Dear Families

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

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

Guiding Questions

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

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

Presentations of Learning

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

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

This terms’ Guiding Questions and Presentation of Learning:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our week ahead 

G33 Fieldwork – Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th September

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

G33 Class 1 will be going on Monday 14th September

G33 Class 2 will be going on Tuesday 15th September

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

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

PE sessions this week

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

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

Extended Study 

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

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

Google Classroom

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

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

After School Extended Study sessions

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

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

Lunchtime and after school clubs

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

Staff Development Days

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

We welcomed all of our students and staff into school last week so for the first time, five year groups were all together. We are delighted by how our new G33 students have all settled into school and how students in other year groups have welcomed our new cohort, settled into their new classes and sessions and daily life of school. A Kurt Hahn quote that has continued to resonate with us over these last weeks is

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

We build our culture of crew at XP Gateshead so that all members of our school community are impelled to work together as a team, to pitch in, to help others. This happens in crew, in classrooms, during social times and at the start and end of the day. It was great to hear appreciations given in our first in person whole school community meeting on Friday by students from all year groups around our character traits. 

At the start of the year our focus is always culture, culture, culture and we all work hard to build a strong community where all staff and students support each other to be the best versions of themselves. Last week everyone stepped up to this challenge and it was great to see, feel and hear this from staff, visitors and our students. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Immersion and new expeditions 

Last week saw the start of  immersion for all new learning expeditions. Immersion 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 guiding question for the expedition. Guiding questions are revealed to students at the end of each immersion. 

G33 – Year 7

G33 started their week in Crews unpacking what they learned at Ullswater about ‘What it means to be Crew’ and considering how that is applied back at school with an additional question: “What will my learning be like at my new school?”

All Crews took time to curate their Outward Bound fieldwork and the individual journeys they had all taken along with the character traits they had demonstrated. They then spent time agreeing their crew norms and what they would look like, sound like and feel like in classrooms. 

G33 students have received their iPads. We hope setting these up has gone smoothly – any issues can almost always be sorted in school. Students have resigned our ICT acceptable use agreement, which helps to ensure that students use technology appropriately and most importantly safely.

A fully charged iPad is now expected as part of daily kit for G33 students, as well as headphones. We advise against buying expensive headphones. 

There is additional guidance for families here on setting up apple accounts to download additional apps, and also on how to set sensible boundaries at home using screen time functions and parental controls on your home Wifi router.

G32

G32 have started their immersion which included study of the human body through the emotional true story of Peter the human cyborg and also Bill Bryson’s texts “The Body: A guide for inhabitants” and “A short history of nearly everything”.They have been introduced to the text “Noughts and Crosses” by Malorie Blackman, studied various creation stories and considered what makes effective speeches.

On Friday they met with experts from the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which will be the home for their final product for this learning expedition.

G31

G31 started their new expedition by learning about the geography and history of Russia around the turn of the 20th century. Connected to this, and to build further background knowledge they have also been studying the atomic bombs that were dropped at the end of WWII, and have seen further evidence of the power of the atom by learning about the impact of the Chernobyl meltdown in the former Soviet Union. They have also used Ken Loach’s film “I, Daniel Blake” to develop questions and curiosity about how societal and governmental structures can impact on the way that we live our lives. 

On Friday our G31 students participated in local fieldwork to build on the virtual fieldwork they completed in school, collecting primary data to answer an enquiry question : “Are there inequalities on Gateshead High Street?”

G30

As part of their immersion, G30 students first discovered what the Vikings were not, where they looked at some of the misconceptions that people have of them. They also investigated a ‘Viking Horde’ to discover what artefacts they had, what materials they were made from and what it tells us about Viking lives. This also led to students considering how objects can tell a story which connects to their GCSE Art projects. We also did some close reading of travel writing to provide pupils with a background knowledge of Scandinavia, whilst deepening their understanding of literary devices. All of this supported by fieldwork to York Museum.

In Science immersion they have began to explore the properties of metals and what makes them useful, looking at simple extraction reactions that helped them revisit the reactivity series of metals.

In English, students have been considering conditions in workhouses such as that at Southwell to better understand the social and historical context of the novel ‘A Christmas Carol’.

G29

G29 have started the year with a really sharp focus in lessons, building on the work in their first week back about readiness for the challenges of an exam year. In this term they will complete the content for most of their courses and then there will be an even greater focus on revision from January.

 

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.

• G33 (Year 7),  have PE on Wednesday 
• G32 (Year 8) have PE on Thursday 
• G31 (Year 9) have PE on Tuesday 
• G30 (Year 10) have PE on Wednesday
• G29 (Year 11) have PE on Wednesday

 

Meeting our expectations

As you know, we are all crew at XPG and work together to ensure our students are successful in all aspects of school life.

Families have a key part to play in this and we ask for your support in getting our students into good habits, checking they have everything required each day and they come to school ready for learning. 

