It was great to see our students make such a strong start back to school last week after half term break. Students were immediately back to working hard, getting smart and being kind, stepping up to our high expectations in and outside of sessions.
Behind all of our students is a dedicated staff crew at XP Gateshead as you know who are supported by teams at XP Trust, Gateshead LEA and in our local community. Here’s just a few examples from this week:
It was a busy start to the week with two full days of interviews. I am delighted to say that we have appointed two new teachers to our staff crew:
Hannah Simpson who joins us as a HUMAN teacher and Mohammed Azam who joins us as a STEAM teacher. We are delighted with our new appointments and look forward to them joining us in June to start their induction with us.
This week the final product from the G28 Being Human expedition was installed at the QE Hospital at the Windy Nook Entrance.
As well as seeing our students’ truly beautiful artwork of different organs, the installation includes a QR code which allows visitors to access G28 voices and their responses to the guiding question, ‘What does it mean to be human?’.
This is important work which matters, raising awareness of the importance of organ donation. We could not be prouder of our students and the adults who supported the ‘Being Human’ expedition, in particular Andy Lowes (pictured) at Gateshead NHS Foundation.
This work is already garnering attention online:
“Incredible!”
“This is amazing!”
“Wow! This work is outstanding and will no doubt capture the interest of those passing by.”
“Such an important message.”
Most importantly it will save lives. If you have been inspired by our students’ work and want to sign up to become an organ donor – please click here.
Parents of Year 6 students will have received notification of secondary school places on Friday. XP Gateshead works with the Local Authority admissions teams to administer places. As in previous years, we received more applications than we can offer places and our admissions were determined by a random lottery administered independently by the Local Authority.
I’d like to thank all families who expressed an interest in our school and the work we do here. An appreciation too for our existing families and students for showing our school for the really special place that it is. Again we are massively oversubscribed with around eight applicants for every one place at the school.
For our new families, welcome to XP Gateshead and congratulations! We are delighted to have you and your children join our school. We will be sending out our welcome letters early this week and there will be separate website posts coming which will share all information around transition.
For the time being, there are answers to many of our most frequently asked questions here.
As we all know, attendance at school is of vital importance. 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. Put simply if pupils are not at school then they will not be learning and can easily fall behind in all areas of their development.
In order to support you and your child we keep a close eye on attendance and appreciate your full support with this. At XPG we celebrate attendance and will support those students and families who need to improve their attendance. We all work hard together to ensure school attendance is high – students, parents/carers, Crew Leaders and our inclusion team.
If, for any reason, your child is unable to attend school you must contact the school office before 8:30am by telephone. This is a safeguarding procedure which has to happen on every day of absence.
Please share any worries you have around attendance or punctuality with your childs’ Crew Leader.
This week is National Careers Week. Students in Year 9 have been thinking carefully about pathways and careers as part of preparation for their Passage Presentations.
Students in Year 7 and Year 8 will have a session in Crew this week which introduces them to our Careers Website and their Start Profile – a personalised website which will help them to think about their own pathways and readiness for the next stages of their education.
Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.
Friday is the first of our staff days this half term, the second is on Monday 11th March. Our staff team will be planning for next term’s expeditions and this year’s curriculum priorities from our school improvement plan. Students will not be expected to be in school on Friday or Monday unless they are G28 students who have a Passage presentation on Monday. If students want to come to school on Friday to prepare for their passage, they must organise this through their Crew Leader.
This week parents of G29 students will receive information on HPV vaccinations which will take place in school Tuesday 7th May. There will be a consent form within the information which will need completing as soon as possible.
G28 are working hard on preparing for their passage presentation next week. They will be using Crew time and additional time in sessions to get ready for this important moment in their time at XP Gateshead.
Passage presentations are hugely important benchmark demonstrations of learning over multiple years that mark this pivotal transition from Key Stage 3 into Key Stage 4 and GCSEs. During the presentations, students will use their portfolios as a guide to articulate their progress and growth. These presentations are another means by which we help students to develop their character and hone their public speaking. The rubrics that will be used during the presentations can be found here.
Students will be welcome to arrive at school earlier than their passage presentation slot to do final preparations, and then should return home after their presentation. If students do not have a passage presentation, there is not a need for them to be in school on Monday 11th March.
This is not a staff day, however Year 9 teachers will be involved in passage presentations throughout the day so we will not be running a regular timetable for this day for Year 9 students. There are three options for Year 9 students on this day:
Please can all G28 families use this Google Form to let us know what your child will be doing, and whether they will need a school lunch
As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance.
