XP Gateshead

Dear Families

Welcome back after what I hope has been a restful and safe half term holiday.

We are looking forward to seeing all of our students back this week, raring to go and ready to continue their hard work on current expeditions.

As always, a return to school gives us all the opportunity to make a strong start in terms of getting into good habits and being organised. I would like to remind everyone of the importance of punctuality, attendance and being fully prepared for learning and ask for your support in this to make sure that all of our students are getting it right.

Punctuality

All students need to be in school for an 8.30am start so they must arrive by 8.25am at the latest. A minority of students were frequently late for school last half term which impacted on the learning of others (staff and students). Please talk to your child about their punctuality and ensure that they are arriving on time every day. 

Attendance

At XPG we celebrate attendance and will support those students and families who need to improve their attendance. Snapshots will be shared with you this half term which include attendance information and Crew Leaders will be talking with students and their families  about how important attendance is to academic achievement and success in school.

As you may have seen in the news, school attendance continues to be a concern across the country. At XPG, we were proud of our attendance last year with attendance figures higher than local and national. There is no doubt that this was down to the hard work of all – students, parents/carers, Crew Leaders and our inclusion team. 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. 

In the winter months we are all more susceptible to mild respiratory illnesses including general cold symptoms. It is usually appropriate for parents and carers to send their children to school at these times but it can be tricky making these decisions. The following NHS guidance includes information which may be useful – NHS ‘Is my child too ill for school?’ guidance.

Please share any worries you have around attendance or punctuality with your childs’ Crew Leader. We will be in contact with families where attendance or punctuality is a concern and put supportive improvement plans in place.

Being organised

As always, students need to bring a school bag every day with the following items

• A filled water bottle
• Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener
• A fully charged iPad
• Headphones – ideally not expensive ones
• A healthy snack for break (no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
• A notebook
• A reading book (e-reader book, school library book or book from home)

As you know, we ask for very few financial contributions from families but I would like to request that the following items are added to the kit list to support us in our spend on resources

• A gluestick
• A purple biro pen
• A highlighter pen

Please make sure your son/daughter is fully equipped for learning and contact us if there are any problems.

Our week ahead 

Working with experts and fieldwork

G30 – What does it mean to be human?

G30 Students are carrying out fieldwork at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital connected to their studies in Science around organ systems in the human body. They will also meet our contact at the hospital who has commissioned their final product: artwork which promotes organ donation.  More details on this fieldwork can be found here. 

G30 also have sessions with our longstanding humanist experts, who will help student to build on their learning about the golden rule of humanism, and uncover more about the Humanist belief that we have one life and therefore should ensure we make the most of our time on Earth by living the best life possible for ourselves and others, including future generations.

G29 – How are structures important in helping us to explain our world? 

G29 students are working alongside experts this week to make audio recordings of the built environment which can then be manipulated so that they can be used as part of the audio installation that students will produce as part of the ‘Concrete Dreams’ exhibition at the Farrell Centre.

G28 – Is charity enough

Connected to their studies of Dickens’  A Christmas Carol, G28 students will have a sessions with experts from the local Dickens society, giving students more contextual knowledge about Dickens’ life and how this informed the theme of charity in this novella and his other writing.

PE sessions this week

Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their  full PE kit.

• All G30 students (Year 8) have PE on Monday..
• For G31 students (Year 7)
  •  G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
  • G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday.
• All G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
• All G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

Extended Study and Clubs

Our clubs will all run this week (see schedule below) along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. Our before-school fitness and running clubs on Tuesday and Thursday will start at the earlier time of 7.45am this week.

Important dates for your diaries for next half-term

PoLs are used as an opportunity for students to showcase their learning from their most current learning expedition. PoLs enable students to grow their character and further embed their learning through presenting their work in front of a range of authentic audiences and in a variety of contexts. In addition, students develop oracy skills by presenting to different audiences and in different contexts which builds confidence and further allows students to grow their character whilst developing key skills. We expect for every child to have a family member there to support them.

Below are the dates for our PoLs (Presentations of Learning) next term. 

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth. Start time is to be confirmed but we expect at around 5.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G29’s PoL will be on the evening of Wednesday 11th December at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle University Campus. Start time is to be confirmed.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

As usual if you have any questions about your son or daughter please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance or email general enquiries to [email protected].

Julie Mosley

Dear Parents/Carers

We have come to the end of another full and busy half term and, as always, our whole community have worked together demonstrating courage, respect, craftsmanship and quality, integrity and above all compassion.  We have continued to work hard across this first half term, welcoming new students and staff,  continuing to build our culture through crew. 

