At XP, we are committed to ensuring that all students have access to the tools and experiences they need to thrive, both academically and beyond the classroom. As part of this commitment, we run an iPad Parent Contribution Scheme, which will place a personal iPad at the heart of each student’s learning journey.

We believe that having an iPad as part of daily school life is an essential part of modern education. It allows students to access resources, complete assignments, collaborate with classmates, and develop digital confidence – all skills that are increasingly expected in further education and future careers.

To make this possible, we are inviting all families to purchase or part-fund an iPad through the school’s supported scheme, which offers discounted pricing, extended warranty, and flexible payment plans to help spread the cost.

iPads are the most incredibly creative and productive device around, with GarageBand, iMovie, all the Adobe apps such as Photoshop and Illustrator and Google productivity applications and other Trust purchased apps available through our scheme included.

The iPad scheme includes:

• iPad – 11th Gen 128Mb
• Combo Touch Keyboard & Trackpad
• Pencil (Skriva)
• Screen Protector
• AcademiaCare for 3 years
• All apps included above

This academic year, 2026/27, we can provide this at a cost of £451 (RRP is £607, not including the price of apps) and parents can spread this cost across up to three years, to pay less than £3 per week.

We are aware that for some families, financial contributions may present challenges. In such cases, we ask that you notify the school on the order form and someone will contact you in confidence to discuss your situation. The school will explore all available avenues to support families in genuine need, but it is important to note that resources are limited and we rely on as much parental contribution as possible to make this scheme viable for all students.

Our aim is that every student has their own device to ensure full access to the digital curriculum, both in school and at home. With the support of our parent community, this approach offers significant benefits for your child’s learning and future opportunities.

To order your device, please fill the form by clicking here.

Thanks to G33 families for attending our event yesterday evening.

A few important reminders:

iPad Scheme

The iPad scheme is now live.

Music Tution Form

To ley us know what your child’s preferences for music tuition are, please click here.

Ullswater Participant Form

To complete the Outward Bound participant form please click here.

Please remember if there are any changes, for example an injury to your child, please log in and change the information on the participant form. To contact the Outward Bound Howtown (on Ullsw centre to inform them of changes to the form you can call: 017684 86272

Here are the slides from the evening:

Our ‘Meet the Crew Leader’ event will be hosted in school.

This is an important opportunity for families to meet their child’s Crew Leader and begin forming the strong relationship that will be needed to support and challenge your child to become the best version of themselves. This event is for adults from families only, you should not bring your child to this event.

This event will start at 5pm on Tuesday evening this week and is expected to last for around 45 minutes.

Good evening

We are looking forward to welcoming students in school for their transition next week.

For year 6 students, each day will start at 8.25am with students able to arrive from 8.00am.

Each day will end at 3.15pm.

Lunches

Students can have a school lunch or a packed lunch. If you have not already done so, please can you complete this Google form to let us know of your child’s dinner choices for each day.

At break and lunchtime, we will have activities led by our existing student leaders.

Kit

A reminder that for their daily kit, students should bring basic kit which includes a pen, pencil, eraser, ruler and pencil sharpener in a pencil case. Students should have a water bottle and a bag for resources. We recognise that you may not already have all of this equipment yet. It is important that this is in place for August when children start with us fully.

Dress Code

Some students choose to come in their primary school uniform or PE kit, however this is not necessary. Students need to dress modestly and appropriately for a day of learning in school. More details of our dress code can be found here.

Students will be introduced to PE at XP on Tuesday, so we recommend trainers and clothing appropriate for sports on Tuesday so that a change of clothes is not needed.

(When students start with us fully in the Autumn Term we will talk to them about bringing a change of clothes for their first PE sessions).

Plans for the days

Our guiding question for the two days will be:

“What will it take for me to be the best version of myself at XP?”

Tuesday 30th June

On Tuesday students will experience:

• Crew
• STEAM (Science)
• HUMAN (Humanities / English)
• PE

We will end the day with a Community Meeting where students will make appreciations to each other connected to our character traits of courage, respect, integrity, craftsmanship & quality, and above all… compassion. Our student leaders will support and model this process – as they will have been supporting in their sessions throughout the day.

Wednesday 1st July

On Wednesday students will experience:

• Crew
• STEAM (Maths)
• Art & Design
• Spanish

Again we will finish the day with a Community Meeting to celebrate the beautiful work and character of our newest students over the two days.

