G29: What to Eat on DofE – Food Advice

As G29 prepare for their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition on 4th–5th July, it’s essential that pupils are well-fuelled and equipped with suitable food to keep them energised and healthy throughout the two-day experience. Here’s everything you need to know to help your child prepare, including detailed advice on what to bring—and what to avoid.


General Food Guidelines

  • NUT-FREE ONLY: Due to serious allergies, no nuts or nut products are allowed at any point during the expedition.

  • High energy, long shelf life: Choose foods that are energy-dense and will last without refrigeration.

  • Easy to carry: Food should be lightweight, well-packed, and not prone to squashing or spoiling.

  • Low waste: Pupils must carry all their rubbish until they return, so avoid excessive packaging.


Examples of Suitable Food Items

Day 1

Before School – Breakfast at Home

Pupils should eat a substantial breakfast before arriving to school. Good options include:

  • Porridge with fruit

  • Eggs and toast

  • Beans on toast

  • A bagel with cream cheese or jam

  • A smoothie and a cereal bar

Packed Lunch + Snacks (for during the walk)

Suitable options include:

  • Tortilla wrap or roll with filling (avoid mayo or perishable sauces)

  • Pasta or couscous salad in a reusable container

  • Crackers and wax-wrapped cheeses like Babybel

  • Dried meats like beef jerky

  • Dried fruit, raisins, seeds, cereal bars (nut-free), flapjack

  • Rice cakes

  • Fresh fruit that travels well (apple, satsuma)

  • Water (at least 1.5L), plus optional isotonic drink

Evening Meal – Cooked on a Trangia Stove

Pupils will cook their own hot meal in pairs/groups using a Trangia stove.

Meals must be quick, simple, and safe to cook with minimal washing up.

Great options:

  • Wayfarer Camping Meals

  • Instant noodles or pasta pots (add boiling water)

  • Pre-cooked pasta with a pouch of tomato or stir-in sauce

  • Boil-in-the-bag rice or couscous with tinned meat (e.g. hot dogs or tuna)

  • Tinned chilli or curry (can heat in Trangia)


Day 2

Remember: Pupils will not have access to fridges, and any perishable food will have been unrefrigerated for over a day.

Breakfast (no cooking)

  • Cereal bars, flapjacks, or brioche rolls

  • Breakfast biscuits or oat bars

  • Dried fruit (e.g. apricots, raisins)

  • Fresh fruit that travels well (apple, satsuma)

Lunch and Snacks

  • Tortilla wraps with shelf-stable fillings (cheese, hummus sachets, jam)

  • Pitta bread with tinned tuna or veggie spread

  • Crackers with cheese or veggie pate

  • Snacks from Day 1 list (e.g. fruit, cereal bars)


Items to Avoid

The following food items are not suitable for the expedition:

  • Anything containing nuts or nut products

  • Yoghurts or dairy items that require refrigeration

  • Sandwiches made the day before

  • Mayonnaise-based fillings

  • Raw meat or frozen meals

  • Chocolate or items that melt easily in hot weather

  • Foods with long cook times or that require large amounts of water (e.g. dried pasta or rice)

  • Anything that requires an oven or microwave

  • Leftovers from the previous evening

  • Any food that needs to be kept cold to remain safe


Final Tips

  • Use resealable bags or lightweight Tupperware.

  • Pack foods in meals/snack “sets” so they’re easy to find.

  • Keep it simple—DofE is not the time for gourmet meals!

If you have any concerns about dietary requirements or providing food items for your child, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If your child is entitled to free school meals and you would like some support in providing suitable food for the expedition, please contact your child’s Crew leader.

We’re looking forward to seeing G29 rise to the challenge—well-fed and ready to go!

Subject: G29 Fieldwork Postponed

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen personal circumstances, our expert is no longer able to attend tomorrow’s G29 fieldwork. As their input is central to the day’s activities, we have made the decision to postpone the trip.

We hope to reschedule soon and will update you with the new arrangements as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Sporting Success in G31 Crew Shakespeare

Congratulations to the following sporting stars from G31 Crew Shakespeare in their recent achievements:

Olivia T:

1st and 4th place in 1.2m events

1st place in 0.9m showjump event

Evie:

Gold in Under 13s shot put at North East County Championships at Shildon a few weeks ago, followed by a team win beating her own PB for shot put throwing 6.51m at the weekend!

