Dear Families

We’ve enjoyed a good first week to our final Summer half term. There’s been high quality work in and out of sessions as usual. We had a great G32 fieldwork at the Baltic last week alongside a careers event for some G29 students with KPMG. G28 exams continued and our Year 11 returned with full focus again after the half term break. It has also been great to hear from families following SLCs last week where our G32, G31 and G29 students have once again taken the lead in their own learning sharing their progress to date, work they are proud of and the areas they are targeting for improvement this half term. 

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Water Safety 

Last week we used our Theatre space for the first time. After 2 years of ongoing hard work from Gateshead Council we are finally able to use this space again. On Friday we used our Theatre to gather all students together with another input on water safety. Unfortunately over the May half term holiday there were another 17 reported water-related deaths in the UK so it is important that we share water safety messages with our students. Royal Life Saving Society UK data shows that child drowning deaths in England have doubled in recent years, with 125 accidental deaths over a four-year period. Around 47% of accidental drownings in the UK happen between May and August, so this is a particularly important time to be reinforcing these messages. All students were shown the following video https://vimeo.com/514252164 this week in readiness for Drowning Prevention Week 13-20 June which is run by the Royal Life Saving Society UK. This focuses on helping children and young people to understand how to stay safe in, on and around water.

Punctuality

A calm start to the day is really important for students to settle into learning and this happens in Crew each morning. Students must be on site for 8:25am for the call to Crew and be ready to start sessions at 8:30am. Crew is inextricably linked to our Narrative for Success and these routines and practices in Crew ensure that students are safe and are set up to succeed at the start of every day at school. Poor punctuality affects a student for the rest of the day and as you will agree, good punctuality is needed in all future jobs. It is vital that we are building the habit of excellent punctuality now. We ask all parents/carers to fully support our expectations around good punctuality.  

Staffing Update

Over this half-term we will have some of our new staff joining us for induction in readiness for the new term. We are now fully staffed in terms of teaching and support at XP Gateshead. 

• Mrs Melissa Girling continues to work with us as a teacher of HUMAN
• Miss Gayle Crowder will be joining us as our new Y7 Phase Lead and a teacher of STEAM 
• Mrs Helen Chambers joins XP Trust as a Maths Lead working across all XP schools and will be based at XP Gateshead
• Miss Rebecca Denny-Holmes will be joining us later this half term as a teacher of SPANISH

We have also appointed some internal leadership roles which I will share later this half term.

This week

G28 GCSE exams

This week is a final full week of exams for our Y11 students 

• Monday 8th June
  • Science – Biology Combined Paper 2 (1hr 15, am) 
  • Further Maths Paper 1 (1 hr 45, pm)
• Tuesday 9th June
  • Spanish  – Paper 1 (45mins) and Paper 3 (1 hr) am
  • History – Paper 3 Viking expansion, Living under Nazi rule  (1 hr 45mins, pm)
• Wednesday 10th June
  • Mathematics – Paper 3  Calculator (1hr 30 am)  
• Thursday 11th June
  • Geography – Paper 3 (1hr 30, am)
• Friday 5th June
  • Science – Chemistry Combined Paper 2 (1hr 15, am) 
  • Interactive Media (1hr 30, pm)
  • Statistics – Paper 2 (1hr 45, pm)

We have continued to put timetable changes in place to allow focused revision sessions prior to exams and make sure that our Y11 students are fully prepared. 

Please see the recent website post for a full G28 update. 

G29 Student-Led Conferences

We continue to welcome our Y10 families into school this week so that G29 can present their SLC with a  focus on recent mock results, work placement and their next steps in terms of readiness for Year 11.

G31 Experts in school

This week we have a host of experts in school, working with Year 8 in readiness for their presentation of learning on Thursday 18th June for their expedition with the guiding question: “Is migration worth the risk?”.

On Thursday this week Dr Scott Boldt from The University of Cumbria will be joining our Year 8 students to help them to understand migration to and from and within the island of Ireland.

Also on Thursday Zeek Burgess from Phosphorus Theatre will work with all students in a drama workshop which will explore the lived experience of refugees. Then in the afternoon they will work with a group of Year 8 students in the afternoon to help them to devise a piece of drama that will be performed for families on 18th June – which coincides with Refugee Week.

On Friday of this week all Year 8 students will have the opportunity to work with Kema Kay, a local writer, actor and musician. Along with Rob Kitchen from Gateshead Music Hub, Kema will support our students to devise rap lyrics, using a piece of Bollywood music as a stimulus alongside ideas from their current expedition. This will then be followed up on Monday 15th June with another session with Haaji Ka Halva who will run expert workshops supporting our students to use music technology to further develop and remix the music that they will write on Friday this week. This music will then also be performed by our students for families on 18th June. Thanks to Rob Kitchen from the Gateshead Music Hub for his support in helping to organise these events.

