Dear Families

G28 Passage Presentations

Without a doubt, this week has been one of the highlights of my time at XP Gateshead with G28 stepping up to, and indeed surpassing, the high expectations and demand of Passage Presentations. 

Over the past three weeks we have seen our Year 9 students work hard to produce beautiful scripts to tell their XP journey to date with integrity and how they have developed as a learner. Students have supported and challenged each other to show real craftsmanship and quality in their writing, lifting each other to produce work better than they thought possible. The spirit of Y9 crew and compassion has underpinned all of this work and the success students have achieved.

To stand and present to an audience takes real courage and maturity, as reflected by our panellists (families and experts alike)

“I honestly don’t think half the adults I know (including myself) could write such a structured, reflective piece of work and deliver it as well as you did” (Y9 Parent)

“The process allowed our daughter to showcase her learning at a high level, the awareness of what she has achieved, reflected back and been proactive in her learning is outstanding. Learning how to present formally in front of others and speak confidently to a range of visitors/new experts has allowed our daughter to experience first hand what the world of work will be like. It’s also been an opportunity for us to show her how proud we are of her hard work, determination and genuine loving character of a young lady which we have the pleasure of being with every day.” (Y9 Parent)

“The students articulated, with integrity and maturity, their respective positions on their learning journeys to teachers, parents and, more importantly, adults they had not met before. There are adults who do not have this insight or could communicate this to strangers in this way. This process was very similar to a postgraduate progress panel” (Expert panellist)

‘It was an absolute privilege to be able to be involved in this process. The emphasis and importance that has been placed upon this process for students was almost tangible. Students had all taken this process so seriously and had clearly spent a lot of time preparing. I particularly loved the involvement of families in the process. This was also such a huge moment for them too. Embarking on their GCSE’s and the commitment to this process and their learning was just wonderful to see, which all comes back to the culture which has been created at XPG” (Expert panellist)

The words of Kurt Hahn were never more true:

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

But I think Harris, one of our Y9 students captured this with his metaphor of a hike to describe his time at XP. 

“At the start, the mountains I climbed were new but not difficult. As time went on, the mountains became steeper and higher. However, it is nothing compared to the view at the top and is completely worth the climb.

I’m not going to stop climbing mountains moving forward and I look forward to the many views that are still yet to be seen. I will take rests when I need to but I am never going backwards.”

If there are any families still to give us feedback on the passage process, please can you do so by clicking here.

G29 Crew Charities announced

Inspiring activism in our students is central to our work at XPG. 

Following this week’s Crew morning where students put together their proposals for which charity they wanted to support and pitched these to the rest of their crew, each Y8 crew announced their chosen charities on Friday in our whole school community meeting. 

 

So we add another 4 G29 crew charities to our list:

• Crew Watson (SJA) – The Children’s Society
• Crew Attenborough (SBL) – World Wildlife Fund
• Crew King (EQU) – Birdline UK: Parrot Rescue
• Crew Nightingale (RMA) – Water Aid

Look out for future website posts from each crew to share their work and their charity plans for the future. 

We now have 8 charities in total championed by our students including our G28 charities:

• Crew Frank (MRS) – Bobby Robson Foundation
• Crew Stanton (ETA) – Tiny Lives
• Crew Angelou (DME) – Young Minds
• Crew Parks (TDE) – Trees for Cities.

G30 Crew names announced

Over the last few weeks, Y7 crews have been researching suitable people after whom to name their crews – people who have achieved great things and who display our character traits of courage, integrity, respect, craftsmanship and quality, and above all compassion. In Crew morning this week, students presented their contenders to the rest of their crew and final voting took place. 

In Friday’s community meeting new crew names were announced

Our G30 crews are 

• Crew Darling (formerly MRS)
• Crew Kahlo (formerly TMA)
• Crew Earhart (formerly KDO)
• Crew Einstein (formerly LDI)

So Grace Darling, Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart and Albert Einstein stand alongside our G29 crew’s namesakes Emma Watson, Martin Luther King, Richard Attenborough, Florence Nightingale and our G28 crew’s namesakes Anne Frank, Rosa Parks,  Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Stanton. 

The week ahead

G28 Geography fieldwork – Wednesday 20th March

G28 students will be completing important fieldwork to help them answer the geography enquiry question: “Why are there differences in life expectancy in Gateshead?” This will support the students creating a final report investigating health inequalities in Gateshead which will be shown at their presentation of learning.

Students will be in crews walking from Felling to Gateshead collecting primary data to answer their fieldwork question. Please see the website post for full details and the kit list required.

G30 Fieldwork with Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Wednesday 20th March

On Wednesday afternoon G30 will continue to work with expert Elizabeth Smith, from the CWGC. They will then visit St Mary’s Church to investigate the Commonwealth war graves,  putting theory work into practice. This is an authentic and rich learning experience and we are incredibly grateful to the CWGC for offering these opportunities to us and helping our students when it comes to answering the guiding question for our current expedition in Human ‘Why should we honour all those who sacrificed during WW1?’ Please see the website post for more details.

Music performance – Thursday 21st March

The Mercians will be performing on Thursday. ‘The Leicester-based indie band are currently touring UK schools to promote their music and raise awareness of mental health issues and the importance of looking after yourself, seeking help through family, friends, teachers and organisations’. 

