Dear Families

This week we have revealed the full details of our new expeditions for all cohorts.

This terms’ Expeditions, Guiding Questions and Presentation of Learning dates

You can see more detailed information on each of the new expeditions by clicking here.

• Year 7 HUMAN – Why is it important to honour all those who sacrificed in WWI?

• • • PoL on Tuesday 25th March in school at 4.30pm

• Year 7 STEAM – Is survival sufficient?

• • • PoL on Monday 24th March at Edberts House (this is not an event that families attend, students will present their food packages to the workers at Edberts House)

• Year 8 – What is Power?

• • • PoL on Thursday 27th March at Caedmon Hall, above Gateshead Central Library at 5pm.

• Year 9 – How can we continue to make progress on public health?

• • • PoL on Friday 9th May in school from 2pm. This Presentation of Learning is in the form of a Public Health Conference, hosted by our students.

• Year 10 – Are we really free to choose?

• • • PoL on Tuesday 18th March, venue and time to be confirmed.

G29 (Year 9) Information

We also enjoyed meeting with G29 families at our Information Evening on Wednesday to give further details around key events for Year 9 this year – Passage Presentations, the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award  and our KS4 curriculum offer. Thank you to those families who attended. Here are the slides we shared so everyone can access the information.

Raising awareness around the dangers of knife crime

On Friday we welcomed Alison and Yvonne from the charity Samantha’s Legacy into school to run  sessions with our G28 and G29 students on knife crime and to hear first-hand the devastation one family can experience at the hands of knife crime. The team at Samantha’s Legacy work relentlessly to raise awareness around this important issue, support families and young people who have been affected by knife crime and prevent knife crime in our region.

The feedback from all involved was extremely positive. We will be running further sessions for our other year groups later this term. We’ve also been offered the opportunity for a group of students to attend the new theatre production of ‘Our Sam’ which is being held at the end of the month at Whitley Bay Playhouse which is a play based on the true story of Samantha Madgin, a young mother who tragically lost her life to knife crime in 2007 and highlights the irreversible impact of knife crime. More information about this event will follow.

The week ahead

Experts at XPG

This week we welcome film director Russell Smith to XP Gateshead. Russell will be talking to our students about his work and sharing his award winning film documentary ‘The Last Men Standing’ with G28 with a screening followed by a Q&A session. The documentary is about 15 East Durham Miners which not only goes back to G28’s first expedition which focused on East Durham mines but also supports learning in their current expedition in terms of our curricular seam of social justice, connecting to themes of social class in their current anchor text ‘An Inspector Calls’.  

G30 (Year 8) Local Fieldwork: Working with experts at the Shipley Art Gallery 

This week our Year 8 students will spend a day working with experts at the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead.

• Class 2 are working at the Shipley throughout the day on Tuesday this week
• Class 1 are working at the Shipley throughout the day on Wednesday this week

More details including kit and packed lunches can be found by clicking here.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• G30 students (Y8) have PE on Monday.
• For G31 students (Y7)
  • G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
• G29 students (Y9) have PE on Thursday.
• G28 students (Y10) have PE on Thursday.

SLC Preparation G31 and G30

SLCs for G31 and G30 will take place this term in the two weeks commencing 27th January 2025. It is an expectation that all families attend SLCs to fully support their child’s progress. All G31 and G30 families should have now made appointments to attend their child’s SLC. Our students continue with their preparations this week which, for G30 students includes responses to questions from their families. Please can all G30 families ensure that they have completed this Google Form to help your child to prepare for the conference.

Passage Preparation G29

Our year 9 students continue with preparation for their Passage Presentations which will take place during the 17th and 18th March and slots will be available during the days. We will soon send out a the system to book a passage presentation slot.

Staff Days on Friday 24th and Monday 27th January – EARLY FINISH TO SCHOOL THIS THURSDAY

Please note that our whole staff will be travelling to Doncaster on Thursday 23rd January for a twilight CPD session which will launch an XP Trust Teaching and Learning conference on Friday so school will end at the slightly earlier time of 1.30pm on Thursday 23rd January to allow for this.

As always, students are not expected to be in school on staff days Friday 24th and Monday 27th January.

Dates to note

Year 8 London Fieldwork: Victoria & Albert Museum Fieldwork for Year 8

More details of the fieldwork can be found here. 

• Year 8 Class 2 will travel to London on Tuesday 28th January
• Year 8 Class 1 will travel to Longon on Monday 3rd February

Can all G30 families return reply sheets to Crew Leaders by Wednesday this week. As you can imagine it is imperative that we have full details to ensure appropriate arrangements and travel bookings are made. 

Please note that we want to give every student the opportunity to come to London and there is no cost to families for this fieldwork. We do expect a commitment from both students and families in terms of their conduct and if there are any absences on the day of travel, we will ask families to cover the costs incurred by us as a school.

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

Principal

Dear Families

Students have settled back into school and routines well, it was great to hear staff and students talk about highlights of their week and the appreciations given on Friday during online Community Meeting with G31, G30 and G29.  It’s wonderful to see so many students recognising each others’ great habits, character, areas of improvement and a strong start in sessions.

