Happy Friday – here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust this week!
To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org/stories
You can access our school club shop with FBT by clicking here.
Our full dress code can be found here.
A reminder that we recommend the polo shirts, and that must be dressed modestly and appropriately every day.
PE kit is explained in our dress code. The branded PE kit in the club shop is entirely optional.
Welcome to parents of G29!
G is for Gateshead
29 is 2029, the in which students will go to University if that is what they choose to do.
We would love it if all parents of our new G29 cohort could sign up to join our Parents’ Facebook group. This is a space where parents communicate with each other. We know our existing parents will be so helpful and welcoming to you, our newest members of our XP Gateshead community.
To join the Facebook Group please click on this link and answer the questions for approval
#WeAreCrew
#WeAreXPGateshead
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are getting ready for our course with The Outward Bound Trust Howtown in Ullswater on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 – Friday, September 2, 2022.
Kit for the week
The kit list for the week can be found by clicking here. Please use the 5 day course as a guide.
Online Participant Form
We need all parents to complete a Participant Information Form by following the link below. The form must be submitted by Tuesday, July 19, 2022 to secure your child’s place.
Outward Bound Participant Form
– It should take around 10 minutes to complete and you will need to register an account to begin.
– You can find instructions, a video walkthrough and troubleshooting help here: How to complete the Participant Information Form
– The form is only supported on Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox browsers.
– Remember to enter the information for the person who will be attending the course.
Many thanks
We can’t wait to welcome our new students tomorrow!
Timings
Students can arrive between 8.00am and 8.25am. Please be conscientious if parking as we have residents on the street that need access to their properties at all times.
Students will finish at 3.15pm.
Kit
A reminder that in terms of kit your child will need:
- a backpack or bag (with enough space to carry an A4 folder)
- a water bottle
- pencil case kit of: pen, pencil. ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener.
PE sessions on Wednesday
On Wednesday, your child will need to come in a suitable PE kit. We do have specific dress code for PE for once your child starts in August. However for Wednesday we ask that you simply make sure that your child’s clothing is appropriate for PE and modest.
Dear Parents/Guardians
Welcome to week four of our final half-term at XP Gateshead.
This is a big week for us as we welcome our new cohort of âYear 7â (G29) students who will be joining us on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week for their transition days. Our current students will be acting as ambassadors on these days and it would be great if they could wear their XP tops to present our school in the best possible light.Â
We are really proud of our current students who have volunteered to support in crews and classes this week and who have organised lunchtime clubs and activities for our young visitors.
Can I also take a moment to say what a delight and a humbling experience it was to listen to our students as they completed their SLCs (Student Led Conferences) this week. We were all completely blown away by the quality of SLCs and the way in which students could talk confidently about their work and progress. Thank you as well to parents who supported SLCs and contributed really great questions in advance for students to respond to.Â
This week:
- Monday 27th June is staff development day – students are not expected to be in school and should return as normal on Tuesday 28th June.
- Transition Days Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th June – on these days we will be joined by our new cohort of students who will experience âcrewâ for the first time and will learn about their new school. Our current students will be acting as Ambassadors and have volunteered to support in crew and lessons and have also prepared lunchtime activities for our young visitors. Please note that there will be increased âdrop offâ traffic on these days so for our existing parents it may be a good idea to drop off and pick up just along the road or round the corner.
- Warm weather – As the weather is starting to get quite warm. (Summer is coming !) Please make sure your child brings a water bottle to school and also a cap or hat if they suffer from sunstroke, and/or sunscreen if they burn easily. This is to cover outside breaks and lunchtimes although PE lessons are also increasingly outside. We will issue kit lists for any field work.
- Thursday 30th June – Book Launch – We are really excited to be launching the first published book written by our students. This will take place at Seven Stories on the Quayside which is appropriate as this is the national centre for children’s books. Our students will be transported to Seven Stories after school on Thursday and we have asked that parents arrive at about 5pm to pick them up and stay for a coffee/chat in the cafe at Seven Stories.
- Visitor from the States – we look forward to welcoming Michelle Nevarre to XPG on Wednesday 29th June. Michelle is Principal of Polaris School in Chicago and she will be accompanied by Gwyn and Neil from the Trust.
- Parental Feedback – Please remember to complete our parents feedback form by clicking here. We would really love to know what you think about our school (what we do well and what we could do better) and in particular would like to get feedback on our SLCs.
