Beautiful Work This Week
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.
Category : Front Page News
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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
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a significant period in the Christian calendar observed by many around the world. Lent is a time of reflection, prayer, and self-discipline, lasting for 40 days in preparation for Easter. Many Christians choose to give up certain foods or habits, while others focus on acts of kindness, charity, and spiritual growth.
We recognise the importance of this observance for members of our school community and their families. As Lent begins, we extend our support and encouragement to all those taking part in this time of reflection and renewal.
Lent will continue until Easter Sunday, and we encourage everyone to be mindful and respectful of those observing this sacred season.
To all who are observing, we send our warmest wishes during this meaningful time.
A warm welcome to all of the Year 6 families that have been lucky enough to be offered a place at XP Gateshead for your child to join Year 7 in August 2025.
There is not a need to contact us at this point in time, but please do check your emails as we will soon send you information about our enrolment process including some forms for you to complete online.
You will no doubt have lots of questions, but rest assured, all of these will be answered over the coming months of transition. At XP Gateshead we spend a lot of time getting to know our students and families prior to starting with us and we have a range of transition activities planned to allow this to happen. Our wider transition programme will include:
- an online meeting with you and your child as a family
- primary school visits from an XP members of staff
- transition days in the summer term in early July
We will publish a timeline of these events soon.
Our website xpgateshead.org contains a wealth of information and should be a start in answering your questions, in particular the frequently asked questions section is useful for new parents. Please do also look at our calendars so that you can see our term dates and staff days for the next academic year and beyond.
It is really important that you subscribe to our website by entering your email contact in the section on our front page as this will update you with an email every time we post some new information.
This is what the box to subscribe looks like:
It can be found on the right hand page of our website homepage on a laptop or computer, and at the very bottom of the screen if you are viewing the website your phone or a tablet.
Families can be added to our private Facebook group for families of XP Gateshead once we have carried out the online family meetings.
Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] .
Thank you again for choosing XP Gateshead, we really look forward to working with you and your child over the next five years.
Julie Mosley
PrincipalÂ
XP Gateshead
I wanted to share this great book that I have recently finished.
This is a non-fiction account of one town (Oberstdorf) in the Bavarian mountains and is an account of how the Nazi regime impacted the families living there. It is written in an accessible and engaging style (but will be a challenge for some students).
By exploring this period of history through the lens of specific individuals and families, it really makes real the concepts and policies we are learning about in class as part of their Living Under Nazi Rule module.
I have a copy that I am happy to loan to students to read but if you wanted to buy a copy for your child, here is the amazon link.
Sharing our Stories: 28/02/2025
Beautiful Work This Week
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.
Top of the Blogs
Year 11 Historians Explore Industrial Heritage @ XP
Another ace week in PE @ XP East
Share your stories with us!
Brooke recently competed in the Bristol International Acro Cup. At Grade 2 level Brooke and her partner achieved 3rd place out of 22 pairs in their category! They were amazing, and this is such a credit to their hard work as it was a very hard competition with a really strong field.
  
Winnie and her relay team won silver and bronze medals in the Northumberland and Durham County Team swim championships today. She swam 50 metres of freestyle in 29 seconds and 100 metres free in 104. Both PBs. Both very fast!
Winnie swam up an age group and was competing against 15 and 16 year old swimmers this is an awesome achievement.
  
Dear Parents/Carers
Welcome back! We hope you have had a restful half term break and we look forward to welcoming our students back tomorrow.
Please note that this half term is shorter at 4 weeks. We break up for our Easter Holiday on Friday 28th March and return to school on Monday 14th April.
Our usual reminders for a good start back…
Punctuality
School opens at 8:00am every morning. Students should arrive between 8:00am and 8:25 am and there are spaces available for socialising, reading or completing extended study. Students must be on site for 8.25am for the call to Crew.Â
Daily kit list
As always, students need to bring a school bag with:
- A filled water bottle
- Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener
- A fully charged iPadÂ
- Their AR reading book (please remember that as part of our reading strategy, we expect all students to read between 20-30 mins. each day)
- HeadphonesÂ
- A healthy snack for break (no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
- A notebook
Dress code
A reminder that we ask students and staff to dress appropriately and modestly. Please note that for a normal day within school, we do not think it appropriate that students wear:
- Hats, hoods & coats inside school
- Revealing clothing, i.e. revealing the midriff, chest or upper thigh
- Noticeable make-up, including false eyelashes
- Valuable, sentimental or impractical accessories / jewellery. For example heavy chains, thick sovereign rings, or false nails
- Impractical footwear
As is always the case, we ask for your support in upholding our dress code. See link here to full details on our website.