We are also on the lookout for singers for our school choir. In July, our sister schools in Doncaster are hosting a music festival and our choir will be performing Year 7s mining songs as part of the afternoon of music and arts.

PE this week

• G30 (Year 7)
  • Both classes have PE on Monday this week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Both classes have PE on Wednesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Friday this week. 

Extended Study and Clubs

Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.

Looking Ahead:

G30 Presentation of Learning – Tuesday 26th March in our school theatre at 4.30pm

G29 Presentation of Learning – Wednesday 27th March at Caedmon Hall at Gateshead Central Library at 4.30pm

Can I remind all families of the importance of attendance at PoLs. These, like Students Led Conferences (SLCs) and Passage Presentations 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.

Easter break

Our  last day of term is Thursday 28th March. As always, students will leave school at the earlier time of 1:30pm to allow for full de-gunge and set up for our new Summer term. We return to school Monday 15th April. Please see our 23/24 calendar for this year’s term dates.

 

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

It has been another great week at XPG last week. 

Without a doubt, this week has seen our G28 pioneering students step up to the challenge as they get ready for Passage Presentations taking place this coming week. 

Students have been working hard putting together writing, with deep reflection about their progress since joining us and their readiness for GCSEs. The presentations we saw today were very strong with such integrity and authentic voice from our students. We are delighted today that all students have either passed their passage presentations, or passed with conditions that need to be met over the coming weeks.

In preparing for passage, Year 9 really are demonstrating their readiness for the next stage in their education and their potential for greatness in the years to come. What a joy and honour it is to sit alongside families watching their children shine and talk so beautifully about themselves with such honesty.

This feedback from a panellist and member of our local governing committee really sums up what a special day it has been today:

“What an absolute privilege it was to be able to be part of the passage presentations this morning. The work that is being carried out within XP Gateshead is transformational in the young people’s lives within the school community. This was evident to see in the passage presentations that I was involved with, in terms of character growth and the journey that students are on with regards to being owners of their own learning. 

XP Gateshead is truly a very special place and it is these reflective processes that allow us to really take notice of the amazing work that happens every day within school. “

The week ahead

G28 Passage Presentations

Presentations continue on Tuesday during the school day and on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. A huge appreciation to our panellists for helping to make this a rigorous process and for their kind, specific and helpful feedback to our students. And of course thanks to you our families for supporting your children in this important work.

G29 and G30 Crew morning – Tuesday 12th March

On Tuesday morning whilst passages are taking place, our Year 7 and 8 students will spend time in their crews. Year 7 will complete work on choosing names for their Crews. Each Crew will be named after someone that has exemplified our character traits of courage, respect, integrity, craftsmanship and quality and above all… compassion.

Year 8 will finalise decisions on the charities with which they will be associated for the rest of their time at XPG. Again, this is such an important decision and the opportunity to be of service over a period of time to organisations doing great work helps our students to realise the positive impact that they can have on their community.

All Crews in Year 7 and Year 8 will also spend time attending to relationships within the Crew and returning to the importance of a strong culture. Crews have each planned different activities for the morning alongside work on charities and crew names.

Developing subject expertise 

Tom Devitt and Rebecca Marshall are returning to York University on Wednesday and Thursday this week to complete a four-day Secondary Science training course to develop their knowledge and understanding of Science in KS3 and KS4. At XPG, we invest in the professional development of our staff and are committed to building strong teams able to develop and deliver our expeditionary learning curriculum.

Alongside passage, this does mean that there are some changes to the timetable this week.

 PE this week

• Both G28 classes will have PE this week on Friday this week.
• Year 7 and Year 8 do not have PE this week.

Extended Study and Clubs

Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. A reminder that if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.

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

It was great to see our students make such a strong start back to school last week after half term break. Students were immediately back to working hard, getting smart and being kind, stepping up to our high expectations in and outside of sessions. 

Behind all of our students is a dedicated staff crew at XP Gateshead as you know who are supported by teams at XP Trust, Gateshead LEA and in our local community. Here’s just a few examples from this week:

XPG staff crew

It was a busy start to the week with two full days of interviews. I am delighted to say that we have appointed two new teachers to our staff crew:

Hannah Simpson who joins us as a HUMAN teacher and Mohammed Azam  who joins us as a STEAM teacher. We are delighted with our new appointments and look forward to them joining us in June to start their induction with us. 

G28 Beautiful artwork exhibited at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead

This week the final product from the G28 Being Human expedition was installed at the QE Hospital at the Windy Nook Entrance. 

As well as seeing our students’ truly beautiful artwork of different organs, the installation includes a QR code which allows visitors to access G28 voices and their responses to the guiding question, ‘What does it mean to be human?’.

This is important work which matters, raising awareness of the importance of organ donation.  We could not be prouder of our students  and the adults who supported the ‘Being Human’ expedition, in particular Andy Lowes (pictured) at Gateshead NHS Foundation. 

This work is already garnering attention online:

“Incredible!”

“This is amazing!”

“Wow! This work is outstanding and will no doubt capture the interest of those passing by.”

“Such an important message.”

Most importantly it will save lives. If you have been inspired by our students’ work and want to sign up to become an organ donor – please click here.

