XP Gateshead is hiring! We’re seeking dedicated educators for History, English, Spanish and Arts. Join us in shaping the future of learning. Apply now:
Students have now collated all of their plans and we have put together the ingredients for a collection of “Hello Fresh” style boxes using recipes from the book. Students have been really thoughtful in their recipe selections, making adjustments to recipes to ensure they are family friends, delicious and provide a range of nutrients. Students have also worked hard in Computer Science honing their spreadsheet skills in order to generate nutritional information data tables for their selected recipes.
Once put together, the two food boxes will be donated to Edberts House, who will pass them on to two families in need; this is such important work that the students have done to have a positive impact on their community.
We are now asking for small donations for the non-perishable items to go into these food boxes. It would be fantastic to have all of the items needed by Monday 24th March.
In Google Classroom students have access to a spreadsheet where they have each indicated which ingredient/s they think that they can donate. Please have a conversation with your child about this. If there are any problems in sourcing the ingredients, please do ask your child to talk to their Crew Leader.
We will provide the additional perishable items so there is no need to provide anything beyond what your child has said they think they can contribute.
Please ask your child to give their donation to school and we will store these until we are ready to donate the boxes. All donations will be gratefully received and put into the food boxes alongside the week’s worth of recipes from the book. Of course, most importantly, the food will go to families that need it the most. This is what we do at XP, our curriculum and your children’s work impacts positively on our community.
We are so proud of your children for their compassion and the work that they have done on these boxes, and of course, thanks to you for your continued support.
Mohammed’s dedication and determination shone through in his recent karate grading, earning him ‘A’s across the board and a well-deserved yellow belt. His drive to push even further and aim for two grades next time is truly inspiring. We couldn’t be prouder—well done, Mohammed!
The deadline is fast approaching! We’re looking for passionate educators in History, English, Spanish, and Arts to join our team and help shape the future of learning.
Don’t miss out – apply now: http://xptrust.org/careers-at-xp/current-vacancies/
We are delighted to be able to announce the calendar of transition events that we have planned to welcome your children and your family into our community at XP Gateshead.
More details on each of these events will follow in due course, but here is an overview of the activities so that you can plan ahead and discuss this with your child.
In the coming weeks we will send you details of how to book an online family meeting. Meetings will be in the fortnight commencing 28th April. These take place via Google Meet during the evening and are with a senior leader in the school. The meetings are a first chance for us to meet you and your child, to find out about them and discuss our expectations as a school. Your meeting will last up to 30 minutes. We will send details of how to book an appointment to you on 24th March.
We aim to visit every child in their Primary School in the summer term. This is done by members of our transition team and means that as well as seeing your child in an educational setting, they get to know another friendly face before they come to us.
We will be holding an In-Person Information Evening at our school on 22nd May at 6pm.
It is vital that all families attend as we will give important information about the Outward Bound course that takes place for all students at the start of Year 7 as well as our iPad scheme. In addition, we will address some of the misconceptions about our school so that families are completely clear on what we are: ‘A mainstream school with a relentless focus on beautiful work, character growth and academic success’, and also what we are not. There will be an opportunity for you to ask us questions too of course.
Your children will join us in school on Tuesday 1st July and Wednesday 2nd July. Again more details of these days will follow in due course. Like a regular school day, students can arrive in school from 8:00am but need to be present by 8:25am. Our school day finishes at 3:15pm.
Your child will follow a typical day at XPG on both days which include some crew sessions, expedition sessions and a community meeting.
Following the transition days, on Tuesday 8th July we will invite parents and carers into school in the evening to meet your child’s new Crew Leader. We expect all families to attend this event. We are proud of the strong relationships that we form with families at XP Gateshead and this is an important opportunity for you to begin to build that relationship with the person that will be the key adult for your child when they start with us. As well as our cross-curricular learning expeditions, our pastoral structure Crew is what sets us apart from other schools.
We start school earlier than other schools in the local authority to allow for the Outward Bound experience. Our first day of term for year 7 is Tuesday 26th August 2025. More info on our term dates can be found by clicking here.
We are really excited to get to know our newest students and their families over the coming months.
Welcome to our community and crew at XP Gateshead!
It was great to see our students make a strong start back to school last week after their half term break. Students were back to working hard, getting smart and being kind, stepping up to our high expectations in and outside of sessions.
Parents of Year 6 students received notification of secondary school places last week. XP Gateshead works with the Local Authority admissions teams to administer places. As in previous years, we received more applications than we can offer places and our admissions were determined by a random lottery administered independently by the Local Authority.
I’d like to thank all families who expressed an interest in our school and the work we do here. An appreciation too for our existing families and students for showing our school for the really special place that it is. Again we are massively oversubscribed with around eight applicants for every place at the school.
For our new families, welcome to XP Gateshead and congratulations! We are delighted to have you and your children join our school. See last week’s welcome post for more details.
This week, our students had the privilege of welcoming experts from Bluesky Trust into their lessons, including Miss Pegg!
Bluesky Trust supports and connects individuals across Tyne & Wear, Durham, Northumberland, and North Cumbria throughout their journey with HIV. In addition to their vital support work, they also educate communities to help break the stigma surrounding HIV.
See Miss Jones post for more information.
G30 students were able to see their Drama expert Christina Berriman Dawson in Ishy Din’s play: Champion at the Live Theatre this week. Students dealt incredibly well with the challenging content of the play, and asked some really thoughtful questions about the play, and the nature of stage performance. We would like to appreciate JD Stewart, the New Work Producer at Live and all of the cast and crew for helping us to give this opportunity to our children.