The week ahead
National Careers Week
All students will be taking part in activities connected to careers in Crew this week, including a virtual careers fair.. For G29 this will form an important part of their Passage Presentations which includes a section on their future self.
You can access a guide for families to national careers week here, which has some really useful information on pathways after students leave XP.
G31 Students in the kitchen this week
Connected to their studies of nutrition and digestion, some of Year 7 will be in the kitchen this week. For more details see Mr Said’s earlier post here.
G30 Theatre Fieldwork
This is taking place on Thursday 6th March in the afternoon with a slightly later finish back at school. More details can be found here.Â
PE this week
- G31 (Year 7)
- Class 1 have PE on Tuesday this week.
- Class 2 have PE on Wednesday this week
- G30 (Year 8)
- Class 1 have PE on Monday this week.
- Class 2 have PE on Friday this week
- G29 (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
- G28 (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.
In line with our dress code, we expect students to arrive at PE lessons with a change of kit which is appropriate for the activity and all accessories removed. This includes sports trainers with non slip soles e.g. running shoes/astro turf (not plimsolls).Â
Extended Study and Clubs
Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.
Looking Ahead:
G30 Final Shipley Gallery Fieldwork
Students in G30 Class 2 will have their final work session at The Shipley on Tuesday 11th March, and G30 Class 1 will do likewise on Thursday 13th March. These will all be during the school day but students will need a packed lunch.
Staff Development Days
A reminder that we have two staff development days this half term; Friday 14th and Monday 17th March.Â
Passage Presentations
The schedule for passage presentations has now been shared with families. Students will continue to work hard on their passage presentations this week and next. Please talk to your children at home about how their preparation is going and how they are demonstrating their readiness for GCSEs in sessions too: remember there will be feedback given on quality of reflection, quality of writing, integrity of reflection and organisation of the portfolio of evidence.
Monday 17th March is a staff day. 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.
Tuesday 18th March 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. Students can come into school for the regular school hours or work from home where families give permission; we will be setting additional extended study to support students in their expeditions which students can access independently. Likewise, if students have a passage presentation on this day, and families give permission, then students can go home following their presentation.
Please note that Tuesday 18th March will be a regular timetable day for all of Year 7, 8 and Year 10.
More information on slots and attendance on these days can be found here.
Presentations of Learning
Below are the dates for our PoLs (Presentations of Learning) which will all take place before the end of this term (except Year 9). It is important to note that we expect for every child to have a family member there to support them.
Year 7 HUMAN – Why is it important to honour all those who sacrificed in WWI?
PoL on Tuesday 25th March in school at 4.30pm
Year 7 STEAM – Is survival sufficient?
PoL on Monday 24th March with experts from Edberts House (this is not an event that families attend, students will present their food packages to the workers at Edberts House)
Year 8 – What is Power?
PoL on Thursday 27th March at Caedmon Hall, above Gateshead Central Library at 5pm.
Year 9 – How can we continue to make progress on public health?
PoL on Friday 9th May in school from 2pm. This Presentation of Learning is in the form of a Public Health Conference, hosted by our students. Please note the earlier time for this.
Year 10 – Are we really free to choose?
PoL on Tuesday 18th March, venue and time to be confirmed.
As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance.Â
Thank you as always for your ongoing support.
Julie Mosley
Students will put together food packages which will be donated to families in need through our partners Edberts House.
Connected to their studies of nutrition and digestion in science, some Year 7 students will work in the kitchen this week learning to prepare a tomato sauce recipe which can then become a base for many other dishes.
Half of Class 1 will be in the kitchen on Tuesday, half of Class 2 on Thursday. These are the children from Crews Curie and Windsor that did not cook in the last week before half-term.Your child can check on student notices if they will be working in the kitchen this week.
We will provide the ingredients for students.
Students that are working in the kitchen should wear clothes that can get dirty, and must have a bobble to tie back their hair if it is long. They can bring in a container to bring food home if they would like to do so.