Secondary school national offer day, 1 March 2024

Parents of Year 6 students will have received notification of secondary school places on Friday. XP Gateshead works with the Local Authority admissions teams to administer places. As in previous years, we received more applications than we can offer places and our admissions were determined by a random lottery administered independently by the Local Authority.

I’d like to thank all families who expressed an interest in our school and the work we do here. An appreciation too for our existing families and students for showing our school for the really special place that it is. Again we are massively oversubscribed with around eight applicants for every one place at the school.

For our new families, welcome to XP Gateshead and congratulations! We are delighted to have you and your children join our school. We will be sending out our welcome letters early this week and there will be separate website posts coming which will share all information around transition. 

For the time being, there are answers to many of our most frequently asked questions here.

Some key reminders .

Attendance

As we all know, attendance at school is of vital importance. We all understand that school attendance is vital to the life chances of young people and that being in school improves health, wellbeing and socialisation throughout life. Put simply if pupils are  not at school then they will not be learning and can easily fall behind in all areas of their development.

In order to support you and your child we keep a close eye on attendance and appreciate your full support with this. At XPG we celebrate attendance and will support those students and families who need to improve their attendance. We all work hard together to ensure school attendance is high – students, parents/carers, Crew Leaders and our inclusion team.

If, for any reason, your child is unable to attend school you must contact the school office before 8:30am by telephone. This is a safeguarding procedure which has to happen on every day of absence.

Please share any worries you have around attendance or punctuality with your childs’ Crew Leader. 

The week ahead

National Careers Week

This week is National Careers Week. Students in Year 9 have been thinking carefully about pathways and careers as part of preparation for their Passage Presentations.

Students in Year 7 and Year 8 will have a session in Crew this week which introduces them to our Careers Website and their Start Profile – a personalised website which will help them to think about their own pathways and readiness for the next stages of their education.

PE this week

• G30 (Year 7)
  • Both classes have PE on Monday this week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Both classes have PE on Wednesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Due to the staff day, G28 Class 2 do not have PE this week. We will look to rebalance this in a later week.

Extended Study and Clubs

Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.

Staff Day – Friday 8th March

Friday is the first of our staff days this half term, the second is on Monday 11th March. Our staff team will be planning for next term’s expeditions and this year’s curriculum priorities from our school improvement plan. Students will not be expected to be in school on Friday or Monday unless they are G28 students who have a Passage presentation on Monday. If students want to come to school on Friday to prepare for their passage, they must organise this through their Crew Leader.

G29 vaccination programme

This week parents of G29 students will receive information on HPV vaccinations which will take place in school Tuesday 7th May. There will be a consent form within the information which will need completing as soon as possible.

IMPORTANT – Passage Presentations next week

G28 are working hard on preparing for their passage presentation next week. They will be using Crew time and additional time in sessions to get ready for this important moment in their time at XP Gateshead.

Passage presentations are hugely important benchmark demonstrations of learning over multiple years that mark this pivotal transition from Key Stage 3 into Key Stage 4 and GCSEs. During the presentations, students will use their portfolios as a guide to articulate their progress and growth. These presentations are another means by which we help students to develop their character and hone their public speaking. The rubrics that will be used during the presentations can be found here.

Monday 11th March is a staff day.

Students will be welcome to arrive at school earlier than their passage presentation slot to do final preparations, and then should return home after their presentation. If students do not have a passage presentation, there is not a need for them to be in school on Monday 11th March.

Tuesday 12th March

This is not a staff day, however Year 9 teachers will be involved in passage presentations throughout the day so we will not be running a regular timetable for this day for Year 9 students. There are three options for Year 9 students on this day:

• Come into school for the full school day (including staying in school after a Passage Presentation).
• Come into school for a Passage Presentation and then leave with their family.
• Work on extended study from home.

Please can all G28 families use this Google Form to let us know what your child will be doing, and whether they will need a school lunch

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

Welcome back! We hope you have had a restful half term break and we look forward to welcoming our students back tomorrow.

Our usual reminders for a good start back…

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. 

Daily kit list

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

• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener
• 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

Dress code

A reminder that we ask students and staff to dress appropriately and modestly. See link here to details on dress code from our website.

The week ahead

PE this week

• G30 (Year 7)
  • Both classes have PE on Monday this week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Both classes have PE on Wednesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Friday this week

In line with our dress code, we expect students to arrive at PE lessons with a change of kit which is appropriate for the activity and all accessories removed. This includes sports trainers with non slip soles e.g. running shoes/astro turf (not plimsolls). 

Extended Study and Clubs

Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.

Interviews for New Staff

Interviews will take place this week (Monday and Tuesday). We have had lots of interest in our advertisements for new teachers and are really looking forward to meeting the shortlisted applicants at interviews this week. As always, our staff and students are involved in the interviews to ensure we get the best teachers to join XPG Crew as we continue to grow.

Ongoing expeditions and PoL dates for your diary

Our G30 students continue to work on their two expeditions until the end of this term.  Their STEAM expedition, ‘Staying Alive’ with the guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’ and their HUMAN expedition, ‘Do Your Bit’ with the guiding question: ‘Why is it important that we honour all those that sacrificed in WWI?’.  The presentation of learning for this will be on Tuesday 26th March in our school theatre.  More details to follow in a separate post.

