Dear Families

Welcome back!

Next week we return to school for our first week back which is fundamental to us as an XP School. We will spend time introducing or reaffirming the importance of Crew which is the foundation of our culture at XPG, and take the time to build and tend to positive relationships in Crew through shared experiences and challenges. 

 ‘If we get Crew right, we get everything right’.

The activities in the first week back are carefully planned and bespoke to each year group. 

Arrival Times on Monday (Y11, Y10) and Tuesday (Y7, Y8, Y9)

We will be running a staggered start to the term for students across Monday and  Tuesday to ensure a smooth start back. 

Monday 24th August

On Monday we welcome our Key Stage 4 students back to school.

• G29 (Year 11)

• • Year 11 students will start at 10:30am and can arrive from 10:15am on Monday.
  • Please note that our Y11 Crews  will be undertaking fieldwork across Tuesday to Friday – more details below.
• G30 (Year 10)
  • Year 10 students will start at 11:30am and can arrive from 11:15am on Monday.

Tuesday 25th August

On Tuesday, our Key Stage 3 students return to school joining our older students.

• G33 (Year 7)
  • Year 7 students will start at normal time, 8:25am and can arrive from 8am on Tuesday.
  • As always, our new Year 7 students will be heading off to Ullswater for their Outward Bound experience – more details below.
• G31 (Year 9)
  • Year 9 students will start at 9:30am and can arrive from 9.15am on Tuesday.
  • Please note that our Y9 students will be undertaking fieldwork on Thursday – more details below.
• G32 (Year 8)
  • Year 8 students will start at 10:30am and can arrive from 10.15am on Tuesday.
  • Please note that our Y8 students will be undertaking fieldwork on Friday – more details below.

First week back guiding questions and fieldwork next week 

Each cohort has a different guiding question for the week with purposeful activities which help them to answer this question. As such there is no PE this coming week, but there is physical activity for all year groups as you will see below.

G33 (Year 7) students – Outward Bound Expedition

G33 students head off to Howtown, Ullswater for their Outward Bound Expedition and their guiding question for the week which is:

“What does it mean to be crew?”

Importantly, students will need a packed lunch and a £10 deposit with them when they arrive at school on Tuesday. See the detailed website post which has full information on travel, kit, medical requirements, communication and return time back to school on Friday.

G32 (Year 8) students

“How can we support each other to lead the learning of our new Year 7 Crew?”

As part of their first week back in school, Year 8 students will be planning fieldwork in our local area which will involve them retrieving and consolidating their learning from last year’s expeditions as well as evaluating the effectiveness of new fieldwork activities in order to support the learning of our new Year 7 cohort. 

G32 Fieldwork on Friday 28th August

To answer their guiding question, students will plan and risk assess a piece of fieldwork.

Students will complete the fieldwork during the school day on Friday 28th August and will be back in school for around 3.30pm.

Each Crew will put together a ‘Crew picnic’. Your child will be able to give you more details on how they plan to contribute towards this picnic.

G32 students should also be prepared for the weather conditions, so they must have their regular kit and in addition:

• Waterproof jacket
• Appropriate clothing for the weather
• Suitable footwear for a day’s walking in urban area
• Water bottle
• Suncream
• A cap or hat

G31 (Year 9) students

This week serves as an introduction to the types of challenges that year 9 students will face this academic year. Their guiding question for the week is:

“How do we form great habits to tackle initiatives as a Crew with increasing agency, independence and resilience?”

G31 Fieldwork on Thursday 27th August

See website post for full details

As part of their first week back in school, Year 9 students will be carrying out a hike in Northumberland around Wylam, learning how to navigate together on Thursday during the school day. As this is a hike, a consent form will go home to students on Tuesday.

Each Crew will put together a ‘Crew picnic’. Your child will be able to give you more details on how they plan to contribute towards this picnic.

Students will be travelling by metro and train during the regular school day and will return back to school for around 3:30pm. We will keep you updated on the school website of our expected arrival time.

G31 students will need the following kit for the day.

• Waterproof jacket
• Appropriate clothing for the weather
• Hiking boots or footwear that is suitable for a rural hike.
• Water bottle
• Suncream
• A cap or hap

G30 (Year 10) students

Students will be working together in Crews on their guiding question:

‘How can we ensure that our future selves will thank us for the next two years?’

There are two foci for the students for the week. The first of which is focussing on the step up to Key Stage 4 and how they need to adapt their Crew norms to ensure that they are supporting and challenging each other to be successful.

Secondly students will continue their thinking about careers and pathways, beyond Key Stage 4 to Post-16. As part of the week students will hear from experts and employers about what pathways are available to them and what employers and education providers are looking for in candidates.

During the week, students will also put together a CV based on their ambitions, strengths and skills to date, and on Friday they will have a mock interview with a professional who will give them feedback on how they present themselves, how they articulate their ambitions and reflect on themselves and how they respond to  questions. Year 10 students should wear more formal dress on Friday for their mock interviews.