 

Last week we launched our new learning expeditions across all year groups. More details of the types of activities that students have been carrying out in immersion can be found below.

A huge appreciation goes to those Year 10 students who have started supporting Year 9 students with their Passage preparations and Year 7 students who have started work on their first Student Led Conference (SLC). The commitment and care our students show to each other is impressive and they definitely are ‘crew not passengers’ at XPG.

Immersion

Last week we launched our new learning expeditions across all years. As is always the case, expeditions start with a week of immersion which is an opportunity for students to dip their toe into the content of the learning expeditions, to build background knowledge and generate curiosity about the GQ (guiding question) for the expedition. 

G31 Immersion

Year 7 students have two new learning expeditions in STEAM and HUMAN. Their STEAM immersion has involved reading extracts from a dystopian novel called Station 11 and preparing to carry out food tests, making connections back to their study of elements, compounds and mixtures from term 1.

In HUMAN and ARTS year 7 have been building background knowledge about World War I, and beginning to read a play called White Poppies as well as revisiting skills from term 1 to represent medals in graphite pencil drawings.

G30 Immersion

Year 8 have been learning about important figures from history such as Benjamin Franklin and Alessandro Volta. Year 8 have also carried out a gallery walk in HUMAN, making connections between stimulus images on natural hazards and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. They have also started to read an abridged Modern English version of The Scottish Play to put together a storyboard of its key moments, before grappling with the full text. Connected to this in STEAM students have been carrying out physics experiments to do with objects in motion, revising their knowledge of elements, compounds and mixtures from Year 7 and grappling with an excerpt from A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. 

G29 Immersion

Year 9’s immersion has involved building background knowledge about health around the world and in our own country as well as trying to unravel a mysterious connection from these ideas to a 17th century poem by John Dryden. In STEAM students have been building viral, fungal and bacterial cells from scrap materials as part of their immersion. Miss Jamison was impressed by these creative and scientifically accurate models from Ben D, Francis, Eleanor, Dakota, Lily, Winnie, Peyton and Hallie. Brilliant work Year 9!

 

G28 immersion

This term Year 10 have an expedition that combines HUMAN and STEAM. The week of immersion has involved studying Nazi ideology and how pseudoscientific arguments were used to promote fear and division, as well as a study of The Weimar Republic of Germany between wars, and the impact that The Treaty of Versailles had on living conditions and society pre-WWII. Connected to this students have made connections from this and their wider studies from previous expeditions about the class system in Britain, that of today and of the past.

As you can see, these immersive and intensive experiences at the beginning of a learning expedition help to generate curiosity and excitement about the topic, build background knowledge and provide students a solid starting point to launch into and tackle their guiding questions for the rest of their learning expedition.

The week ahead

Guiding Questions

This week will see all of the GQs (guiding questions) revealed for our new expeditions. GQs are a crucial part of the anatomy of an expedition and are revealed at the end of immersion.

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.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• G30 students (Y8) have PE on Monday.
• For G31 students (Y7)
  • G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
• G29 students (Y9) have PE on Thursday.
• G28 students (Y10) have PE on Thursday.

SLC Preparation G31 and G30

SLCs for G31 and G30 will take place this term in the two weeks commencing 27th January 2025. It is an expectation that all families attend SLCs to fully support their child’s progress. All G31 and G30 families should have now made appointments to attend their child’s SLC. Please contact the school office if you have not arranged an appointment.

G31 and G30 students will continue with their preparations for their Student-Led Conferences. Please can all G30 families ensure that they have completed this Google Form to help your child to prepare for the conference.

We invest a lot of time in giving students opportunities to reflect upon their learning and growth. A significant amount of Crew time is devoted to this in the run-up to SLCs.  Please do also ask your child about how their preparation is going.

Important note and apology: SLC bookings for Year 8

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We are trialling using Google Calendar as the booking system for SLCs for the first time rather than sign up genius.

We should have included cautionary notes in Google Calendar about the dates for booking SLC and the London fieldwork which is taking place for Year 8 students.

For example families with children in Class 2 will not be able to book SLC slots on the evening of Tuesday 28th January as this is when children will be in London. Your child’s Crew Leader or a member of staff will contact you if we need to change any existing bookings. Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

G29 (Year 9) Information Evening – Wednesday 15th January, 5:30-6:30pm

On Wednesday evening of this week we will hold an information evening for G29 families to give further details around key events this year – Passage Presentations, the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award  and our KS4 curriculum offer. This will take place at 5.30pm in school.

Our theatre space is out of use at the moment. To allow us to plan the best room to use, can all Year 9 families please indicate how many family members will be attending using this Google Form. Students do not need to attend but are welcome to do so.

Clubs and Extended Study

Lunchtime and after school Clubs and supervised Extended Study sessions return this week. Here is our offer:

This week also sees the return of the regular setting of Extended Study work for students.

It is important that students get into good habits around extended study. Studies have shown that this has a positive impact on student progress, on average (+ 5 months), particularly with pupils in secondary schools. We recognise that it is not always possible for students (or staff) to have a quiet working space at home which is why we offer a space to work in school from 3.30-4.30pm Monday-Thursday. For students who do not complete extended study and struggle to meet deadlines, directed extended study will be put in place. 