Last week I attended a Department for Education conference – Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity: Transforming Secondary School Attendance. Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell talked about the attendance challenges schools in the North East are facing.
You can read more about the event and the points raised by the Schools Minister by clicking here.
We continue to work hard XPG around attendance as this is vital to the life chances of our young people and their success. Being in school improves health, wellbeing and socialisation throughout life. Put simply, if pupils are not at school then they will not be learning and will fall behind in all areas of their development.
We will continue to look closely at attendance and the ways we celebrate attendance and support those students and families who need to improve their attendance. We expect every student to be in school and want every young person to hit our 97%+ attendance target.
Attendance is an area we all work hard on together – students, parents/carers, Crew Leaders and our inclusion team. We appreciate your full support with this.
If, for any reason, your child is unable to attend school you must contact the school office before 8:25am by telephone. This is a safeguarding procedure which has to happen on every day of absence.
Please share any concerns you have around attendance or punctuality with your childs’ Crew Leader.
In the final of their series of fieldwork sessions with experts from DesignLab and the Shipley and V&A, G30 students will return to the Shipley this week. This final session will be a chance to pull together their ideas from across the term to produce pieces of art in response to the brief, which has challenged them to think about power in the arts, in an era where mass production is competing with individually crafted pieces.
G30 students will be walking to the Shipley following their regular crew session in the morning so will need:
Year 8 will also have their final sessions with Christina Berriman Dawson this week as they refine their performances for the Presentation of Learning at Caedmon Hall.
Following a visit to Edberts House by some student leaders in Year 7 earlier this term, we will host workers from the charity in school this week. Alongside our student leaders they will present to G31 about the need for support around feeding families in Gateshead as a consequence of the cost of living crisis. We are really proud of G31 and the work that they are doing to ensure that their learning about nutrition, digestion and the wider issues that families face is being put to great use. Thanks also to all families who are supporting us by providing ingredients for the food packages that will be passed onto Edberts.
Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday.
Friday is the first of our staff days this half term, the second is on Monday 17th March. Our staff team will be planning for next term’s expeditions and this year’s curriculum priorities from our school improvement plan. Students will not be expected to be in school on Friday or Monday unless they are G29 students who have a Passage presentation on Monday. If students want to come to school on Friday to prepare for their passage, they must organise this through their Crew Leader.
G29 are working hard on preparing for their passage presentation next week. They will be using Crew time and additional time in sessions to get ready for this important moment in their time at XP Gateshead.
Passage presentations are hugely important benchmark demonstrations of learning over multiple years that mark this pivotal transition from Key Stage 3 into Key Stage 4 and GCSEs. During the presentations, students will use their portfolios as a guide to articulate their progress and growth. These presentations are another means by which we help students to develop their character and hone their public speaking. The rubrics that will be used during the presentations can be found here.
Students will be welcome to arrive at school earlier than their passage presentation slot to do final preparations, and then should return home after their presentation. If students do not have a passage presentation, there is not a need for them to be in school on Monday 17th March.
This is not a staff day, however 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. There are three options for Year 9 students and this day:
Please can all G29 families use this Google Form to let us know what your child will be doing, and whether they will need a school lunch.
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
Tuesday 18th 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.
There are three options for Year 9 students on this day:
Please can all G29 families use this Google Form to let us know what your child will be doing, and whether they will need a school lunch.
This week, our students had the privilege of welcoming Bluesky Trust into their lessons. Bluesky Trust supports and connects individuals across Tyne & Wear, Durham, Northumberland, and North Cumbria throughout their journey with HIV. In addition to their vital support work, they also educate communities to help break the stigma surrounding HIV.
Below are two appreciations from our students to our guests from Bluesky Trust.
One of our students said ‘I would like to appreciate, Nigel and Lucy for courage, this is because HIV is a very personal topic , that may make people feel embarrassed or upset, and as well to share personal experiences that may have made them feel uncomfortable. They brought a positive atmosphere to the session and seemed to translate the point of the session very well.’
This visit aligns with our students’ studies on Public Health in the 20th century. In Science, students will explore the causes of diseases, while in Human, they will examine the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on society and public health.
Additionally, today, students were assigned their report groups for their final project, which will focus on the impact of tobacco. This preparation will enable them to engage meaningfully with expert visitors on the 26th and 27th of March. These experts—public health registrars who advocate on behalf of Gateshead—have written their own public health reports and will guide our students in producing reports that can be shared more widely for greater impact.
We’re excited for the valuable learning opportunities ahead and appreciate your continued support.
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.
We have just left the theatre, and are heading to the metro now. We should be back at school for around 5.15pm.
This morning, we have received a number of calls from families that were concerned about some school in Gateshead being on lockdown.
To reassure all families, we have been in contact with the Local Authority, and the Police and there is no credible threat to our school or our children. Please see the letter below from Northumbria Police:
Dear parents and carers,
A number of schools in Gateshead this morning received information via email and took the appropriate safeguarding action as per their procedures.
As Northumbria Police we have made subsequent enquiries and deemed this not to be a credible threat.
To reassure you, there are no known concerns as a result of these malicious communications this morning and no schools need to be in lockdown.
Our officers are working with schools to help them work with you as parents and carers to reassure you your children are safe to remain in school today as normal. I would urge people to remain calm and be reassured that the safety of your children is our number one priority.
If anyone has any further concerns they wish to raise with us, please contact do contact us
Chief Inspector Thomas Hart, Northumbria Police
Lead officer for Communities in Gateshead
