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

Dear Families

Another week of great work at XP Gateshead, even though we only had 4 days in school! 

Last week there was a lot of hard work from staff and students alike at XP Gateshead. Character growth alongside academic progress and beautiful work is at the core of our ‘Three Dimensional’ approach for students, staff and leadership, including governance. 

The Importance of Crew at XP Trust

Our design principles at XP Trust are summarised in one sentence:

We build our community through activism, leadership and equity, sharing our stories as we go.

Crew is integral to our school’s approach and has been designed with the above in mind as is articulated in our core practices document:

“The cultural heart of XP is expressed through the concept of Crew. This concept is pervasive and runs through everything we do from dedicated Crew sessions, through our curriculum, to the way we enable student and staff voice. Crew is our culture and promotes and sustains the building of community. Crew empowers our students and staff to be activists; to develop their leadership skills; and to be champions of equity. The measure of success in our Trust is weighed through service and kindness as well as the academic success of our children. Crew allows everyone associated with our Trust to become part of something bigger than themselves and fosters a sense of community and belonging, reflected in the stories we share with each other every day.”

If we get crew right, we get everything right!

Our Crew Days each half term give us a chance to revisit character development. They allow us to take time to reaffirm the importance of Crew, building positive relationships through shared experiences and challenges. Students at XPG are ‘Crew not passengers’ and it is vital that we continue to build our crews and culture strong as this is the bedrock of our work at XPG.  

On Friday students across Y7, 8, 9 and 10 spent time together revisiting the importance of crew, taking time to tend to, challenge and build crew with a different focus for each year group. Our Y11 students will get a chance for their final crew day before the half term. 

G32 Crew Day – Walk for Water

G32 Crews carried out a day of fundraising on Friday completing the Walk for Water challenge linked to their studies from the last learning expedition “Staying Alive”. Across the day, many students walked the equivalent of approximately 10 miles, carrying 5-litre bottles of water around repeated 170-metre laps of the school yard. Each crew worked together to carry five 5-litre bottles for the entire course, taking turns and supporting one another every step of the way. For more details, see the website post. 

There is still time to donate – please click on this link if you would like to do so. Thank you to everyone who donated, encouraged and cheered our students on today. They should all feel immensely proud of what they have achieved.

G31 Crew Day 

As our Year 8 students develop and mature, we challenge them to get stronger together developing their leadership skills and charity work. Throughout the day they prepared for charity bake sales in school this week, and then in the afternoon worked together as crews to create natural art in Windy Nook Nature Reserve. If you take a walk through there, you will see our students’ work before nature reclaims it over the coming months.

G30 Crew Day 

On Friday our Year 9 students worked in Crews exploring the Windy Nook Green Corridor to answer the question: “What is our relationship with the species on our doorstep in the local green corridor?” The day combined an ecological survey, environmental stewardship, and navigational challenges.

Across this year G30 students have had additional crew sessions learning new skills, volunteering and getting physical. Our curriculum at XPG is set up to develop the skills and attitudes young people need to become more rounded, confident adults. Qualities that colleges, universities and employers are attracted to and will not only strengthen the character of our students, but will strengthen their CVs too. 

G29 Crew Day

Crew Day for our Year 10 was all about getting ready for their work experience placements taking place this week. 

Our students enjoyed a morning session with the great Alfie Joey (writer, comic, artist/cartoonist and BBC Radio Presenter) who talked about the power of public speaking and how best to present yourself in new situations. 

Following their morning keynote,  students spent the day preparing themselves for the world of work. In anticipation of work experience starting next week, students spent time discussing and researching workplace norms and participating in roleplay to familiarise themselves with employment situations. They took responsibility for contacting their new temporary employers to confirm and finalise details of their placements.  

A game of rounders at the end of the day gave students the chance to enjoy time together in their crews. 

We also saw a pancake party for Crew Attenborough to celebrate Sir David’s 100th birthday and a home-made pizza party in Crew Stanton (G28).