Our full rationale for Extended Study can be found here.

Dates to note this term

Year 8 Local Fieldwork: Working with experts at the Shipley Art Gallery 

• Class 2 fieldwork will take place on Tuesday 21st January.  
• Class 1 will take place on Thursday 23rd January. 

Year 8 London Fieldwork: Victoria & Albert Museum Fieldwork for Year 8

As part of their new learning expedition Year 8 students will be carrying out important fieldwork at the V&A (The Victoria & Albert Museum in London). This is in partnership with the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead. Students will travel to London and back in a day by rail, and will work with experts at the museum to help put together artistic responses to their new guiding question. We will post more details about timings of these days soon:

• Year 8 Class 2 will travel to London on Tuesday 28th January
• Year 8 Class 1 will travel to London on Monday 3rd February

This week families will receive a letter with full details and consent for this fieldwork, including travel times and organisational details. Please note that we want to give every student the opportunity to come to London and there is no cost to families for this fieldwork. We do expect a commitment from both students and families in terms of their conduct and if there are any absences on the day of travel, we will ask families to cover the costs incurred by us as a school.

Staff Days on Friday 24th and Monday 27th January

Please note that our whole staff will be travelling to Doncaster on Thursday 23rd January for a twilight CPD session which will launch an XP Trust Teaching and Learning conference on Friday so school will end at the slightly earlier time of 1.30pm on Thursday 23rd January to allow for this.

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

Principal

Dear Families

Happy 2025!

We hope you have had a great Christmas and a safe and restful New Year. 

We are looking forward to welcoming students back tomorrow to the start of our new term at XP Gateshead.

There is a lot of information in this update, it being the start of a new term. Please read all of the following information carefully as there are important notes for all families and children.

Here’s some reminders to get a good start to term…

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 in to a new term 

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, students need to bring a school bag with:

• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener. Please note the new additions of a glue stick and purple biro pen.
• 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 confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
• A notebook

Last term we had some issues with individuals arriving at school without a charged iPad. Please ensure your child has a charger at home so that charging issues can be avoided this term. We do not provide replacement chargers. 

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• G30 students (Y8) have PE on both Monday and Friday this week
• For G31 students (Y7)
  • G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
• G29 students (Y9) have PE on Thursday.
• G28 students (Y10) have PE on Thursday.

Extended Study and Clubs

There will be no extended study or school clubs running this week. After school and lunch sessions will all start again next week.

New Term – New Expeditions

A new term means new and exciting expeditions for our students. Immersion takes place this week and our students will be working hard to find out what their new guiding questions are and the challenges and new learning their expeditions will bring. 

Staffing Changes for the New Year

As detailed last term, there is one staffing change for the Spring term. Mr Azam is going to be teaching Year 8 Class 2 as has been the case this term, and he will also now teach Year 9 Class 1. Ms Marshall will now teach Year 8 Class 1 and will continue to teach Year 9 Class 2. This will allow for more collaboration within the Maths team in school, which also includes Mrs Mosley.

For the first two weeks of this term Mr Azam will be enjoying paternity leave with his wife and beautiful new baby who was born over the Christmas break. XPG staff will be covering his sessions with high quality work set by Mr Azam.

Dates to note this term 

Here’s our 2024/25 Calendar again for you to see our term dates this year. 

Student-Led Conferences G31 and G30

SLCs (Student-Led Conferences) replace the conventional parents’ evenings at XP Gateshead. During an SLC, your son or daughter will share their learning with you and their crew leader. You will have an opportunity to look at work from their portfolio and ask questions about their HoWLs (Habits of Work and Learning) and AP grades (Academic Progress). They will also share their progress around pledges set last term with you during the SLC and you will be able to ask questions around these. 

SLCs for G31 and G30 will take place this term in the two weeks commencing 27th January 2025. In the coming weeks you will receive an SLC invite from your son or daughter’s crew leader. It is an expectation that all families attend SLCs to fully support their child’s progress. 

Passage Presentations G29 

Our Y9 students will give passage presentations in March.  Passage presentations are an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning and their readiness to move on to the next phase of their education. G29 students will provide evidence to an audience of family, their Crew Leader and an XPG invited guest to demonstrate that they are ready to start their GCSE journey. 

In the coming weeks you will hear more about passage presentations from your son or daughter as they start preparing for this key passage at XPG. Passage presentations will take place during the 17th and 18th March and slots will be available throughout the days. There will be a booking system in place and shared with families in coming weeks.

We will be able to share more information about these important rites of passage, as well as the  Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and our Key Stage 4 offer of GCSEs and other courses as part of an information for all families.

This information evening for all Year 9 families will take place on Wednesday 15th January at 5:30pm.

London: Victoria & Albert Museum Fieldwork for Year 8

As part of their new learning expedition Year 8 students will be carrying out important fieldwork at the V&A (The Victoria & Albert Museum in London). This is in partnership with the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead. Students will travel to London and back in a day by rail, and will work with experts at the museum to help put together artistic responses to their new guiding question. We will post more details about timings of these days soon,

• Year 8 Class 2 will travel to London on Tuesday 28th January
• Year 8 Class 1 will travel to London on Monday 3rd February

Student/Teacher-led conferences for Year 10

Students in Year 10 will for the first time take part in Student/Teacher-led conferences. These are shorter conferences than SLCs where students will sit alongside each of their subject teachers to share their progress with you on their new Key Stage 4 courses.

