Following the hard work that G29 have put into their mock exams and their SLCs this year, the G29 team will be running an additional Crew Day for the year group on Wednesday this week (1st July). As is the case for every Crew Day, this will be an opportunity for student to tend to Crew and build the foundations of support that will help them through Year 11 next year.
Weather permitting, the students will travel to Sandhaven Beach, South Shields via metro where Crew leaders have planned a series of creative activities, team building games and stewardship exercises for the students will get involved in. The entire day will take place during normal school hours. Students should bring a packed lunch and a small amount of money for an ice cream if they would like to buy one. Clothing should should be appropriate for walking and other active games (sportswear and trainers are ideal), as well as being appropriate for the weather.
The weather forecast is currently in flux for Wednesday, and there may be a mixture of sunshine and showers. Crew leaders will make a final decision on whether to travel to Sandhaven Beach on Tuesday evening in light of the most up-to-date weather forecast. Should the weather dictate that a trip to the beach would not be appropriate, G29 will stay in school and take part in an alternative Crew day designed to tend to Crew on site, sportswear and trainers will still be appropriate in this instance, but a packed lunch and money for an ice cream will not be required.
If you have any questions about the day, please contact your child’s Crew leader in the first instance.
Tomorrow (Tuesday 30th June) students will be going on fieldwork to the Discovery Museum to have a workshop and guided exhibition tour titled ‘Destination Tyneside‘. Students will work as historians interacting with and analysing primary source materials that documents migration to the North East over time. Students will then be guided around the exhibition space by another expert, following the stories of 5 individuals and connecting with our RS studies about the development of religious communities and the importance of diversity and belonging.
Students will eat their packed lunch at the Discovery Museum. We will then undertake some Geography fieldwork which we have already begun preparing for in the classroom by analysing secondary source material. Students will gather 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?’
We will be travelling by metro and then in the afternoon walking Westgate Road; for this reason, students must be wearing appropriate, comfortable footwear (NO CROCS). The weather is mixed tomorrow, it will be warm but with some showers – students should bring a light waterproof jacket as well as a hat and suncream. A reminder that students must have a water bottle, a packed lunch, full pencil case and an iPad. If students are NOT dressed appropriately, they will be expected to use kit loaned from school.
We will be leaving school at 9am so it is important students arrive promptly to school. We will be back at school by 3:15pm.
Any questions, please direct to your child’s crew leader in the first instance.
GCSE results day is the 20th August. Students and families will be welcomed into school from 9am to collect their results. We look forward to seeing you there!
Results Day will be organised as follows:
Each Crew has a designated area within the Dining Area
Students can open their results envelope by themselves, with their crew leader or leave school to open them.
Crew leaders will have the results for their crew and can speak to students after they have received their results if they need to.
Results can be collected between 9am and 11.30am. School will be closed afterwards.
If students are not able to come to collect their results they must email Mr Mead ([email protected]) from their school email account and request their results be sent to them. Results will be emailed to their school account by the Central Exams Administrator.
If students have any concerns about their exam results they must email Mr Mead, Mr Said or Mrs Mosley outlining their concerns.
Official GCSE certificates arrive in School late October, students will be invited to a presentation evening in November to receive their certificates. .
Yesterday saw the third annual celebration of arts and culture across XP Trust and what a celebration it was! With temperatures soaring, students and partners braved the heat to deliver a festival rich in engagement, quality and community. Young people from every school across our Trust and other partners came together at XP Doncaster to perform and share their work. In addition, the Festival included a number of Presentations of Learning and input from one of our experts, artist (name) who co-created with visitors to the Festival a community piece of art that linked to the Year 8 Expedition ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?
“With temperatures soaring, students and partners braved the heat to deliver a festival rich in engagement, quality and community.”
The stage arrived at 6.30am (thanks to James and Pete) and was swiftly assembled as was the sound system so that students could begin to perform in the early afternoon. The Festival was opened by Dave Evans, whose work on making this a reality is truly inspiring, who introduced Noah Hopewell, our opening act on keyboard, who provided the audience with two stunning performances. This was followed by the Daggers with an indie flavoured set. Next up was Jensen Dickens with a solo acoustic performance. He played and sang beautifully followed by the Velcro Hearts whipping up the audience with an assured performance of the Oasis classic. ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’.
We were then joined by students from XP Gateshead who had travelled down from the North East to perform. Five bands played a range of songs in a variety of styles – from ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ to ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’ After this there were a series of solo performances by students under the expert tutelage of Zawedde which were both moving and showed the progress the vocalist had made over the course of the year. Special mention must go to the two groups of dancers and cheerleaders who braved the heat of the mats in front of the stage to deliver their performances!