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This week

G28 GCSE exams

This week our Y11 students face a full week of GCSE exams:

• Monday 11th May English Literature component 1 (Romeo & Juliet, Poetry)(am)
• Tuesday 12th May Religious Studies Paper 1 (am), Science – Biology (pm)
• Wednesday 13th May Geography Paper 1 (am)
• Thursday 14th May Mathematics Paper 1 (am)
• Friday 15th May History Paper 1 (am)

A huge thank you to staff and students alike for their hard work and the support they have shown each other. I know that our students have really appreciated the staff support and the timetable changes in place to allow focused revision sessions prior to exams. 

Good luck to all of G28 – you have got this!

G29 Work Experience

This week the majority of our Y10 students are on work placements.

This is an important rite of passage for our students and we wish them every success. We would like to thank the families and organisations that are supporting our students this week too.

If there are any queries about your child’s placement please call the school office or email Mr Said [email protected]

Students that have not yet secured placements, or have placements in different weeks must attend school as normal for the week. Tomorrow students will be carrying out media production training with Mr Hewitt which will support their studies in the current Year 10 HUMAN expedition. Following this there are a range of activities across the rest of the week.

G32 and G31 Student Led Conferences (SLCs)

SLCs start for our Year 7 and 8 students and their families this week. Students have worked hard to prepare for their conference, preparing to share their recent work, evidence of work around the pledges they have shared and responses to the questions parents and carers have asked to be addressed in the conference. Please can I remind all families that SLCs, like PoLs, are key moments in the development of our students and it is vital that parents, carers and families fully support SLCs. 

You should already have received an email from your child with an updated snapshot and a link to ask questions of them in advance of the SLC. Here is that link if your child has not yet sent that on to you. You will also receive a link to sign up for a time slot from your child’s Crew Leader. Please contact [email protected] if you do not receive this.

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
• G28 students (Y11) 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 and G32, G31 Student led Conferences.

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

Here we are at the end of our first May Bank Holiday weekend. I hope you have enjoyed the additional family time this weekend.

Last week saw a lot of hard work from students across all year groups and a highlight for me was the way all of our students have supported the G28 Art and Photography exams as well as G29 mock exams which took place last week. 

Our Year 11 students continue to show real determination as final exams approach. Last week we saw all G28 students complete 10 hours of assessment in art exams. These exams represented the culmination of months of preparatory work (worth 40% of their final GCSE grade) and students produced a final, focused outcome based on their chosen theme. 

Last week, Year 10 students sat their first GCSE mock exams which they approached with maturity and commitment. Their courage was admirable as they had their first real experience of GCSE exam papers and conditions and they deserve full congratulations. We will be working with them to make sure they understand that this is the start of their journey and we will be supporting them all the way. In the coming weeks after marking and moderation takes place, we will share the mock results with students along with our predictions at this stage for their final outcomes next year. 

I also want to congratulate our year 7, 8 and 9 students for the respect, compassion and support they have shown our older students. As a community we all support each other to get to the top of the mountain at XP Gateshead.

Ellen McGonical, a visitor in school last week, shared her reflections after spending time with our students, which included the following:

“I was completely blown away by XP yesterday.  From the moment I walked through the doors, I felt the strength and spirit of the school, it radiates from every corner of the building and every student I met.”

“What stood out so powerfully at XP is how much everybody cares – about their learning, about each other, and about the world around them.”

“XP is far from ordinary. This is education at its most thoughtful and impactful – an environment where young people are empowered not just to succeed, but to care deeply, think critically, and truly thrive”

 

G33 Transition – Online family meetings

We have enjoyed meeting many  of our new students and their families this week online. Family meetings will continue this week. This is all part of us getting to know our new students and their families as much as possible before they start with us on Tuesday 25th August 2026. Please see our recent website post for full details on our transition timeline for 2026 (shown below).

G32 and G31 Getting ready for Student Led Conferences (SLCs)

Our Year 7 and 8 students have started their preparation work for SLCs which take place over the fortnight beginning Monday 11th May.

Please note that we expect all families to attend SLCs. These, like PoLs, are key moments in the deliberate development of character for our young people and it is vital that parents, carers and families are present to support these events. 

You should have already received an email with an updated snapshot from your child and a link to ask questions of them in advance of the SLC. Click here for that link if your child has not yet sent that on to you.

We will be in touch with families of Crew Windsor in G31 soon with plans for their next SLCs.

You will also receive a link to sign up for a time slot from your child’s Crew Leader this week. Please contact [email protected] if you do not receive this.

