XP Gateshead

Dear Parents/Guardians

What an incredible two weeks of Students Led Conferences (SLCs) – I think you will agree that students have handled their first SLCs brilliantly and have reflected on their work and progress with integrity. It has also been fantastic to see parents face to face and to finally meet in school! A big thank you to all of our parents for supporting our first SLCs. We hope you enjoyed them as much as we did.

This coming week students will begin the first case study in their science expedition, Staying Alive with the guiding question, ‘Is Survival Sufficient?’ They will be studying digestion, nutrition, heat transfer, and separating mixtures amongst other things as we look at the food we need to survive, the importance of staying warm, and the importance of access to clean water. Underpinning our expedition will be a theme of social justice as we work with experts on nutrition and local organisations concerned with food poverty. Our final product will be a food box which will contain all the ingredients needed (plus recipes) to feed a family of four for a week. The recipes will be based on the food books by Jack Munroe who wrote ‘Cooking on a Bootstrap’ and ‘The Tin Can Cook’.

They will also be continuing with their HUMAN expedition, Do Your Bit, learning about the Sikhi faith and the involvement of Indian soldiers in World War I, ready for a fieldwork to a Gurdhwara following the February break – see below.

We will also be interviewing this week for teachers of Humanities and Maths and also for a SENDCo. Successful candidates will join us next year. 

Extended Study and after school clubs

Extended Study and after school clubs will be running as normal this week.

Half Term and early finish Friday

Please be aware that it is half term w/c 14th February and so as normal students will finish at 1.30pm this Friday (11th February) to allow staff to replenish resources and to degunge rooms and teaching spaces ready for after the half term holiday. Students will return to school at the normal time on Monday 21st February. 

Visit to Sikh Temple – Monday 21st February

Note that on the morning of Monday 21st February students will be visiting a Sikh Temple as part of their expedition “Do Your Bit” – further details will be provided in due course by Ms Tatters, the expedition lead. 

Lateral Flow Testing

Please continue to support us with lateral flow testing your each Sunday and Wednesday evening and that you make sure you enter results into our website on each of these occasions

This is especially important now that the government has decided to remove “masks” as one of the mitigation measures in schools although we are happy for students (and staff) to continue wearing masks if they feel more comfortable doing so. 

COVID infections are still very high in the community. If you require any extra LFT testing kits please let us know. 

We will continue to keep doors and windows open for ventilation so students are advised to bring multiple layers to school to keep warm. This is how we look after each other  – We are Crew.

Calendar dates

Our basic calendar can be found here, or the Google Calendar with additional important dates such as SLCs can be found here.

As usual if you have any questions please get in touch with your child’s crew leader in the first instance.

Best wishes

Mark Lovatt

Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians

This week students will continue to take a lead in their first Student Led Conferences (SLCs). One of the very powerful aspects of learning at XP is that students take ownership of their own learning and can articulate how well they are doing in terms of their Academic Progress with reference to pieces of work they are proud of and/or have found challenging as well as their HoWLs (Habits of Work and Learning). Students have been preparing hard for these and we are looking forward to meeting parents (face to face) and listening to students talk about their learning at XPG.

On Tuesday morning students will have the opportunity to work with an historian from a local University as part of their Humans expedition “Do Your Bit”. On Wednesday, Students will also find out what their new science expedition is called along with their new guiding question in our big “reveal”.

This week we will also hold our termly Local Governance Committee meeting which is an opportunity for local Governors to share and discuss the report of their visits which have taken place over the course of the term. We look forward to hearing what they have to say and welcome any feedback we receive.

I am also happy to report that we have appointed an Emotional Welfare Coordinator who will work in the classroom as a Learning Coach and in addition offer us some capacity to our safeguarding team and be available to work with families as need arises. We look forward to welcoming Simon Walters to our crew and he will start in his new role on March 1st.

Student-Led Conferences (continuing this week)

Parents should by now have received an invitation to attend their son/daughter’s SLC and also an email to sign up for a time “slot” via sign up genius. We are planning on holding these in school and face to face and it will be great to finally meet in person. To allow us to do this safely we ask that no more than two members of the same household attend and that parents stick closely to allotted time slots arriving no earlier than 5 m minutes before scheduled times. 

We would also like to remind parents that SLCs are formal events and your child will be following a script they have prepared in advance. Please allow them to speak without interruption and there will be an opportunity for questions at the end. Each SLC will take approximately 25 minutes.

