G29 are going on fieldwork tomorrow morning. They will be visiting the Glasshouse, Gateshead to see an art exhibition in celebration of Refugee Week 2024.

We will be getting the metro, so there will be some walking involved. It is looking dry and warm so more likely that students will need to have sun cream on if they burn easily. Comfortable shoes for walking to and from the metro are a must (walking shoes or trainers).

There does not need to be anything different with regards to lunch as we will be back at school in time for normal lunch.

Year 9’s current expedition ‘Hold Back the River’ has the guiding question, ‘How does water shape our world?’

During this expedition, our geography content is focusing on river characteristics from source to mouth, river processes, formation of landforms as well as the cause, impacts and responses of flooding. As part of this, we are applying the theory of river processes and characteristics to the field.

Students will also be completing a study of the wildlife existing on the sand dunes and starting to plan their creative writing piece for their presentation of learning.

On Tuesday 25th June, students will visit Holywell Dene and Seaton sluice beach near Whitley Bay. Students will work together to collect data regarding the width, depth and velocity of the river.  We will also be capturing the beauty of a river by completing field sketches. This data collection will allow us to accept or reject our hypothesis once we have analysed our data in our lessons.

It is also essential that all students bring all kit on the kit list so that they are fully prepared for the fieldwork; this includes a packed lunch and plenty of water to drink. Students who receive free school meals will be provided with a lunch.

The weather forecast is currently showing sunny intervals and 19°C so hopefully we will have a beautiful day but please ensure your child has suncream.

Students will need to ensure they have suitable walking boots/trainers as well as wellies / trainers / water shoes they can get wet – we’ll be going in the river to collect the data!

If there are any problems in getting the appropriate kit for this, please email your child’s Crew Leader.

Students will be returning to school for 3:15pm (traffic dependent).

Kit List: 

Comfortable walking shoes (walking boots or trainers)

Wellies or trainers which can get wet in the river (water shoes if they have would be perfect)

Plenty of water (more than a normal school day, 1-1.5l)

Packed lunch

A waterproof jacket 

Suncream and cap

We recommend shorts or trousers which are easy to roll up to the knees for getting in the river. 

Bug spray (if they need)

Any student who suffers from hay fever should take medication in the morning before school.

Any regular medications must also be brought.

G28’s final expedition Hold Back the River concludes with a walk for water as part of the morning on Sports Day this year (11th July).

Students will work together in their crews to walk at least 6 km carrying 10 litres of water. There will also be a competitive aspect to the walk to see which crew can walk the furthest.

Our partners for this challenge are the Comfrey Project in Gateshead, who have supported us with our migration expedition in Year 8 for the last couple of years – the funds raised through the website timetohelp.org.uk will be passed to the organisation Walk for Water.

For each £2700 raised for the charity, a toilet block can be installed in a rural area of Africa. We realise G28 parents have supported crew charities a lot throughout year 9, please only give what you can. Anything we raise will be helpful in contributing towards installing important sanitation in a place of need.

On average, women and girls in developing countries walk 6 kilometres (approximately 3.5 miles) a day, carrying 20 litres (about 42 pounds/20 kgs) of water. It is common for this journey to take more than 15 hours a week in some areas. We want to build empathy in our students for people who don’t have access to clean water, and help them to understand the hardship that some people face just to be able to drink, clean and cook every day.

We hope you will support by clicking on this link to donate!

Beautiful Work This Week

XP Gateshead Students Shine as Digital Leaders in Exciting Expeditions Project

Students at XP Gateshead are stepping up in a big way as Digital Leaders, diving into the world of technology to record content for their Expeditions. Teaming up with the XP Trust Comms Crew, these young tech enthusiasts are taking on the role of professional sound technicians. They’re not just learning the ropes of audio recording and editing – they’re skilfully mastering them, gaining hands-on experience that goes beyond the classroom and reaching into real-world applications.

It was so inspiring to see these students get stuck in and take charge of such an important project. Across our Trust, students are constantly proving that with enthusiasm and dedication, they can achieve anything. A massive appreciation to these Digital Leaders for going above and beyond!

