Dear Families

These last two staff days have been a great success, with a teaching a learning conference on Friday in Doncaster, and today colleagues across secondary school were working from our building in subject crews – further strengthening our curriculum. Crew is as important to staff as it is to students at XPG and taking time to work in our wider teams across Trust has allowed us to strengthen our relationships, develop our understanding of teaching and learning and collaboratively plan high quality work. It was also  a chance to see how our work is part of something bigger and everyone I spoke to after the event had a real sense of pride in what they do and the Trust they work for – I certainly did and also enjoyed our time away as a staff crew.

On Friday, all staff received their copy of XP Trust Core Practices, a resource for guidance, reflection and touchstone where we reference all aspects of our model.

“Crew challenges and supports all of us to be ethical human beings who recognise their own value and the value of community.”

Crew is the cultural heart of XP Trust, built on the foundational principle that, “We are crew, not passengers, strengthened by acts of consequential service to others.” This principle permeates every aspect of our community, starting with our staff. The ethos of mutual support and shared challenge is modelled first and foremost in Staff Crew, ensuring that adults live the same values we expect of our students.

We also got a chance to try out our new XP transport and are looking forward to housing one of the minibuses here in the North East. This will allow us more flexibility and cost effective travel especially around sporting events.

The week ahead

As is always the case, it is a packed week for students with experiences that enrich their learning:

DT Workshop installation

Work is ongoing around installation of high-spec kit for our DT workshop. This is scheduled to be completed on Wednesday of this week. It does mean some changes for students for e.g. the dining tables will be in a slightly different place to usual tomorrow morning to allow for equipment to be delivered safely. THere are also some room changes  so please do encourage your child to look at their timetable carefully.

G30 Into University Session – Tuesday 27th January 2026

Our cohort of G30 students working with Into University will have a further session with our partners in school on Tuesday morning. Into University provides learning experiences designed to inspire young people to consider university, especially when they are from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the wider university population.

G30 Diptheria / Tetanus / Polio Immunisations – Wednesday 28th January in school

These will be taking place during the school day on Wednesday morning.

G31 RVI Hospital Student leadership Group – Wednesday 28th January

A small group of G31 students will be visiting the RVI Children’s Hospital on Wednesday during the school day. Students will build knowledge around the impact and work that occurs in a hospital setting, aligned to their interest in health careers, and also to support expedition aims and further develop partnerships with the NHS for future expeditions in Year 8.

G30 Family Information Evening – Wednesday 28th January at 5.30pm

For more details of this event click here.

G28 Mocks start this Thursday

For more details, including the exam timetable please click here.

G31 Theatre Royal Fieldwork – Friday 30th January

For more details please see Miss Tatters post: click here.

Student-Led Conferences for G31 and G30

SLCs continue for G31 and G30. Families of Crew Windsor should now have an email from Mr Said to book a telephone conversation with him.

PE this week

• G32 Class 2 have PE on Wednesday of this week
  • Due to the staff day today, Class 1 do not have PE this week. We will seek to make this up in a future week if possible.
• G31 have PE on Tuesday of this week
• G30 have PE on Thursday of this week.
• Due to the staff day today G28 and G29 do not have their core PE session this week. We will seek to make this up in a future week if possible.

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

Principal

Dear Families

This week we have revealed the full details of our new expeditions for all cohorts.

This terms’ Expeditions, Guiding Questions and Presentation of Learning dates

You can see more detailed information on each of the new expeditions by clicking here.

• Year 7 HUMAN – Why do we need to honour all those who sacrificed in WWI?
  • The PoL for this expedition will be streamed online on Wednesday 25th March at 6pm. We will post details of how to join the Youtube stream closer to the time of the PoL.
• Year 7 STEAM – Is survival sufficient?
  • This expedition involves some service learning with our partners Edberts House. The PoL for this takes place in the school day with experts from the charity. Families do not need to attend this PoL.
• Year 8 – What is Power?
  • PoL on Tuesday 24th March at Caedmon Hall, above Gateshead Central Library at 5pm.
• Year 9 – How can we continue to make progress on public health?
  • This PoL will take place shortly after we return from the Easter break on Wednesday 15th April in school from 2pm. This Presentation of Learning is in the form of a Public Health Conference, hosted by our students.
• Year 10 – Are we really free to choose?
  • The provisional date for this is the evening of Thursday 26th March at Newcastle Sixth Form College.  We will post an update as soon as we have this confirmed.

