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.
Following on from our visit by Samantha’s Legacy last week, we have offered an incredible opportunity by the charity to see a production of ‘Our Sam’, a dramatic performance of the ripple effects of Sam’s passing on her family, friends, and community. It explores themes of grief and lost potential.
This builds on the learning that students have been doing about the risks of carrying knives, and consequences of knife crime. We are delighted to be able to take all of Year 9 to see the performance along with their Crew Leaders.
We have worked with our local Violence Reduction Unit and students have discussed these issues before in Crew sessions, so we are confident that our students are mature enough to deal with the sensitive nature of the play.
We apologise for the short notice; we have just been able to confirm coach transport to the venue to get students back to school rather than using the metro at peak time which would have led to a later arrival back at school.
Students will be travelling to and from Whitley Bay Playhouse by coach and will eat lunch a little earlier in school. They do not require a packed lunch unless they normally do so.
Please note we will arrive back in school a little later than the usual finish time at 4.15pm.
Our train is currently running to time so we should be at Newcastle Central Station at 8.30pm, and then at school for around 9.15pm as planned.
We are looking forward to G30’s fieldwork to London over the next two weeks. This week it is Class 2 that will travel to the V&A museum on Tuesday.
Please make sure that if your child needs to take any medicine during the course of the day, that this is in their bag. It must be clearly labelled in the original packaging and that our office have been made aware if your child is self-administering.
A reminder that all students will need to bring with them:
- A packed lunch, packed tea and any healthy snacks – strictly no nuts please.
- Comfortable trainers or walking shoes.
- Clothing suitable for the weather – there will be a short walk from South Kensington Underground.
- Their regular kit, including a fully charged iPad and a water bottle and their reading book for the journey.
- We advise that students bring their mobile phone if they have one, charged and turned off in their bag.
- Students do not need to bring spending money for the fieldwork, although there is an opportunity to visit the gift shop.
Students can either:
- meet staff at XP Gateshead between 6.30am and 6.45am at the latest. Staff will then walk with students to Heworth Metro to travel by Metro to Newcastle Central Station.
- meet staff at Newcastle Central Station between 7.15am and 7.30am at the latest. Staff will be waiting inside the portico near the short stay car park to meet students.
We will update the website with our arrival time; the return train is scheduled to arrive back in Newcastle Central Station at 8.30pm.
We look forwards to seeing students bright an early on Tuesday morning!
Sharing our Stories 24/01/2025
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.
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Share your stories with us!
We’re looking for awesome teachers at XP Gateshead!
XP Gateshead is hiring! We’re seeking dedicated educators for History, English, and Arts. Join us in shaping the future of learning. Apply now:
- History & English Teachers: https://xptrust.org/were-looking-for-a-great-teachers-of-history-and-english-at-xp-gateshead/
- Arts Teacher: https://xptrust.org/were-looking-for-a-great-teacher-of-arts-at-xp-gateshead/
- Faculty Leader for Arts: https://xptrust.org/were-looking-for-a-great-faculty-leader-for-arts-at-xp-gateshead/
We’re looking for a Cleaner at XP Doncaster!
Join our Crew! XP Doncaster is looking for a Cleaner! Be part of a team that makes a difference every day. Apply now: https://xptrust.org/were-looking-for-a-cleaner-at-xp-doncaster/
This term, Year 7 students are embarking on the HUMAN and ARTS expedition “Do Your Bit!”.
After an engaging immersion week—including activities like a gallery walk of WWI artefacts, the “notices and wonders” protocol, and reading the play White Poppies—students explored how art reflects the realities of war through WWI artists’ work. The week concluded with the reveal of the guiding question: “Why do we need to honour all those who made sacrifices during WWI?”
The expedition delves into the causes of WWI, the impact of propaganda, the “unheard voices” of war, the Commonwealth’s contributions, Sikh beliefs and their influence on soldiers, and the lasting effects of the war.
Case Studies and Anchor Texts
The expedition is divided into three case studies:
- The Call to Arms – Exploring the causes of WWI and propaganda’s role in recruitment, with creative writing tasks imagining the pressures of war.
- The Call of the Motherland – Examining the Commonwealth’s role through expert sessions and a fieldwork visit to Newcastle’s Sikh Gurdwara where they will experience how Sikhs meditate to connect their body and mind, fostering a deeper understanding of this spiritual practice as well as the practice of Sewa (selfless service to others) by preparing and serving Langar.
- The Call Home – Investigating WWI’s long-term effects, including PTSD, racism, and grief, with fieldwork at Heworth Cemetery.
The anchor text, War Girls: A Collection of First World War Stories Through the Eyes of Young Women, enriches the students’ understanding of the period.
Artistic Connections, Drama, and Crew
In drama, students are staging scenes from White Poppies, making directorial decisions. In art, they are exploring colour theory and composition while recreating WWI-inspired works by artists like CRW Nevinson and Otto Dix. During Crew, they are reading Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful to understand the war’s impact on families and communities.