Saying Goodbye to Suzanne Purdy

On Monday we found out that Suzanne Purdy, our school chef, was leaving us. Suzanne worked for Gateshead Council catering services and has been part of the team supporting us since we started XP Gateshead back in September 2021. 

Suzanne has cared for us all, looking after students and staff alike every day. She has led her teams across the last 5 years producing meals for our whole school community, keeping us all nourished. Suzanne has really cared about every young person at XPG, showing kindness and compassion for all. 

Like staff, our students were sad to hear the news that Suzanne was leaving XPG and we will look to celebrate her time with us in the coming weeks. We wish Suzanne every success in her new role and thank her for commitment to XPG and the care she has shown our students.

This week

G28 Exams – Health and Social Care / Sport

This week Health and Social Care, Sports and Entry Level English exams take place. A huge thank you to Mrs Diamond, Mr Devitt and Ms Young for all of their hard work and support they have given our Y11 students. Our students have really appreciated their support.

PE sessions this week

There are some changes to PE sessions this week due to the bank holiday and Crew Day on Friday.

• 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

Crew Day – Friday 8th May 

Every half term, we run a Crew Day which is an opportunity to ‘tend’ to crew and culture. Crew is our support network at XPG and key to the continued success of everyone at our school. We will revisit what it means to be crew, and our responsibilities in getting everyone to the top of the mountain. The investment in crew is the most important one we make – if we get crew right, we get everything right!

We will put out separate posts this week for each year group to give further details of each Crew Day and the kit needed for each year group.

Extended Study and Clubs

Extended study and after school clubs will be running Tuesday to Thursday this week.

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

Last week saw a lot of hard work from students across all year groups. Our culture at XPG is underpinned, fortified and sustained by our Character Traits and our Habits of Work and Learning

The character traits are a manifestation of the values and attributes we want everyone involved with XP (students, staff, families and wider partners) to develop and share, and our HOWLs are the habits, attitudes and behaviours we want our students to acquire and hone during their time at XPG so that they are ready for the world beyond school. 

In Community Meetings this week it has been great to hear students celebrating and reflecting on Character Traits and HOWLs when making their appreciations, apologies and stands. 

 

The Day

We have recently taken up a subscription with ‘The Day’  is a leading digital literacy resource providing schools with daily, unbiased current affairs to boost literacy, critical thinking, and debate.

This resource will be incredibly helpful to us in school in support of our text-rich curriculum, depp guiding questions and curricular seams and to provide reading and discussion points in Crew around current affairs and aspects of our Crew curriculum such as PSHE and RSHE.

This resource is available to all students from the homepage on the XP Gateshead website by clicking on the “TD” icon. You can also access from home using the link that will be sent out in a separate email from our Office. Please do try this wonderful resource, it would be great to hear from families that have been reading together at home.

Summer term expeditions 

G32 and G31 students have all had their Summer expeditions and guiding questions revealed and have made a great start to these new expeditions. This term’s expeditions and guiding questions are:

Year 7: How does water shape our world?

Students will investigate how river and coastal processes shape the land and the species that live in these ecosystems. They will also study a range of literature inspired by water 

Year 8: Is Migration worth the risk?

Students will look at push and pull factors that lead to migration, and will study some cases where conditions have led people to seek refuge such as war or climate change, as well as economic factors such as rural to urban migration in India. 

Year 8 students also had a further session with Into University where they looked at self-discipline and what is needed to succeed at university-level study.

New expeditions

Year 9 and Year 10 are both currently in the immersion of their new learning expeditions, more details to follow next week, including exciting news about the Year 8 final product and presentation of learning.

As part of their immersion, Year 9 this week carried out a Conference of the Parties, with each student taking the role of representatives from nations with different and sometimes opposing interests with regards to the changing climate and decarbonisation.

Year 10 used grid references and the features of our school site to create a Geographical fieldwork enquiry, all in the space of two hours!

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Year 11 Final Exams

G28 students have continued to work hard preparing for their final GCSEs. This term already our Media students have completed their non-exam assessment and last week our Spanish students completed the speaking section of their final GCSE. Our G28 pioneers continue to be role models for the rest of the school in the way they are approaching their final exams and the focus they display in every session and revision class. 