Abbie:

Recent player of the month for Whitley Warriors ice hockey team followed by a trophy at the team presentation evening.

Crew Shakespeare are so proud to have so much talent! Well done girls.

Proud partners Olivia and Jet

Evie representing Gateshead Harriers and taking home a win from her shot put event

Abbie doing Whitley Warriors ice hockey team proud!

 

Dear Families

Often, when you look back on the week past it is hard to believe that so much can be achieved in a week and this is definitely the case in the final half term of Summer when every week is full – time with new staff in school, ongoing expert sessions and fieldwork, final assessments of the year, Y6 transition, G29 DofE, G28 work experience, PoL’s, the list goes on… and we are also looking ahead planning for the next academic year. 

We get the chance to see your children and their greatness every day and see how hard they are working to produce beautiful work, grow their character and be successful academically. We also get the chance to see and hear them challenging and supporting each other to be better and, like staff here, our students ‘sweat the small stuff’ and have high expectations of themselves and their peers.  G29, G30 and G31 community circles this week were full of honest reflection from students and staff, which is only possible in a culture where everyone feels safe to use their voice. 

A new member of staff  who joined community meetings this week and shared her reflections at the end of the week, stated that:

“One of the most impactful experiences has been seeing the compassion in crew and the crew community sessions. Amazing and inspiring”. 

XPG Staff Crew

Like our student crew, a strong staff crew is key to our success at XPG. Over this half-term we have some of our new staff joining us for induction in readiness for the new term. Last week we were delighted to appoint Mrs Stefanie Dickson as another Learning Coach to our team.  We have one more round of recruitment for a Learning Coach position which is ongoing and then all posts will be filled and we have a complete team in place..

As part of our growth, I am delighted that we have appointed Michelle Ross and Saoisre Blain as Phase Leaders this year. Phase Leaders lead and support Crew Leaders in the  implementation of our narrative for success for every student at XPG. Mrs Ross will lead our Transition/Year 7 phase and Miss Blain will lead our Year8/9 phase.  

G31 experts and fieldwork

This week our Year 7 students enjoyed working with expert John Hayton from Durham Wildlife Trust. John gave them an insight into the nature of conservation work and why it is important to protect and maintain biodiversity. On Wednesday students headed out to Whitley Bay to carry out an ecological field study looking at interdependence of species within that ecosystem and the importance of freshwater and saltwater to those species. Whilst there, our students supported the work of our partners Surfers Against Sewage carrying out a beach clean as an act of service in our community. 

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G28 SLCs

Student Led Conferences started this week which gave our Year 10 students a chance to share their response to recent mock exams, their updated snapshot with HoWL and attendance information and the plans they have moving forward in readiness for Year 11 success. Students, Crew Leaders and families also took the opportunity to talk about plans for their upcoming work experience. It has been great to talk to students and families following SLCs and hear such confidence and ownership over their learning and clearly plans for success next year. Thank you to all families who have attended SLCs so far.

This week

This week all Year 7 to Year 9 students will start work on a written reflection of the year which will be shared with you alongside their Crew Leader reflections and a final snapshot at the end of term.  Year 10 students will complete a reflection around work experience and families will have a final chance to ask questions of Crew Leaders following this. 

G29 Fieldwork – Wednesday 25th June

On Wednesday of this week G29 students will be taking part in a fieldwork visit to the Ouseburn to explore interdependence within ecosystems. They will be working with expert ecologist Dr. Mike Jeffries, a lecturer from Northumbria University. Please see the website post for more details.

G29 Pathways

Thanks to all of the families that have indicated their thoughts around pathways for G29 students as they start GCSE and Level 2 courses. If you have not already done so, please let us know your thoughts by completing this form.

Staff will be meeting this week to finalise pathways for next academic year. Crew Leaders will then be in contact with families to confirm finalised pathways, or to pick up where additional conversations with families are needed.