G29 (Year 11) students – including fieldwork throughout the week

Year 11 students will have a week which focuses on

• Facing the challenges of Year 11 head on, and thriving!
• Developing resilience and being comfortable with challenge.
• Self-regulation techniques, good learner behaviors and target setting.

As part of this week students will complete a series of outdoor challenges at Whickham Thornes Activity Centre with their Crew Leader. Students will be travelling to the will travel there by minibus. A consent form will go home with students on Monday 24th August.

• Crew Nightingale will carry out the challenge on Tuesday 25th August.
• Crew King will carry out the challenge on Wednesday 26th August.
• Crew Watson will carry out the challenge on Thursday 27th August.
• Crew Attenborough will carry out the challenge on Friday 28th August.

For the day of their outdoor challenges G29 students will need the following kit:

• Footwear appropriate for sports as per PE:
  • Trainers, not baseball boots or plimsolls.
• Comfortable clothing such as:
  • Leggings or tracksuit pants. Jeans are not appropriate.
  • Waterproof jacket and a warm top. Fleece or hoody.
• A packed lunch for the day.

Regular Kit and dress code for this week

All students in Year 8-11 will need their regular kit for every day this week. They should also be in regular dress code for the start of school this week on Tuesday, just as in any other week. See our website post for a reminder on our dress code expectations.

A reminder that for day to day kit we expect students a school bag (backpack) with the following:

• A water bottle
• A fully charged iPad
• Headphones – ideally not expensive ones, for example here
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, pencil sharpener, purple pen and glue stick
• Notebook
• Reading book

School Lunches 

Students can choose to bring in a healthy packed lunch (no confectionery, fizzy or energy drinks) or have a school meal with us. Please note there must be no nut products in snacks or packed lunches – this is especially important as we have students in this cohort who are highly allergic to nut products.

Our school dinners are very popular with our students, thanks to our wonderful kitchen crew. Students make a daily food choice in crew each morning and we have a three week menu. For more on school meals this year, please see this detailed website post.

Staffing Update and Crew Leaders

Sevvandi Rajapakse (Mrs RJ) accepted a new job during the school holidays so, due to notice periods, will not return to XPG in the new term. She goes on to a Lecturer role at Newcastle College and I know that her work will have the same positive impact on staff, students and families as it has with us. I’m sure that you will join me in thanking Sevvandi for the high quality work she has done in supporting young people to access all areas of the curriculum and the care she has given.

Lauren Cadenas joins our teaching team on a permanent basis as a G33 (Y7) Crew Leader and teacher of PE.

Crew Leaders this academic year

A reminder that our Crew Leaders for this academic year are:

Year 7 – Gayle Crowder, Y7 Phase Leader

Our Year 7 Crew leaders – Leanne Diamond, Emily Bennet, Lauren Cadenas, Gayle Crowder

Year 8/9 – Tom Devitt, Y8/9 Phase leader

G32 (Year 8) Crews

• Crew Robson – Mel Girling
• Crew Booth – Amy Rawcliffe
• Crew Swan – Tom Devitt
• Crew Hepburn – Joe Allan

G31 (Year 9) Crews

• Crew Shakespeare – Stephanie Jamison
• Crew Windsor – Rebecca Jones
• Crew Pankhurst – Mr Azam
• Crew Curie – Mrs Carter

Year 10/11 – Emmy Tatters, Y10/11 Phase Leader 

G30 (Year 10) Crews

• Crew Einstein – Hannah Young
• Crew Kahlo – Tilda Macphail
• Crew Earhart – Emmy Tatters
• Crew darling – Rebecca Denny-Holmes

G29 (Year 11) Crews

• Crew King – Tim Macdonald
• Crew Watson – Katy Horne
• Crew Nightingale – Darren Mead
• Crew Attenborough – Hannah Simpson

Regular timetabled sessions

Regular timetabled lessons and new learning expeditions will start for Years 8-11 on Tuesday 1st September.

When they return to school from Ullswater, Year 7 will have two days in Crew on Tuesday 1st  and Wednesday 2nd September. This will give them time to further debrief their adventure, consider what it means to be Crew in academic sessions and further orient themselves in their new school and new building. They will start their new learning expeditions and timetabled sessions on Wednesday 2nd September.

There will be no clubs or extended study for the first two weeks of term.

We are really looking forward to welcoming all of our students back to school next week. 

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 for your ongoing support and a special thanks to our existing parents who have been sharing their XPG knowledge and expertise with our new G33 parents. Together we are definitely stronger #WeAreCrew.

Julie Mosley

Principal

Dear Families

We’ve made it to the end of another great term at XPG and the end of the academic year. Another week of greatness from staff and students alike, here are some of the highlights:

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Breaking Barriers Rochdale

On Monday we hosted Breaking Barriers XP Gateshead. Breaking Barriers is  a media production company whose work is rooted in amplifying unheard voices and bringing ambitious work to local streets and people.

