Dear Parent/Guardian
We had yet another exciting week last week with students completing fieldwork at Beamish museum where they visited a drift mine and talked to “experts” in character about the 1842 mines act which banned women and children from working underground. This was built on in lessons where students had the opportunity to interview the first of our experts in the community who talked to them virtually through the large TV screens in our classrooms. This is all part of our expedition – From the Ground Up and students will be working towards their final product (a published book of historic enquiries and interviews about local mines in the region). They will also be answering our guiding question – What do the communities of the North East owe to the miners. Throughout this expedition they have been studying standards in Science, English, History, Art and Music.
Reminder Monday 22nd is a staff day
This is a staff training day and XP Gateshead will be closed to students. During this time staff will be planning and designing our next awesome expedition which students will begin after Christmas.
Habits of Work and Learning (HOWLs)
We will be discussing HOWLs again in Crew sessions over the next couple of weeks and students will be returning to the pledges they made and looking to see where they have improved in terms of Working Hard (WH), Getting Smart (GS), and Being Kind (BK). Teachers will also be updating this information and making their own assessments of student HOWLs in lessons. We will be sharing this information with parents in the weeks before Christmas.
Extended Study
We have reviewed and organised extended study and shared with students what they can expect each week and from which subject. We have published our extended study timetable on our website here so you are also aware of what your son or daughter is working on at home. In school extended study sessions will continue each day as normal, Monday to Thursday from 3.15pm to 4.30pm for any students who need a bit of extra help or support or would like to get into the habit of completing work in school before going home..
Covid Testing
Please remember to complete lateral flow tests for your child on Monday (due the staff day) and Wednesday evening and it is just as important that you ensure these results are entered into our website please. This is an important part of keeping our community safe and our school open and I really appreciate your help and support in this respect.
As usual please get in touch with crew leaders in the first instance with any questions or queries or just to tell us how things are going.
Mark Lovatt
Principal
XP Gateshead