Dear Families

As I said just weeks ago, when you look back on the week past it is hard to believe that so much can be achieved in a week and this is definitely the case for last week when we only had four days with our students!

We achieved so much last week with Staff days, Transition Days, Fieldwork, Experts working in school, attending Local and National Conferences and our DofE bronze final expedition. To hear staff and students talk with genuine care for each other, our culture and the school we are building together is unique and I have been lucky to hear, see and feel this many times over this last week. 

Staff Days

On Friday 27th and Monday 30th June our staff team spent time together planning upcoming expeditions for the Autumn term. This included working with colleagues across Trust planning with expedition teams and subject teams, visiting other provisions to learn from others with expertise in SEMH, autism and regulation strategies. As you know we are a small staff at XPG and the quality curriculum that we offer our students to support and challenge them to produce beautiful work, grow in character and see academic success is down to the hard work, commitment and quality of our staff. 

Conferences 

Whole Education Summer Conference 

On Monday 30th June, Martin Said and I attended the Whole Education Summer Conference 2025. Whole Education is a network of educators and leaders who are committed to providing a holistic education for our young people, nurturing well-rounded individuals by developing not only academic knowledge and skills, but also character, socio-emotional well-being, and the ability to thrive in life, learning and work. This year’s conference took place over two days exploring the theme of “Better for Everyone”. Martin and I attended the first day which explored all aspects of a whole education in how we can build an education system that allows everyone to thrive in a transforming world. The conference was also a tribute to David Price OBE, a close friend and supporter of XPG. David passed away earlier last year after a lifetime devoted to children and education – David was a staunch believer that children are capable of far more than they are often given the opportunity to achieve.  As families of G31 know, as part of their Year 7’s first expedition. David and his work was immortalised in the song they wrote and performed: “The Power of Us”. The opening tribute of the conference to 1200+ delegates from all over the world started with the song by our G31 – as you can imagine, this was an incredibly emotional and special moment to be part of; to hear and see the effect of our student’s beautiful work on others.

MTIC (Maths Teaching Innovation Collaborative for the North East) Conference 

On Thursday, Ms Marshall and I had the privilege of attending the MTIC Conference with 11 students from G29 and leaders from Schools, Colleges, Universities and Industry partners from the North East who came together to consider the challenge around maths education in our region. Our students opened the conference at the Common Room in Newcastle with a keynote speech and then joined in with table discussions alongside education leaders. Our students also enjoyed time with Archivists from the Common Room in the afternoon considering how we can further develop our expeditions at XPG and draw on the historical wealth of engineering greatness we have in the North East. 

The work of our students was truly beautiful and every person in the room was blown away by their insight into education and their response to the question ‘What makes a great education?’

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Alison Shaw, who organised the conference shared the following feedback after the conference

“Thank you for being a key part of what I think participants felt to be a useful day yesterday – you, your staff, your visitors and, especially of course, XP students – made a wonderful contribution.

I will be in touch on a more individual basis in due course, but I would immediately this morning like particularly to thank Dakota, Scarlett, Reuben, Eliza, Brodie and Winnie for their remarkable opening keynote address. They delivered it with exceptional wisdom, insight and poise and it spoke to every single parent and teacher in the room, to the business and political leaders and to other students from across the region. They provided a perfect start to the day and I am ever grateful to them for doing so. I hope they will remember it as a positive and formative experience. My warmest thanks to Eleanor, too, whose willingness to pick up an unexpected and exposing responsibility showed a wonderful level of resilience and responsibility. I am so grateful to them all.

Thank you, for committing the time and the energy of XP Gateshead and the wider Trust. I very much look forward to continuing to work with you”

G32 Transition Days

We finally got to meet our new cohort of students last week and G32 got to know each other on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week. Transition Days were a huge success and it was great to see new friendships form, confidence grow and smiles on the faces of our new students. G32 enjoyed two full days in school which included crew along with sessions in Spanish, PE, Art, Human, Science and Maths. At the end of each day it was great to circle up for community meetings with all 50 students and hear their appreciations to each other and their answers to the guiding question we had set for transition days ‘What will it take for me to be the best version of myself at XP Gateshead?’

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The work of student leaders across transition days was exceptional from supporting sessions and end of day community circle  to running clubs at break and lunch time. The vast array of student-led social time sessions is a testament to our students and the warm welcome they gave to our new year group – basketball, dance, book club, music, robotics, arts and crafts, football.

Ryder Architecture

On Monday students from Year 9 and 10 were welcomed to our partners Ryder Architecture for a studio tour, introduction to the work of an architect and the chance to sit in on a team meeting. All students that visited took lots from the experience. We are very grateful to the team at Ryder for organising this for our students.

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Herten Big Band at XPG

On Thursday the EKS Big Band (Herten Big Band, Germany) consisting of 50-70 students, mostly from grades 9 and 10, performed at XPG for our students and staff. Their repertoire included songs from the genres of jazz, rock/pop, rock ‘n’ roll, oldies, film music, and musicals. Every year the Big Band undertakes concert tours to other European countries (Greece, Great Britain, France, etc.) so we were incredibly lucky to have them perform for us at XPG.

