Dear Families

We have continued to be impressed with our students this week and the HOWLs (habits of work and learning) they are exhibiting in sessions. It has been great to see the fantastic start each year group has made and hear praise from the teams who work with each of our cohorts. A special mention to our new Year 7 students on how well they have transitioned to life in secondary school and our expectations here at XP Gateshead.

It has been great to hear students’ appreciations, apologies and stands during year group Community Meetings last week and I look forward to this week’s Whole School Community Meeting on Thursday. The language our students use around our character values and HOWLs shows a real depth of understanding and commitment to character development. These are not just words on a wall at XPG

Guiding Questions

At the start of last week immersion came to the end for all year groups and guiding questions (GQs) have been set with all students. 

GQs influence, shape and act as a reference point for student learning. GQs provoke thinking and deepen learning throughout the 12 week expedition and allow students to be engaged in authentic and purposeful work which makes connections between different subject areas and disciplines. During the course of a learning expedition, our children experience a range of case studies, with challenging texts which deepen their understanding and help them to develop an answer to the rich GQ for the expedition.

Presentations of Learning

At XP we make our work public. One of the most important ways we do this is through Presentations of Learning (PoLs). PoLs usually take place towards the end of expeditions and they are used as an opportunity for students to showcase their learning from their most current learning expedition. PoLs enable students to grow their character and further embed their learning through presenting their work in front of a range of authentic audiences and in a variety of contexts. In addition, students develop oracy skills by presenting to different audiences and in different contexts which builds confidence and further allows students to grow their character whilst developing key skills. 

It is essential that each student has at least one family member in attendance at PoLs. Presentations of Learning are designed to help students develop character, showcase their beautiful work, and reinforce the vital partnership between family, school, and students in their academic and personal growth.

This terms’ Guiding Questions and Presentation of Learning:

G33 -“What’s the story of our community?”

The presentation of learning for this event will be held on Tuesday 15th December 2026 at St Mary’s Church in Heworth from 4.30pm until 5.45pm. Please keep this evening free in your diaries. The final product for this expedition will be a local history book, charting the story of Gateshead and the North East – by the end of the academic year all of our Year 7s will be published authors!

G32 – “What does it mean to be Human?”

G32’s presentation of learning will be held on the evening Thursday 10th December in school at 4.30pm. This will take the form of a series of educational talks on aspects of our shared humanity. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust again this year. The students’ final artwork for this expedition will be curated at the Cardiothoracic Centre at The Freeman Hospital. This is the only cardiothoracic unit in the UK that provides specialist treatment for all types of heart and respiratory related conditions in adults and children, including (congenital) heart and lung surgery, heart and lung transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. The artwork will encourage blood and organ donation – our Year 8s work will save lives!

G31 – “How are structures important in helping us to explain our world?”

G31’s presentation of learning will take place on the evening of Tuesday 1st December at the Farrell Centre, Newcastle University Campus from 3:30pm until 5:30pm. We are working with a new partner for this learning expedition. In addition to our ongoing work with Newcastle University and The Farrell Centre, this year our final product will be artwork celebrating Gateshead’s urban spaces, which will be hosted in Felling Community Centre on Smithburn Road.

G30 –  “How do we know that bonds help us forge a strong legacy?”

G30’s presentation of learning will be held on Wednesday 9th December 2026 in school at 4.30pm. The final product and presentation of learning take the form of a series of lessons centred on viking artefacts, looking at the history of these objects and their material provenance too. In addition, there will be a meal provided by students encouraging us to form bonds as a community in the run up to Christmas.

G29 – “What’s love got to do with it?”

Students will be producing revision resources to Romeo and Juliet as their final product and will also perform excerpts from the play with directorial narration and analysis of each scene. This will take place on Wednesday 4th November in school at 4.30pm.

We will post more details for each of these Presentations of Learning over the coming weeks, in separate posts for each learning expedition.

Our week ahead 

G33 Fieldwork – Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th September

All G33 (Year 7) students will be carrying out fieldwork at the location of the former Whitburn Colliery and Marsden Village near to Souter Lighthouse in South Tyneside. They will also be doing geology studies in Marsden Bay. This fieldwork will build on work that students have done in the immersion to their new learning expedition – which has a focus on the industrialisation and subsequent de-industrialisation of our region.

G33 Class 1 will be going on Monday 14th September

G33 Class 2 will be going on Tuesday 15th September

Students need to be in school for 8.00am for the day of their fieldwork and we expect to return to school a little later than the normal end of the school day, with students finishing at 4.00pm but will update our website should there be any delays due to traffic.

Please see last week’s website post from Mr Said for full details on the kit needed. 

PE sessions this week

Please can parents make sure that their child has a PE kit  for PE sessions. We expect students to change into their appropriate PE kit, and not wear the same clothes they wear in school. Similarly, students must change out of PE kit afterwards, into their normal school clothes. For safety, jewellery must be removed and hair must be tied back.

• G33 students (Year 7) have PE on Wednesday.
• G32 students (Year 8) have PE on Thursday.
• G31 students (Year 9) have PE on Tuesday.
• G30 students (Year 10) have PE on Wednesday.
• Due to our shortened week, G29 (Year 11) do not have PE this week.

Extended Study 

Over the coming week, teachers will start to set extended study. Students can choose to complete this at home, or in school in our staffed extended study sessions.

Look out for a separate post this week with details of our rationale for Extended Study, the nature of the work for each discipline and the days on which the work will typically be set.

Google Classroom

Students are set work through their Google Classroom. Families receive weekly updates from Google Classroom via email. For existing Y8-Y11 families you should already receive these – if you are not yet receiving these please check your email address for an invite from Google Classroom, including your SPAM folder. You child’s Crew Leader can check if you have accepted the invite and should therefore be getting these emails.

Year 7 families, please look out for an invite to Google Classroom updates this week.

After School Extended Study sessions

Staffed, after-school extended study sessions will start this week. We offer extended study sessions from 3:15pm – 4:30pm Monday – Thursday.  Students attending these sessions must stay for the full session until the end at 4.30pm. These sessions allow students to work with their peers and staff on extended study tasks in school where support is on hand. Extended study is optional for most students but for some who struggle to complete and miss deadlines, extended study may be directed.

If you have any questions about extended study or how you could best support your child, please contact their Crew Leader for support.

Lunchtime and after school clubs

There are a wide range of club tasters taking place this week. Please see the website post for full details. All students will review this week’s offer in Crew on Monday morning and sign up for taster sessions. Please encourage your son/daughter to get involved in taster sessions.

Staff Development Days

We have staff days each term at XP so that our teachers can collaborate across the Trust to create and deliver the high quality curriculum that our students study. These are shown in blue each year’s calendar, these can be found here. 

This week on Friday, the following week on Monday are the first of our staff days where students are not expected to be in school.

• Friday 18th September – Staff Development Day 
• Monday 21st September – Staff Development Day 

On staff days our students do not attend school and there is no expectation that they complete work beyond their regularly set extended study (homework). Students will find this work on Google classroom.

Students are expected back to school on Tuesday 22nd September at the usual time (by 8:25am at the latest).

As usual if you have any questions about your son or daughter please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance or email general enquiries to [email protected].

Thank you as always for your ongoing support.  Together we are stronger #WeAreCrew.

Julie Mosley