They work with communities, young people and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds and lived experiences. For example in ‘Stories We Tell’ they turned the town of Rochdale into a canvas for a media production which served as a ‘love-letter’ to the town. We are looking forward to future partnerships with the organisation to further enrich our curriculum and learning expeditions.

G30 Expert – Dr Gordon Port

On Monday Dr Gordon Port from Newcastle University worked with G30 students to help them to address learning targets associated with biodiversity drawing upon his expertise in in vertebrates.

G29 Online presentation of Learning

Alongside Year 10 interactive media students, G29 have produced a documentary pulling together their learning from History and The Elizabethan Period. If you missed that you can watch the first part here.

G32 Presentation of Learning

G32 hosted a fantastic presentation of learning to close their year, which included a hosted gallery walk, and extracts from their book ‘What’s the Story of Our Community?’ which is now published and was launched at the event . This is a beautiful piece of work and now all of our Year 7 can say that they are published authors!

Community Meetings to close the academic year

At the end of the week we had a community meeting to celebrate our Sports Day winners which were:

• Year 7: Crew Booth
• Year 8: Crew Pankhurst
• Year 9: Crew Kahlo
• Year 10: Crew Attenborough

Each Crew also nominated an individual who had shown particular character during Sports Day and the nominees were awarded Gateshead Active vouchers for the summer holidays.

We also had what is becoming an annual event in the staff inflat-a-race. Staff and students bore witness to the pocket rocket that is Mrs RJ!

Finally we also celebrated reading, with students that have excelled in Accelerated Reader receiving awards and being entered into a lottery for a gift vouchers. Crews with the most words  read were also celebrated. The winners of our reading challenges were:

• Year 7: Crew Swan
• Year 8: Crew Curie
• Year 9: Crew Kahlo
• Year 10: Crew Attenborough

Wishing you all a safe and happy summer holidays

All crews were given reminders of safety over the break, especially in relation to water. Sadly again last week there were fatalities in our region where adults got into the water to assist children in distress. Please do talk to your children about staying safe this break.

It has been another momentous and magnificent year at XP Gateshead. We now look forward to a great summer break and sharing the successes of Year 11 on results day on Thursday 20th August.

A reminder that we have a staggered start on the first week back:

Monday 24th August staggered start for G29 and G30 students (Y10 and Y11)

• G29 (new Year 11) must arrive in school between 10.15am and 10.30am
• G30 (new Year 10) must arrive in school between 11.15am and 11.30am
  • G33, G32, G31 (new years 7-9) are not in school on this day.

Tuesday 25th August

• G31 (new Year 9) must arrive in school between 9.15am and 9.30am
• G32 (new Year 8) must arrive in school between 10.15am and 10.30am
• G33 (new year 7) must arrive in school between 8.00am and 8.25am
  • G29 and G30 must arrive at the normal time between 8.00am and 8.25am.

We will post more updates closer to the start of the term with reminders about kit, learning as well as any fieldwork for the first week.

Please do have a wonderful and restful break and enjoy spending time together as a family. We wish you all a lovely summer and look forward to seeing all our students in August.

A huge thanks to our Staff Crew for their dedication, and in particular we wish Mrs Downe , Miss Fielding and Ms Marshall the very best. 

Thanks to our students for their beautiful work and continued development of character in pursuit of excellence and academic success.

And, of course thanks to you for your ongoing support.

#wearecrew

Julie Mosley

Principal

XP Gateshead

Dear Families

Welcome to our final weekly update of this academic year. 

Last week was another exciting week for us at XPG with our G30 PoL (presentation of learning), our final Crew Day of the year, a Sports Day on Thursday which took place at Gateshead International Stadium and a chance for new G33 families to meet their child’s new Crew Leaders.

There was great work achieved as always last week and our students continued to work hard, get smart and be kind even as end of term tiredness kicked in. Seeing students work together supporting each other to be their best versions, leaning in on crew and culture was a real strength. An external consultant spent the day with us on Thursday for our safeguarding and attendance review and emailed this weekend to say:

”…as well as being a strong school, you are a strong XP school. Knowing all of the XP schools, I know what you’re about as a trust, and Gateshead really lives that”. 

We look forward to reading her full report when we receive it later this week.

Here are a some of the highlights from our week:

G30 What a Wonderful World PoL

On Thursday we enjoyed a fantastic evening with year 9 students and their families where students shared their final expedition products as well as their learning from their current expedition: What a Wonderful World, with the guiding question: “What is our relationship with the natural world?”.

The evening was structured in three parts, with poetry, artwork and a hosted discussion in our outdoor area. Thanks to all families that left feedback on our exit tickets:

“The PoLs just keep getting better and better”

“Impressive use of the school grounds to teach us more about our relationship with nature.”