Working with experts in school

This week our G30 students worked with Neil Metcalf from Positive Futures. Neil is an early intervention coordinator for the Young Persons Drug & Alcohol Service in Gateshead which is part of the Change Grow Live Charity. 

His session provided an overview of the risks and impacts of drugs and alcohol, shared insights into his career pathway, and explained what services are available in Gateshead for young people and families. Neil has also challenged G30 students to design informative leaflets that may be used within the positive futures service across Gateshead. He will also be attending G30’s upcoming public Conference, where students will showcase their work and and continue discussions around public health and wellbeing. 

Positive Futures offers vital support to children, young people, and families affected by drug and alcohol dependency, including:

• Advice, information, and support around drugs and alcohol for young people up to the age of 25
  
• One-to-one specialist support sessions for young people up to 25
  
• Support to stop smoking or vaping
  
• Specialist support for children aged 5–18 who are impacted by parental substance or alcohol use

If you feel this service could be beneficial to you or your family, please follow the link for more information. We look forward to continuing our work with Positive Futures and exploring further ways they can support the wellbeing of our school community.

IntoUniversity 

This week Into University continued to work with us to support your child’s aspirations, helping them achieve their goals and think ambitiously about their future.

IntoUniversity provides long-term academic support, mentoring, and programmes that develop key skills and confidence in young people aged 7 to 18. Their aim is to empower students to realise their potential and make informed decisions about their education and future careers.

One of the ways they are supporting students at XP Gateshead is through their Secondary FOCUS Programme. These are engaging workshops and trips that take place throughout the school year, designed to help students:

• Explore different career paths and higher education options
• Develop key skills like teamwork, problem-solving and public speaking
• Build motivation and confidence
• Understand what university is really like, and that it could be for them

These sessions are delivered by IntoUniversity and take place both in school and on educational trips. 

All students involved have met their coordinators and will engage with 2 workshops over the course of the academic year. This programme is part of our targeted support provision and is currently delivered to a selected group of students to ensure resources are used where they have the greatest impact.

Into University also provides after school support to the students involved. 

They run free Academic Support sessions at IntoUniversity Gateshead centre (near Felling Metro, NE10 0JP). These sessions take place after school, twice a week (Monday and Thursday) and are open to eligible secondary students.

At Academic Support, students can:

• Get help with homework or revision
• Work in a quiet, focused environment
• Access books, computers and resources
• Receive one-to-one support from staff and trained volunteers

It’s a great opportunity to stay on top of schoolwork and build positive study habits – all in a friendly and supportive space. They also run half-term holiday programmes that aim to expand student’s horizons and involve creative activities and fun trips!

For any enquiries or to register for AS, please get in touch using the contact details below.

Telephone: 0191 500 4821

Email: [email protected]

The week ahead

PE sessions this week

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

• For G32 students (Y7)
  • G32 Class 2 students have PE on Monday
  • G32 Class 1 students have PE on Wednesday
• G31 students (Y8) have PE on Tuesday
• G30 students (Y9) have PE on Thursday
• G29 students (Y10) have PE on Monday
• G28 students (Y11) have PE on Monday

SLC Preparation G32 and G31

SLCs for G32 and G31 will take place this term in the two weeks commencing 27th January 2026. It is an expectation that all families attend SLCs to fully support their child’s progress. You should receive a link to book an appointment soon if you have not already had this . Our students continue with their preparations this week.

For Crew Windsor, Mr Said will be in contact next week with updates for families, please look out for an email from Mr Said.

Passage Preparation G30

Our year 9 students continue with preparation for their Passage Presentations which will take place during the 16th and 17th March and slots will be available during the days. We will soon send out the system to book a passage presentation slot.

TSLC Preparation G29

G29 students had a short community meeting on Friday where we outlined the process for Teacher Student Led Conferences. These are taking place on the evening of Tuesday 17th February and give Year 10 families the opportunity to hear from their child and each of their subject teachers about their progress so far in Year 10 and their readiness for mocks which start after the Easter break. Students will receive a document this week with details on how to make bookings of your slots with each teacher.

Staff Days on Friday 23rd  and Monday 26th January

Please note that our whole staff will be travelling to Doncaster on Thursday 22nd January for a twilight CPD session which will launch an XP Trust Teaching and Learning conference on Friday so school will end at the slightly earlier time of 1.30pm on Thursday 22nd January to allow for this.

As always, students are not expected to be in school on staff days Friday 23rd and Monday 26th January.

G30 Family Information Evening – Wednesday 28th January at 5.30pm

For more details of this event click here.

G28 February Mocks

For more details, including the exam timetable please click here.

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

Principal