Tuesday 7th July – Meet your child’s Crew Leader

Our ‘Meet the Crew Leader’ will be hosted in school. This is an important opportunity for families to meet their child’s Crew Leader and being forming the strong relationship that will be needed to support and challenge your child to become the best version of themselves. This event is for adults from families only, you should not bring your child to this event.

This event will start at 5pm on Tuesday evening next week and is expected to last for around 45 minutes.

Ullswater Participant Form

If you have not already done so, please complete the participant form for Ullswater. More details on how to do this can be found here.

We are so excited to welcome G33 into school next week, and meeting you all again in the week after.

Good morning

The link to purchase branded clothing has now been updated on our website. We are still using the same provider, however they have a new website and a new link to the shop.

It is not an expectation that students wear branded clothing, however in particular the branded polo shirts are useful for events such as presentations of learning.

More details of our dress code can be found here. This has also been updated with the new link to the branded clothing shop.

The direct link to the brnaded clothing shop is here:

https://romirosport.com/product-category/education/xp-gateshead/

G33 join XP Gateshead in the first year of our music specialism.

To support this, we are funding instrumental tuition for all of our incoming Year 7 students, in partnership with Gateshead Music Hub.

Please use this form to tell us more about your child’s previous musical experience and their preference for music tuition moving forwards.

Ullswater Outward Bound – For all G33 Families

Our new Year 7 students’ Outward Bound adventure begins on Tuesday 25th August 2025. Students need to be arrive at school between 8.00am and 8.25am. The coach will depart later that morning.

Participant Form

Outward Bound Participant Form – Click here

Returnable Deposit

Students must bring a £10 deposit with them on the morning which will be handed back to them at the end of their adventure if there is no loss or damage to equipment. This is an important part of the process for the week, and teaches the students about join responsibility as a Crew.

Medication

Any medication for students must be in the original box, clearly labelled with your child’s name and details of regularity of administration and dose. This includes:

• Inhalers
• Epipens
• Travel sickness pills
• Painkillers
• Antihistamines

Please get in contact with [email protected] if your child will be bringing medication and we can provide you with a self-administration or permission to administer form.

Kit List

Specialist equipment such as walking boots, tents, sleeping bags, hiking rucksacks and waterproofs will be provided by the centre.

The kit list for students is listed below. Please ensure that your child has all of these items.

If you are having problems sourcing these please get in touch with our office via [email protected] . Older clothes are far better for the week as they will get wet and or muddy.

• 1 large bag or suitcase to take kit on the coach
• 2 bin bags –  to store wet and dirty clothes
• 1 pair of trainers for getting wet – these trainers will definitely get wet so it is important that you have a second pair.
• A second pair of trainers to stay dry for day to day wear – these are likely to get muddy so preferably not new.
• 3 sweatshirts, jumpers, hoodies or fleeces – Fleeces are ideal as they dry quickly but any of the other items are a good substitute. You should include at least one warmer fleece for your expedition.
• 3 pairs of trousers – Lightweight trousers (not denim) such as walking trousers, leggings or tracksuit bottoms.
• 3 T-shirts – Aim for tops that cover shoulders from the sun.
• 1 long-sleeved base layer/top 
• 1 pair of shorts – Not denim
• 1 pair of nightwear/pyjamas
• 1 set of casual clothes for around the centre
• 7 sets of underwear including socks – This is a minimum number. Trainer socks aren’t recommended as they may cause blisters.
• At least 2 pairs of thick walking socks
• Sunhat, sunglasses, suncream – don’t bring expensive sunglasses, suncream needs to be at least factor 30.
• 1 set of warm hat and gloves
• At least 1 towel – Quick drying microfibre towels are great. You will need a towel for showering and on activities, so bring at least one.
• Watch with alarm if possible
• 1 set of swimwear plus t-shirt and shorts for use in water
• Toiletries – including soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, blister kit, plasters, insect repellent, lip salve, hand sanitiser, wet wipes, talcum powder (for your feet), etc.
• 1 pair of flip slops or sandals – optional

Thanks to all of those families that attended – we are really excited for the next five years of working with you to help your children produce beautiful work, grow in character and see academic success.

There were a number of families that were not at the event. We will be in touch to organise another evening.