The exam timetable is here:

You can get further advice on supporting your children on our Revision Website. Navigate to Parents, GCSE Revision.

 

You can get further advice on the local offer for Post-16 on our Careers Website. Navigate to Students, Careers, Personal Guidance.

This week

G28 Art and Photography GCSE Exams

On Wednesday and Friday our Year 11 students will complete 10 hours of assessment. The art exam represents the culmination of months of preparatory work (worth 40% of their final GCSE grade). During these supervised hours, students will produce a final, focused outcome based on their chosen theme.

A huge thank you to Mrs Carter and Ms MacPhail for all of their hard work and support they have given our Y11 students. Our students have really appreciated their support.

G29 Mock Exams

This week our G29 students will get their first real experience of GCSE exam papers in exam conditions. This is the start of their journey to final exams and we will be supporting them all the way. In the coming weeks after marking and moderation takes place, we will share the mock results with students along with our predictions at this stage for their final outcomes next year. G29 mock exam week schedule is linked here.

G33 Transition – Family meetings

Transition has started for our new G33 cohort. We are really looking forward to getting to know our new students and families this week as online family meetings take place for every child with their family. Families will receive invites to these meetings in the coming days.

PE sessions this week

There are some changes to PE sessions this week due to exams and staff interviews. Please make sure that your child has their full PE kit for sessions.

• G32 students (Y7) have PE on Wednesday this week
• G31 students (Y8) have PE on Tuesday this week 
• G30 students (Y9) have PE on Monday this week with an additional session for Class 1 on Wednesday
• G29 students (Y10) have PE on Monday this week.
• G28 students (Y11) have PE on Monday this week

Extended Study and Clubs

Extended study and after school clubs will be running Monday to Thursday as usual this week.

If you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance. 

Thank you as always for your ongoing support.

Dear Families

It has been a strong first week back at XP Gateshead with some great work from students and staff alike. We have had several visitors in school this week who have all commented on how confident and articulate our students are when talking about their learning, the strength of relationships at XPG which mean our students are safe, are known, feel seen and valued.

G32 and G31 students have all both started their Summer expeditions and have made a great start  – guiding questions will be revealed this week.

G30 and G29 saw the culmination of their Spring expeditions:

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

G30’s expedition ‘You Give Me Fever’’ culminated on Wednesday last week in a Public Health Conference  where students shared their knowledge and expertise on public health health inequalities in Gateshead today, looking at the correlation between disease and deprivation. Experts invited to the conference included local politicians, NHS experts and health charities and they were blown away by the quality of work produced by our Year 9 students and the confidence they showed when sharing their knowledge. The leaflets on the dangers of alcohol our students have produced were on display and are heading to printers now so local health centres and hospitals can stock these and share them across our community. 

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Year 10: Are we really free to choose?

G29 travelled to Newcastle Sixth Form College on Friday for their presentation of learning for their expedition ‘Act Naturally’. Families and guests enjoyed watching and voting on a debate between classes, dealing with some of the issues that have arisen during term two studies. During the afternoon our students got the opportunity to tour College facilities and find out more about the courses on offer at Sixth Form and student life.

It was a great afternoon for our Year 10 students and they conducted themselves with real maturity. A special mention goes out to those groups who picked up the load for absent students on the day. G29 are really starting to step up, facing challenges head on and showing real resilience. These skills are crucial now as we move towards mock exams in readiness for final GCSEs. 

XPG get their voices heard and demand change on a regional stage 

On Thursday, 12 of our Y9 and Y10 students presented a keynote at a North East Conference at the Baltic, Brighter Future, Young People in the North East. Yet again, our young people were amazing and we have had feedback from many organisations and experts who attended the conference praising students’ confidence, quality and the beautiful work they shared from the last three years of our Public Health Conferences. To get young people’s voices heard and listened to around issues of social justice is key if we want our students to affect positive social and cultural change.

This week

New Expeditions for G30, G29

This week sees the start of new expeditions for our Y9 and Y10. Immersion will take across the week and students will be working hard to find out what their new guiding questions are and the challenges and new learning their expeditions will bring.

PE sessions this week

There are some changes to PE sessions again this week due to staff training and G28 exams.Sessions will be caught up in the coming weeks. Please make sure that your child has their full PE kit for sessions.