Upcoming Events:
A reminder there is a G28 parentsâ calendar here.
- There is a fantastic opportunity for students to get involved in our promotion of From The Ground Up at the Durham Minersâ Gala on Saturday 9th July. See Mr Saidâs post for more details .
- The Presentation of Learning for our current learning expedition will take place on the evening of Tue 19th July. We will be sending more details on this in the coming weeks.
No Nuts in packed lunches please
We have students in our new cohort with a severe allergy to nuts and so we need to ask that no nuts or nut products be used in packed lunches from this point onwards. Thank you in advance for your support with this.
Extended Study this week
We will be setting extended study as normal this week and extended study sessions after school will resume as normal this week
PE sessions this week – FridayÂ
Please note that PE will be on Friday for our current students (G28 cohort)
COVID testingÂ
We have decided to remove the requirement to test students each Sunday evening given the current low level in cases and additional staffing that we now have available. This is in line with Government guidelines, however we would ask parents to continue to be vigilant and to test students if they or other family members of the family have symptoms. With your support we will continue to test students in school if they present with symptoms during the school day. We will also continue to keep windows open and to ensure our building is as ventilated as possible.
We do still have a limited supply of testing kits, so if you are in need and find it difficult to obtain tests, please do speak to your son or daughterâs Crew Leader.
As usual if there are any queries please do get in contact with your childâs Crew Leader.
Many thanks
Mark Lovatt
Principal
Happy Friday – here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust this week!
To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org/stories
Good evening
All of us at XPG wanted to thank our families for your continued support in our SLCs this last two weeks.
It really is remarkable that your children are able to talk so eloquently and with integrity about their character growth and academic progress at XP Gateshead.
This is of course for the most part down to their hard work. Having you there as an audience is also such an important part of the process too, to drive up the quality of their work and offer support and challenge.
We’d like to use this moment as an opportunity to get feedback on the SLC process, and offer you the opportunity to give some general feedback too.
Here is a short Google Form where you can give your views. It should take no more than 5 minutes or so to complete. We’d really appreciate it if you could complete this and help us to continue to improve the SLC process and overall provision for your children.
Next stop, BOOK LAUNCH!
G28 Opportunity for children – Durham Miners’ Gala
We are delighted to announce that we have secured a place at the Durham Miners Gala this year as part of the wider work we are doing to promote your children’s book ‘From the Ground Up‘.
On Saturday 9th July we will have a stall at the Racecourse in Durham as part of the wider celebration of mining commonly known as ‘The Big Meeting’. Typically attendance at The Big Meeting is around 200 000 people, so this really is a wonderful opportunity.
This will be a great chance for some of our students to talk to interested parties and no doubt the local press about their work on sharing the stories of our mining heritage.
Of course we will also make some sales of our book, the profits of which all go back into the school and providing a fantastic education.
Given that this is a Saturday, we are looking for families that are perhaps interested in coming along to the Gala for the day, and would also loan us your child for a few hours to help support at our stall.
Mrs Mosley and Mr Said will be there throughout the event to support the students.
If you or your child are interested, then please contact Mr Said for more details on timings etc.
We need all G29 parents to complete this Google form with details for your child’s lunch and to book Information Evening places.
Lunchtime arrangements
There are two options for lunch:
- Students can bring in their own healthy packed lunch each day. Please ensure this is nut free as we have students in our community with severe nut allergies.
or
- Students can try a school meal with us.
The menu is shown below:
| Tuesday 28th June | Wednesday 29th June | |
| Main meal option
|
Roast chicken, yorkshire pudding, creamed potatoes, vegetable medley and gravy
|
Katsu chicken curry and rice |
| Vegetarian meal option
|
Cheese omelette
|
Mac & Cheese with garlic ciabatta |
| Jacket Potato
|
With beans, cheese or tuna and salad
|
With beans, cheese or tuna and salad |
| Dessert | Flapjack | Chocolate brownie |
Information Evening for Parents/Carers
Finally, we are holding an Information Evening for Parents on Wednesday 29th June at 6pm. This meeting will last approximately one hour.
It is vital that at least one parent/carer attends this meeting.
A reminder as stated above that we need all G29 parents to complete this Google form with details for your child’s lunch and to book Information Evening places.