G31 Fieldwork working with Durham University Biosciences Department

On Friday, G31 enjoyed an amazing day at Durham University to further study aquatic food chains as part of their current expedition, “How does water shape our world?” Our students worked alongside scientists and postgraduate students in the lab using microscopes to look at a variety of aquatic species.

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G29 Assessed Duke of Edinburgh Expedition 

On Friday and Saturday our G29 students embarked on their final assessed Duke of Edinburgh expedition. As you know, DofE (like our Year 7 Ullswater Outward Bound experience) is an important aspect of our curriculum in challenging students to develop their character and push them beyond their comfort zone and I’m delighted to say that G29 smashed it! Weather conditions were challenging with wind and rain but our students and staff showed remarkable resilience 

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Students covered a huge distance of over 22 km across country, whilst being supervised remotely. All students that took part have now successfully completed the assessed expedition section of their award, and all that remains before they can be signed off to be awarded bronze is to complete the de-gunge in school tomorrow morning.

There were many highlights from across the two days. Seeing students support each other and battle through pain and the challenge of such distance with a significant amount of kit on their back and tough weather conditions reminds us of how important the Duke of Edinburgh scheme is – not just in terms of the accreditation of the bronze award but most importantly in showing students that there is more in them than they know, and that tackling challenges as a Crew is always more successful. 

Thank you to all staff and families who have supported our G29 students to successfully complete their bronze DofE qualification and the time they have invested in this (inside and outside of school hours) – Miss Marshall, Miss Jones, Miss Quested, Miss Blaine, Mr Devitt, Mr Said and Mrs ap Harri. A special thanks and congratulations to Miss Marshall for his leadership of the G29 DofE at XP Gateshead.

I’m sure that it is clear to all families that Crew is as important to staff as it is to students and I feel grateful and privileged to be part of such a great staff crew. Huge thanks go out to all staff this week for their continued care and support of every student at XPG.

This week

This week we welcome back our G28 students from their work experience placements. We are looking forward to hearing from them and all they have achieved last week in the variety of placements they had.  

End of year assessments for G31, G30, G29 (Years 7-9) 

As we come towards the end of the year, students will continue to complete end of year assessments in all KS3 cohorts. Year 9 will have some of their core examinations in the hall / room g6 in the type of conditions that they will experience as part of their GCSEs. This will assist us in continuing to develop and practise providing access arrangements for those students that need them. Students have been briefed by their teachers on the nature of the assessments that they will complete in the coming weeks.

The core assessments in GCSE-style conditions for G29 students will be carried out during the second half of this week.

G32 Meet your child’s Crew Leader – Tuesday 8th July

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 begin 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.

G30 Fieldwork Shipley Art Gallery – Thursday 10th July

G30’s sculptural artwork from Term 2’s expedition “What is Power?” is now being exhibited at The Shipley Art Gallery. To recognise this, all G30 students will be taking part in a celebration of learning at the Shipley this week on Thursday this week during the school day.

Students will be walking to The Shipley Art Gallery and will return in time for a regular school lunch. The forecast is currently sunny spells and warm. Students in G30 will therefore need:

• Their regular full school kit
• Comfortable shoes or trainers for walking.
• A full large water bottle.
• Sun cream and a hat. 

Please note that this is different to the presentation of learning with families for their current expedition which will be in the final week of term on the evening of 16th July in school. Families do not need to attend this Thursday, however we would encourage all families to visit the Shipley Gallery with your children to see their work… and so much more!

XP Festival 2025 – Friday 11th July

On Friday this week students taking part in the annual XP Trust Festival of Arts will be travelling to Doncaster by coach. Students should arrive at school at the normal time. The journey time is around 2 hours 30 minutes. If your child needs to take travel sickness medication, please make sure that you make our office aware by contacting [email protected] . Your child will need to bring a packed lunch and any healthy snacks plus any equipment that is needed for their performance.

Our Dance facilitator has asked if at all possible if the dancers could be in black leggings with plain T-shirts in rainbows colour of either red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Music performers will know if they are choosing to bring their own instrument.

We will depart Doncaster at around 5.30pm and expect to be back at XP Gateshead at around 8pm. A packed lunch can be made up for your child if they usually have a free school meal.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.

• G31 (Year 7) students
  • Class 1 have PE on Monday
  • Class 2 have PE on Friday
• All of G30 (Year 8) have PE on Wednesday
• All of G29 (Year 9) and G28 (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

Extended Study and after school clubs

After school clubs and extended study are cancelled this week and next due to ELCs (Educator Led Conferences) and PoLs (Presentations of Learning). More information on Presentations of Learning will be posted by each individual expedition lead teacher. This week’s update has been somewhat of a bumper edition!

As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance. 

Thank you as always for your ongoing support.

Julie Mosley