Thank you as always for your ongoing support.
Julie Mosley
This week we’re proud to share the beautiful story LKS2s Expedition from last term ‘Coming to Doncaster: why then and why now?’. The incredible work from the students is on display outside the school for the community to see – make sure you go and check it out!
This week beautiful work created by students at XP Gateshead was curated and unveiled at the QE Hospital!
‘What does it mean to be human?’
As part of their learning the students considered what makes a human both in a scientific way, through study of the gas exchange, circulatory and reproductive systems, and with regard to culture and religious beliefs when studying the Abrahamic faiths and the sanctity of human life.
Students then began the analysis of the tone and structure of successful speeches, and used this learning to write persuasive speeches on the topic of organ donation.
The theme of how humans and their societies and cultures grow and develop was then explored. Studying the development of humans from a single cell, through childhood, and puberty and onwards to adulthood. Adding to this theme we also considered our evolutionary past.
Students also worked with an expert to explore innovations and advancements that are being made around the world to help and support the development of humans. Alongside this students met with experts in organ donation, Dharmic faiths and Humanist beliefs in order to reflect upon who we want to be and how we can be the best version of ourselves.
The students were then challenged to create artwork to promote organ donation, and reflect upon what it means to be Human. Students also gave a speech expressing what they think it means to be human to parents and experts.
This work displayed at the QE hospital is the result of XPG’s community collaboration and celebrates what it means to be human and how together we are stronger.
The work has been well received already and Gateshead NHS have shared this post about working with the students at XPG!
We’re on TV next week!
XP Doncaster will be featured in a BBC Two documentary to be aired on the 7th March.
Multi award winning TV company Tern TV, spent several days filming with us last summer, with the presenter Darren McGarvey, who won the Orwell prize for his book ‘Poverty Safari’.
The filming was for the second of three documentaries, which in order focus on Justice, Education and Health, titled: Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In.
Claira Salter, our Principal of XP Doncaster said:
“We love to share what we do across the XP Trust, welcoming over a thousand visitors and delegates from all over the world in the last year alone. So, when we were approached by Tern TV to take part in the education documentary presented by Darren, it was a real opportunity to engage with an even wider audience here and for our students to participate in the process of interviewing and film making.”
“We are looking forward to seeing all three programmes and are delighted that the spotlight will also be on Doncaster and the communities and partners we are proud to work with.”
All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer now and the Education documentary will be broadcast on Thursday 7th March at 9pm on BBC Two.
Weekly update for parents @ XP Gateshead
Kindness changes everything @ Norton Infants
Family Learning Y3/4 @ Green Top
Fantastic artwork in Year 9 @ XP
Fieldwork Fun at Yorkshire Wildlife Park @ Plover
Science Experiment @ Carcroft School
Year 3 are Magnetic! @ Norton Juniors
Find out more about the role and apply here to #JoinOurCrew
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!
Welcome back! We hope you have had a restful half term break and we look forward to welcoming our students back tomorrow.
School opens at 8:00am every morning. Students should arrive between 8:00am and 8:25 am and there are spaces available for socialising, reading or completing extended study. Students must be on site for 8.25am for the call to Crew.
As always, students need to bring a school bag with:
A reminder that we ask students and staff to dress appropriately and modestly. See link here to details on dress code from our website.
In line with our dress code, we expect students to arrive at PE lessons with a change of kit which is appropriate for the activity and all accessories removed. This includes sports trainers with non slip soles e.g. running shoes/astro turf (not plimsolls).
Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.
Interviews will take place this week (Monday and Tuesday). We have had lots of interest in our advertisements for new teachers and are really looking forward to meeting the shortlisted applicants at interviews this week. As always, our staff and students are involved in the interviews to ensure we get the best teachers to join XPG Crew as we continue to grow.
Our G30 students continue to work on their two expeditions until the end of this term. Their STEAM expedition, ‘Staying Alive’ with the guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’ and their HUMAN expedition, ‘Do Your Bit’ with the guiding question: ‘Why is it important that we honour all those that sacrificed in WWI?’. The presentation of learning for this will be on Tuesday 26th March in our school theatre. More details to follow in a separate post.