A Decade of Activism – New Beautiful Work in Frenchgate Centre

A new curation of recent beautiful work has been installed in the Frenchgate Centre in Doncaster City Centre! There’s awesome work from schools across our Trust, with a key focus on our Curriculum seam ‘Protecting our Planet’ – be sure to go and see the awesome work our students have created!

We’re got vacancies across XP Trust!

We’re looking for:

Learning Coaches at Carcroft School

An EYFS/KS1 Specialist SEND Teacher at Carcroft School

A Teacher at Norton Junior School

Top of the Blogs

Weekly update for families @ XP Gateshead

World Ocean Day @ Norton Infants

KS1 Sports Day @ Green Top

Fantastic Year 1 Fieldwork to the Deaf School @ Plover

Scott’s Heroes @ Carcroft School

Year 9 Rounders Winners @ XP School

Good luck! @ XP East

Ancient Egyptians @ Norton Juniors

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder for the football tournament tomorrow. The first match kicks off at 3:45 so families are welcome to arrive from 3:30 onwards (£1 per spectator).

All students who signed up to play should have paid their £1.50 to their crew leader by now. If not, please can you ensure they do this tomorrow.

There will be refreshments including burgers and hot dogs available to purchase so please bring some cash along with you. All money goes towards supporting the fantastic work of Tiny Lives.

In terms of kit, Y9s should have boots for the grass, Y7+8 are on the MUGA so trainers are fine. All students must have shin pads. Lots of students in school have talked about having spares so please encourage your child to ask their friends/crew mates/classmates to borrow.  If your child has spare shin pads, we would appreciate them coming into school in case a student needs them. Please ensure they are clearly labelled with your child’s name so we know who to return them to.

The students of Crew Stanton had this idea way back at the start of Y9 and have spent a lot of time and energy planning this event. As their crew leader, I am really impressed and proud of the passion they have shown for running events throughout this year, as well as the growth I have seen in them in terms of their event skills and organisation. We would like to thank everyone who has supported one of our events this year and would really appreciate as much support as possible tomorrow, so if you’re available, please come and cheer on our crews!

Special appreciation to Lily in our crew for creating this fantastic poster too!

As part of our current G29 expedition, we have been given an opportunity for a group of students to run an art session at a local Saturday school for refugee children. As this will be outside of school time, it would require parents to drop off and pick up students which is why I am sharing here before inviting students to sign up.

The session is scheduled for Saturday 22nd June 10:30-11:30 and is at Gladstone Terrace Centre, 11/12 Gladstone Terrace, Gateshead NE8 4DY. We would want students to arrive for 10:15 and we would expect them to be ready to be collected at 11:45/12 by the time everything is cleared away. A member of school staff will accompany the students at the session.

If your child would like to be involved, please ask them to speak to Ms Macphail or Ms Tatters tomorrow. Students will need to be willing to spend time after school and at lunchtimes to prepare for this session. The plan is for the session to mirror what students have been doing and for the session to result in creating a stop motion animation, similar to G29’s final product.

Thanks for your support with this fantastic development opportunity for our students, it will really add value to any applications students are submitting as part of their next steps post-16.

A group of Year 7 students will be carrying out workshops over the coming weeks with Bruce Tuckey inspired by the Riverside Sculpture Park between Gateshead and Dunston along the Tyne.

To prepare for this, students will walk along the sculpture park this Thursday 13th June during the school day to launch the partnership.

Students will need:

• Regular school kit including water
• A packed lunch.
• A waterproof caot
• Comfortable walking shoes or trainers.

We apologise for the shorter than usual notice for this. The event had initially been organised with another school participating but they have had to cancel. The Arts team at Gateshead Council know that we are studying rivers at the moment and so offered us the chance to take part.

The students taking part from Year 7 are:

Ethan
Adam
Elina
Molly
Parisa
Joe
Lily-Ann B
Layla E
Freya
Caleb
Lexi J
Lizzie
Olivia W
Amelia
Kayden
Josh
Lexi S
Evie
George
Danny
Holly
Lily-Mae S
Isaac
James