What a fantastic week for G29!

A massive shout-out and praise to the 18 students who have been dedicating their mornings to attending our early revision sessions. They are setting the tone for G29 in Y11 and showing real commitment to their education.

We also want to celebrate the engagement of our students during their recent fieldwork visit to the Victoria Tunnels. The Victoria Tunnel is a preserved 19th-century underground wagon-way beneath Newcastle, originally built to transport coal to the River Tyne and later used as an air-raid shelter during World War II. Visiting this site firsthand provides real-world context for the ‘History Around Us’ module of our OCR B History qualification. This module is designed to help students construct a rich understanding of how physical, local sites contribute to our understanding of local history and directly builds on their understanding of the national importance of North East industrial heritage, nurtured at XP since ‘From the Ground up’.

Key Reminders, Extended Study & Daily Expectations

• Daily Essential Kit: Please ensure your child comes fully prepared to school every day with their full kit:

  • A backpack or suitably sized bag

  • A filled water bottle

  • A complete pencil case (pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, sharpener, purple pen, and a glue stick)

  • A fully charged iPad and headphones (ideally non-expensive)

  • A notebook and a reading book

• Wednesday PE: A reminder that G29 have PE on Wednesdays, and bringing full PE kit is essential. Physical activity plays a vital role in supporting both physical and mental health, which is especially important as GCSE workload pressures build up.

• Extended Study & Lunchtime Catch-Ups: Please see Mr Said’s post for the extended study timetable; we appreciate your support in ensuring students are meeting deadlines as this helps them build the habits necessary for revision and exam success. Extended Study in school runs Monday through Thursday from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM, offering a quiet space supported by adults for extended study completion and revision. Additionally, students taking Art and Photography should make full use of our regular lunchtime catch-up sessions on Thursday and Friday to stay on top of their practical coursework and portfolio development.

• Post 16 options: Please see Mr Said’s post about our post-16 option evening on Thursday15th October.  This is an important event to ensure your young person is fully informed about their potential next steps and how we can help them get there.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding extended study, morning revision sessions, post-16 options or extra-curricular clubs, please reach out to your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance. Thank you for your continued support.

What a fantastic start for G32! Our guiding question for the week was:

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

Case study 1: How can we welcome our new friends?

Case study 2: How can we teach our new friends about our culture?

Case study 3: How can we use our prior knowledge from expeditions 7.4 Hold Back The River to help us plan fieldwork that will enrich the learning experiences of our G33 students?

For our final products we planned a route to Hebburn Buddhist centre along the river tyne to compare and contrast two different Fieldworks. Students assessed risk, researched key information, and all coordinated their own crew picnic. Due to this fieldwork unfortunately being cancelled, students then travelled to Windy Nook nature reserve and carried out a geological field sketch, as well as creating an environmental piece of art that suitably represented their chosen crew name.

On top of this, students also spent time undergoing different initiatives to strengthen their crew bonds, as well as creating an introductory video for the new year 7s in order for them to make the transition in to secondary school as smooth as possible.

It was a great start! But only a start, I can’t wait to see this transferred into the classroom over the coming weeks.

It’s the summer break and it’s our hope that the weather keeps being kind so that our students can get outdoors. However, while we want all of our students and families to have a wonderful, relaxing time enjoying the sunshine, we also want to ensure everyone stays safe.

Historically, hot school holidays see a significant increase in accidental drownings in inland waters and along the coast. It is a tragic reality that around 402 people lose their lives to drowning across the UK and Ireland every single year—and these tragedies are preventable. Alarmingly, around 44% of these accidental drownings happen between May and August, often when people are trying to cool off in the heat. Furthermore, more than 46% of those who drowned never even intended to enter the water in the first place.

To help keep our young people safe, we ask that parents and carers take a few moments to read through this factual safety guide. Our students will have gone through this information with their Crew leaders but should also take the time to look again.

The Hidden Dangers of Open Water Swimming

When the weather is hot, local rivers, lakes, canals, and quarries look incredibly inviting. However, open water holds major hidden hazards that even strong swimmers cannot anticipate:

• Unexpected Depth: Open water is often far deeper than it appears from the surface, making it easy to drop out of your depth instantly.

