We have one item in lost property this week: a ‘Europe:Medium’ XP polo shirt.
It would be really helpful to us if parents could add names or initials to XP branded clothing please.
Many thanks
Information Evening XP Gateshead – 6pm Thursday 7th October
We are delighted to announce that XP Gateshead will be hosting our first information evening for prospective parents considering applying for a place for their son/daughter to start in September 2022.
This will be a virtual event beginning at 6pm on Thursday 7th October which will be broadcast live over the internet where you will have an opportunity to:
- Meet and talk to our pioneering Year 7 students about their experience at XP Gateshead.
- Meet and talk to our staff.
- Find out what it means to be crew” – the basis of our school culture and foundation for the development of character.
- View the beautiful work our students have created.
- Learn about expeditionary learning – our unique approach to learning and pathway to academic success.
We have made the decision to host this as a virtual event this year to keep our community safe, given the current situation with Covid. We have limited space in our current building and we know there are many families that wish to find out more about our school.
Details about how to join the open evening will be posted on our website in due course. The event will be curated online so it can be viewed at your leisure too.
To keep updated about this event and the brilliant things that happen at our school, subscribe to our website. On our website, look for this box (on the side of the screen on a computer or at the bottom of the screen on a phone or tablet):
We look forward to sharing our work with you.
Mark Lovatt
Principal XP Gateshead
We would like to congratulate our runners in the Junior Great North Run this year, all running for fantastic causes. Ethan, Elyse, Tyler, Corbyn and Harris – we are so proud of the hard work you put in and the compassion you have shown for such excellent causes.
Another appreciation goes to Isla and Leighla who were there on the day to support with the running of the day too.
Well done to all of you.
Beautiful work!
Good evening, just a reminder that students have PE each Wednesday, so they will need their PE kit tomorrow. PE kit does not need to be branded XP clothing but should be black socks, black shorts or bottoms and black t shirt.
Also, as the weather is starting to turn a bit chillier now, your son or daughter also will need to bring a coat to school as this is what is appropriate for the coming months. We are encouraging students to be outside as much as possible at breaks and lunch given that we are still taking precautions for COVID in school.
EWR and Elyse were highlighted by their peers in our community meeting last week as two students that exemplify our character traits; courage, integrity, respect, craftsmanship & quality, and above all… compassion.
Yesterday they gave the very first ambassador tour around our building to Mrs Salter Head of School at Green Top Primary School and Mr Butler, Executive Principal of the XP Trust.
They were very impressed with our ambassadors and the school.
“Please thank our young hosts for their expert reflections on their school.
It felt like an XP school today!
Well done to all your staff for the culture you are developing.”
Great work EWR and Elyse, and all of the staff and students that made Mrs Salter and Mr Butler feel so welcome.
#wearecrew
#wearexgateshead
#wearexptrust
Positive Case of COVID in G28/Y7
Unfortunately, we have received confirmation that a student in Crew Mosley in Y7/G28 has tested positive for Covid19 via PCR test.
NHS Track and Trace may get in touch with some parents as they are the organisation for helping the student to identify close contacts – they may advise the identified contacts to have a PCR test. As per the revised guidelines, children under 18 and 6 months and adults who have been double jabbed no longer need to isolate.
The document that we use at school to support all operational matters surrounding Covid19 states that those children who are close contacts should continue to go to school as normal (unless they have symptoms):
‘Staff who do not need to isolate, and children and young people aged under 18 years 6 months who usually attend school, and have been identified as a close contact, should continue to attend school as normal.’
The following document provides additional useful information: ‘Guidance for contacts of a person with a positive test result for coronavirus (COVID-19) who do not live with that person.’
Thanks for your support in testing at home. It is much appreciated.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions.
I hope you are well and your son/daughter is continuing to enjoy their time at XP Gateshead. From all of our staff crew we just wanted to let you know that the conduct of our students has been absolutely exemplary and we couldn’t be more happy with how they have settled into their new school. Together, we are already building such a strong culture based on our character traits of courage, respect, craftsmanship & quality, integrity and above all compassion.