Dress code

As you know at XP, we believe that:

• Children need to learn to express themselves responsibly.
• Children are not all the same, so they should not be forced to look the same.
• Families would rather spend their money on clothes that their children can wear inside and outside school.

We do not have a school uniform however we do have a dress code and we ask our students and staff to dress appropriately and modestly.

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 (eg. heavy chains, thick sovereign rings, or false nails)
• Impractical footwear (e.g. sliders, flip-flops or high heels)

Can all families please read our website post on dress code so you are clear on our  expectations and can fully support these.

Kit List

It is really important that all students come to school ready and equipped to learn. As always, students need to bring a school bag with the following kit :

• A backpack or suitable sized sized bag to carry equipment
• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, pencil sharpener, purple pen and a gluestick
• A fully charged iPad (G29, G30, G31, G32 from Tuesday, G33 on the day following their distribution to students) and headphones (ideally not expensive ones, for example here).
  • The newer iPads have a USB C headphone connection.
• A notebook
• A reading book

Students also need to bring a healthy snack for break time – no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks please as we do not allow these in school. Please note there are to be no nut products in snacks or packed lunches. 

Mobile Phone reminder

Mobile phones are not allowed in school. Phones should be switched off and in school bags each morning. Students are not allowed to use mobile phones during the day . If you need to contact your son or daughter please do so via the school office at [email protected] or on 0191 4814360. 

Punctuality

All students need to be in school for an 8.30am start to sessions. They must arrive by 8.25am at the latest. There will be staff in school supervising so students can arrive from 8.00 am. The vast majority of our students had perfect punctuality last week but not all of them. Can all families please support us with our high expectation around punctuality to school. Crew Leaders will contact if there are ongoing issues where students and families need additional support.

Extended Study 

Teachers will start to set extended study this week and students will begin to build their extended study timetable. We will publish our extended study timetable at the end of the week so that you can fully support your child with their learning. 

After school extended study sessions will start next week and students attending these sessions must stay until the end of the session at 4.30pm. These sessions allow students to work with their peers and staff on extended study tasks in school where support is on hand.

Enrichment Clubs – lunch and after school 

We will be launching our new lunchtime and after school clubs programme next week and will be encouraging all students to get involved in an enrichment activity.

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

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

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

What a first week back we have had!

As I said last week, our first week back is fundamental to us in terms of introducing or reaffirming the importance of Crew, the foundation of our culture at XPG. Staff and students took time to build and tend to positive relationships through many great experiences and challenges reminding each other that:

Year 7 (G33) first week back – What does it mean to be Crew?

Our G33 students have had a fantastic week at Ullswater finding out what crew means. I hope they returned to you full of tales of their outward bound adventures and new friendships. Across the week, students began to form strong bonds with their crew and new crew leaders, supporting each other to rise to every challenge set. We could not have been more impressed by our new year 7 students. The level of challenge meant that all Crews had to support and challenge each other to do more than they thought possible. They were compassionate, courageous, respectful and showed integrity in equal measure across the week. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Year 8 (G32) first week back – How can we support each other to lead the learning of our new Year 7 Crew?

Our G32 students returned to school strong and Y8 Crew Leaders were blown away by the quality of student work, depth of thinking, collaboration and leadership shown by students across the week. There is no doubt that Y8 students will continue to work with us across the G33 transition to ensure that our new students are welcomed into XPGateshead and are quickly part of our school community. 

Unfortunately Friday’s fieldwork which was planned by G32 ready for our new Year 7 expeditions to come had to be postponed due to the  weather forecast. Year 8 did get out to the local  nature reserve at Windy Nook to create and complete outdoor crew challenges which can be used for other crews. The postponed fieldwork will take place in coming weeks, details will follow.

The work of G32 last week is a fantastic example of student leadership with students co-constructing learning with their peers and adults in school. The G32 teaching team are delighted with the fieldwork planning and the resources that have been made which are indistinguishable from that of adults. 

Year 9 (G31) first week back – How do we form great habits to tackle initiatives as a Crew with increasing agency, independence and resilience?

Our G31 students showed real strength and character last week returning to school displaying greater maturity and a clear sense of purpose. They were challenged to rethink how they best work as crews and the norms they use, starting to strategically plan crew charity events they’d like to run this year and prepared for fieldwork reconnecting with the Outdoors. See last week’s post.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Year 10 (G30) first week back – How can we ensure that our future selves will thank us for the next two years?

Our G30 students really stepped up to the challenge last week, working in Crews to consider how they will support and challenge each other to be successful over the next two years of GCSE. The week also provided lots of opportunities to continue their thinking about careers and pathways, beyond Key Stage 4 to Post-16. 

Y10 students also worked on a first CV based on their ambitions, strengths and skills to date, and on Friday they had a mock interview with an external professional who gave  them feedback on how they presented themselves, articulated their ambitions and responded to questions asked during the interview. Again, we raised the bar on our expectations and our students stepped up! The feedback we received from all interviewers was exceptional, commenting on our students’ maturity, confidence and the focus they had on their future success.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Year 11 (G29) first week back – How can we nurture the best version of our future selves?