The vocal group Vox Pops then graced the stage and put on a performance of high quality, enhanced by the accompaniment of their backing band (take a bow Geoff, Dave Harvey and Jensen).
At 3pm the festival moved into its next phase as we opened our doors further to parents, partners and members of the community to enjoy Presentations of Learning from Year 7, 8 and 9, the context of this work elevated by delivery from the main stage. Year 7 culminated their expedition by answering the Guiding Question, ‘How Does Water Shape Our World’ with a pertinent and timely message about the need to be safe around open water which was supported by the fire and rescue service. Year 8 shared their work from ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’ which engaged with the compelling Guiding Question, ‘Is Migration Worth the Risk?’ showcased by the permanent and beautiful mural students created to raise the awareness of the challenges facing migrants and refugees alongside local artist Phil Padfield who also attended the Festival to engage our wider community in a graffiti art project linked to the expedition as part of the Festival. Also, Sacha Gray from Community Arts organisation ‘Right Up Our Street’ visited the festival to interview a group of Year 8 students about their work which will be installed, with the support of RUOS, to impact positively in the Balby Bridge estate in Doncaster highlighting the importance of art in bringing communities together. Year 9 held a village fete style experience for their PoL where different stalls covered the different aspects of their expedition that had focused on ‘Protecting Our Planet’. In addition, as part of the culmination of learning, students displayed to parents their learning about coding and programming micro:bits!
“Sacha Gray from Community Arts organisation ‘Right Up Our Street’ (RUOS) visited the festival to interview a group of Year 8 students about their work which will be installed, with the support of RUOS, to impact positively in the Balby Bridge estate in Doncaster highlighting the importance of art in bringing communities together.”
Next up were a visiting band from New College, INOCULUM, who treated our guests to some very heavy rock. After some further stunning vocal performances from Sara and Pixie. The XP Jazz Band took to the stage to bring a chilled out, sophisticated vibe to the early evening performances. This was followed by two rock bands from Norton (what a vocal performance from Logan!) and Carcroft that were quite simply breathtaking. This was interspersed with a high energy and vibrant performance by the Samba Bands from Plover and Green Top (so good they did it twice!!) Thank you to Tom and Harvey who have worked tirelessly with these students over just seven weeks to get them performance ready – remarkable!
The final part of the evening was fired up by sets from the long established band The Roses, followed by the Brackets and Crash Radio.There were some inspired performances of real high quality and range – it was humbling to see how much progress and how accomplished these bands have become over the course of recent years building on their experiences of being patriot of our year long XP Live performance opportunities. My particular favourite was Crash Radio’s rendition of the Sex Pistol’s ‘Anarchy in the UK’!!
The festival culminated with an awe-inspiring parade featuring all of our Primary Schools, resulting in African songs and dancing led by our old friend Xolani – who is amazing!! What a sight it was to behold young people from across our primary schools fully engaging in music and dancing. It was very moving and uplifting.
The festival was closed by our long term friends, partners and residents, Doncaster Youth Jazz Association. As always their Swing Band, that is just about to embark on a tour of Herten in Germany, completed the evening with sophisticated Jazz classics and upbeat swing versions of popular songs. It was a fantastic end to a wonderful day.
“weaving together community, character, and performance into a singular, elevating experience.”
The XP Trust Festival of Arts and Culture 2026 serves as a powerful testament to the transformative impact of our schools’ creative curriculum, weaving together community, character, and performance into a singular, elevating experience. By providing a stage for students from across the Trust to share their work, the festival actively builds essential life skills: nurturing the confidence and resilience required to conquer nerves and individual expression, alongside fostering the compassion and integrity needed to collaborate as Crew. The day acts as a pivotal bridge between students, parents, and partners, creating a shared space where academic milestones like Presentations of Learning meet the joy of collective performance, ultimately reinforcing a culture where students are inspired to pursue mastery, value belonging, and be made to see that there is more in them than they know.
My heartfelt thanks go to the staff, partners, and community members whose unwavering support made this our best festival yet. Particular thanks go to Claira Salter, staff at XPD and Trust staff who bore the brunt of stewardship and organisational duties. Seeing the growth, courage, and connection on display, from our youngest primary dancers to our graduating bands, has been truly humbling.
As we look back on an incredible day of community and celebration, I am already counting down the days until next year…
Our children have performed brilliantly today, and enjoyed performances from groups across our Trust.
We have departed Doncaster at 16.45, around fifteen minutes earlier than planned. We are now on our way home, tired and hot but enjoying an air conditioned coach.
Once we are out of the Doncaster area we will have a much better idea of an estimated arrival time in Gateshead.
What an absolutely unforgettable evening! During Refugee Week, our school community came together to celebrate the culmination of the G31 learning expedition: “Is migration worth the risk?”