“Beautiful poems, well read.”

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G33 Meet your child’s Crew Leader 

On Tuesday it was great to welcome back our G33 families to a final transition meeting of the year. Like our students, our new ‘family crews’ circled up and got to know XPG staff, each other along with some of the protocols we use at XPG. Can I thank all families for their time on Tuesday, especially our already established families who were on hand offering advice , guidance and support to new families.

Here is a link to a post with the slides from the event.

Crew Sports Day, Friday 10th July

On Friday we had our final Crew Day of the year, our Sports Day. The whole school travelled together by metro to Gateshead International Stadium to spend time in crews competing in field and track events. It was great to see staff and students enjoying time with their crew, supporting and celebrating each other. 

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This week

G32 Presentation of Learning, Tuesday 14th July, 4:30-6:00pm

We are looking forward to our final Year 7 PoL on Tuesday. Our students will be hosting a gallery walk sharing images and articles from their current expedition, Hold Back the River, which explores the guiding question: How does water shape our world? The evening will also feature the launch of our G32 students’ published book, What’s the Story of Our Community?, as promised back at our first POL in St Mary’s Church in December. Guests will be welcomed in our theatre space with a glass of spritz and a selection of sweet treats as we come together to celebrate the launch of this very special book showcasing the Beautiful Work of our G32 students. More details here.

G29 Presentation of Learning, Thursday 16th July 

As our final in person PoL for G29 won’t be held until their performance of Romeo and Juliet in term 1 of the next academic year, we are hosting a watch along of the digital final product they have created during the course of this term.

Our Year 10 students have created two episodes of the historical TV show ‘An Elizabethan Street Through Time’. This will be posted on the XP YouTube Channel at 4.30pm, and we would love everyone to watch along and leave comments praising the students hard work. Please enjoy our first TV show produced by students at XPG. Look out for a link later in the week.

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PE sessions this week

After a day of sports and physical activity on Friday, there will only be PE sessions for our Key Stage 3 students (Y7-9) this week. Our PE sessions this week are as follows, 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

No Extended Study and Clubs

Due to the Presentations of Learning we are not running clubs or extended study this week.

Staffing Update

This week we will be saying goodbye to three members of staff – Rebecca Marshall, Charlotte Fielding and Victoria Downes. Please see the staffing update posted last week for full details. 

As is always the case, it’s sad to see staff leave our school but we will always be grateful for the work they have done and the part they have played in shaping our school and its culture whilst they have been with us. I know that as parents and carers you will join me in thanks to these staff for the care and compassion they have shown to your children. 

Summer Holidays

We break up for Summer holidays this Friday 17th July. Please remember that, as always, our students finish at 1:30pm on Friday to allow staff to de-gunge and replenish rooms and teaching spaces ready for the new academic year.

Looking ahead

GCSE Results Day – Thursday 20th August

GCSE results day is the 20th August. Students and families will be welcomed into school from 9am to collect their results. We look forward to seeing all of our G28 students and families and celebrating our first GCSE results and the hard work and success of our G28 Pioneers. 

Return to school ready to start our new term

Our new term begins on Monday 24th August and we will run a staggered return to school to ensure all students have a strong start to the new academic year.

For next year’s full calendar please see this page. Make sure that you click on Gateshead calendars (and not Doncaster).

Monday 24th August staggered start for G29 and G30 students (Y10 and Y11)

Tuesday 25th August staggered start for G33, G32 and G31 students (Y7, Y8 and Y9)

We will share full details of timings for the first week back to school in a post later this week. 

Can I remind all parents of the importance of attendance at XPG – every day at school matters. If students are not at school, they are not forming positive habits and are not performing academically, there is a direct correlation between regular attendance and academic achievement.

As you are aware, at XPG we have  a five week Summer Break and a two week October half term break and we do not authorise pupils to take holidays during our school term times. 

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 for your ongoing support 

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

Often, when you look back on the week past it is hard to believe that so much can be achieved in a week and this is definitely the case for last week. So much achieved – our final GCSE exams, G28 art and photography invigilation, G30 working with IntoUniversity, our G31 PoL, G28 art and photography exhibition and our first XPG Live! 

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A simply stunning week which showcased the arts at XPG. And as always, the power of crew!

If you haven’t read the blog ‘Just another day… at XP Gateshead‘ written by Andy Sprakes last week, please take the time to do this. It’s a beautiful read about the great work of our students and the power they have. We get the chance to see your children and their greatness every day and see how hard they are working to produce beautiful work, grow their character and be successful academically. We also get the chance to see and hear them challenging and supporting each other to be better and, like staff here, our students ‘sweat the small stuff’ and have high expectations of themselves and their peers.  

