Crew Frank – Activism for our Charity: The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation

By Rebecca Jones12th February 2024

Crew Frank were proud to officially hand over a giant cheque to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Emma McQuitty came to our school to receive the cheque and praised the fantastic work the crew have achieved raising further Β£403.70. This on top of the Β£515.62 raised by the sponsored walk takes the total up to Β£919.32! Unfortunately, two members of our crew were absent from school when Helen came in so missed out on seeing the cheque being handed over but we will make sure they are in next time when we hopefully reach Β£1000!

Once again thank you for all the support, we couldn’t do it without you!

Crew Frank

Beautiful work from Dylan

By Martin Said5th February 2024

Dylan has made extensive adaptations to the code that we have been working with in Computing. His sprite even gets annoyed if users say that they support Sunderland, perish the thought! Great work Dylan.

Beautiful Work from Harris

By Martin Said31st January 2024

Harris has successfully passed the JLC (Junior Lawyers Club) Bronze Award, demonstrating high levels ofΒ  presentation skills.

In fact his presentation on a proposed law which further protects the ‘right to strike’ was so accomplished that he has been awarded with a distinction level.

Harris will now be working towards taking the JLC Silver Award to demonstrate advocacy and critical thinking skills! Great work Harris.

Beautiful Work From George

By Michelle Ross14th December 2023

George passed the last of his Kyu ranks in Shotokan Karate to receive his brown and 2 white stripe belt this week. George has worked extremely hard in his training at Kaizen Karate Club and his hard work has paid off! George can now start training for his first dan grading which will lead to him receiving his black belt! Great work George and a huge well done from your crew at XPG!

Jujitsu success!

By Emmy Tatters11th December 2023

Oliver in G28 successfully passed his assessment and grading in Jujitsu over the weekend and has now achieved his black belt. He did a fantastic job and smashed his time and he performed even better than on his practice runs!

He is now going to be working towards weapon work and gold tags.

Well done, Oliver!

G28, Class 1 Court Case!

By Emmy Tatters23rd November 2023

Lord of the Flies Spoilers Ahead***

This week, students were asked to present a case for who they thought was responsible for Simon’s death in the novel.

They were given direction on the roles they would need and split into 2 groups – the next 40 minutes the preparation was over to them.

And wow, did they deliver. I invited Miss Pegg to join us as part of the jury and afterwards she sent this email to staff and shared it with students through student notices:

I have never been as proudΒ or impressed by a group of students as I was today- I was absolutelyΒ blown away by the quality of work in HUMAN today.
Tyler S came to me at break and said he was really excited for me to see the court case you had been preparing. I had no idea just how good it would be or that you had only worked with your groups for 40 minutes!
As you delivered your arguments about who was responsible for the death of Simon in Lord of the Flies, I felt so unbelievably proud of the young people you are becoming. You are able to work together with thought, compassion and care to produce the most stunning work. I felt as if I was listening to college or university students. That’s how good it was.Β 
I cannot help but think about how far you have come in your 2 and half years at XPG. Your ability to consider a story from all angles and produce detailed and thorough accounts is a testament to your hard work and growth. To then deliver these arguments to an audience with emotion, conviction and courage is truly beautiful work.Β 
As you might have guessed, I feel a bit emotional about this! I can’t wait to see what you produce next.Β 
Thanks so much for letting me be part of it,Β 
Miss PeggΒ 
I could not agree more!
Once you have watched the video, please fill in this form to express who you felt had the most convincing argument.

Congratulations to Winnie

By Martin Said13th November 2023

A huge well done to Winnie, who took part in the North of England Regional Swimming Championships in Sheffield and gave a brilliant account of herself. Beautiful work Winnie!

Important Fieldwork For G30

By Michelle Ross9th November 2023

Our G30 students carried out a short but very important piece of fieldwork today when they walked down to St Mary’s Church at Heworth. Here they were all able to see the burial place of Thomas Hepburn, who died in 1864, but is still revered and remembered today for initiating the very first Union of Mineworkers in the Northeast and being a campaigner for shorter working hours and better education for miners.

The students also visited the grave and memorial Obelisk for the many miners who were killed in the Felling Pit disaster of 1812 which is one of their Case Studies in their current expedition of learning. By visiting the site the students gain an element of authenticity to their learning and understand that these are important historical sources to support our studies. We also got the opportunity to see the inside of the church so they could get a feel for the place where their ‘Presentation of Learning’ will take place in December. Priest Lucy talked to the students about how important she feels it is to have their work on the Felling Pit Disaster displayed alongside the miners’ lamp that hangs in the church, for all visitors to St Mary’s to admire and learn from in the future.

G29: Unheard voices of WWI

9th November 2023Emmy Tatters

 

Last year, Y8 recorded a radio broadcast of unheard voices from WWI. They did this to honour the sacrifices of those who are sometimes forgotten when we remember the victims of WWI.

I am proud to share that this broadcast will be played on Memory Lane Radio on Saturday 11th November at 11am (their Armistice day slot!) Reuben visited the studio with Mrs Downes and was interviewed about the project. We will share a link to this interview in the coming days.

This is a huge honour for us and our students and I would encourage you all to tune in and celebrate our student’s beautiful work.

When answering the guiding question for that expedition, Scarlett wrote:

In this expedition I have reflected on how many people’s contributions went unrecognised during the war. Which has led me to believe that people’s sacrifices should be remembered for what they did for their country. What I think we all need to do is when thinking of the war make sure to remember and think about the unheard voices that you would not think of and their contributions. What I personally pledge to do is recognise the sacrifices people at home and on the battlefield made during the war. As a G29 cohort we are making sure that their sacrifices are recognised and remembered. Β Β 

So on this Armistice day, who will you honour?

Make sure you tune in on Saturday at 11am to Memory Lane Radio.