These are scheduled to take part on:

• Monday 10th February for Class 1
• Tuesday 11th February for Class 2

We will share a booking system with Year 10 families soon.

Staff Days

A reminder that we have two staff development days each half term; 

Friday 24th and Monday 27th January. Our whole staff will be travelling to Doncaster on Thursday 23rd January for a twilight CPD session which will launch an XPTrust Teaching and Learning conference on Friday so school will end at the slightly earlier time of 1:30pm on Thursday 23rd January to allow for this.

Friday 14th and Monday 17th March.

As normal, students are not expected to be in school on these days.

Holiday dates

Please note that our dates do not always fully align to other Gateshead schools. We keep the Easter Holiday in the same place each year, so that we can run our term 2 and term 3 learning expeditions to be of the similar length each year – this would not be possible if we followed the changes to Easter each year. 

Spring half term break starts Friday 21st February. We return to school on Monday 3rd March 2025. 

Easter Holidays

We break up for Easter holidays Friday 28th March and return to school on Monday 14th April 2025. Please note that the bank holiday weekend of Good Friday 18th April and Easter Monday 21st April are outside of our two week break. See 2024/25 Calendar.

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

Principal

Thanks to our families for your support this term, the last couple of weeks of Presentations of Learning (PoLs) are always a special time, giving students an opportunity to present the best versions of themselves to their families. We have had fantastic feedback from all who attended the PoLs in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 and look forward to showcasing on our website where we will curate each expedition and link to our final products.

We have already posted about previous PoLs but I just wanted to give one final praise to G28 whose Presentation of Learning took the form of taught lessons about their studies with families as students. What an incredible PoL, with our students really stepping up in terms of confidence, warmth and engaging families in their learning. Absolutely stunning!

Staffing Changes for the New Year

There will be one change of staffing in Year 8 and Year 9. Mr Azam is going to be teaching Year 8 Class 2 as has been the case this term, and he will also now teach Year 9 Class 1. Ms Marshall will now teach Year 8 Class 1 and will continue to teach Year 9 Class 2. This will allow for more collaboration within the Maths team in school, which also includes Mrs Mosley.

There are also a few events that we want to bring to your attention in the next term.

Student-led Conferences: Year 7 and Year 8

Year 7 and Year 8 will be carrying out Student-Led Conferences in mid January. Student-Led Conferences give children the opportunity to share the information that they feel best reflects their learning journey and reflects on this question ‘Am I moving towards where I need to be?’. SLC’s ensure that they reflect on all the elements of the Narrative for Success including attendance, HoWLs and Academic Progress.

Invites to choose a slot for families will be sent when we return to school. SLCs for Year 7 and Year 8 will take place in the fortnight commencing 27th January.

London: Victoria & Albert Museum Fieldwork for Year 8

As part of their new learning expedition Year 8 students will be carrying out important fieldwork at the V&A (The Victoria & Albert Museum in London). This is in partnership with the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead. Students will travel to London and back in a day by rail, and will work with experts at the museum to help put together artistic responses to their new guiding question.

• Year 8 Class 2 will travel to London on Tuesday 28th January
• Year 8 Class 1 will travel to London on Monday 3rd February

There will be enough SLC slots for families to avoid your child’s slot being close to the London visit.

Passage Presentation Preparation for Year 9

When they return to school, Year 9 students will begin to prepare to carry out Passage Presentations. These will take place on Monday 17th March and Tuesday 18th March during the daytime in school and last for one hour. We will be able to share more information about these important rites of passage, as well as the  Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and our Key Stage 4 offer of GCSEs and other courses as part of an information for all families.

This information evening will take place on Wednesday 15th January at 5:30pm.

Student/Teacher-led conferences for Year 10

Students in Year 10 will for the first time take part in Student/Teacher-led conferences. These are shorter conferences than SLCs where students will sit alongside each of their subject teachers to share their progress with you on their new Key Stage 4 courses.

These are scheduled to take part in the week commencing Monday 10th February, with an evening for each Class in Year 10. We will post more details when we return, including assessment information and an opportunity for you to ask questions in advance of these conferences.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our students and families a very Merry Christmas and restful holiday period. We return to school on Monday 6th January 2025 and look forward to another successful New Year at XP Gateshead.

Julie Mosley

Principal, XP Gateshead

Dear Families

It’s been another busy and productive week at XP Gateshead. 

In these final weeks of term, rather than wind down, our students  step up in their work and dedication to craftsmanship and quality. They are all working hard on final products, responses to their guiding questions and preparing for upcoming Presentations of Learning. This brings lots of challenges as you can imagine but I am so proud of the courage, determination and resilience shown by our students and staff on a daily basis.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

G28 Engineering/Technology students

Our G28 students spent the morning at Royal Grammar School on Wednesday, in preparation for a day of manufacturing on Friday this week during the school day. The students have been designing a plinth to hold an iPad so that it can become an interactive kiosk. This is going to be used by our G28 Interactive Media students as part of their design work on an interactive quiz associated with their Viking studies.