There are always many to thank for the support they give to us at XP Gateshead and just last week the following individuals and organisations worked with our students and school. This week we thank:

• Adam Mitchell and the team at Castle Scaffold (Northern) Ltd who donated and delivered scaffolding boards so that our DT students can work with our new facilities Lead Mike Thornton to repair outside seating 
• Pamela Tatters who works with DT students every week on a voluntary basis to produce stunning high quality work and commissions. This week our students sold garden planters and seating at XPG Live and next week they will be sharing the decorations they have made ready for the G28 Celebration Evening on Thursday.
• Local North East band Leazes who headlined our first XPG Live event and had our students, staff and families dancing with wild abandon.
• Rob Kitchen from Gateshead Music Hub who worked alongside our Y8 students with Martin Said and Joe Allen. Rob was instrumental in introducing us to Kema Kay, a local writer, actor and musician who worked with our Y8 students to devise rap lyrics and Haaji Ka Halva from GemArts who ran music technology expert workshops with students to further develop and remix the music that they had written  ready to perform in their PoL on Thursday.
• Gateshead Headteachers Dr Andrew Fowler, Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy and Brendan Roson, Cardinal Hume Catholic School and their facilities team who kindly loaned display boards for our art and photography exhibition when our incomplete order arrived on Wednesday. 
• Local Artist Mike Domingue, who has loaned us his ‘Nine Earths’ art installation to display in school to further provoke discussion and promote deep inquiry into how we can better protect our planet and how students can educate the wider community to affect positive change in what is a key curriculum seam across all XP schools.

 

This week

G28 Final Word, Celebration Evening and last Community Meeting

This week we celebrate the work of our G28 Pioneers as their five years with us comes to the end. We have repeated the words of Kurt Hahn many times over the past 5 years to our G28 students

“There is more in 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.”  

Well G28 have definitely made us see it! They have worked alongside us to build our school and make our 3D curriculum aims (students produce beautiful work, develop their character and achieve academic success) a reality. As Pioneers, they have led the way, setting the bar time and time again as everything has been a first.

I often say that we have been building the boat, whilst sailing the boat and at times the boat has had holes in along the way but having a crew like G28 has allowed us to build our boat strong! And year on year they have led new crews joining us, modelling what it means to be a student at XPG, showing everyone what it means to be crew. 

See the recent post for more information on this week for G28.

End of Year Reflections from students

This week all Year 7 to Year 10 students will start work on a written reflection of the year which will be shared with you alongside their Crew Leader reflections and a final snapshot at the end of term.  

G29/30 Girls into Engineering – Tuesday 23rd June

On Tuesday of this week, a small group of students from Year 9 and Year 10 will be travelling via minibus during the school day to Durham University to take part in a ‘Girls into Engineering’ event. Students will need their regular kit and a packed lunch.

The students taking part are: G29: Winnie R. Scarlett S, Lyra A, Hallie W Eliza A-H, & G30: Evie N, Lily-Ann B.

G32 Rivers Fieldwork – Wednesday 24th June

On Wednesday of this week our Y7 students will be taking part in a fieldwork visit to study the River Tyne in support of their guiding question “How does water shape our world?”. 

Students will carry out Geography fieldwork skills, including basic data collection techniques and observational skills, through practical activities and investigations in our local river environment. For more details please see Mrs Ross’ post here.

XP Trust Festival of Arts, Doncaster – Thursday 25th June

Students that are involved in our Festival of Arts were given a letter to take home. This letter has more details around the timings of the day. If you have any questions please contact Mr Said. Since this fieldwork ends outside of the normal school day, please ensure that the reply slips are returned promptly.

The forecast for the day is warm and sunny, so as well as a packed lunch (an optional packed tea / snacks) students will need suncream and as always a filled water bottle is needed too.

G30 Pathways

Thanks to all of the families that have indicated their thoughts around pathways for G30 students as they start GCSE and Level 2 courses. If you have not already done so, please let us know your thoughts by completing this form.

Staff will be meeting this week to finalise pathways for next academic year. Crew Leaders will then be in contact with families to confirm finalised pathways, or to pick up where additional conversations with families are needed.

Staff will be meeting this week to finalise pathways for next academic year. Crew Leaders will then be in contact with families to confirm finalised pathways, or to pick up where additional conversations with families are needed.

PE sessions this week

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

• All of G32 (Year 7) have PE on Thursday
• All of G31 (Year 8) have PE on Thursday
• All of G30 (Year 9)  have PE on Monday
• All of  G29 (Year 10) have PE on Wednesday.

Staff Day – Friday 26th June

Friday is the first of our staff days this half term, the second is on Monday 29th June. Our staff team will be planning for next year’s expeditions. Students will not be expected to be in school on Friday or Monday.

Extended Study and after school clubs

After school clubs and extended study will run on Tuesday and Wednesday this week only due to staff meetings on Monday and G28 Celebration event on Thursday. 

Looking Ahead 

Staff day – Monday 29th June

Monday is the second of our staff days this half term (and the last this academic year).