As you know, an Ofsted team visited us this week for our first inspection. It has been a very positive experience for us at XPG. It is a challenge for an Inspection team to get a real understanding of our school and expeditionary curriculum since we do some things differently at XPG! Our lead inspector Hannah Millett, really took the time to do this and led the inspection with integrity, care and compassion.

The verbal feedback given at the end of the inspection was stunning. The commitment, passion and care that staff, students and governors have for the work we do here at XPG has shone through. Ambition was commented on several times across the inspection – the ambition we all have (adults and children) to change lives and our communities.

A special thanks to all of those families who took the time to respond to the Ofsted parental survey. We get to see the final statistics on each question but don’t see the written comments you make so thank you to those who took the time to share their lovely comments with us too.

We should receive our draft report after the half term break and hope to get our final report published before the end of November. I really look forward to seeing this and sharing it with you all.

Important dates for your diaries for next half-term

PoLs are used as an opportunity for students to showcase their learning from their most current learning expedition. PoLs enable students to grow their character and further embed their learning through presenting their work in front of a range of authentic audiences and in a variety of contexts. In addition, students develop oracy skills by presenting to different audiences and in different contexts which builds confidence and further allows students to grow their character whilst developing key skills.

Below are the dates for our PoLs (Presentations of Learning) next term. It is important to note that we expect for every child to have a family member there to support them.

• G31’s PoL will be on the evening of Monday 16th December at St. Mary’s church in Heworth. Start time is to be confirmed but we expect at around 5.30pm.
• G30’s PoL will be on Wednesday 18th December in school at 4.30pm.
• G29’s PoL will be on the evening of Thursday 12th December at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle University Campus. Start time is to be confirmed.
• G28’s PoL will be on Thursday 19th December in school at 4.30pm.

Have a wonderful break with your children

So, it’s been an exhausting one,  and 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 4th November at the normal time. It will be week 3 on the lunch menu when we return.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support.

.Julie Mosley

Good afternoon

Today we received notice that XP Gateshead will be inspected by Ofsted tomorrow and on Wednesday.

Below is a letter which includes a link that you can follow to give feedback to Ofsted on our school.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to demonstrate the great work that your children do with us, and strongly encourage as many families as possible to take the time to complete the parentview survey.

We look forward to the next two days, and thank you all for your continued support.

#wearecrew

Kind regards

Julie Mosley

A families’ guide to inspections can also be found by clicking here.

Dear Families

Welcome to the final week of this half term! 

It is hard to believe that we have only been together for 7 weeks having achieved so much! Our students have continued to work hard to develop their beautiful work, character and academic success and they, like staff,  will be ready for a well deserved rest and two week half term break when we finish this half term on Friday 18th October.

G28 and their start to GCSE 

G28 students have made a great start to their GCSE courses and all staff working with this cohort have commented on their mature approach to learning, their resilience and willingness to take risks with their learning and appetite for challenge. 

In Religious Studies, students have been using their collective knowledge to develop really strong answers to an exam style essay question about the story of the virgin birth in The New Testament.

GCSE Geographers have planned and carried out their first fieldwork with the enquiry question “Has regeneration had a positive impact on the Ouseburn?”

in GCSE photography students have been setting up miniature studios to start to get to grips with the powerful cameras that most of them carry with them every day, in advance of learning skills on DSLRs.

And

This week also, as a consequence of the weather, students from Level 2 Sports were able to put together a fitness warm-up for Miss Jones given that they would be indoors for the session.

DofE for G29 students

All of our Y9 students complete the DofE bronze award as part of our curriculum. G29 have started working on the physical and skill sections through sessions including badminton, urban-walking and mindful arts and crafts.

G30 work with expert Sister Josepha

G30 have had an expert session with Sister Josepha from St Anthony’s convent, who discussing how her beliefs and the teachings of her catholic faith about the afterlife have informed the way that she has lived her life and in turn her perspective on what it means to be human. 

Our students were full of admiration for Sister Josepha and the great work that she has done in service to her community and to those in need around the world.

G30 work with expert Andrew Lowes

This week G30 also met Dr Andrew Lowes from the QE hospital. He was able to talk to students about the impact of G29’s work last year and the importance of organ donation. Again this year, we are delighted that our students’ artwork will be curated in our local hospital promoting such a worthy cause of organ donation.

Ongoing professional development for staff

As you know, we are a school invested in learning for staff and students alike. Like our students, we complete induction, present Educator-Led Conferences (ELC’s), and plan collaboratively to produce a high-quality curriculum.