Our G29 students continue to work on one cross-curricular expedition this term with the guiding question and title of ‘What is Power?’. Their final presentation of learning for this expedition will be on Wednesday 27th March at Caedmon Hall at Gateshead Central Library. More details to follow in a separate post.

Looking Ahead:

Staff Development Days

A reminder that we have two staff development days this half term; Friday 8th and Monday 11th March. 

G28 Passage Presentations

The schedule for passage presentations has now been shared with families. Students will have additional prep sessions this week and next and all Crew sessions will be devoted to preparation too. Please talk to your children at home about how their preparation is going and how they are demonstrating their readiness for GCSEs in sessions too: remember there will be feedback given on quality of reflection, quality of writing, integrity of reflection and organisation of the portfolio of evidence.

Monday 11th March is a staff day. Students will be welcome to arrive at school earlier than their passage presentation slot to do final preparations, and then should return home after their presentation. If students do not have a passage presentation, there is not a need for them to be in school on Monday 11th March.

Tuesday 12th March is not a staff day, however Year 9 teachers will be involved in passage presentations throughout the day so we will not be running a regular timetable for this day for Year 9 students. Students can come into school for the regular school hours or work from home where families give permission; we will be setting additional extended study to support students in their expeditions which students can access independently. Likewise, if students have a passage presentation on this day, and families give permission, then students can go home following their presentation.

Please note that Tuesday 12th March will be a regular timetable day for all of Year 7 and Year 8.

 

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 have come to the end of another full and productive half-term and, as always, our whole community have worked together demonstrating courage, respect, craftsmanship and quality, integrity and above all… compassion.

Our students have continued to work hard across this half term and I’m sure that those who have seen children present Student Led Conferences this term, would all agree that our students continue to be challenged (and supported) to strive for beautiful work.  Thank you again for your support in SLCs, it is vital that our students share their progress regularly as ‘Leaders of their own Learning’.

It has been a busy final week and here are a couple of highlights:

Our G30 students visited the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha on Thursday to find out more about Sikhi and how temples operate as part of their expedition ‘Do your bit’ which includes a focus on the experience of Sikh soldiers.

Students supported with sewa, a deliberate act of service which Sikhs believe demonstrates belief in their equality and the importance of all people. Students worked in the kitchen to prepare food for langhar which is when the temple provides food for the community, free of charge.

As Miss Jamison has posted, we have also asked if Year 7 students can try out some of the recipes from ‘Cooking on a Bootstrap’ at home with you over the half-term break.

Our G30 and G29 students have also had a workshop on malicious online communications from Jon Ord, from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office.

Preparation for passage presentations is well underway for our G28 students and this week they have spent crew sessions with this as their focus. Having considered metaphors for their time at XPG, students are currently reflecting on their progress as writers and mathematicians using evidence from their portfolios across Year 7 and Year 8.

Please make sure that you have signed up (Google Form) for a time slot for Passage Presentation as we are at the stage of organising our expert panel guests. We would like to get all of these times out to families this weekend.

 

I think that we can all agree that it’s time now for a well deserved rest! Have a great half term break and we look forward to seeing all of our students on Monday 26th February. 

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. A special thanks for the mystery gift of creme eggs which arrived for all staff at XPG – it is very much appreciated!

Julie Mosley

Dear Families

It has been a busy week as usual at XP Gateshead this week with students working on SLCs, recording final product speeches from last term to go alongside the artwork for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, learning about colour mixing by painting carrier pigeons and much much more.

We have been really pleased with how our students have stepped up. During Friday’s community meetings with G29 and G30, it was great to hear students appreciating others for their courage, craftsmanship and quality. As you know, our expectations are high here at XPG, but as we regularly say

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

― Kurt Hahn

G30

Our year 7 students have had the privilege of working with experts in each of their expeditions this week. 

On Thursday we welcomed Rav Singh, the founder of ‘A little history of the Sikhs’ to XPG. Rav worked with our students on their current HUMAN expedition exploring the guiding question: ‘Why do we need to honour all those who made sacrifices during WWI?’, helping students to understand the experience of Sikhi soldiers.

 

On Friday, our students worked in our new Food Technology room with expert Trish Wright learning how to make a tomato sauce, a basic staple from which many other dishes can be made. This supports their current work in STEAM around nutrition and work towards answering their  guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’. I hope families managed to get a taste of their delicious pasta and pizza dishes, or even better, have enjoyed a family meal this weekend prepared by our new experts.

A huge appreciation goes out to Trish and Rav for the work they have done with our students this week.

G29

Our Year 8 students are studying Macbeth as part of their current expedition with the guiding question: ‘What is power?’. Student are working to create an abridged performance of the play in drama sessions developing their physical, vocal, characterisation and directorial skills. This week they worked with an expert actress, writer and director Christina Berriman Dawson. We know from the work that Christina did with our G28’s last year the impact that this will have on the quality of G29’s Macbeth performance.

G28

Thank you to G28 parents who joined us for Thursday’s information evening. For those of you who couldn’t make it, the slides are here.

