At XP, our first week back looks a little bit different. Across our Trust, students and staff have been working hard to build and reestablish the most important part of our culture – Crew.
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Sharing our Stories: 04/09/2026
Beautiful work this week
Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust!
To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.
Top of the Blogs
Focus and Deep Thinking in Year 8 this week @ XP
Hook week day two @ Norton Infants
Crew week = complete! @ Norton Juniors
G29 first week back! @ XP Gateshead
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Write to us at [email protected] – we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!
What a first week back G29 had!
The guiding question for G29 was ‘How can we nurture the best version of our future selves?’ 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 several activities that allowed them to explore their own self-regulation and cognition.
Students developed their cooking skills through a Ready, Steady, Cook! challenge where they all designed their own 2 course menus.
Each crew also headed out to Whickham Thorns to complete 5 challenges; a reminder of all that we can achieve when our crew have our backs.
They also began to explore different revision techniques and how to assess whether they are working effectively for them. Setting great revision habits from week 1!
I want to thank you for the strong start that G29 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.
G30 Arrival Time
G30 Students are on their way back from York, estimated arrival time is 4:15pm.
G30 First Week Back
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.
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.
What a great start to the new G33 students’ journey at XP!
Our guiding question for this week was: What does it mean to be crew?
On Tuesday morning our G33 students arrived for their first day at school and boarded the bus to Ullswater. For some students, getting on the bus was their first opportunity to show us their courage and for others it was an opportunity to demonstrate their compassion towards other members of their crew!
Throughout the week, students had many opportunities to demonstrate our character traits of respect, craftsmanship and quality, integrity, courage and compassion, and became more confident in recognising these traits in others. Crews completed a range of challenges such as jog and dip, rowing, abseiling, gorge walking, camping and many more… All of our crews worked together on the hike to the summit of Hallin Fell meaning that everyone made it to the top of the mountain.
Our final product was a presentation answering the guiding question ‘What does it mean to be crew?’. Both XP staff and the instructors at the Outward Bound centre were blown away by the presentations given by our four crews, with all students taking part. We certainly have some impressive public speakers in G33!
Outward Bound is so important because it gives them memories and moments that they have shown our character traits which they can return to when facing challenges in the future. This week, we are remaining in crews for the next couple of days to learn about what crew means in the classroom and in our school.
Our first week with G33 was fantastic and we can’t wait to see what else they can achieve this year.
G31 Immersion Fieldwork
On Friday, 4th September, G31 students will participate in local fieldwork. Class One will head out in the morning to build on virtual fieldwork they have completed in school, collecting primary data to answer the enquiry question : “Are there inequalities on Gateshead High Street?” They will return to school for lunch at the usual time of 12.30.
Class Two will follow the same schedule, completing the same fieldwork and returning to school by 15:15.
If we anticipate we will be late back a post will be put on the blog.
The weather is currently forecast to be cloudy with sunny spells. Students should bring their usual kit, including a waterproof jacket, comfortable shoes, and their normal school kit!
Later this week as part of our Immersion G31, students will be watching one or two episodes of the Sky Drama Chernobyl. This drama will provide some important context to the topic of radioactivity later in the current learning expedition. The film addresses several mature themes, including strong language, some non-sexual nudity and depictions of injury and sickness which reflect the consequences of radiation poisoning. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rated this film as suitable for viewers aged 15 and above.
If you have any concerns about your child watching this film, please feel free to contact your crew leader or myself at [email protected] by Thursday morning.Thank you for your understanding and support.
G32 – First Week Back – Up Where We Belong.
What a fantastic start for G32! Our guiding question for the week was:
How can we support each other to lead the learning of our new Year 7 Crew?
Case study 1: How can we welcome our new friends?
Case study 2: How can we teach our new friends about our culture?
Case study 3: How can we use our prior knowledge from expeditions 7.4 Hold Back The River to help us plan fieldwork that will enrich the learning experiences of our G33 students?
For our final products we planned a route to Hebburn Buddhist centre along the river tyne to compare and contrast two different Fieldworks. Students assessed risk, researched key information, and all coordinated their own crew picnic. Due to this fieldwork unfortunately being cancelled, students then travelled to Windy Nook nature reserve and carried out a geological field sketch, as well as creating an environmental piece of art that suitably represented their chosen crew name.
On top of this, students also spent time undergoing different initiatives to strengthen their crew bonds, as well as creating an introductory video for the new year 7s in order for them to make the transition in to secondary school as smooth as possible.
It was a great start! But only a start, I can’t wait to see this transferred into the classroom over the coming weeks.
Lost property G33 – Ullswater
We have one bag of wet clothes that left by the fence on Friday. The bag contains a black Primark T-shirt and various socks (pictured). Please contact the office if this belongs to your child. We have asked students to check in our community meeting this morning but it has not been claimed.
