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Students had a fantastic first session of PE this afternoon in the lovely sunshine that we have been enjoying.
Please see this section below, taken from our dress code .
We just wanted to re-emphasise that the wearing of branded PE kit is not essential. However shorts, socks and T-shirts should be black. Also, students need trainers that are suitable for PE / sports, so they need a sole that is non slip and will provide some cushion to students when they are on hard ground.
We have the items shown below in store, mostly from Ullswater, but also one small XPG polo shirt from PE today.
Please ask your son or daughter to collect them from their crew leader if anything belongs to them.
We will return deposits to Mr Dobson and Mrs Mosley’s crew today, so students should return to you with their cash in full.
In Miss Tatters’ and Mr Devitt/Mr Said’s crews, each crew did not return one headlamp. This was not due to a lack of care, as things do genuinely get lost. However the Ullswater centre cannot absorb these costs. As a result each student in these crews will get £9 back from their initial deposit.
It would be really helpful if your son or daughter is in Miss Tatters’ or Mr Devitt/Mr Said’s crew if you could give your son or daughter £1 to bring to school. Then we can give them their £10 note in return when we receive the £1.
Thanks for your assistance.
There was also a very small amount of lost property from the coach. We will post photos of that later today.
Our calendars are published at xptrust.org/calendars
Each term we have two staff days so that our teachers can collaborate across the Trust to create the high quality curriculum that our students study.
As you can see from the calendar below, each set of staff days comes in the middle of each half-term on a Friday and a Monday.
There are two upcoming staff days on Friday 17th and Monday 20th September.
On these days students do not attend school and there is no expectation that they complete work beyond their extended study (homework).
I hope your son/daughter has returned from Ullswater full of tales of their outward bound adventures. It was incredible to see them make new friends, begin to form strong bonds with their crew and crew leaders, and rise to the challenges put in front of them. I could not help but be impressed by our new students. They were compassionate, courageous, respectful and showed integrity in equal measure. We could not have had a stronger start to our school year.
We are expecting students in school for an 8.30am start so they must arrive in school by 8.25am at the latest. There will be staff in school and supervising from 8 am.
We will finish formal sessions at 3.15pm however students are able to stay in school until 4.30pm. There will be a suite of activities and extended study after school – more details on this in the coming weeks. From now, students are able to stay until 4.30pm Monday-Thursday, but must either be studying or in an after school activity. Students must leave school by 3.30pm on Friday.
There are more details on our frequently asked questions about kit, but students will need a school bag with the following:
I would also suggest that students bring a healthy snack for break time – no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks please as we do not allow these in school.
I have been in touch with the Local Authority catering team and they will be providing meals on our behalf. This will be in the form of a packed lunch option for a couple of weeks and will then transition to hot meals when our kitchen is set up. Gateshead has a system for parents to pay for school meals and we will be in touch with details for this over the course of next week. In the meantime if your child requires a packed lunch they simply need to request one from their crew leader when they register in the morning.
We will be carrying out Covid testing in line with government guidance when students return to school on Monday and again on Thursday morning. I am not anticipating this to cause any issues as things went very smoothly last week.
The current guidance is that from that point, you should test your son or daughter twice per week (ideally Sundays and Wednesdays) until the end of September. At the end of September the government will review their guidance. This means that the first time you should test your son or daughter at home will be Sunday 12th September. We can provide kits for you to do this.
In other news – most of our furniture has arrived and our classrooms are fully set up although we still need to move some pieces of furniture around. We have our internet connection and brand new TV screens in every room. There will be some ongoing work to the outside of the building and we are still waiting for some orders to be processed and delivered. I am still waiting for confirmation of our iPad delivery although I believe it is scheduled for next week.
We have everything we need to begin teaching and are looking forward to starting our first expedition with our students. As usual if you have any questions about your 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 for your ongoing support, the whole staff crew are very much looking forward to seeing our students on Monday morning.
Best wishes
Mark Lovatt
Principal
To be ready for the delivery of the iPads you will need to have an Apple ID.
An Apple ID will allow you to sign into the iPad and is your one stop login to apple services. This login will not affect the management system that we have to control what apps are used in school time.
If you do not have an Apple ID, you will need to set one up before the iPads arrive. Children under 13 cannot have an Apple ID so as parents, you will need to set up the Apple ID in your name with your details.
This process is very straightforward. Here is a video showing how to set up an Apple ID:
Please make sure that you have read the instructions around providing medicine here. It is important that we have written consent for administration of any medicines.
Our guide to the kit list can be found here. The full kit list is here.
Please do not put additional snacks or sweets in your child’s luggage (beyond what they are eating as part of their packed lunch on the first day).
All food from Tuesday afternoon onwards will be provided by the centre and is both nutritious and delicious. If there is additional food in luggage we will keep it safe for students and return it to you on Friday.
Please check your arrival time for tomorrow here.
Parents/Carers have prime responsibility for their child’s health and should provide the school with full information about their child’s medical needs. To support the process of administering medicines we ask that parents give full details of the medicine required and a written consent statement for us to administer the medication.
Any medication needed by your child at Ullswater should be handed over to Mrs Mosley, Mr Lovatt or Crew Leader on Tuesday morning. This should be in a clear zip bag or container with your child’s name on the front. All medication must be in date and in the original packing.
Details required:
Please also include a signed statement of consent (hand written is fine):
“I give my consent for a member of XPG staff to administer the enclosed medication. I understand that XPG staff are not qualified practitioners but that they will take care in the administration of the medication and will endeavour to respond appropriately should emergency treatment be required.“
Please read the following letter with further updates about our building and the start of term:
Please read this letter then complete this consent form.