As we said during the information evening, we are working to finalise our KS4 curriculum offer. We welcome any questions or wonders from parents on this Google Form. We will respond to questions individually, and where there are common questions we will add these to our website under the frequently asked questions section.

Work on passage preparation is underway for Year 9 students. Having considered metaphors for their time at XPG, students are currently reflecting on their progress as writers and mathematicians using evidence from their portfolios across Year 7 and Year 8.

Please use this Google Form to indicate your preference for a time slot for your child’s passage presentation.

What goes around…

Some lovely feedback this week from two places. Firstly we received a card from one of our neighbours with thanks for the hamper that was gifted to them by our students at Christmas.

Secondly, Mrs Downes has been using G28’s ‘What is Power?’ postcards with Primary Age children as writing stimuli to great effect!

 

The week ahead

PE this week

• G30 (Year 7)
  • Both classes have PE on Monday this week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Both classes have PE on Wednesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Friday this week

In line with our dress code, we expect students to arrive at PE lessons with a change of kit which is appropriate for the activity and all accessories removed. This includes sports trainers with non slip soles e.g. running shoes/astro turf (not plimsolls). 

Clubs and Extended Study

We will be running all after school clubs and extended study this week now that SLCs have been completed by the majority of students.

G29/G30 online safety with Northumbria Crime Prevention Team

On Tuesday 13th and Thursday 15th February, Northumbria Crime Prevention team will run an online safety session for our G29/G30 students. This will cover some key messages about how to keep safe online, in and outside of school which will include safe use of age-appropriate social media sites.

G28 Immunisations

On Wednesday 14th February school nurses will be in school to administer Meningitis ACWY, alongside the Td/IPV booster  immunisations to  G28 students that have permission. A letter regarding this was emailed to all G28 parents in December. If you have not yet given permission, please see the attached  letter with information and a link to the consent form. 

G30 Gurdwara Fieldwork 

On Thursday 15th February our Year 7 students will visit the  Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha in Newcastle to find out more about Sikhi and how temples operate as part of their expedition ‘Do your bit’. Please see the website post for more detailed arrangements.

Half term break starts Friday 16th February 

We come to the end of a six week half term on Friday 16th February and as always, we will finish at 1:30pm for our usual end of half-term degunge. 

We return to school on Monday 26th February 2024.

A reminder that dates for Presentations of Learning for the current expeditions are as follows:

• G30 – Tuesday 26th March in school
• G29 – Wednesday 27th March at Caedmon Hall above Gateshead Central Library
• G28 – Provisionally Friday 10th May in school

We will be able to confirm times for G30 and G29 at the end of 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

It has been great to see so many of you in person this week attending your child’s Student-Led Conference (SLC). Our students have shown real courage this week presenting their learning, especially G30 students where this has been their first time presenting a SLC. Exit ticket feedback from parents and carers has been full of praise and this will be shared with students as part of their SLC debrief where they will reflect on this experience against the rubric and set themselves targets for their next SLC.

Our G28 and G29 students enjoyed a NHS careers performance this week which gave them a real insight into possible careers from our region’s and the UK’s number one employer. Students really enjoyed the performance and found out more about the 350 possible careers and pathways available. More info on NHS careers can be found here.

As part of our curriculum, in year 9 all students complete a DofE Bronze Award. Our G28 students started their DofE work last term in the volunteering and skills section. 

We will be meeting G28 parents this Thursday 8th February to give more details about the DofE qualification and its four sections (Volunteering, Physical, Skills, and Expedition).

The week ahead

National Apprenticeship Week

This week is National Apprenticeship Week – a week aimed at raising awareness of work-based qualifications available from the age of 16. Apprenticeships are work-based qualifications available to your children from the age of 16.

There is a useful guide to apprenticeships for families from last year’s event which can be found here. General information for families can be found here on the government website.

SLCs for G30 and G29 

SLCs continue this week. These are key events for our students so please ensure you attend your appointment. This week we have had several appointments cancelled which have impacted on staff time and students who have been ready to present their SLC. Wherever possible please can we ask that cancellations or changes are made only in exceptional circumstances.

Information evening for G28 Families – Passage, DofE and GCSEs

This event will take place on the evening of Thursday 8th February at 5.30pm in school.

PE this week

• G30 (Year 7)
  • Both classes have PE on Monday this week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Both classes have PE on Tuesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Friday this week

In line with our dress code, we expect students to arrive at PE lessons with a change of kit which is appropriate for the activity and all accessories removed. This includes sports trainers with non slip soles e.g. running shoes/astro turf (not plimsolls or baseball boots). 

Clubs and Extended Study

We will only be running after school extended study this week due to SLCs.

G30 experts in school – Thursday and Friday

On Thursday we will welcome Rav Singh, the founder of ‘A little History of the Sikhs’, to XP Gateshead. Rav will be working with our Year 7 students on their current HUMAN expedition exploring the guiding question: ‘Why do we need to honour all those who made sacrifices during WWI?’ and helping them to understand the experience of Sikhi soldiers.

On Friday, our students will work with Trish Wright, a Food Technology expert and friend of XPG, on their STEAM expedition which has the guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’. Students will be working in our new Food Technology room getting skilled up in three basic cooking recipes which are the basis for many cost-effective family meals. There is not a need for families to provide ingredients for this. During half-term we will be encouraging students to try out recipes from Jack Munroe’s Bootstrap Cookbook, cooking at home with you. More information on this next week.

