a recording studio environment; learning about studio equipment and how to record audio, and then recording their own song with the help of professional music producer Josh Ingledew. This experience not only enabled students to record a high quality version of their cover but also provided an insight into the many different jobs available in the music industry right on our doorstep!
The students crafted a beautiful and unique version of ‘People Have The Power’ using drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals. Putting their own spin on this popular protest song, each student added a line of their own about a cause that they care about, drawing the song to a close with a group chant of “people have the power to be kind!” which is a message that we can all get behind.
Today our Year 7 and Year 8 students had the opportunity to watch a powerful travelling theatre performance in school by Theatre Space Northeast.
The 60-minute production, Split Decisions, delivered an emotive and thought-provoking exploration of pedestrian safety. Through an engaging and dramatic storyline, the performance highlighted the very real dangers young people can face when travelling near roads or using public transport. Important messages were explored around common distractions such as mobile phones, music and friends, as well as the risks associated with impulsive or unsafe behaviour.
A key focus of the performance was helping students recognise and respond to peer pressure. By showing how everyday choices can have serious and far-reaching consequences, the production encouraged students to think carefully about the decisions they make and the influence others may have on them.
Our students responded to the performance with real maturity. During the discussions that followed, they were able to reflect thoughtfully on the issues raised and contribute sensible, critical comments about the importance of making safe and responsible choices.
The performance provided a valuable and memorable learning experience, reinforcing essential messages about awareness, responsibility and personal safety.