This week we introduced students to our HoWLs (habits of work and learning) which are: work hard, get smart and be kind, and again we are so pleased at how students have taken ownership of these HoWLs, supporting and challenging each other to be the best versions of themselves.
Just a few updates and reminders for the week ahead.
Professional development days
We will be closed for students on Friday 17th September and Monday 20th September. These staff days are crucial for us to be able to work together across the whole of the XP School Trust on our incredible curriculum and our wider work to ensure success for all students.
We will not be setting work for students during this time however we would encourage students to read their crew reader, Seedfolks. If you have not already done so, it may be useful to look at our calendar to make a not of future staff days too:
School lunches
Good news – we are hoping to be able to deliver hot meals from Tuesday 21st September. We think these will represent good value for money. Details on how to order and pay for meals will be posted next week. In the meantime the 2 week menu below shows the choice of food available each day. Week one will commence Mon 20th (teacher day) so children will start with the Tuesday menu on the 21st September. Week two menu will commence on Monday 27th September.
COVID precautions
We are continuing to be as careful as we can be regarding COVID and staying as safe as possible while in school. We are taking the following precautions:
- Keeping our building as ventilated as possible by opening windows and doors wherever we can.
- Surfaces are cleaned with disinfectant everyday by our cleaners and additionally we ask students to wipe surfaces down when they have been in a classroom.
- Practising good hygiene by encouraging students to wash their hands on a regular basis and providing hand sanitiser in every classroom
In addition we would ask parents to support in keeping our school as Covid free as possible by doing the following:
- Please inform us if your child develops symptoms or if there is a member of your family who tests positive for Covid. In these situations we will ask if we can carry out daily lateral flow tests with your child.
- Please test your child twice every week using the lateral flow tests we have provided today. Tests should be carried out on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening and we ask that you enter the result on a Google Form. This form takes no more than a minute to complete. We will test students in school on the following Monday or Thursday morning if we have not received a test result.
- If your child tests positive then please keep them isolated and obtain a confirmatory PCR test as is the normal arrangement.
We really appreciate the support of all of our parents in helping to keep our school community as safe as possible.
If you have any questions concerning your child please ask crew leaders and for more general enquiries please contact [email protected]
Thanks for your ongoing support, we are delighted with how your children have started their time with us at XP Gateshead.
#wearecrew
#wearexpgateshead
How to let us know about COVID home testing results
Government guidance is for you to test your son or daughter twice each week until the end of September at the earliest, when the situation will be reviewed.
We need your support in testing your son or daughter on a Sunday evening and a Wednesday evening starting this Sunday 12th September.
To record the results of COVID tests at home, please fill in a short Google Form after each test. To find the Google Form go to the menu of our website and under parents you can find a link that says Register your COVID home test result.
Alternatively, look for this button on our homepage:
Your son or daughter has been given tests to take home. If you are happy to source your own kits, please their crew leader know.
As you have seen each week we will photograph any lost property so that it can be claimed.
Students’ kit/clothing is their own responsibility but inevitably on occasion things will get misplaced or mistakenly picked up.
Given that we have a dress code that includes the option of branded clothing, it would be really helpful if you could put your son or daughter’s name somewhere on branded garments to make it easier to get anything that is lost back to you.
Thanks again for your support in the above.
Immersion Kick-off
Today we started the immersion for our learning expeditions. Student conduct has been exemplary – as we knew it would be. Ask your son or daughter what they think their expedition might be about!
Sonny and Lucy working hard to get smart
#wearecrew
Students had a fantastic first session of PE this afternoon in the lovely sunshine that we have been enjoying.
Please see this section below, taken from our dress code .
We just wanted to re-emphasise that the wearing of branded PE kit is not essential. However shorts, socks and T-shirts should be black. Also, students need trainers that are suitable for PE / sports, so they need a sole that is non slip and will provide some cushion to students when they are on hard ground.