Our G29 students continue to work on one cross-curricular expedition this term with the guiding question and title of ‘What is Power?’. Their final presentation of learning for this expedition will be on Wednesday 27th March at Caedmon Hall at Gateshead Central Library. More details to follow in a separate post.
A reminder that we have two staff development days this half term; Friday 8th and Monday 11th March.
The schedule for passage presentations has now been shared with families. Students will have additional prep sessions this week and next and all Crew sessions will be devoted to preparation too. Please talk to your children at home about how their preparation is going and how they are demonstrating their readiness for GCSEs in sessions too: remember there will be feedback given on quality of reflection, quality of writing, integrity of reflection and organisation of the portfolio of evidence.
Monday 11th March is a staff day. Students will be welcome to arrive at school earlier than their passage presentation slot to do final preparations, and then should return home after their presentation. If students do not have a passage presentation, there is not a need for them to be in school on Monday 11th March.
Tuesday 12th March is not a staff day, however Year 9 teachers will be involved in passage presentations throughout the day so we will not be running a regular timetable for this day for Year 9 students. Students can come into school for the regular school hours or work from home where families give permission; we will be setting additional extended study to support students in their expeditions which students can access independently. Likewise, if students have a passage presentation on this day, and families give permission, then students can go home following their presentation.
Please note that Tuesday 12th March will be a regular timetable day for all of Year 7 and Year 8.
As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance.
Thank you as always for your ongoing support.
Julie Mosley
We have come to the end of another full and productive half-term and, as always, our whole community have worked together demonstrating courage, respect, craftsmanship and quality, integrity and above all… compassion.
Our students have continued to work hard across this half term and I’m sure that those who have seen children present Student Led Conferences this term, would all agree that our students continue to be challenged (and supported) to strive for beautiful work. Thank you again for your support in SLCs, it is vital that our students share their progress regularly as ‘Leaders of their own Learning’.
It has been a busy final week and here are a couple of highlights:
Our G30 students visited the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha on Thursday to find out more about Sikhi and how temples operate as part of their expedition ‘Do your bit’ which includes a focus on the experience of Sikh soldiers.
Students supported with sewa, a deliberate act of service which Sikhs believe demonstrates belief in their equality and the importance of all people. Students worked in the kitchen to prepare food for langhar which is when the temple provides food for the community, free of charge.
As Miss Jamison has posted, we have also asked if Year 7 students can try out some of the recipes from ‘Cooking on a Bootstrap’ at home with you over the half-term break.
Our G30 and G29 students have also had a workshop on malicious online communications from Jon Ord, from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office.
Preparation for passage presentations is well underway for our G28 students and this week they have spent crew sessions with this as their focus. Having considered metaphors for their time at XPG, students are currently reflecting on their progress as writers and mathematicians using evidence from their portfolios across Year 7 and Year 8.
Please make sure that you have signed up (Google Form) for a time slot for Passage Presentation as we are at the stage of organising our expert panel guests. We would like to get all of these times out to families this weekend.
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 26th February.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. A special thanks for the mystery gift of creme eggs which arrived for all staff at XPG – it is very much appreciated!
Julie Mosley
G30 students have been busy prepping for our final product for the expedition: Staying Alive with the guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’. The final product will be a food box with recipes and ingredients for a week for a family in need.
As part of this, we’re asking students to try out some of the cost-friendly recipes from Cooking on a Bootstrap by Jack Monroe at home, and have a go at cooking them with you.
We’d love to hear any taste reviews and see any action shots from your kitchens! Students have selected and saved their chosen recipe during their STEAM lessons, but can check this (and access the full recipe book) via Google Classroom. Students also have a piece of extended study to price up their chosen recipes.
After seeing G30 working hard cooking pasta and pizza last week, we can’t wait to see more beautiful cookery work being produced.
Please can all families make sure that your child has their screen protector that was provided with their iPad in place. There are some instances where students have peeled these off and it leaves the screen more prone to damage.
Without a screen protector, there can be times when a charge is added to the repair of the screen through the insurance scheme.
Crew Leaders will be checking this in Crew time tomorrow, but we’d appreciate your support in checking at home and replacing them if needed.
Crew Frank
We have put out a notice to students this morning to garner interest in being part of a student voice group from schools across the borough.
The Young People Engagement event ‘What does pride mean?’ will take place on Monday 4th March 2024 at Gateshead Civic Centre. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate activism and leadership for our students.
Up to 10 children can attend for each school.
If your child is interested please ask them to talk to their Crew Leader.