Looking Ahead

G28 Immunisations

On Wednesday 14th February school nurses will be in school to administer Meningitis ACWY, alongside the Td/IPV booster  immunisations to  G28 students that have permission. A letter regarding this was emailed to all G28 parents in December. If you have not yet given permission, please see the attached letter with information and a link to the consent form. 

G29/G30 online safety with Northumbria Crime Prevention Team

On Tuesday 13th and Thursday 15th February, Northumbria Crime Prevention team will run a session about online safety for our G29/G30 students. This will cover some key messages about how to keep safe online, in and outside of school which will include safe use of age-appropriate social media sites.

G30 Gurdwara Fieldwork 

On Thursday 15th February, we are delighted that, once again, our Year 7 students will visit the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha. The Gurdwara is a Sikhi temple in the centre of Newcastle and our students will find out more about Sikhi and how temples operate as part of their expedition ‘Do your bit’ which includes a focus on the experience of Sikhi soldiers. More detailed arrangements will come in a separate website post later this week.

Half term break starts Friday 16th February 

We come to the end of a six week half term on Friday 16th February and as always, we will finish at 1:30pm for our usual de-gunge. We return to school on Monday 26th February 2024. Here’s our 2023/24 Calendar again for you to see term dates this year.

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

This week SLCs start for G30 and G29 students. This is an important moment for your children to share their progress with you.

We have talked with students a lot about culture this week. Our G29 students attended a performance of Macbeth at York – the conduct of our students was exemplary from beginning to end of the visit. Class 1 in particular have been praised for their work in class this week following the performance and the battle scene from the opening of the play is really coming together. Many of the peer appreciations in our community meeting this week were in praise of students’ efforts in Drama sessions.

G28 students have made a strong start to the academic year, our community meeting this week was full of appreciations for working hard and for students that are changing behaviours in a positive way – it is wonderful that this is noticed by students.

We also had a strong community meeting with  Year 7. G30 students showed great courage in making stands for our character traits and our culture. As families of G30 will know, and have seen from their first Presentation of Learning, our Year 7 have made such a brilliant start to their time at XP Gateshead. One of the strengths of our school model and of Crew is that students have a genuine voice in their school. Students this week made stands for our culture because they care, and because we sweat the small stuff.

Before looking at the week ahead, we just wanted to share some feedback from a Local Governing Committee visit this last week from Jane Sutton, who was looking at how inclusive our practices are – in particular how we support students with SEND.

This was a very positive visit, and has given us some important pointers on how we can further strengthen our offer. In particular our skilled learning coaches were praised for their knowledge and skills in the classroom.

However this feedback from conversations with our children is particularly impressive and indicates just how well students can articulate what our school is about.

“I was…  impressed and inspired by the students I spoke to. They were eloquent and confident to speak about the personal challenges they face due to their

additional needs and how these challenges are addressed by all the staff in school. They spoke about the strong relationships they were able to build with staff and that they felt they could talk to trusted adults. The support being provided for these students is clearly having a positive impact on their confidence and self-belief and they feel their needs are being met. They are proud of their achievements and credit the staff and school for this.

They spoke positively about the number of extended learning opportunities they were given such as fieldwork, clubs, common mission, theatre visits, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Leader of your own learning activities and Crew activities.

They told me how they felt Crew was a great support to them. One student explained how she had delivered a presentation to her crew about her ASD/ADHD and the positive response she had to this.

She felt that this now enabled her to open up to her peers more which helped her.”

The week ahead

Tyne and Wear Museums Digital Curation Pilot Project

Our Year 7 climate leaders – Isaac, Elina, Freya, Molly, Lizzie and James – are working with Tyne and Wear Museums on a six week-long project to design some digital curation connected to decarbonisation and fossil fuels. They are meeting with curators from TWM each week on tuesday afternoons this term.

G28/G29 NHS Careers Performance this Thursday afternoon

A team from Performance in Education are working with G28 and G29 this week on Thursday afternoon during the school day to give them an insight into careers in the NHS. The NHS is one of the world’s largest employers, and is the number one employer in our region and the UK. More info on NHS careers can be found here.

Working with Trust this week

We continue to work with our colleagues in Trust to develop our practice. This week we will have a focus on PE, Assessment Information and Wellbeing.

PE this week

• G30 (Year 7)
  • Both classes have PE on Monday this week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Both classes have PE on Wednesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Tuesday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Thursday this week

Looking Ahead

SLCs for G30 and G29

If you have not already done so, please make sure that you have booked an SLC slot, you should have received an email from our office@ email address. Please contact us if you have not received this.

Passage Presentations for G28

A reminder that passage presentations will take place during the day on Monday 11th March, and Tuesday 12th March. You will be given an opportunity to book a slot in a similar way as you have done for SLCs.

Information evening for G28 Families – Passage, DofE and GCSEs

This event will take place on the evening of Thursday 8th February at 5.30pm.

Julie Mosley

Principal

Dear Families

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

G30

G30’s HUMAN expedition has the guiding question: ‘Why do we need to honour all those who made sacrifices during WWI?’.