A big appreciation to Dr Bunce from RGS, who also works with our digital leader and LGO robotics team, for helping to facilitate these days!

G29 First Aid Training

On Wednesday our Y9 students were involved in first aid training as part of their DofE skill development. Sam Clark from First Aid Schools was blown away by the maturity shown by all of our students and their response to all challenges set. Our students now know some basic principles of assessing an emergency situation, contacting emergency services and how to perform basic skills required to sustain life while awaiting their arrival. They are now more prepared to handle various emergency situations including administering CPR and using a defibrillator.

G28 PoL – Is Charity Enough?

On Wednesday afternoon our Y10 students welcomed new members of our community into our school. Our students put on an Afternoon Tea full of homemade goods along with Christmas treats which really demonstrated the power of connection and community. It was wonderful to see the smiles and hear conversations between our students and older members of the community. Please see the website post for more details and some extracts of students’ answers to the guiding question.

G31 Fieldwork

Students in G31 have been studying Gateshead’s and the North-East’s place in the UK since 1066. There current studies see them learning about the industrial revolution and our coal mining heritage. On Friday they carried out fieldwork to St Mary’s Church in Heworth and saw the memorial to the Felling Pit Disaster – which will feature in their songs as part of their PoL next week.

The Week Ahead

G29 PoL at Farrell Centre and Great North Museum, Wednesday – Newcastle University 3:45pm

We are really looking forward to seeing our Y9 present their learning this week at Newcastle University. They will be sharing their responses to the guiding question from this expedition – How are structures important in helping us to explain our world? Their work will be part of the ‘Concrete Dreams’ exhibition at the Farrell Centre and their art work will be exhibited at the Great North Museum.

Students will be travelling over to Newcastle in the morning, so will need a packed lunch on Wednesday. They need to be prepared for the weather as they will also have a campus tour as part of their day.

Families should arrive at the Farrell Centre /Great North Museum in Newcastle University Campus at 3.45pm. We will put out a separate post tomorrow with information on which families will be starting in which location. Parking is available further north on Claremont Road, or the two sites are within walking distance from Haymarket Metro Station.

Christmas Charity Events

On Tuesday Crew Stanton are running an after school Christmas Crafts session to raise funds for their charity ‘Tiny Lives’. On Thursday Crew Frank are hosting a Christmas quiz and all funds raised will go to their chosen charity ‘The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation’.

   

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• All G30 students (Year 8) have PE on Monday.
• For G31 students (Year 7)
  • G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
• All G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
• All G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

PoLs next week

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth at 4.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

Degunge Next Week – Friday 20th December

A reminder, especially for families of Year 7, that students finish at the earlier time of 1.30pm on the final day of term to allow for staff to de-gunge classrooms and restock class supplies in readiness for the start of the new term.

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].

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

Over the next few weeks we will be fully into preparation for Presentations of Learning (PoLs). As stated in our core practices:

At XP we make our work public. One of the most important ways we do this is through PoLs. 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.

We look forward to seeing all families at the following Presentations of Learning for their children:

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth at 4.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G29’s PoL will be on the evening of Wednesday 11th December at the Farrell Centre and Great North Museum in Newcastle University Campus at 3.45pm.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

Staff Days

On Friday our support staff were trained in First Aid, part of our ongoing training programme to ensure that we can support students. This week Year 9 have the opportunity to receive similar training as part of the Duke of Edinburgh award in readiness for their outdoor expeditions later this academic year.

   

Our teaching staff spent the day at Newcastle University discussing connections that can be made with the University and researchers to further contextualise our expeditions, connect with cutting edge research and also continue to raise aspirations for students about their future and possible pathways.

Today we have spent the day focussed on long term planning, in particular future expeditions and our wider support and pastoral provision for all students.

The Week Ahead

G29 Student Led Conferences

This week sees the second week of SLCs for Year 9 students. All families should have booked their SLC slot. Please contact [email protected] if you need more support with this.

G31 Expert in school tomorrow

Tomorrow students in G31 will meet Bill Elliott a local folk singer who is supporting students in their preparation for their presentation of learning. Next week students will work with Bill to complete their folk song compositions.

G28 In School PoL on Wednesday

On Wednesday afternoon, G28 will host their PoL connected to their studies of A Christmas Carol. This is an afternoon tea for members of the community that typically experience loneliness, especially around Christmas, all of which connects to their GQ: “Is charity enough?”

Families of G28 please note that this event will finish at around 4pm.

G29 First aid training on Wednesday

All G29 students will have First Aid Training on Wednesday this week. This is in preparation for their DofE expeditions later in the academic year.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• For G30 students (Year 8)
  • Due to the staff day there is no PE session this week.
• For G31 students (Year 7)
  • G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
• All G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
• All G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

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].

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

• The Venerable Bede
• Humphry Davy
• Thomas Hepburn
• Catherine Cookson
• David Price

A special thanks to Dave Evans, Geoff Hewitt and Rob Kitchen for working with our Year 7 students throughout the day.