PE sessions this week

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

  • All of G31 (Year 7) have PE on Monday
  • All of G30 (Year 8) have PE on Wednesday
  • All of G29 (Year 9) and G28 (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.

Staff Day – Friday 27th June

Friday is the first of our staff days this half term, the second is on Monday 30th June. Our staff team will be planning for next year’s expeditions. Students will not be expected to be in school on Friday or Monday.

Extended Study and after school clubs

After school clubs and extended study will run as normal this week.

G29 Wednesday Fieldwork Update

On Wednesday, G29 students will be taking part in a fieldwork visit to the Ouseburn to explore interdependence within ecosystems.

They will be working with expert ecologist Dr. Mike Jeffries, a lecturer from Northumbria University. As part of their investigation, students will carry out species surveys in the ponds and meadows to assess the impact of rewilding. In addition, they will be taking photographs of the area to support their art work.

The current forecast predicts sunny weather and temperatures of around 22°C. Please ensure your child comes fully prepared with:

  • A full water bottle

  • Suncream

  • A sun hat

  • Their full school kit

We are scheduled to return to school by 3:15 PM. Any updates, including potential delays, will be posted on the school blog.

Attached are examples of the beautiful work students have been producing in Human sessions to build context around this environment.

 

 

 

Sharing our Stories: 20/06/2025

Beautiful Work This Week

Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust from this week. To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.

Top of the Blogs

What’s happening at the XP Festival ’25? @ XP Trust

KS1 Community Crew @ Green Top

Turn up the volume! @ Plover

KS2 Girls Football Tournament @ Carcroft School

Stay and Read in the sunshine! @ Norton Infants

Beautiful work @ XP Gateshead

Crew Sinfield – back and getting SLC ready! @ XP

DofE Update @ XP East

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

G29 Duke of Edinburgh Kit Check

Dear G29 Parents,

The countdown to the Qualifying Expedition is on and it is coming round quick! Thank you to all parents who have completed and returned the medical consent forms in the last couple of weeks. We could not provide your children with this rewarding experience without your support.

In our previous post about Duke of Edinburgh we had requested that all kit for the qualifying expedition be ready by 13th June. As such, we hope that everyone is ready to go! As mentioned in previous correspondence, we have some kit in school that we can lend out if needed, but to be able to manage this, we need to know what students are missing.

To help us do this, we would like all G29 students to bring their full kit to school on Friday 20th June so that we can check for any issues before we go. Some of it may be in rucksacks already, this is fine – we will check those too!

The kit list can be found here – it has been updated to include everything (like toothbrushes and underwear, as some of the basics were previously left off).

Whilst it is important to be prepared, please don’t overpack! The students will have to carry their rucksacks on their back all day, so efficiency is important – avoid heavy items where possible. They should have what they need, but nothing unnecessary – the most important items are walking boots and waterproofs.

We will post an update next week about bringing appropriate food on the Expedition, but in the meantime if you have any questions about the Duke of Edinburgh Award, please contact your child’s Crew Leader or Ms Marshall.

G31 Fieldwork today

G31 students are going to be a little later than planned to be back in school this afternoon. At the moment we expect them to be back at around 3.30pm. We will update the website again if there are any further changes.

What’s Happening at the XP Festival 2025? Here’s a Sneak Peek!

On Friday 11th July, XP Doncaster will be transformed into a creative hub of performance, exhibition, and celebration – and we can’t wait to welcome you!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!

Live Performances & Music

Expect a packed line-up of student-led performances including original music, dance, spoken word and drama. From samba to saxophones, DJs to jazz, our young artists will take to the stage with energy, skill and passion.

Art Exhibitions & Creative Showcases

Wander through beautiful student work and installations created as part of Learning Expeditions from across our schools. These pieces reflect deep thinking, real-world issues and the craftsmanship we value across the Trust.

‘XP Live’ Bands and Performers

Enjoy the latest in our growing XP Live programme – showcasing student bands, solo artists, and collaborations with professional musicians. This year, we’re proud to programme lots of  original music and elevate voices across every year group.

Community & Family

You can expect a welcoming atmosphere! The Festival is also a chance to bring together families and communities. Whether you’re here to watch your child perform or soak in the vibe, there’s something for everyone.

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW HERE!