Transition Days – Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July

We are really looking forward to welcoming our new G33 students into school on Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July for transition. Our new students will get a feel for XPG across these days where students will join us for two ‘regular days’ at XPG arriving from 8:00am for an 8:25am start and staying with us until 3:15pm. Our new Year 7 students will follow a typical day at XPG on both days which will include some crew sessions, expedition sessions and a community meeting. 

End of year assessments for G32, G31 and G30 (Years 7-9) 

As we come towards the end of the year, students will complete end of year assessments in all KS3 cohorts. 

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

“At XP, we build our community through activism, leadership and equity, sharing our stories as we go…”

This one ‘simple’ statement captures all of the work we do and the design of every aspect of our school:

• Building our community – “What do we do to survive, sustain and thrive… ?”
• Activism – How are we actively contributing to building a better world… ?
• Leadership – “How are we moving towards where we want to be … ?”
• Equity – “What do we need to be the best version of ourselves… ?”
• Sharing our stories – “How are we doing the right things, in the right way, with the right tools, and how can we show this to our community… ?”

Last week, as ever, there were many examples of staff and student work which brought this statement to life Here is just some of the great work from last week:

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G31 Experts in school

Last week G31 had a range of experts in school supporting them with preparation for their Presentation of Learning and their role in the first XPG Live event. A reminder that all Year 8 families are expected to be at school on Thursday afternoon and then other families can attend after school. For more details of those events please see this post.

Scott Boldt

On Wednesday, Dr Scott Boldt from The University of Cumbria and Big Picture joined our Year 8 students to help them to understand migration to and from and within the island of Ireland.

Our Chief Academic Officer, Andy Sprakes, has written about this fantastic opportunity for our students here.

Phosphorus Theatre

Also on Wednesday experts from Phosphorus Theatre worked with Year 8 students in a drama workshop which explored the lived experience of refugees. Out students have used this to help them to devise pieces of drama which will be performed to families this Thursday.

Kema Kay

On Friday of this week all Year 8 students worked with Kema Kay, a local writer, actor and musician to initiate the composition of a piece which will be performed on Thursday. Along with Rob Kitchen from Gateshead Music Hub, Kema supported our students to devise rap lyrics, using a piece of Punjabi music as a stimulus alongside ideas from their current expedition. This will be followed up tomorrow 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 have written.

G30 students visit to Northumbria University

As part of their continued preparation for Post 16 pathways and careers education, a group of our G30 students visited Northumbria University this week.

Our continued work with Newcastle University, Northumbria University and Durham University is indicative of our ambition for all students. A university pathway is something that all children should both consider and be prepared for.

Senor Pedro

On Friday last week we also had a native Spanish speaker in school, who worked with students throughout the day to help them to develop their speaking and listening. Thanks for Pedro for spending the day with us!

G29 and G30 Sports sessions at Gateshead College

On Friday this week, G30 and G29 students spent the day at Gateshead College Academy for Sport.  The day included access to a range of sports: cricket, rugby, football and athletics using the world class facilities at the college. Students met staff and student leaders from the college as well as participating in sports throughout the day.

This week is a bumper week in school

G28 GCSE exams

This week our G28 students will sit their final GCSE exams.

• Monday 15th June
  • Science – Physics Combined Paper 2 (1hr 15, am) 
  • Further Maths Paper 2 (1 hr 45, pm)
• Tuesday 16th June
  • Spanish  – Paper 4 (1hr 15, am) 45mins) 

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. These are in place for Spanish and Further Maths students during session 2 and 3 on Monday following the Science exam. All other students can leave site after the Science exam on Monday. Spanish students are able to leave site at the end of session 3 on Monday.  

G28 Art and Photography moderation

On Thursday this week, we have a moderation visit which will finalise the grades for G28’s photography and fine art GCSEs. A huge appreciation goes out to Ms Macphail and Mrs Carter who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to help students to fulfill their potential as well as managing the logistics of moderation and the subsequent exhibition of the students’ work.

For G28 Families coming to school, we must emphasise that this work is still live GCSE work. Therefore there are some quite strict protocols that must be followed to ensure that all families can enjoy the artwork in a way which does not compromise the students’ hard work.

• The exhibition will be supervised by XPG staff.
• Strict Social Media & Photo Ban: Families and students must not take photographs of the work, and no images of the artwork can be posted on social media platforms.
• The artwork must not be touched at all.

G31 Presentation of Learning – Thursday 18th June, 1:45pm – 3:10pm /

XPG Live, Thursday 18th June, 3:30pm-6:00pm 

Another reminder that on Thursday we have three important events in school. Both the Year 8 Presentation of Learning in the afternoon and our first XPG Live event after school are a celebration of the diversity and belonging within our community. We hope to see as many of you there as possible. As part of XPG Live G28’s artwork is also being exhibited (as per the note above).