This involves study of unheard voices of WWI; students will put together a radio broadcast narrating their own creative writing – this will be broadcast as part of remembrance later this year.

G30’s STEAM expedition has the guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’. Students are studying nutrition & digestion, energy stores and transfer and separating mixtures through respective lenses of food poverty, fuel poverty and access to clean drinking water. Working with our partners Edberts House, students will put together food boxes to share with families in need, with a balanced set of recipes for a week.

A date for your diary – G30’s presentation of learning is scheduled for Thursday 28th March. More details to follow.

G29

G29’s expedition has the guiding question ‘What is Power?’. In this cross-curricular expedition students will explore the concept of “imbalance” and how this often leads to changes both in a social or historical setting but also in a scientific context, bringing them back to the idea of what power means in science, in the context of tectonic forces and in society..

This PoL will be anchored by performances of key scenes from the play.

A date for your diary – G29’s presentation of learning is scheduled for Wednesday 27th March. More details to follow.

G28

G28’s bumper 16-week long new expedition has the guiding question: ‘How can we continue to make progress on public health?’ Students are looking at public health over time since the Medieval Period and will write a report into health inequalities in Gateshead today, based on a variety of factors which contribute to our health including smoking, diet. Students will do the complex task of looking at the correlation between disease and deprivation.

G28’s PoL will be a ‘Cost of Living Conference’ which is scheduled to be held in school on Friday 10th May. Again more details to follow.

The week ahead

Staff Day – Monday 22nd January

Monday is the second of our staff days this half term. Our staff team will be working on school priorities as part of our ongoing school improvement plan. Students will not be expected to be in school on Monday.

G29 Theatre visit – Macbeth, York Grand Opera House Theatre – Tuesday 23rd January

Year 8 students are travelling to York to see a performance of Macbeth. This is the English Literature text for their current expedition. We are delighted to be able to provide this opportunity for our children.

See our website post for details on timings for the day and lunch requirements.

Local Governors Committee (LGC) meeting,  Thursday 25th January

On Thursday, we will have our Spring term LGC meeting. Our LGC is set up to provide support and challenge to XPG  leadership around the three dimensions of XP: Beautiful Work, Character Growth and Academic Success. 

Our LGC:

Andrea Mead	Chair	Headteacher , Specialist provision
Jane Sutton	Governor/Parent	Primary Link Advisor, Gateshead LEA
James Renwick	Governor/Parent	Y6 primary teacher
Elizabeth Shipley	Governor/Parent	Senior Clinical Psychologist
Phil Latham	Governor	CEO Endeavour Academies
Julie Mosley	Principal	XP Gateshead
Steph Oliver	Staff/Governor	Leader at Norton School, XP Trust

 

PE this week

• Due to the staff day, G30 (Year 7) do not have PE this week, we will attempt to rebalance this in a future week.
• G29 (Year 8)
  • Class 1 have PE on Friday this week
  • Class 2 have PE on Wednesday this week.
• G28 (Year 9)
  • Class 1 have PE on Thursday this week.
  • Class 2 have PE on Tuesday and Thursday this week (to account for the missed PE last week)

Looking Ahead

SLCs for G29 and G30

If you have not already done so, please make sure that you have booked an SLC slot for the SLCs which start from Monday 29th January.

Passage Presentations for G28

Passage presentations are an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning and their readiness to move on to the next phase of their education. Your children will present to a panel of you, their Crew Leader and a guest for e.g. governing body member or expert professional. Their presentation will reflect on their progress from Year 7 to now and will outline their thoughts about potential future pathways.

These passage presentations will take place during the day on Monday 11th March, and Tuesday 12th March. You will be given an opportunity to book a slot in a similar way as you have done for SLCs.

Information evening for G28 Families

As well as passage presentations which will feed into students making decisions about future studies at GCSE level, our Duke of Edinburgh programme will also accelerate over this coming term.

We are inviting all families of G28 students to attend an information evening where we can share our rationale and key dates for Passage, Duke of Edinburgh and GCSE studies with you, and of course importantly how you can support this process.

This event will take place on the evening of Thursday 8th February at 5.30pm.

Presentations of learning (PoLs)

As we grow as a school, it becomes increasingly challenging to schedule presentations of learning across cohorts. We have been delighted with your engagement with these PoLs as families and want this to continue. PoLs are an important part of our planned approach to character development and students demonstrating and leading their own learning.

Moving forwards, we are going to schedule PoLs earlier in the daytime – typically at around 4.30pm. This will make it more manageable for us to be able to staff these events. We recognise that may be more challenging for families to attend which is why we are giving as much notice as possible for dates. We will confirm the times for the upcoming PoLs mentioned above as soon as we can.

One of the things that we are really proud of and think makes us special as a school is the level of parental engagement and support that we get from you.

 

Julie Mosley

Principal

Dear Families

Last week we launched our new learning expeditions across all year groups and this week, students will have the big reveal with guiding questions and case studies unveiled.

More details of the types of activities that students have been carrying out in immersion can be found below.

Students have settled back into school and routines really well.