• Undercurrents: Strong, invisible undercurrents can quickly drag a swimmer under the water and keep them trapped beneath the surface.

• Hidden Debris: Below the surface lie hidden objects such as sharp rocks, fallen trees, broken glass, and abandoned rubbish (like shopping trolleys). Jumping or diving into these can cause severe head and spinal injuries, or trap your limbs.

• Weeds and Undertows: Swimmers can easily become tangled and trapped in underwater weeds. Swimming near structures like weirs is incredibly dangerous, as the powerful undertow offers little chance of escape.

• Pollution: Natural open waters can contain harmful bacteria and pollution that can cause serious illness if swallowed or if it gets into open cuts.

Understanding the #1 Danger: Cold Water Shock

The single biggest safety issue with jumping into open water in the UK is Cold Water Shock.

Even on a scorching hot day, water temperatures in UK rivers, lakes, and reservoirs remain very cold—often hovering around 12°C or lower. Cold water removes heat from the human body 32 times faster than cold air.

When a person jumps into cold water, the body experiences an automatic, uncontrollable physical reaction known as cold water shock. This includes:

• An immediate gasp for air, followed by rapid breathing (up to 1000% greater than normal), which often leads to accidentally inhaling water directly into the lungs.

• Sudden muscle cramps and a dramatic reduction in physical coordination, making it impossible to swim.

• A sudden spike in blood pressure and heart rate, which can trigger cardiac distress.

Cold water shock peaks within the first 1 minute. If a person panics and thrashes around during this critical minute, they are at an incredibly high risk of drowning rapidly.

How to Survive: Float to Live

If your child or family member gets into difficulty or falls into cold water, they must fight their natural instinct to swim or thrash about. Instead, remember the life-saving advice: Float to Live.

1. Fight your instinct: Do not try to swim or struggle.

2. Lean back: Tilt your head back and extend your arms and legs like a starfish.

3. Gently move: If needed, gently scull your hands or move your feet to help stay afloat.

4. Concentrate on breathing: Focus entirely on staying calm and controlling your breathing through the initial 1-minute shock phase.

5. Call for help: Only once the breathing is controlled should you attempt to swim to safety, call out for help, or continue floating until rescue arrives.

What to Do If You See Someone Else in Trouble

If you see someone struggling in the water, never jump in to save them. Many secondary drownings occur when well-meaning family members or friends enter the water and become victims themselves.

Instead, follow these steps immediately:

• Shout for help and Call 999: Ask for the Fire and Rescue Service if you are inland, or the Coastguard if you are at the beach.

• Reach: If it is safe to do so, try to reach the person from the bank using a long stick, pole, clothing, or a scarf. Always crouch or lie down flat on the ground so you aren’t accidentally pulled into the water yourself.

• Throw: Look for designated rescue equipment (like a lifebuoy or throw line). If none is available, throw anything that floats (an inflated football, a plastic container, etc.) to help the person stay above water until emergency services arrive.

A Collective Responsibility

Water safety education is vital: statistics show that around two-thirds of UK adults surveyed have never had formal water safety education, and only 30% of parents feel very confident that their child knows how to stay safe around water.

Please talk to your children openly and factually about these risks. If they want to swim, please guide them toward safe, supervised environments like public swimming pools or lifeguarded beaches where they can stay within their depth and enjoy the hot weather safely.

Have a wonderful, restful, and safe summer!

Good afternoon, please find the information below from our school immunisation team regarding their vaccination programme for all year groups.

 The flu vaccination programme will commence in the Autumn term for children in year 7 up to and including year 11.

The date for your school is 05/11/2026

Can all parents/carers of those attending in September complete the following link before the end of term.

https://www.northumbriaimmunisations.co.uk/Forms/Flu 

The school code is: NB148617

Following our post on Friday regarding late registers tomorrow, could parents of students who plan on coming in later, please email the office before 9:30am to confirm their lunch choice. Lunch tomorrow is Southern Fried Chicken Burger, Jacket Potato or Ham Salad Sandwich.