Dear Families

Welcome to the final week of another half term. It looks like Summer is finally on its way and I hope you have enjoyed the sun this weekend.

This week has been a busy one again and our students have enjoyed some great learning experiences.

To celebrate National Numeracy Day on Wednesday, our Year 8 students undertook numeracy Crew Challenges. Miss Power had devised a great chocolate slab challenge which incorporated work covered this year on ratio, sequences and geometry. Crews were challenged with design, planning and making tasks which required high levels of cooperation and clear communication. 

As we say,’ if we get Crew right, we get everything right’ at XP so time to challenge ourselves  as a crew, develop our skills and take time to reflect on experiences is key to the ongoing success of Crew. 

In the words of Kurt Hahn: “We are crew, not passengers, strengthened by acts of consequential service to others” The culture of crew impels all members of a school community to work together as a team, to pitch in, to help others.

On Wednesday our G29 students enjoyed a day of fieldwork on the NorthEast coast. They worked with the Wild Oyster Project to gather data from crates where oysters are being bred. This data will help the scientists at the research station gather evidence for the importance of oysters as a keystone species. Students will be writing articles about the importance of oysters later in their expedition. In the other part of the fieldwork students carried out a survey of two contrasting beaches to see how the topography of each beach had impacted on the way that it was used by humans.

It is also worth noting the courage shown by our Year 8 students who got HPV vaccinations in school this week. Several of our students were concerned about injections but all supported each other and we had an incredibly successful vaccination session. The immunisation team were overwhelmed with the crew of staff and students at XPG and thought our school was a real pleasure to work in. I’d like to extend this thanks to parents too for all of your support around vaccinations.

This week

PE sessions

All students will have a PE session on Monday this week. To maximise time in each PE session, we ask that G28 (Year 8) come to school dressed in their PE kit on Monday so they are ready for a sharp start to the session. They will then be able to change into fresh clothes at the end of the session. G29 (Year 7) students will change to PE kit at the start of the session and will be able to wear this until the end of the day on Monday.

Young Carers drop-in  session

On Tuesday we welcome Charlotte Osgerby from Carers Trust, Tyne and Wear. Charlotte will  be available; at lunchtime to talk to our students and support our Young Carers at XPG.

G28 Knife Crime Awareness Session

On Wednesday, John Ord from Northumbria Police Violence Reduction Unit will run a session for our Y8 students on the dangers of knife crime.

Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA®) courses

One in six children aged five to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2021 (Youngminds website). As part of our commitment to supporting the wellbeing of our students, we would like to offer our parents/carers the opportunity to attend a half day Youth Mental Health Awareness training course.This course is certified by Mental Health First Aid England and would be fully funded by us (apart from session materials). Please look out for the website update coming later this week where you will be able to register your interest and preference on course dates in the Summer term.

G30 Transition 

We have enjoyed meeting many  of our new students and their families this week online. Family meetings will continue this week. As part of our transition, we are ready to start our visits to feeder primary schools. 

Half Term and 1:30pm finish on Friday 26th May

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

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Julie Mosley

Co-Principal