• Year 7 
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Wednesday this week
• Year 8 
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Tuesday this week.
• Year 9 
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Tuesday this week.
• Year 10 and 11 will not have PE this week as Mr Devitt is not in school on Monday.

Extended Study and Clubs

After school sessions will all start again this week.

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

Welcome back, we hope you have enjoyed your Easter break.  We are really looking forward to welcoming our students back tomorrow for the start of our Summer term at XP Gateshead.

Passage feedback from G30 families 

We would also like to gather feedback from G30 families following last term’s Passage Presentations so would appreciate your time in completing the following form.

You can give us your feedback by clicking here.

Important reminders for a good start back to school…

Punctuality

School opens at 8:00am every morning. Students should arrive between 8:00am and 8:25 am and there are spaces available for socialising, reading or completing extended study. Students must be on site for 8.25am for the call to Crew. A calm start to the day is really important for students to settle into learning so we ask that parents support their child with this. 

Dress code

Please refer to our website post for full details on our dress code. Can I remind parents of the following expectations around daily dress within school and ask for your full support around this as we move in to a new term 

For a normal day within school, it is not appropriate that students wear:

• Hats, hoods & coats inside school
• Revealing clothing, i.e. revealing the midriff, chest or upper thigh
• Noticeable make-up, including false eyelashes
• Valuable, sentimental or impractical accessories / jewellery
  • For example heavy chains, thick sovereign rings, or false nails
• Impractical footwear:

• For example sliders, flip-flops or high heels.

Daily kit list

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

• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, pencil sharpener, glue stick and purple biro pen. 
• A fully charged iPad.
• Their AR reading book (please remember that as part of our reading strategy, we expect all students to read between 20-30 mins. each day)
• Headphones 
• A healthy snack for break (no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
• A notebook

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

Attendance

At XP Gateshead, we believe that 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. Regular attendance builds strong routines, boosts self-confidence, and fosters essential life skills like reliability and friendship building.  It is vitally important that all our pupils attend our school as much as physically possible, and that all stakeholders (students, parents/carers, Crew Leaders) recognise that every day at school matters and the part we all play in this.

We will continue to work hard to improve attendance this term and the ways we support those students and families who need to improve their attendance.  As you know, we expect every student to be in school and want every young person to hit our 97%+ attendance target. Attendance is discussed with students on a weekly basis and crew attendance is celebrated each week along with improved attendance and 100% attendance.

If, for any reason, your child is unable to attend school you must contact the school office before 8:25 am by telephone. This is a safeguarding procedure which has to happen on every day of absence.

We do not authorise pupils to take holidays during school term times. Please note our this year’s and next year’s term dates: 2025/26 Calendar and 2026/27 Calendar. 

The term ahead

This summer term is always a lovely time of year, as the weather improves and expeditions tend to focus on our curriculum seam: protecting our planet.

We also see our pioneering students in G28 move into the final chapter of their time with us. A huge appreciation goes out to the students and staff that worked over the Easter Break in preparation for the summer exams. This is the last push now for G28 students, and we look forward to sharing in their success later in the summer.

This week

New Term – New Expeditions for G32, G31

A new term means new and exciting expeditions for our Y7 and Y8. Immersion will take place this week and our students will be working hard to find out what their new guiding questions are and the challenges and new learning their expeditions will bring.

G30 and G29 Presentations of Learning

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

G30’s expedition ‘You Give Me Fever’’ culminates this week. Our students studied public health over time and investigated health inequalities in Gateshead today, looking at the correlation between disease and deprivation.  

G30’s Presentation of Learning will be a Public Health Conference, hosted by our students in school on Wednesday 15th April at 2pm.

G29 – Are we really free to choose?

G29’s PoL will take the form of a debate on Friday 17th April at Newcastle Sixth Form College at 4:30pm. 

Alongside the Presentation of Learning which is in the form of a debate. See Miss Simpson’s post for more details.

PE sessions this week

• Year 7 have PE on Wednesday this week.
• Year 8 have PE on Tuesday this week.
• Year 9 have PE Monday this week.
• Year 10 and 11 each have PE on Thursday this week.

Extended Study and Clubs

As is usually the case at the start of a new term there will be no extended study or after school clubs running this week. After school sessions will all start again next week.

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