Our G29 students enjoyed a week-long journey developing their resilience and exploring what it means to be an independent learner,  taking ownership of their own education by consciously thinking about how they learn and actively seeking ways to improve. They learned that resilience isn’t a solitary trait but a collective strength. As crews they faced challenges together, building trust and discovered that a strong crew provides a vital support system for overcoming adversity. It was great to see confidence and belief growing across the week, especially with academic challenges. A great start to their final year as they move closer to final GCSE exams.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our week ahead 

G33 students (Year 7) 

Students will be working in their Crews on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (morning session) reflecting on their Outward Bound experience and thinking about what Crew looks like in the classroom and around our school, and how learning will work at their new school – especially learning through expeditions.

We will hand out iPads to G33 students this week.  These will come with instructions on how to set these up on the school management system which is a fairly straightforward process. Students will need to set these up at home on the evening they are handed out.

Look out for an additional post about the iPads. This will confirm the day that they handed out and will explain how to set up the iPads, including important information on how to make sure they are protected in their cases too.

On Thursday, students will find out their new classes and Immersion for their new learning expedition will start.

G32 students (Year 8) 

After a Crew session on Tuesday, students will begin a week-long immersion for their new learning expedition this week. G32 have their first PE session on Thursday so will need PE kit please.

G31 students (Year 9) 

After a morning Crew session, students will begin immersion for their new learning expedition this week. G31 will have their first PE session on Friday this week so students will need their PE kit.

On Friday, G31 will carry out a Geography Fieldwork in Gateshead locality as part of their immersion. They will also watch the film I, Daniel Blake, please see the website post for more details.

G30 students (Year 10) 

After morning Crew sessions, students will begin immersion for their new learning expeditions this week. There are no PE sessions planned for G32 this week. 

On Wednesday G30 students will travel to York to carry out fieldwork as part of their immersion. Please see the website post for more detail.

G29 students (Year 11) 

After morning Crew sessions, students will begin immersion for their new learning expedition this week. G29 PE sessions take place on Wednesday so students will need their PE kit. 

Making the right start

All students need to be in school for an 8.30am start to sessions so they must arrive by 8.25am at the latest. There will be staff in school supervising so students can arrive from 8.00 am.

We will finish formal sessions at 3.15pm and there will be no extended study or activities after school this week. 

Kit List

As always, students need to bring a school bag with the following kit :

• A backpack or suitable sized sized bag to carry equipment
• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, pencil sharpener, purple pen and a gluestick
• A fully charged iPad (G29, G30, G31, G32 from Tuesday, G33 on the day following their distribution to students) and headphones (ideally not expensive ones, for example here).
  • The newer iPads have a USB C headphone connection.
• A notebook
• A reading book

Students also need to bring a healthy snack for break time – no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks please as we do not allow these in school. Please note there are to 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. 

Mobile phones are not allowed in school. Phones must be switched off and in school bags each morning. Students are not allowed to use mobile phones during the day . If you need to contact your son or daughter please do so via the school office at [email protected] or on 0191 4814360. 

Safe arrivals and exit from site

Cars and parking outside of school

The start of a new academic year is always busier at pick up and drop off, with new Year 7 students getting used to making their way to and from a new school, and all students finishing at 3.15pm until extended study and clubs are up and running.

Please can you ensure that you consider our neighbours when parking and do not block any pathways or drives onto their properties. Of even more importance is the safety of our students when crossing the road outside of school. Please leave space by the barriers outside of the main gates, as we have staff here who can ensure that children are crossing the road safely. With a clear road here we will more easily be able to see any approaching traffic.

Cycling to school

We are really pleased to see so many of our students cycling or scooting to school. Can I remind parents that if  students are to bring bikes or scooters to school then they must have a bike lock. In terms of safety, students should also have a bike helmet. Please check that your child’s bike is in good condition frequently.

Please note that electric scooters (e–scooters) are not allowed in school or as a means of getting to school. This includes all other  ‘powered transporters’ too such as hoverboards and electric unicycles.

Lunches

We are a no nut school. This is very important as we do have children with severe allergies.

Students can choose to bring in a healthy packed lunch (no nut products, confectionery, fizzy or energy drinks) or have a school meal with us. 

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. Here is a link to this year’s new menu – this week we start on week 1.

If your child receives a free school meal, we will provide lunch. Please contact the school office at [email protected] if you have any questions around school meals or paying for meals via ParentPay. New families and parents of Year 7 will receive a letter which gives details of how to add your child’s XPG lunches to a parentpay account. This will be sent home with your child.

We are really looking forward to welcoming all of our students tomorrow. 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 again to those parents who have been supporting our new G33 parents with their XPG knowledge and expertise. 

Julie Mosley

Principal

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:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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