G29 GCSEs and Post-16 Information Evening – ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT DATES

By Martin Said14th October 2026

An important part of this year will be considering Post-16 options for the next stages in your child’s education and training. Throughout this year, we will continue to work with students to help them to make informed decisions about what they want to do and where they want to go after their time at XP.

G29: GCSE and Post-16 Information Evening – Thursday 15th October

We will be hosting an information evening for all G29 families on Thursday 15th October at 6pm.

This will include information on supporting your child through Year 11 examinations, as well as guidance around helping them to make choices for Post-16 pathways.

 

Our local colleges and sixth forms also host a range of Open Evenings for students and their families to find out more about the courses that they offer. We are sharing these links and dates (where published) now so you can plan if you would like to attend.

Open Evenings for Post-16 providers

Open Evenings start in earnest soon, typically from the start of October.

Gateshead College

Gateshead College offer a range of A-Levels, Level 2 & Level-3 vocational courses and T-Levels.

https://www.gateshead.ac.uk/support/16-18-how-to-apply/

Gateshead College will publish their Open Evenings here.

Gateshead College’s first Open Evening event is on Monday 12th October.

Newcastle College

Newcastle College offer a range of A-Levels, Level 2 & Level-3 vocational courses and T-Levels.

Newcastle College will publish their Open Evenings here.

Newcastle College’s first Open Evening event is on Wednesday 7th October.

Newcastle Sixth Form College

Newcastle Sixth Form College offer a range of A-Levels and a Year 12 access course. The college is adjacent to the Rye Hill Newcastle College campus.

https://www.newcastlesixthformcollege.ac.uk/subjects/

Newcastle Sixth Form College Open Evenings:

Newcastle Sixth Form College publish their Open Evenings here.

Newcastle Sixth Form College’s first Open Evening event is on Wednesday 7th October.

Gateshead Sixth Forms

The following schools in Gateshead have sixth forms as part of their provision, see their websites for more details:

Other outside area sixth forms that our students are typically interested in include:

National Film Competition – open to all students

By Martin Said13th October 2026

Is your child passionate about film? Who can tell a good story, create animations, or are budding actors? Then the Childnet Film Competition could be the perfect opportunity your child to use their creativity to inspire change!

The theme for this year’s competition is: Reflect on tech: How can you take control of your digital wellbeing?

Young people aged 7-18 can submit films up to 2 minutes in length with a focus on digital wellbeing. There are a range of free resources available in the competition pack to help your young people create an award-winning film.

Download the Competition Pack and see more details on their blog post.

The judging panel is made up of experts from the TV and film industry rank our final three in each age category, with finalists then invited to an awards ceremony in London. At this exciting event, they can see their film on the big screen and hear from fellow finalists as well as industry experts.

Childnet are not looking for professional or polished films, with those that are creative and including great educational messaging being most impactful within their setting.

Leadership Opportunity for young people in Gateshead

By Martin Said13th October 2026

Gateshead Youth Assembly (GYA) is a group of young people who meet weekly to discuss issues affecting young people, deliver social action projects, make friends and get to do something interesting. Members of GYA work with Gateshead Council and other members of the Gateshead family to ensure that decisions made that affect young people, have been discussed with young people.

GYA Membership Form:

Gateshead Youth Assembly 2026 – 2027 Application Form      – Fill in form

GYA Training Day booking form:

Gateshead Youth Assembly Training Weekend 2026 Event Registration      – Fill in form

Local Music Leadership Opportunity for 13

By Martin Said6th October 2026

Reverberate

Gateshead Music Hub are looking for young people aged 13-18 to join Reverberate, Gateshead’s Youth Music Advisory Board.

Students that apply do not need to play an instrument or receive music lessons to take part. Gateshead Music Hub are keen to hear from any young people who are passionate about music, whether they enjoy listening to music, attending gigs, creating playlists, producing music, running social media, organising events, or simply have ideas about what music opportunities should exist for young people in Gateshead.

  • Reverberate gives young people the chance to:
  • Shape music opportunities for young people across Gateshead
  • Meet like-minded young people
  • Develop leadership and event management skills
  • Organise and influence real music projects and events

Last year, Reverberate members received £1,000 to plan and deliver a youth-led music night at Downcast Studio as part of Shape Festival. There is funding in place to support another youth-led event this year, giving members the opportunity to be involved in planning and delivering it from the start.

Opportunity for Year 10 and Year 11 students interested in careers in the energy sector

By Martin Said10th September 2026

Students aged 14-19 can apply to become a member of Northern Powergrid’s ‘Focus for Future’ Youth Insights Panel 2026-2027?

Key Information

  • Young people will form the Focus for Future Panel and contribute their perspectives on decision making and future thinking with Northern Powergrid. We, Solutions for the Planet, partner with Northern Powergrid and the young people to deliver the Panel.
  • There will be a total of 5 Panel Sessions through the year, from October 2026 to May 2027 – with Session 1 on Thursday 22nd October.
  • The Session agendas will be developed in partnership with the business and the Focus for Future panellists, leading to meaningful and relevant engagement.
  • Panel Sessions will take place online on Zoom and after school / college.
  • Panel Sessions will each last about 1.5 hours, with approximately 30 minutes of preparation work and a 15-minute Feedback Form.
  • The deadline for applications is Tuesday 6th October 2026, with first interviews currently scheduled for Thursday 8th October.