Instead of just looking at the challenges, our students turned the spotlight on the incredible positives, culture, and richness that migration brings to our world. And because we don’t do things by halves, we fused this POL with the first-ever XP Live! music and arts festival.
The evening kicked off with high energy and deep emotion as Year 8 shared their learning journey.
One of our G31 Rock Bands set the tone for the night with a high-octane performance of Should I Stay or Should I Go?—a perfect musical nod to the expedition’s core question. The entire cohort then came together for a deeply moving, collective performance of the poem Home by Warsan Shire to the backdrop of their running man GIF that came as a result of every student producing 30 individual pieces of art! Demonstrating their incredible musical versatility, students performed a custom piece created in collaboration with GemArts. Fusing Hip-Hop, Rave, Garage and Punjabi rhythms with live vocal and instrumental performers as well as music technology inputs through Ableton Live, they had the whole room moving. Moving performances followed from students who had developed original drama scenes after inspiring workshops with the Phosphorus Theatre group. The formal POL element concluded with a guided gallery walk. Students walked their parents through the international competition of Humanity Arts cartoons, expertly explaining the deep understanding and empathy they have developed throughout this expedition.
As the gallery walk ended, we transitioned seamlessly into the festival element for the very first XP Live!
The energy shifted into pure celebration. Our Year 8 cheerleaders blew everyone away with an incredible routine, followed by a showcase of phenomenal bands from across all year groups in the school. The absolute climax of the night came from local band Leazes, who delivered a blistering set that had students absolutely packing the dance floor and getting lost in the music! It was the perfect end to a historic school event.
Throughout the night, we were so proud to be able to showcase the beautiful GCSE artwork produced by G28 and to welcome them and their families back into school to celebrate their success.
Beyond the arts, the evening was about action. We were proudly raising money for the School of Sanctuary charity—a network we are actively hoping to join in the coming years as part of the lasting legacy of this expedition. Our community showed up in full force to support the cause. The Year 10 students cooked up a storm, serving a range of delicious street foods that celebrated the massive impact migration has had on our culinary culture. Year 8 hosted a bustling bake sale, popcorn stand and tombola, while a raffle was held for a stunning garden planter, beautifully crafted by the G29 DT group. Thanks to the immense generosity of our parents, students, and staff, the event raised a grand total of… £445.25!
A massive thank you to our incredible staff, our external partners (GemArts and Phosphorus Theatre), the brilliant performers, the amazing Leazes, our hard-working student chefs, and everyone who came along to support.
G31, you didn’t just answer the question of whether migration is worth the risk—you showed us the beautiful, vibrant world we get to live in because of it.
Check out the gallery below for highlights of the night!
We are looking forward to welcoming students in school for their transition next week.
For year 6 students, each day will start at 8.25am with students able to arrive from 8.00am.
Each day will end at 3.15pm.
Lunches
Students can have a school lunch or a packed lunch. If you have not already done so, please can you complete this Google form to let us know of your child’s dinner choices for each day.
At break and lunchtime, we will have activities led by our existing student leaders.
Kit
A reminder that for their daily kit, students should bring basic kit which includes a pen, pencil, eraser, ruler and pencil sharpener in a pencil case. Students should have a water bottle and a bag for resources. We recognise that you may not already have all of this equipment yet. It is important that this is in place for August when children start with us fully.
Dress Code
Some students choose to come in their primary school uniform or PE kit, however this is not necessary. Students need to dress modestly and appropriately for a day of learning in school. More details of our dress code can be found here.
Students will be introduced to PE at XP on Tuesday, so we recommend trainers and clothing appropriate for sports on Tuesday so that a change of clothes is not needed.
(When students start with us fully in the Autumn Term we will talk to them about bringing a change of clothes for their first PE sessions).
Plans for the days
Our guiding question for the two days will be:
“What will it take for me to be the best version of myself at XP?”
Tuesday 30th June
On Tuesday students will experience:
Crew
STEAM (Science)
HUMAN (Humanities / English)
PE
We will end the day with a Community Meeting where students will make appreciations to each other connected to our character traits of courage, respect, integrity, craftsmanship & quality, and above all… compassion. Our student leaders will support and model this process – as they will have been supporting in their sessions throughout the day.
Wednesday 1st July
On Wednesday students will experience:
Crew
STEAM (Maths)
Art & Design
Spanish
Again we will finish the day with a Community Meeting to celebrate the beautiful work and character of our newest students over the two days.
Tuesday 7th July – Meet your child’s Crew Leader
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 being 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 next week and is expected to last for around 45 minutes.
Ullswater Participant Form
If you have not already done so, please complete the participant form for Ullswater. More details on how to do this can be found here.
We are so excited to welcome G33 into school next week, and meeting you all again in the week after.