To be clear, our Home School Agreement makes clear the expectation that families invest in their child’s education. This includes the expectation that someone from the family attends important events like last night.

We are visiting Primary Schools to meet your children over the coming weeks. In the meantime:

• Please ensure that you have subscribed to our website – look for the subscribe box and enter your email.
• If you are a Facebook user, you can ask to be part of the “Parents of XP Gateshead” support group.
• The Outward Bound participant form will be posted on our website later today.
• The Music Tuition preference form will be posted on our website tomorrow.
• The iPad scheme sign up will be posted on our website in the coming weeks.

The slides from last night can be found below:

Dear Year 6 Families

We are delighted to be able to announce the calendar of transition events that we have planned to welcome your children and your family into our community at XP Gateshead.

More details on each of these events will follow in due course, but here is an overview of the activities so that you can plan ahead and discuss this with your child.

Online Family Meetings

Thanks to those families that have already booked online family meeting. Meetings have started today, Monday 27th April. These take place via Google Meet during the evening and are with a senior leader in the school. The meetings are a first chance for us to meet you and your child, to find out about them and discuss our expectations as a school. Your meeting will last up to 30 minutes. To book a meeting if you have not already done so, please follow this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclz2bjWg91CZqz05fGVO92EXkHHtRSTYAjM7Oeasgzwy1NZg/viewform?usp=dialog

Primary School Visits

We aim to visit every child in their Primary School in the summer term. This is done by members of our transition team and means that as well as seeing your child in an educational setting, they get to know another friendly face before they come to us.

In-Person Information Evening for parents/carers

We will be holding an In-Person Information Evening at our school on Wednesday 20th May at 6pm.

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 and music specialism. 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.

Transition Days at XP Gateshead

Your children will join us in school on Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July. Again more details of these days will follow in due course. Like a regular school day, students can arrive in school from 8:00am but need to be present by 8:25am. Our school day finishes at 3:15pm.

Your child will follow a typical day at XPG on both days which include some crew sessions, expedition sessions and a community meeting.

There will be an additional programme of transition activities for some children on Thursday 2nd July. We cannot offer this to all children and will contact families to let you know if we decide that your child would benefit from and needs this additional day in school.

Meet your child’s Crew Leader

Following the transition days, on Tuesday 7th July we will invite parents and carers into school in the evening at 5pm to meet your child’s new Crew Leader. We expect all families to attend this event. We are proud of the strong relationships that we form with families at XP Gateshead and this is an important opportunity for you to begin to build that relationship with the person that will be the key adult for your child when they start with us. As well as our cross-curricular learning expeditions, our pastoral structure Crew is what sets us apart from other schools.

We start school earlier than other schools in the local authority to allow for the Outward Bound experience. Our first day of term for year 7 is Tuesday 25th August 2025. More info on our term dates can be found by clicking here.

We are really excited to get to know our newest students and their families over the coming months.

Welcome to our community and crew at XP Gateshead!

A warm welcome to all of the Year 6 families that have been lucky enough to be offered a place at XP Gateshead for your child to join Year 7 in August 2026.

There is not a need to contact us at this point in time, but please do check your emails as you should already have received information about our enrolment process including some forms for you to complete online.

You will no doubt have lots of questions, but rest assured, all of these will be answered over the coming months of transition. At XP Gateshead we spend a lot of time getting to know our students and families prior to starting with us and we have a range of transition activities planned to allow this to happen. Our wider transition programme will include:

• an online meeting with you and your child as a family
• primary school visits from an XP members of staff
• transition days in the summer term in early July

We will publish a timeline of these events soon.

Our website xpgateshead.org contains a wealth of information and should be a start in answering your questions, in particular the frequently asked questions section is useful for new parents. Please do also look at our calendars so that you can see our term dates and staff days for the next academic year and beyond.

It is really important that you subscribe to our website by entering your email contact in the section on our front page as this will update you with an email every time we post some new information.

This is what the box to subscribe looks like:

It can be found on the right hand page of our website homepage on a laptop or computer, and at the very bottom of the screen if you are viewing the website your phone or a tablet.

Families can be added to a private Facebook group for families of XP Gateshead once we have carried out the online family meetings.

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] .

Thank you again for choosing XP Gateshead, we really look forward to working with you and your child over the next five years.

Julie Mosley

Principal 

XP Gateshead