For more details of those events please see this post.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. 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
• All G31 (Year 8) students have PE on Tuesday
• All of G30 (Year 9) have PE on Monday
• All of G29 (Year 10) have PE on Monday

Extended Study and after school clubs

After school clubs and extended study will run on Tuesday and Wednesday this week only due to SLCs and our XPG Live event. 

Looking Ahead 

G28 Final Word and Celebrations: w/c Monday 22nd June

We are really looking forward to seeing our Y11 students in school with their families across the week commencing Monday 22nd June to present their Final Words. Final Word is the last formal presentation that our students deliver at XPG. It provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their learning, celebrate their achievements, and consider how far they have grown their character at the end of their time at their XPG as well as their readiness to move on to the next phase of their education. As has always been the case with our G28 Pioneers, they will be the first students at XPG to complete Final Words and I am really excited to hear from all of our students and I couldn’t be prouder of them and their time with us at XPG. They have continued to set the bar showing us all that there is indeed more to us than we know!

Our G28 Celebration Evening (Prom) takes place on Thursday 25th June and the coach will be leaving from school to transport all students to Beamish Park Hotel at 6:30pm. The school site will be open from 5:30pm for students to get photos with others. The coach will be leaving Beamish Park Hotel at 10:30pm then arriving back at school at 11pm. Parents need to make arrangements to get their children home at this point.  

We will have a final G28 community circle on Friday 26th June at 2pm in school with staff and students to appreciate our G28 Pioneers and their XPG journey. This will finish at around 3:15pm. 

Staff day – Friday 26th and Monday 29th June

Friday is the first of our staff days this half term, the second is on Monday 30th June (these are our last staff days this academic year). Our staff team will be planning for next year’s expeditions as well as sharing their work this year in their Educator Led Conferences (ELCs – think SLCs for staff). On Friday we will also have our final G28 Community Meeting at 2pm.

Students will not be expected to be in school on Friday 26th, or Monday 29th 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

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

We come to the end of another strong half term where our students and staff have continued to embody the core principles of XP Gateshead: Working hard, Getting smart, and Being kind in service of Beautiful Work, Character Growth and Academic Success.

This is testament to the strength of our Crew culture and the high expectations we set.

A Note on Our G28 Pioneers

Our G28 Pioneers (Year 11) have continued to lead the way, showing maturity, determination, and resilience as they navigate their GCSE exams. They are now half-way through their final exams and to thank them for their efforts and dedication, we celebrated this half way point with fresh pizza and ice lollies out in the sun.

Staff will once again be offering revision sessions during the May Half Term break to ensure they are fully prepared for the final push.

Expedition Highlights and Community Impact

• Year 10 (G29): Students approached their first GCSE mock exams with admirable courage and commitment. They have started to reflect on their progress to date and look at next steps. These will be shared in their upcoming SLCs. They successfully completed a week of work experience in diverse fields such as engineering, retail, and education, receiving positive feedback from employers across the region.
• Year 9 (G30): Students culminated their ‘You Give Me Fever’ expedition by hosting a powerful Public Health Conference at the start of this half term, where they shared their expertise on health inequalities and created leaflets on alcohol dangers for local health centres. Their work is now well underway with this term’s expedition ‘What a wonderful world’ and already completed a geographical study around the Ouseburn.
• Year 8 (G31): Our students returned from a successful Crew Day where they developed leadership skills and prepared for charity bake sales, as well as engaging in important fieldwork at Windy Nook Nature Reserve. They are now immersed in their new expedition, ‘Is Migration worth the risk?’. In the rest of this term Year 8 will play a central role in our first XPG Live Festival in school. More on this very soon.
• Year 7 (G32): Students recently completed the demanding ‘Walk for Water’ Crew Day challenge, where they walked approximately 10 miles carrying 5 litre water bottles to raise funds, showing immense courage and compassion. This charity work aligned to their last expedition. This term’s  expedition, ‘How does water shape our world?’ is well underway with upcoming fieldwork improving local beach environments, and also studying our local river The Tyne.

Across Years 7 and 8, Student Led Conferences (SLCs) have continued, serving as vital moments in the deliberate development of character and seeing our students’ confidence and maturity grow.

School Culture and Community

The strength and spirit of our school culture are continually recognised; a recent visitor was “completely blown away” by the commitment students show to their learning and to each other. The investment in Crew remains our most important work, as it is the bedrock of our school culture and ensures that, as a community, we all support each other to get to the top of the mountain. This term we have also successfully navigated our first JCQ exam inspection and continued our transition work with our new G33 (Year 6) families.

We return to school on Monday 1st June 2026 at the normal time.

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

Another week of great work at XP Gateshead from staff and students alike.

Our G28 Pioneers are continuing to lead the way and set the standard for all students with their approach to GCSE exams. They have continued to show real maturity, determination and resilience and we could not be prouder of them. The spirit of crew has been strong across the whole school with the rest of our students showing respect and being mindful when moving around the school when the exams are taking place. 