Crew Day

On Friday we had our Crew Day which gave all crews the chance to ‘tend’ to and strengthen the crew, to support and challenge each other to be the best versions of self and carry out some important work together.  As you know, Crew is our support network at XPG and key to the continued success of everyone at our school. 

G31 students continued their work on researching suitable people after whom to name their crews – people who have achieved great things and who display our character traits of courage, integrity, respect, craftsmanship and quality, and above all compassion. I’m pleased to introduce our four Year 7 crews:

• Crew Pankhurst – (Mr Azam’s Crew)
• Crew Curie – (Mrs Diamond’s Crew)
• Crew Shakespeare (Miss Jamison’s Crew)
• Crew Windsor (Mr Parry’s Crew)

G30 students worked on their pitches for which charity they wanted their crew to support, including presentations from G28 students who encouraged them to consider the charities with whom they were already working.

I’m pleased to introduce our Year 8 chosen charities are:

• Anxious Minds – Crew Einstein
• Daisy Chain – Crew Kahlo
• Sands – Crew Earhart
• The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation – Crew Darling (we are delighted that they will pair up with Crew Frank in G28 to support this charity.

G30 also had some time working with our LEGO robots to work on their collaborative, design and coding skills, creating robot hoppers which were then raced competitively.

G29’s Crew Day gave over time to students to work together as a Crew to prepare for charity events for their respective charities, connecting back to the plans that they made in their first week back in September. Crew Attenborough spent much of the day in the kitchen as they will be carrying out a charity event at G28’s presentation of learning later this term. More on this soon.

G29 also spent some of the day working on preparation for their SLCs (see below).

For Year 8 and 9, Crew Day was an important reminder that:

“We are Crew, not passengers, strengthened by consequential acts of service to others.”

G28’s Crew Day attended to wellbeing – mind, body and soul. Our students enjoyed sessions including:

• A Badminton Crew challenge
• Orienteering
• Advice on habits of mind that will support the step up to GCSE
• Yoga

Community Meeting

There was great excitement in our community meeting at the end of the day with Year 7 and 8 this week as students announced their crew names and crew charities. We also collected and shared appreciations from all crews: 

I will share appreciations with you when we collect them so you can see the character values our students appreciate in each other each week. 

Saturday with the Stemettes

On Saturday some of our students joined the Stemettes Vision Panel in Newcastle. This event ‘Dream, Listen, Connect’ gave young women the opportunity to hear from a panel of role models pursuing careers in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). Our Year 9 students enjoyed the opportunity to listen and ask questions to a panel of experts and meet other young people interested in STEAM careers. Ms Marshall, Ms Jamison and I were incredibly proud and impressed with the dedication our students showed to their learning and contributions on the day from Eleanor, Scarlett, Winnie, Penny, Olvia, Lily, and Lyra.

XPG Ofsted Report

As you know we had our first Ofsted Inspection 15th and 16th October 2024. We emailed this out to all parents and carers last week. If you haven’t seen the report yet, here it is.

There have been changes to how Ofsted report back to schools this year. A main change is that there is no final judgement for overall effectiveness, just gradings around the four areas of quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management. We are delighted with our written report which talks about what it is like to attend our school, what we do well and the area which has been identified for improvement. Please sit back and enjoy the read – this report belongs to us all and is a testament to the hard work of our staff, students and families. 

Our week ahead 

G29 Student Led Conferences

This week sees the start of SLCs for Year 9 students. All families should have booked their SLC slot. Please contact [email protected] if you need more support with this.

G28 Preparation for PoL

G28 continue preparations for their PoL for their studies of A Christmas Carol. This is an afternoon tea for members of the community that typically experience loneliness, especially around Christmas, all of which connects to their GQ: “Is charity enough?”

This week students received invites to the PoL for members of the community that may experience loneliness at this time of year. Each student has been asked to invite one person to the event. More details can be found on the printed invite.

Crew Frank are cooking in the kitchen tomorrow morning, and Crew Parks on Wednesday. Students do not need to bring ingredients, but it is worth wearing clothes that are older. Long hair needs to be tied back in a bobble please.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• For G30 students (Year 8)
  • G30 Class 2 students have PE on Monday.
  • G30 Class 1 students have PE on Thursday.
• For G31 students (Year 7)
  • G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday.
• All G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
• All G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

Staff Days – Friday 29th November and Monday 2nd December

We have a staff day this coming Friday and next Monday. The focus for these staff days are forward planning, especially our exciting new learning expeditions for term 2 from January. 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.

Looking ahead – important dates

POLs (Presentations of Learning) this term – dates for your diary 

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth at 4.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G29’s PoL will be on the evening of Wednesday 11th December at the Farrell Centre and Great North Museum in Newcastle University Campus at 3.45pm.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

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].

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

I look back on last week with a real sense of pride for the work our students are doing and the people they are becoming. The words of Kurt Hahn ring truer and truer every day

“There is more to us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less” 

On Monday, we observed our two minute silence for Remembrance Day.  This was signalled by Devin with a solo bugle call and a huge amount of courage . Students were also given the opportunity to listen to our remembrance broadcast on Memory Lane Radiothe opportunity to listen to our remembrance broadcast on Memory Lane Radio. If you have not yet done so, please take some to listen to this wonderful piece of work from G30.