We also had lots of visitors to the school last week, including Trish Wright who is building on the work Mrs Tatters has done with us to get our food technology space kitted out and ready for Year 7 to start using this term. Other visitors included Chris Harte, who featured in Year 9’s film on migration. With Chris Harte were Martin and Val Westwell, who took time from a visit to the UK from Australia to come and see our school. Val is Deputy Principal of a ‘through’ school in Adelaide from nursery to sixth form, and Martin is CEO of the Department of Education for the whole of South Australia. Here is some of Martin’s wonderful feedback to our students and staff:

“One of the things that makes the school so remarkable is that, in many ways, it’s not out of reach of any school.

When ambassadors Ruby and Harris took us on the tour their pride in the school and their engagement in learning shone from them…

There was clear trust between students and educators, and an authenticity in every interaction. The fact that they led the tour without any teacher involvement really shows the students’ story is the school’s story.

The intentional connection to community and the enormous effort put into building and maintaining relationships with parents and the broader community were inspiring and it was clear the students gain a great from these authentic interactions and relationships, including a strong sense of purpose.

The general feeling of the school was of calmness and clear purpose, with a culture of high (self) expectation, improvement and mastery. The fact that on the first day of a new term, visitors could be dropped into a class discussion and the group respond so openly and thoughtfully was very impressive.

The power of ”crew” was really clear. Students referred to it frequently in a very positive way and I think see it as their anchor. It’s clearly authentic and intentional and its place in the timetable really reflects the importance it’s given.

Not only was the compassion so very apparent in every interaction and story, so was the generosity of students and staff. We are so very appreciative of this.”

Immersion

As you know the immersion is the part of the expedition where we generate curiosity about the topics that will be studied, and build background knowledge so that all students are able to contribute when we get into the formal study of learning targets through Case Studies.

This week in STEAM, G30 have been reading a range of texts including a focus on Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel, set in a post-pandemic dystopia where life is both dangerous and tough. And yet… a band of people calling themselves The Travelling Symphony still tour in trucks converted into horse carts performing Shakespeare. They have also been considering how they might fare on a desert island with limited resources.

In their separate HUMAN expedition, G30 have studied the extent of the former British Empire, as well as reading a play called ‘White Poppies’ set during the earlier years of The Great War. When Tom Headley enlists underage in the Great War, he and his childhood friends head straight to the front line as tunnellers. Eighty years later, a young schoolgirl sets out to research her great grandparents as part of a Poppy Day project. She uncovers shocking truths.

G29 have been reading a Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson in STEAM, and making connections to practicals which emphasise changes in substances and systems. In HUMAN, students have been learning about tectonic hazards such as earthquakes and used a simulation to try to mitigate the impact of their devastating effects, for example by preparing a coastal village with protections against tsunamis. They have also carried out a gallery walk which contained many images of protestors in scenarios at home and abroad from today and from history. Finally, students have also started to read an abridged version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in modern English. All will be revealed this week on how these pieces of the expedition puzzle fit together.

In their STEAM session, G28 have been In HUMAN G28 have been carrying out an investigation into health inequalities across the world and in our own Town. Students read a report by Alice Wiseman – Director of Public Health for Gateshead – which outlines the differences in average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for people born in Gateshead contrasted with those born in areas that are typically more affluent. Students were shocked by the stark differences in outcomes and were able to put questions to Alice on Friday afternoon following their investigation.

With all of the above, students have been working hard at making connections between topics in anticipation of how our guiding questions will pull all of the ideas together for each learning expedition.

The week ahead

Theatre visit on Wednesday for some G28 students

We apologise for the short notice around this, however there is an exciting opportunity for which we received confirmation on Friday afternoon last week.

On Wednesday this week there is a performance of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which includes a director’s commentary / Q&A session about interpreting and re-imaging the original gothic novella Robert Louis Stevenson for the stage.

Students will be asked if they would like to attend based on their HoWLs in drama sessions, and families will be informed tomorrow if you child will be attending.

The performance takes place on Wednesday 17th Jan in the afternoon. We will be travelling by minibus to and from the venue at Sunderland College and should be back in school for around 4.30pm. We will update the website with an arrival time on Wednesday afternoon.

SLC Preparation

G30 and G29 students will continue with their preparations for their Student-Led Conferences. Please can all G29 families ensure that they have completed this Google Form to help your child to prepare for the conference.

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

We look forward to seeing you in the fortnight commencing January 29th. All families should now have received details of how to sign up for an SLC slot with the exception of Miss Diamond’s Crew – Miss Diamond is not in school during the weeks of SLC so more details for those families will follow this week.

Clubs and Extended Study

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

This week also sees the return of the regular setting of Extended Study work for students to complete using their iPads.

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

Our full rationale for Extended Study can be found here.

The two tables above are worth sticking to the fridge or saving as a screenshot on a device for quick reference!

PE this week

• G30 have PE on Monday.
• G29 have PE on Wednesday.
• G28 Class 1 have PE on Thursday. Due to the staff day, G28 Class 2 do not have PE this week. We will look to rebalance this in a later week.

Staff Days on Friday 19th and Monday 22nd January

This half-term’s staff days fall this week and next on Friday and Monday. Friday sees all staff heading to Doncaster for a focus on our teaching and learning model, and on Monday we will be working on school priorities as part of our ongoing school improvement plan.