This week we had a successful JCQ exam inspection. These inspections are unannounced and check a school’s compliance with exam regulations. This was a successful visit and we were praised for the quality of our work. A huge thank you and congratulations go to Mr Mead who is our Exams Officer, Mr MacDonald who provides exam admin support, our three new invigilators and our staff for their craftsmanship and quality. 

On Friday, our Year 11 students received their leavers hoodies and it was great to see them worn with pride during Friday’s History exam. Thank you to Mrs Dobson who coordinated the purchase of hoodies this year and Lily and Hannah for their work in distributing them.

G29 students return to us on Monday after a successful week on work experience and we are really looking forward to hearing all about their time in the workplace.

Students have experienced a range of placement in fields such as the charitable sector, engineering, architecture, retail, finance, education and more.

We have had positive feedback from employers and families. Thanks once again to all of the organisations and families that have supported this process.

As mentioned earlier this week, those students that did not manage to secure placements have been working in school this week on virtual work placements alongside training in  tech and media production. We will continue to work with families and organisations to organise placements for the next half-term, ideally in the week of 29th June.

This week

G28 GCSE exams

Exams continue for our Y11 students with another full week

• Monday 18th May
  • Science – Chemistry Combined Paper 1 (1hr 15, am)
• Tuesday 19th May
  • English Lit – Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Unseen Poetry (2hr 30, am)
• Wednesday 20th May
  • Religious studies – Component 2 Christianity (1 hr, pm)
• Thursday 21st May
  • English Language – 20th Century Fiction Reading, Creative Writing (1hr 45, 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. 

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

Like we did across the Easter holidays, we will be offering May Half Term Revision sessions for our Y11 students which will take place during morning and afternoon sessions.

Students who would like to attend revision sessions will need to arrive for the start of the advertised times in the morning and/or afternoon as the reception desk will not be staffed throughout the day. Students will also need to bring a packed lunch if necessary, they will be permitted to leave site between sessions if they are working across the day, however this is just a thirty minute break.

I am sure that G28 families will want to join me in thanks once again to the staff who have offered their holiday time to run revision sessions for our students. 

G29 return to school

This week students will return to sessions and start preparation for their upcoming SLCs in Crew. SLCs will take place in the fortnight commencing 1st June, and will include reflections from students on their work placements as well their mock grades.

Mock grades will be shared with students on Wednesday of this week.

Working with Northumbria University

On Monday experts from Northumbria University will be working with G29 students to look at study skills. We will be following up on sessions like these as we move towards GCSEs so our Y10 students are fully prepared for academic success next year.

A group of Year 9 students will also be working with our partners from Northumbria University in a session designed to promote thinking about university-life and study.

Our continued work with Newcastle University, Northumbria University and Durham University is indicative of our ambition for all students. A university pathway is something that all children should both consider and be prepared for.

G30 Ouseburn Fieldwork – Wednesday 20th May

On Wednesday 20th May, G30 students will be taking part in a fieldwork visit to the Ouseburn to explore interdependence within ecosystems.

The current forecast predicts sunny weather, with a chance of showers and temperatures of around 20°C. Please ensure your child comes fully prepared with:

• A full water bottle
• Rain jacket
• Suncream
• A sun hat
• Their full school kit
• Packet lunch

For more details please see Miss Jones’ website post.

G32 and G31 Student Led Conferences (SLCs) 

SLCs continue this week for our Year 7 and Year 8 students.

SLCs, like PoLs, are key moments in the development of our students and it is vital that parents, carers and families fully support SLCs. It has been wonderful to hear of the pride our families, staff and students have felt following SLCs last week and we look forward to hearing more this week.

Mr Said will be in contact with families of Crew Windsor with details for their SLCs which will take place in person in school following the half-term break.

G33 In-Person Information Evening, Wednesday 20th May at 6pm.

As part of our transition work, we have now met almost all our new students and their families online. This is a huge undertaking, as you can imagine but having 30 minute family meetings allows us to start getting to know our students well.

On Wednesday at 6pm, we will hold an Information Evening for all of our new families in Year 6. It is vital that all families attend as we will give important information about the Outward Bound course that takes place for all students at the start of Year 7 as well as our iPad scheme. In addition, we will address some of the misconceptions about our school so that families are completely clear on what we are: ‘A mainstream school with a relentless focus on beautiful work, character growth and academic success’, and also what we are not. There will be an opportunity for you to ask us questions too of course. Please see the website post for more details.

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 Clubs

Extended study and after school clubs will not be running this week due to exams, G32 and G31 Student led Conferences and G33 In-Person Information Evening.

Half term break starts Friday 22nd May 

We come to the end of a six week half term on Friday 22nd May and as always, we will finish at 1:30pm for our usual de-gunge. 

We return to school on Monday 1st June 2026. 

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