XP Gateshead

Dear Parents/Carers

It’s been another great week of learning at XP Gateshead. Our students have continued to work hard in sessions collecting evidence around their pledges. With SLCs approaching next week, they continue to work hard in crew sessions to prepare for these with the support of staff and students around them. Thank you for your support with SLCs, booking your appointments promptly.  Can I remind G28 parents to complete the google form as soon as possible to provide questions for your son/daughter to prepare for.  

Expedition guiding questions were revealed on Monday after much curiosity and speculation from our students.

G29 Expeditions

Our G29 students have two expeditions this term:

The STEAM expedition is called ‘Staying Alive’ with the guiding question: ‘Is survival sufficient?’. This week students have launched into the first case study, looking at nutrition and digestion against the backdrop of the current cost of living crisis. The other case studies will also have a social justice component, also looking at energy through the lens of the cost of living crisis and separating mixtures through with reference to sourcing potable water in low economically developed areas. The products for this learning expedition will be food boxes donated to Gateshead Food Bank and Edberts House, as well as work in Crew to twin our toilets. This work will further help our students to see that they are important and that their work is important, because they and their work can have a positive impact on and connect with their community and the wider world.

Their HUMAN expedition is called ‘Do Your Bit’ and has the guiding question: ‘Why is it important that we honour all those that sacrificed in WWI?’. The first case study for this learning expedition is about the causes of The Great War: militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism. A reminder that the presentation of learning for this will be on Friday 24th March at Newcastle University in the King’s Hall – a space that was used as a military hospital during WWI.

G28 Expedition

Our G28 students have one expedition this term. This expedition has the guiding question and title of ‘What is Power?’. In the cross-curricular expedition students will explore the concept of “imbalance” and how this often leads to changes both in a social or historical setting but also in a scientific context.

Students have started two case studies this week. The first is a study of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the power “imbalances” within this play. Students are so enthusiastic about this play, which is wonderful to see and bodes well for our Presentation of Learning. This PoL will be anchored by performances of key scenes from the play and will be in the week commencing 27th March. We will have more details as soon as we have the date, time and venue confirmed.

The second case study is looking at the power of Earth and big changes in physical geography such as earthquakes, and at a smaller scale how “imbalance” can lead to chemical and physical change as students explore chemical reactions and forces. In art we have looked at an atmospheric hazard in Hurricane Katrina, and the artwork that sprang up from those terrible events.

Throughout this expedition students will read from an anthology of texts about moments that have had the power to shape our world: suffrage, Newton’s laws, Rutherford’s discoveries about the atom, The Declaration of Human Rights and many more.

Tranquil Tuesdays – A part of our Crew Curriculum

Tranquil Tuesday is when we check in on progress in the AR (Accelerated Reader) programme. Remember that AR is about improving your child’s reading age and should not replace reading for pleasure – of course they can go hand in hand. On Tuesday we also read our Crew Read together.

For G29 our Crew Read is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, which gives the students greater contextual knowledge about WWI and the stigma that was attached to perceived cowardice, which is also a theme in the play students are studying in Drama: White Poppies by Sue Saunders.

In G28 the Crew Read is the novel Tsunami Girl by Chie Kutsuwada. The story is told in part through manga artwork and in part through prose. Set against the tragic events of the 2011 earthquake in Japan, the protagonist Yuki learns about herself, and the power of imagination.

Wise Wednesdays – A part of our Crew Curriculum

Our Wise Wednesday sessions are part of our PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) and RSE (relationships education, relationship and sex education) programme. I know that, as a parent, it is really valuable to understand what is covered in school so that conversations at home can be better supported around more sensitive issues. 

G29’s Wise Wednesday work in Crew links to both expeditions  and students will be  looking at what they can do to both survive and thrive. Important issues around mental and physical well being will be covered this term. Look out for a more detailed website post this week which will give an overview of sessions, including advice and support for parents and carers too.

For G28 students, their Wise Wednesday work in Crew  ‘I’ve got the power’ links to expedition work and students will be considering making the right choices in relationships both on and offline. They will be discussing some important issues relevant to them at this age. Again, look out for a more detailed website post this week to give more details.

This week:

Extended Study

Preparing SLCs will be a focus for our students this week and staff will set less extended study to allow more time for students to work on this. Extended study sessions will still run as normal this week where support is available to students.

Please remember that there will be no extended study or clubs next week (w/c 23rd Jan) or the week following to allow for SLCs after school. The school day for all students (except those with SLCs on that day) will finish at 3:15pm.

Staff days

A reminder that Friday 20th and Monday 23rd January are our staff days this term. Students are not expected in school on these days.

See link here for this year’s term dates. 

As usual, thank you for your ongoing support. Please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader if you have any questions.