Benefits for Young People

  • Gain increased networking opportunities.
  • Develop skills, e.g., teamwork, confidence, negotiation.
  • Influence the plans and strategies of a business.
  • Broaden their understanding of the business landscape.
  • Receive recognition of their work via references and certificates.

About the Business

Northern Powergrid is an electricity distribution business, delivering electricity on behalf of suppliers from the national transmission system to 3.9 million domestic and business customers. Covering an area of 25,000 square kilometres, Northern PowerGrid’s network extends from north Northumberland, south to the Humber and northern Lincolnshire, and from the east coast to the Pennines. The network consists of more than 63,000 substations and around 96,000 kilometres of overhead line and underground cables.

G30 First Week Back

2nd September 2026Emmy Tatters

What a first week back G30 had! 


The guiding question for G30 was ‘How can we ensure that our future selves will thank us for the next two years?’ As always, we utilised our first week back to reconnect with the principles of crew and what it means to be OUR crews. Throughout the week, students engaged in initiatives – challenges that they had to overcome together as a crew. Through engaging in these, students were able to identify the features of a strong initiative and design their own. 


Students also explored the importance of building strong habits from the outset to ensure we are all as successful as we can be in our GCSEs in Summer 2028. To help motivate students, they looked at possible post-16 pathways and courses. 

This led students to create a professional CV which encouraged them to identify their strengths and reflect on all of the incredible things they have already done in their time at XPG and out of school. 
Students also had the opportunity to engage in 2 workshops with external professionals. These sessions focused on developing public speaking skills and interview skills. 


Students were then able to utilise these skills in the culmination of the week; every student in G30 had a 1:1 interview with an external professional, largely aligned to the student’s future career interests. 
I do want to share some of the incredible feedback we received from these visits: 

  • ‘Engaging and thoughtful speaker’ 
  • ‘Great communication, eye contact, confident but with humility’ 
  • ‘Engaging – great two-way conversation’ 
  • ‘Excellent interview, you showed great courage and will handle an interview very well.’
  • ‘Came across as kind and someone who likes to help others.’
  • ‘Unbelievably articulate’
  • ‘All answers felt authentic.’
  • ‘Should be very proud of herself. This was a fantastic interview. She was thoughtful, well prepared and confident throughout.’ 

It was truly a delight to see the smiles on the faces of the students as they walked away from their interviews. Interviews are something all our students will have later in life so this really is an invaluable experience for them to have at this point in their schooling. 

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Students will work with the feedback they have been given through their Thoughtful Thursday crew sessions over the coming weeks.

I want to thank you for the strong start that G30 have made to this important year. 
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s crew leader in the first instance.

Summer activities from Gateshead FC

12th July 2026XP Gateshead Office

Gateshead FC are delivering a range of fun, inclusive and engaging holiday activities for children aged 5–16 years, with sessions taking place at both Kibblesworth Park Pavilion and White Mere Primary School throughout the summer holidays.

Please see below for 5 timetables of their summer holiday camp offers. 

Their programme includes a wide variety of activities including:

⚽ Football & sports activities
🎨 Creative activities
🍎 Food-based activities
🌱 Outdoor learning & nature activities
🤝 Friendship building & team games
🧩 Sensory play, Lego, giant games and free play opportunities

There are have both:

🎟️ Funded HAF places available for eligible children
💷 Paid places available for families who do not qualify for HAF funding

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Booking links are below:

Funded HAF Places:
https://app.holidayactivities.com/parent/providers/gateshead-united-fc

Paid Places:
https://form.jotform.com/261745261095055


Gateshead United FC/ LJB Coaching
[email protected]
07580 420361

G30 – GCSE Pathways information – Drop in event this week

31st May 2026Martin Said

A reminder that to support Year 9 families in discussing Key Stage 4 pathways with your children, we are hosting an evening slot for any G30 families that wish to attend.

This event is happening on Tuesday 2nd June between 5pm and 6pm in school. You can drop in to the evening at any point from 5pm.

Staff leaders will be available to talk about your child and the courses on offer.

On the evening staff will be available to give you and your child advice in their role as:

GCSE Spanish – Miss Fielding

Level 2 Interactive Media – Mr Said

GCSE Geography – Miss Jones

Level 2 Childcare / Health & Social Care – Mrs Diamond

Level 2 Sports – Mr Devitt

Level 2 Spark Design / Technology – Mr Said

Art & Design – Photography – Mrs Carter

Art & Design – Fine Art – Ms Macphail

Mrs Mosley and Miss Tatters will also be on hand to answer any questions that families might have.

G29 KPMG Workshop in Newcastle – Thursday 4th June

31st May 2026Martin Said

On Thursday 4th June, 12 students from G29 will be attending an event at KPMG in Newcastle.

This event is a careers information workshop called Opening Doors which will give students an insight into life at KPMG, a professional services firm, where they will learn from consultants working at the forefront of technological innovation.

There are 12 spaces at the event and so far 7 students have signed up:

  • EA-H, LA, MH, BM, JM, HS-C, HW

Year 10 Students can sign up by following this link from their iPad. It is also linked form Student Notices.

Students that are attending will leave school at 8.30am. We will travel by foot to Heworth Metro and then will walk down to the Quayside from Gateshead Metro.

We will be back in school for a late lunch so students do not need to bring a packed lunch unless they would usually do so.