Each week and across the whole year we offer professional development (CPD) opportunities for staff, which this term has included:

• A focus on the holistic nature of our teaching and learning model
• How to plan and deliver effective explanations
• Instructional rounds – an affirmative process where we learn from observing each others’ practice with an expert facilitator to help participants unpack their learning
• A training programme for Early Career Teachers in partnership with Three Rivers Teaching School Hub
• Leadership of learning expeditions
• Development opportunities for staff for e.g.
  • Participation in Networks within our wider school trust.
  • Working with industry partners such as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Shipley and Victoria & Albert museums, and the Farrell Centre to develop authentic products for expeditions.
  • Participation in national programmes such as Maths Mastery.
  • Working with Newcastle University researchers to further develop connections between our KS3 and KS4 curriculum and the wider world.

We are a very small team, which is part of a relatively small school trust. I just wanted to take this opportunity to commend our staff for their commitment to our school, evident in the way that we support each others’ development, providing capacity for each other to attend training or opportunities, providing opportunities for students through carefully crafted learning expeditions and not least the wide offer of clubs and opportunities. Our staff really are exceptional in their commitment to our children: their development and success.

The 2024 Thomas Hepburn Memorial Service

This weekend students from across all years 8-10 attended the Thomas Hepburn memorial service at St Mary’s church in Heworth. Each year the NUM and Reverend Lucy coordinate a service which pays tribute to Hepburn’s commitment to working people and the trade union movement. Aside from the connections to our local history and students’ first learning expedition in year 7, we are of course keen to keep the connection to our community. As you know the school that was once on our site was named for Thomas Hepburn, and our school sits right on top of the roadways that extended from Felling Pit.

There was a particularly beautiful addition to our attendance this year, in that members of our choir were included in the service, performing one of G29’s songs “Justice Forever” which invoked a wonderful reception from the attendees – the biggest round of applause of the day!

Students laid a wreath to honour Hepburn alongside wreaths from many other dignitaries. Local MPs and former MPs were in attendance alongside local councillors and members of the education community. All were full of praise for our students’ performance and the quality of the music that G29 had written. I think we already have at least a couple of additional gigs on the back of this!

We were also very lucky to be able to accompany Bill Elliott, a local folk singer and part of the Elliott family of miners from Birtley who we hope to be able to work with further in putting together folk songs for G31 as part of their final product. All in all a wonderful way to spend a morning with wonderful young people.

Our week ahead 

G29 fieldwork

On Monday Year 9 students will participate in local fieldwork visiting the site of the Owen Luder car park, using the space as inspiration for designing their own structure and collecting sounds to accompany their personal oral histories. Students will also be collecting primary data to answer the enquiry question: “Are there inequalities on Gateshead High Street?”. Students will have lunch in school and should dress appropriately for fieldwork and possible changes in weather.

Extended Study and Clubs

Our usual offer of extended study and clubs will all run this week (see schedule here) every day except Friday. Our before-school fitness and running clubs on Tuesday and Thursday will start at the earlier time of 7.45am this week.

Insert schedule here – can it be amended to show extended study too please

PE sessions this week

• G30 students (Year 8) have PE on Monday
• G31 students (Year 7) 
  • Class 1 have PE on Tuesday
  • Class 2 have PE on Wednesday
• G29 students (Year 9) have PE on Thursday
• G28 students (Year 10) have PE on Thursday

Pumpkin Decorating Competition – Friday 18th October

Crew Stanton are hosting a pumpkin decorating competition to raise money for our crew charity Tiny Lives. Students will need to bring in their decorated pumpkins on the morning of 18th October 2024. Please see the website post for full details of competition categories, entry fee and prizes. 

Early closure this Friday 18th October

Don’t forget that school finishes at the earlier time of 1.30pm this Friday. This is to allow us time to “degunge” and set up for the next half term. Please make arrangements to pick up your children at the school gate for 1.30pm this Friday. As always, please be conscientious of our neighbours if parking as it is always very busy when students all leave school at the same time.

We return to school on Monday 4th November 2023. 

Thank you for your continued support through this half term and we hope everyone has a good holiday. We are looking forward to the next half term where we will be continuing to focus on our culture of beautiful work, character and academic success. Students will be adding work to our “beautiful” work portfolios and getting ready for student-led conferences and presentations of learning which will be an opportunity for you to see some of the work your children have been doing – more on this later.

As usual if you have any questions about your son or daughter please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance or email general enquiries to [email protected].

Julie Mosley