At XP we work to ensure that our students grow their character, create beautiful work and achieve academic success. We develop our curriculum so that learning is relevant, purposeful and authentic and we encourage our students to be compassionate citizens, expanding opportunity so that they can impact positively on others both in the school and in the wider community. We work hard to nurture and develop an understanding of how kindness, empathy and concern for others must define us, as both individuals and also as part of society, if we are to create a more just and compassionate world. 

Our G31 students had an expert session with Clare Price who told us about the extraordinary life and character of her husband David, about whom G31 will be writing a folk song. This is one of a series of songs about local figures of importance in our region’s story. As we have said before, David was a friend of XP and instrumental in the story of our school. A huge appreciation to Clare for bringing lots of David’s possessions and speaking so beautifully about a wonderful man.

At the end of the week our students took part in conversations with several organisations working regionally, nationally and internationally. These each exemplify how our approach to personal development means that students develop in confidence over time, are confident to speak to a range of audiences and can hold their own in discussion about important issues of our time.

Our G29 students had an expert session with Kate Osborne Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow and Gateshead East as part of their current expedition  ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ and working to answer a guiding question ‘How are structures important in helping us to explain our world?’. As part of their work students have been looking at political structures in Government and been investigating housing policy of the Labour Party and other major political parties in the U.K. Our Year 9 really took the opportunity to ask Kate questions in discussions that covered climate action, sustainability, housing policy, immigration along with more personal questions around Kate’s passion for politics and the North East.

On Friday, Koen Timmers visited XP Doncaster to share his work involving young people and schools across the world on Climate Action. Koen set up the Take Action Global project and The Climate Action Project – with 5.3 million kids from 127 countries taking part. He has been nominated for the Bill Gates for the top ten Global Teacher Prize twice. Students from XPG Climate Action Group joined an online meeting with staff from across the Trust to hear Koen talk about his work and how XP schools could get involved. Our students will be updating our wider staff team in the near future about the The Climate Action Project and considering how XPG can get involved.

Our final example of activism in our students came from a group of G28 students who were amazing young delegates at a Humanist Conference on Poverty. The event brought together key individuals and organisations to share best practice: politicians, funders, schools, charities – including recipients of North East Humanists’ own microgrants scheme, and ‘Support and Grow’ who provide invaluable support in their local community. Our students’ maturity and contributions were praised by other delegates from many of the organisations present. 

Our week ahead 

G31 Music

Students are working with experts on Tuesday on the materials that will become the lyrics, harmonies and melodies for their folk songs. G31 families can look forward to hearing these live at St Mary’s church in our presentation of learning. They will then be recorded professionally and published to all of the big streaming sites. By the end of the academic year, all of G31 will be published songwriters.

G29 Expert

G29 are hosting an expert Michelle Bell who is Assistant Director of BCT (Byker Community Trust). This connects to their studies around structure of government and habitations and how these interact as well as modernist and brutalist art and architecture.

Michelle’s career in social housing spans 26 years that started at Newcastle City Council in 1995, followed by roles in Your Homes Newcastle and Homes England. Michelle joined the BCT project team in September 2011 and in July 2012 when BCT was formed, she became responsible for heading up Property Services within BCT.

G28 Preparation for PoL

G28 will this week start preparation for their PoL for their studies of A Christmas Carol. This is an afternoon tea for members of the community that typically experience loneliness, especially around Christmas, all of which connects to their GQ: “Is charity enough?”

Crew Stanton are baking tomorrow morning, and Angelou on Wednesday. Students do not need to bring ingredients, but it is worth wearing clothes that are older. Long hair needs to be tied back in a bobble please.

Crew Frank are baking on Monday 25th November, and Parks on Wednesday 27th next week.

Crew Day – Friday 22nd November

Every half term, we look to run a Crew Day which is an opportunity to ‘tend to and build’ crew and culture. Crew is our support network at XPG and key to the continued success of everyone at our school, we will revisit what it means to be crew and our responsibilities in getting everyone to the top of the mountain. In this week’s Crew Day:

G31 students will start their work on researching suitable people after whom to name their crews – people who have achieved great things and who display our character traits of courage, integrity, respect, craftsmanship and quality, and above all compassion.

G30 will start their work on  looking at which charity they want to support. Students will be putting together their proposals and pitching to the rest of their crew their choice of charity.

G29 will continue their activism work, the awareness raising and charity work they are planning to carry out this academic year. 

G28 students will focus on wellbeing and looking after their ‘mind, body and soul’. 

On Friday, students will work with their crew and Crew Leader for the day developing their team work, crew identity and wellbeing.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• All G30 students (Year 8) have PE on Monday..
• All G31 students (Year 7) have PE on Wednesday.
• All G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
• All G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

G29 SLCs

Year 9 will be carrying out SLCs in the fortnight commencing Monday 25th November. We will be in touch in the next couple of days to give you the opportunity to book a slot.

Looking ahead – important dates

Staff Days – Friday 29th November and Monday 4th December

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 on our calendar. 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.