G29 and G30 Sports sessions at Gateshead College on Friday 12th June

On Friday this week, G30 and G29 students will spend the day at Gateshead College Academy for Sport.  This day has been organised by Keavy Steel as part of our continued partnership at Gateshead College. The day will include access to a range of sports and the world class facilities at the college. Students will meet staff and student leaders from the college as participating in sports throughout the day. Students will need a packed lunch for the day and should come to school in their regular PE kit.

A huge appreciation to Keavy, Jo Chadwick and Tom Bradley for their continued support for our students’ sporting development.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. There are some changes due to exams so check the days carefully. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.

• G32 students (Y7) 
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week
  • Class 2 have PE on Wednesday this week
• G31 students (Y8) have PE on Tuesday this week
• G30 students (Y9) G29 students (Y10) have PE all day Friday this week at Gateshead College

Extended Study and after school clubs

After school clubs and extended study will run this week. 

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

Dear Families

We hope you have had a restful break and enjoyed the lovely weather. We are looking forward to welcoming students back for the final half-term of this academic year. This half-term we will welcome our Year 6 G33 students into school for the first time supported by student leaders from G32 and G31, G30 will be making important decisions on their pathways into Key Stage 4. G29 are presenting their SLCs following their recent mocks and work placements and G28 are in the final weeks of exams.  

This half term we are looking forward to a couple of firsts – our G28 Pioneers will present their Final Word to families, staff and peers which will mark the end of their 5 years at XPG, we will be hosting our first XP Live music event, and where our final Crew Day will be a sports day as usual which will be hosted at Gateshead Stadium in July.

Look out for a post later this week on the XPG Live event, and how this connects to our Year 8 presentation.

Our usual reminders for a good start back…

Attendance

Can I remind all families about the importance of students attending school everyday. School attendance is vital to the life chances of young people and being in school improves health, wellbeing and socialisation throughout life. Put simply if pupils are not at school then they are not learning and quickly fall behind in all areas of their development. Term time holidays are not authorised at XP Gateshead. Let’s all work hard together to ensure school attendance is high – students, parents/carers, Crew Leaders.

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. A calm start to the day is really important for students to settle into learning so we ask that parents support their child with this.

Dress code 

Please refer to our website post for full details on our dress code. Can I remind parents of the following expectations around daily dress within school and ask for your full support around this as we move into our final Summer half term and warmer weather.

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:
• For example sliders, flip-flops or high heels.

Daily kit list

As always, all students need to be fully equipped for school and bring a school bag with:

• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener
• A fully charged iPad 

• 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)
• Headphones 
• A healthy snack for break (no sweets, fizzy drinks or energy drinks or nut products)
• A notebook

This week

G28 GCSE exams

Exams continue for our Y11 students with another full week

• Monday 1st June
  • Religious studies – Component 3 (1 hr, pm)
• Tuesday 2nd June
  • Science – Physics Combined Paper 1 (1hr 15, am) 
  • Statistics – Paper 1 (1hr 45, pm)    
• Wednesday 3rd June
  • Mathematics – Paper 2  Calculator (1hr 30 am)  
  • Geography paper 2 (1hr 30, pm)
• Thursday 4th June
  • History – People’s Health, Elizabethans (1 hr 45mins, am)
• Friday 5th June
  • English Language – Paper 2  20th Century Non-Fiction Reading, Writing (2 hrs, am)

We have continued to put timetable changes in place to allow focused revision sessions prior to exams and make sure that our Y11 students are fully prepared. 

Once again we offered May Half Term Revision sessions for our Y11 students and it was great to see our students take full advantage of these sessions across the week. School is the best place for students to prepare for exams as support is on hand alongside revision resources.

Good luck again to all of G28 – keep on keeping on, you have definitely got this!

G30 Pathways Drop In Evening – Tuesday 2nd June

On Tuesday at 5pm, we are hosting a drop-in event in school for families that would like to talk to Key Stage 4 course leaders, to support them and their child to make decisions about the subjects that will be studied in year 10. Please see Mr Said’s post here for more details.

G32 Baltic fieldwork – Thursday 4th June

Please see Mr Said’s post for more details and important information about kit and lunches..

G29 KPMG visit – Thursday 4th June

This is for students that choose to sign up. There are still 5 places remaining, please see Mr Said’s post for more details.

G29 Student Led Conferences

This week, we welcome our Y10 families into school so that G29 can present their SLC with a  focus on recent mock results, work placement and their next steps in terms of readiness for Year 11.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. There are some changes due to exams so check the days carefully. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.

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

Extended Study and after school clubs

Due to the SLCs for G29, and our first week back from the break there are no after school clubs or extended study this week. They will return next week, w/c 8th June.

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