In addition we ask that parents (and anyone else attending an SLC) bring a mask to the SLC and wear throughout the interview if at all possible. We will be in well ventilated rooms and socially distanced however this is an extra measure for everyone’s safety and well being.

Please contact crew leaders in the first instance if you have any problems signing up or any questions.

Lateral Flow Testing

This is especially important now that the government has decided to remove “masks” as one of the mitigation measures in schools although we are happy for students (and staff) to continue wearing masks if they feel more comfortable doing so. 

As we are returning to school on Tuesday this week we ask that parents conduct Lateral Flow tests with their children on Monday evening (and then again on Wednesday evening) this week and enter the results in our spreadsheet as normal.

We will continue to keep doors and windows open for ventilation so students are advised to bring multiple layers to school to keep warm. This is how we look after each other  – We are Crew.

Extended Study and after school clubs

Due to SLCs taking place there will be no extended study classes or after school clubs this week.

A reminder about PE sessions this week

Class 2 have a change in their timetable this week. For Class 2, PE will be on Wednesday 2nd February. Class 1 will have PE on Tuesday as usual.

As usual if you have any questions please get in touch with your child’s crew leader in the first instance.

Best wishes

Mark Lovatt

Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians

We have an exciting week ahead of us as students take part in their first Student Led Conferences (SLCs). One of the very powerful aspects of learning at XP is that students take ownership of their own learning and can articulate how well they are doing in terms of their Academic Progress with reference to pieces of work they are proud of and/or have found challenging as well as their HoWLs (Habits of Work and Learning). Students have been preparing hard for these and we are looking forward to meeting parents (face to face) and listening to students talk about their learning at XPG.

This coming week students will begin their immersion for a brand new science expedition – I wonder if they will be able to guess what it is about and what their new guiding question will be. They will watch a series of videos and read extracts from a book before trying to make links and connections around a common theme.

We will also (pending applications) be interviewing for an Emotional Welfare Coordinator who will work in the classroom as a Learning Coach and in addition offer us some capacity to our safeguarding team and be available to work with families as need arises.

Student-Led Conferences

Parents should by now have received an invitation to attend their son/daughter’s SLC and also an email to sign up for a time “slot” via sign up genius. We are planning on holding these in school and face to face and it will be great to finally meet in person. To allow us to do this safely we ask that no more than two members of the same household attend and that parents stick closely to allotted time slots arriving no earlier than 5 minutes before scheduled times. 

We would also like to remind parents that SLCs are formal events and your child will be following a script they have prepared in advance. Please allow them to speak without interruption and there will be an opportunity for questions at the end. Each SLC will take approximately 25 minutes.

We would also ask that parents (and anyone else attending an SLC) bring a mask to the SLC and wear throughout the interview if at all possible. We will be in well ventilated rooms and socially distanced however this is an extra measure for everyone’s safety and well being. We would also really appreciate it if family members could carry out a lateral flow on the day of attendance at the SLC.

Please contact crew leaders in the first instance if you have any problems signing up or any questions.

Lateral Flow Testing

This is especially important now that the government has decided to remove “masks” as one of the mitigation measures in schools although we are happy for students (and staff) to continue wearing masks if they feel more comfortable doing so. 

Covid infections are still very high in the community and so we would ask that you continue to support us with lateral flow testing each Sunday and Wednesday evening and that you make sure you enter results into our website on each of these occasions. If you require any extra LFT testing kits please let us know. 

We will continue to keep doors and windows open for ventilation so students are advised to bring multiple layers to school to keep warm. This is how we look after each other  – We are Crew.

Professional Development Days

Parents are reminded that we have Professional Development days for staff this week and next on Friday 28th and Monday 31st January. This is where staff receive ongoing professional development e.g. in pedagogical practises such as close reading techniques or training in mental health awareness in regard to young people. It is also where we have time to plan and resource new and ongoing expeditions and make contact with our “experts” or organise fieldwork. Students will not be in school on these days.

Our basic calendar can be found here, or the Google Calendar with additional important dates such as SLCs can be found here.

Extended Study and after school clubs

Due to SLCs taking place there will be no extended study classes or after school clubs this week or next.

As usual if you have any questions please get in touch with your child’s crew leader in the first instance.

Best wishes

Mark Lovatt

Principal