 

Julie Mosley

Co-Principal

Dear Parents/Carers

We’ve had a great first week back and our students have quickly got back into ‘work mode’ after their Christmas break. Thank you for the part you played in this – our students were fully equipped, on time and ready to go.

SLC Preparation and focus on HoWLs

A big focus for students this term is acting on the pledges they made after their first information snapshots and getting prepared for their Student-Led Conference. G29 students have spent time in Crew this week looking at what a quality SLC looks like and how they work towards this. Leading a 20 minute SLC is a big challenge and our students will be working to get their portfolios and scripts ready supporting each other in Crew and beyond. Our Year 8 students who have experienced SLCs have already offered their time to support Year 7 students with this work. You will be receiving an SLC invitation email from your child and find out how to book your SLC slot this week.

Immersion for new expeditions

Last week our students were immersed in their new expeditions for this term and were working hard to find out what their new guiding questions are.

In STEAM, G29 students have been reading a text called Station 11, set in a post-apocalyptic world where daily life is dangerous and challenging. Even so, there are still people travelling in caravans performing Shakespeare. They have also been investigating a range of apparently different stimulus materials including Marcus Rashford’s campaign for free school meals during the pandemic, inter-community and intra-community behaviours in primates and access to potable water in low economic status countries.

In HUMAN, G29 students have been exploring the historical British Empire, analysing the poem Salt by Trinidadian poet Anthony Joseph about the call to arms across the Empire in WWI. They have also been taking part in a gallery walk with images from 1914-1918 as well as family artefacts brought in by Mrs Downson from over a hundred years ago.

G28 students have been studying a modern prose, abridged version of Macbeth as an introduction to the plot and characters. They have also been studying how natural hazards can become disasters and had to attempt to develop an area of land prior to a natural hazard to protect as much life and infrastructure as possible. They have also been studying chemical changes, paying particular attention to the characteristics of the products in comparison to the reactants, and observing the reaction closely. Across G28 they have agreed that this is the most difficult they have found it to agree on the connections between the disciplines and how they could cohere to become and guiding question and expedition. Some students are very close in their predictions though!

The immersion activities above are a launch for our new expeditions, which aim to develop curiosity and build background knowledge about the content to be studied during the expeditions.

The big reveals will take place tomorrow; students will learn their guiding questions along with the big picture of their expeditions including the case studies, final products and crew reads which will support the expedition.

This coming week:

Pledges

Students will continue to collect evidence in sessions around their pledges they made after reflecting upon their snapshots last term. It would be great if you could talk to your child about their pledges and the progress they are making towards these.

Reading

As you know, as part of our reading strategy at XPG, we expect all students to read between 20 and 30 minutes every day. We do use some time in Crew at the start of the day for reading but students do need to be reading their AR (Accelerated Reader) book as part of their daily extended study too. Please encourage your child to read on a daily basis: talk to them about their current AR book and how they are progressing with it. Contact Crew Leaders if there are any issues or further support needed.

New ‘Crew Reads’ will be launched over the next two weeks. In the past students have read books that connect to their expeditions such as ‘Show us who you are’ last term in G28 which helped students to consider neurodiversity when thinking about what makes us human, and in G29 students read ‘Seedfolks’ – set in a community garden in Cleveland, Ohio – which showed how people from different walks of life can come together to form a community when they have a common goal or mission – just as the Dulais Miners in Wales and London’s lesbian and gay community did during the 1984 Miners’ Strike.

           

Our new Crew Reads  will be read and enjoyed by Crew during ‘Tranquil Tuesday’ morning sessions and will likewise support the new expeditions’ themes and build our students’ background knowledge and vocabulary. 

PE sessions

As usual G28 students (Y8) will need a PE kit for Tuesday, G29 students (Y7) will need a PE kit on Wednesday.

Dress code reminder

At XP we do not have a school uniform however we do have a dress code which asks students and staff to dress appropriately and modestly. See the link here for details on dress code from our website.

There is always going to be ambiguity with a dress code rather than a specific uniform,  so we do list items which we do not think it appropriate or recommend that students wear which included:

• Noticeable make-up, including false eyelashes
• Valuable, sentimental or impractical jewellery
• False nails
• Revealing clothing, i.e. crop tops, transparent leggings

I’ve included these items in particular here as we have had to give a few students reminders of appropriate dress this week.  I am sure that, as parents and carers, you will support us when we say that school clothing should be warm, comfortable and safe. If you have any questions about this please speak to your child’s Crew Leader.

Dates for your diary

Staff Days

A reminder that we have two staff development days this half term; Friday 20th and Monday 23rd January. 

Term Dates 2022/23

See link here for this year’s term dates. 

As usual, thank you for your ongoing support. Please get in touch with your child’s Crew Leader if you have any questions.

 

Julie Mosley

Co-Principal

XP Gateshead