XP Gateshead

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 http://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!

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.

[email protected]

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:

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.

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 http://xptrust.org/stories #WeAreXPTrust

We are all really looking forward to our Transition Days at XP Gateshead and  getting the chance to meet all of our new students. On the evening of Wednesday 29th June, we will also hold an information evening for parents – more details below.

Your child will be spending two full days with us, meeting their new teachers and friends and getting a feel for their new school. 

Transition days Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th June

• Timings of the days:  8:25am-3:15pm

Like a regular school day, students can arrive in school from 8:00am but  need to be present by 8:25am. Our school day finishes at 3:15pm.

Your child will follow a typical day at XPG on both days which include some crew sessions, expedition sessions and a community meeting.

The ‘essential kit’ students need to bring

• 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.
• On Wednesday, your child will need to bring a suitable PE kit so they can sample an XPG PE session.

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:

Lunch costs will be covered by XP Gateshead on both days if you choose a school lunch for your child. Please let us know your preferred option for lunch on the google form below.

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 as we will share important information about the Outward Bound experience in Ullswater which will be your child’s first week at XP Gateshead starting August 30th. 

We have limited space in school so there is a maximum of 2 parents/carers only per family. Your son/daughter is not required to attend the Information Evening. 

Please let us know how many places you require on the google form below.

Google form to complete with details for lunch and Information Evening places.

Our iPad for Learning Scheme portal is now open until 10pm on Thursday 28th July.

Click here to access the scheme

As we have discussed in our transition family meetings, students are expected to bring a device with them to school every day.

We strongly recommend that parents purchase the latest iPads, which gives them access to Google Docs and many creative apps such as iMovie, GarageBand and art apps. We believe that iPads are now the best pound-for-pound device for learning.

Working with our current Year 7s, the latest iPads have been transformational in the way that we have been able to approach learning in the classroom with every student on the same device.

We have created a great value parental contribution scheme which offers all our parents affordable access to the latest iPad with comprehensive insurance. This cost to parents is significantly cheaper than if you were to buy them from a shop (roughly 20% cheaper), and you get to spread the cost over the payment plan. After the final payment, the iPad is yours to do with as you wish. You can also purchase the iPads in one-off payment.

The other advantage of our scheme is that the iPads are managed by school and we can add apps to the devices that are needed for your child’s learning. During school time, only apps needed for school will be available. This helps us keep our students safe and distraction free whilst using devices. Out of school, any other apps can be installed by students.

In our scheme, you are able to buy an iPad with a keyboard case and trackpad, with the option to purchase an Apple Pencil which is incredibly useful for art apps and digital creation.

Option 1: iPad, comprehensive insurance, keyboard case, school apps and security. £15.50 per month

Option 2: iPad, Apple Pencil comprehensive insurance, keyboard case, school apps and security. £18 per month

Delivery will be made directly to XP Gateshead in time for the new school year and you will be contacted when your iPad is ready for collection.

We are delighted to be able to confirm that Year 7 will launch their published book “From the Ground Up” at Seven Stories – the National Centre For Children’s Books!

This is such a fantastic opportunity for our students and takes us right back to where the planning for our school with our first team of staff began last year.

The book launch will take place after school on Thursday 30th June.

We will transport students from school to Seven Stories. Students will then be presenting their book to experts and members of the community in the loft room at Seven Stories after school. As this is a formal event we will ask students to dress smartly for the occasion as they would for a presentation of learning.

Following this there will be an informal celebration on the ground floor (level 3) where parents and families will be welcome.

Families should arrive from 5.00pm. The cafes will be open on levels 2 and 3, as well as copies of the book available to purchase for £9.95. All proceeds raised from book sales will go back into the education of your children.

Students will make their way downstairs from their presentation to join our families at around 5.30 pm, and the event will close at around 6.00pm.

Please complete this Google Form to confirm your attendance at the informal celebration and to confirm that you will be able to take your child home from Seven Stories at around 6.00pm.

There is limited parking available in the area, or alternatively Seven Stories is around a 20 minute walk from either Manors or Byker Metro stations. More information on getting to `Seven Stories can be found here.