POLs (Presentations of Learning) this term – dates for your diary – all now confirmed

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth at 4.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G29’s PoL will be on the evening of Wednesday 11th December at the Farrell Centre and Great North Museum in Newcastle University Campus at 3.45pm.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

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].

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

What a great first week back it has been! Our students have returned well and quickly got back into the swing of things, working hard and enjoying the great learning opportunities they have had this week. We’ve had some amazing expert sessions in and outside of school which continue to feed into current expedition work supporting our students in their response to their guiding questions.

G31 – How can stories influence and shape communities?

Work has started on our final product of folk songs – more below about an expert visitor this week. Students also have been continuing to learn about our region’s history including the reformation during the reign of Henry VIII and have also been continuing to learn about the particle model in science which was harnessed during the industrial revolution – another stop on our history of Gateshead and its place in Britain.

G30 – What does it mean to be human?

Our Year 8 students had a fantastic week, carrying out fieldwork at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Sheriff Hill and interviewed Humanist experts in school. The fieldwork connected to the work students have been studying in STEAM sessions on gas exchange and circulatory  systems. Students enjoyed hands-on sessions  in the Respiratory Simulation Room and met the clinical lead for organ donation. They also got the chance to see the area where their final art product “Reflecting Humanity” will be exhibited. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our students enjoyed their session with a Humanist expert who spoke to them about the Humanist belief that we have one life and therefore should ensure we make the most of our time on Earth by living the best life possible for ourselves and others, including future generations. As is always the case, the experts praised the high quality questions and discussions they had with our students and the maturity they demonstrated.

G29 – How are structures important in helping us to explain our world?

This week our Year 9 students worked alongside experts from Newcastle University making audio recordings of the built environment which will be manipulated so that they can be used as part of the audio installation that students will produce as part of the ‘Concrete Dreams’ exhibition at the Farrell Centre. In addition to the audio for the soundscapes that have now been recorded, students will be interviewing members of the community to collect oral histories of the iconic original car park on the Trinity Square site.

   

G28 – How did bonding help the Vikings forge a strong legacy? / Is charity enough?

Students this week were able to make connections between both of their learning expeditions in Year 10.

In Science they have been carrying out a required practical which requires the preparation of a pure, dry sample of a soluble salt from an insoluble oxide or carbonate using a Bunsen burner to heat dilute  acid and a water bath to evaporate the solvent. Students also reinforced the importance of: using appropriate heating devices safely, using appropriate apparatus and techniques, including a suitable choice of reactants and the safe use of equipment to purify mixtures. All of this is leading to students being able to analyse viking artefacts, based on connecting their properties to their chemical structure and internal bonding.

In HUMAN students had an expert session with local members of the Dickens Society, who were able to help students to make connections between themes in the book of charity, community and bonds, and also root these in the context in which Dickens was writing A Christmas Carol. More information soon on how students will put their learning to use in an event in school for our community designed to tackle loneliness at Christmas and beyond!

G30’s stunning Memory Lane Radio broadcast 

I think that the  biggest highlight of our week though must be our G30 radio  broadcast of unheard voices from WWI. This was played on Memory Lane Radio on Sunday 11th November at 11am as part of their Armistice Day programme. Listening to the beautiful voices and words of all 50 of our students was simply stunning, their writing was powerful and really emotive. If you didn’t get the chance to tune in on Sunday, here is the link to the recording.

I highly recommend you get a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy the 55 min programme.

Our week ahead 

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• All G30 students (Year 8) have PE on Monday..
• For G31 students (Year 7)
  •  G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday.
• All G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
• All G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

Extended Study and Clubs

Our clubs will all run this week (see schedule below) along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. Our before-school fitness and running clubs on Tuesday and Thursday will start at the earlier time of 7.45am this week.

For a small school, we offer a wide selection of enrichment opportunities to our students and this week we are adding Mandarin Club to the list. Please encourage your child to get involved in our clubs (lunchtime or after school) to explore their interests or find new ones. Being active or creative, learning new things and being part of a team helps connect us and boost our mental wellbeing.  

Working with experts, fieldwork and PoLs

G30

Our year 7 students are this week meeting with Clare Price, who is the wife of David Price OBE who sadly passed away in May this year. David was a friend and advocate of XP Gateshead and was a renowned figure in the world of education. As part of their final product, students in year 7 are writing folk songs about important local figures from our region’s history – and one of those songs will be about David. We look forward to being able to perform our songs to you in December at our PoL in St Mary’s church in Heworth

G28 – RS Conference: ‘Poverty – a Humanist Concern’  

A group of our year 10 students are attending a conference on Friday. The purpose of the event is to bring together key individuals and organisations to share best practice: politicians, funders, schools, charities – including recipients of North East Humanists’ own microgrants scheme, and ‘Support and Grow’ who provide invaluable support in their local community. 

Families of children that are attending have been contacted by Mrs Ross.

POLs (Presentations of Learning) this term – dates for your diary – all now confirmed

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth at 4.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G29’s PoL will be on the evening of Wednesday 11th December at the Farrell Centre and Great North Museum in Newcastle University Campus at 3.45pm.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

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].

Julie Mosley