Celebration of Learning and Final Product
The expedition concludes with a live Presentation of Learning on 25th March at 4:30 pm. Students will present their learning, read extracts from their creative writing, and show some of their artwork, interspersed with dramatic performances of White Poppies. Their final product—a wartime-style radio broadcast featuring extracts from their creative writing to amplify WWI’s unheard voices—will air on Memory Lane Radio on Remembrance Sunday in November.
Dear Families
This week we have revealed the full details of our new expeditions for all cohorts.
This terms’ Expeditions, Guiding Questions and Presentation of Learning dates
You can see more detailed information on each of the new expeditions by clicking here.
- Year 7 HUMAN – Why is it important to honour all those who sacrificed in WWI?
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- PoL on Tuesday 25th March in school at 4.30pm
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- Year 7 STEAM – Is survival sufficient?
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- PoL on Monday 24th March at Edberts House (this is not an event that families attend, students will present their food packages to the workers at Edberts House)
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- Year 8 – What is Power?
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- PoL on Thursday 27th March at Caedmon Hall, above Gateshead Central Library at 5pm.
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- PoL on Friday 9th May in school from 2pm. This Presentation of Learning is in the form of a Public Health Conference, hosted by our students.
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- Year 10 – Are we really free to choose?
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- PoL on Tuesday 18th March, venue and time to be confirmed.
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G29 (Year 9) Information
We also enjoyed meeting with G29 families at our Information Evening on Wednesday to give further details around key events for Year 9 this year – Passage Presentations, the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and our KS4 curriculum offer. Thank you to those families who attended. Here are the slides we shared so everyone can access the information.
Raising awareness around the dangers of knife crime
On Friday we welcomed Alison and Yvonne from the charity Samantha’s Legacy into school to run sessions with our G28 and G29 students on knife crime and to hear first-hand the devastation one family can experience at the hands of knife crime. The team at Samantha’s Legacy work relentlessly to raise awareness around this important issue, support families and young people who have been affected by knife crime and prevent knife crime in our region.
The feedback from all involved was extremely positive. We will be running further sessions for our other year groups later this term. We’ve also been offered the opportunity for a group of students to attend the new theatre production of ‘Our Sam’ which is being held at the end of the month at Whitley Bay Playhouse which is a play based on the true story of Samantha Madgin, a young mother who tragically lost her life to knife crime in 2007 and highlights the irreversible impact of knife crime. More information about this event will follow.
The week ahead
Experts at XPG
This week we welcome film director Russell Smith to XP Gateshead. Russell will be talking to our students about his work and sharing his award winning film documentary ‘The Last Men Standing’ with G28 with a screening followed by a Q&A session. The documentary is about 15 East Durham Miners which not only goes back to G28’s first expedition which focused on East Durham mines but also supports learning in their current expedition in terms of our curricular seam of social justice, connecting to themes of social class in their current anchor text ‘An Inspector Calls’.
G30 (Year 8) Local Fieldwork: Working with experts at the Shipley Art Gallery
This week our Year 8 students will spend a day working with experts at the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead.
- Class 2 are working at the Shipley throughout the day on Tuesday this week
- Class 1 are working at the Shipley throughout the day on Wednesday this week
More details including kit and packed lunches can be found by clicking here.
PE sessions this week
Our PE sessions this week are as follows. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit.
- G30 students (Y8) have PE on Monday.
- For G31 students (Y7)
- G31 Class 1 students have PE on Tuesday.
- G31 Class 2 students have PE on Wednesday
- G29 students (Y9) have PE on Thursday.
- G28 students (Y10) have PE on Thursday.
SLC Preparation G31 and G30
SLCs for G31 and G30 will take place this term in the two weeks commencing 27th January 2025. It is an expectation that all families attend SLCs to fully support their child’s progress. All G31 and G30 families should have now made appointments to attend their child’s SLC. Our students continue with their preparations this week which, for G30 students includes responses to questions from their families. Please can all G30 families ensure that they have completed this Google Form to help your child to prepare for the conference.
Passage Preparation G29
Our year 9 students continue with preparation for their Passage Presentations which will take place during the 17th and 18th March and slots will be available during the days. We will soon send out a the system to book a passage presentation slot.
Staff Days on Friday 24th and Monday 27th January – EARLY FINISH TO SCHOOL THIS THURSDAY
Please note that our whole staff will be travelling to Doncaster on Thursday 23rd January for a twilight CPD session which will launch an XP Trust Teaching and Learning conference on Friday so school will end at the slightly earlier time of 1.30pm on Thursday 23rd January to allow for this.
As always, students are not expected to be in school on staff days Friday 24th and Monday 27th January.
Dates to note
Year 8 London Fieldwork: Victoria & Albert Museum Fieldwork for Year 8
More details of the fieldwork can be found here.
- Year 8 Class 2 will travel to London on Tuesday 28th January
- Year 8 Class 1 will travel to Longon on Monday 3rd February
Can all G30 families return reply sheets to Crew Leaders by Wednesday this week. As you can imagine it is imperative that we have full details to ensure appropriate arrangements and travel bookings are made.
Please note that we want to give every student the opportunity to come to London and there is no cost to families for this fieldwork. We do expect a commitment from both students and families in terms of their conduct and if there are any absences on the day of travel, we will ask families to cover the costs incurred by us as a school.
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
Principal