COVID Update: Wed 19th January 2022

By Martin Said19th January 2022

Good evening, please remember to update the results of your lateral flow tests on our website this evening.
https://xpgateshead.org/register-your-covid-home-test-result/
 
New guidance was issued this afternoon around the use of masks in schools. From tomorrow, wearing face coverings in classrooms will become a matter of personal choice.
We however will continue with other mitigations such as increased hand washing, regular lateral flow testing at home and ventilation in school, so layers of clothing remain important too.
 
Thank you for your continued support in helping to keep our community safe.

Beautiful work from Daniel

By Martin Said19th January 2022

Today Daniel set up an experiment on our school site. He has installed a can with a pinhole through to photo sensitive paper, onto a south facing fence. Over the coming months this will track the motion of the Sun as we move from Winter into Spring.

What a great idea, and thanks Daniel for bringing this into school!

G28 Weekly Update – w/c 17th January 2022

By Mark Lovatt16th January 2022

Dear Parents/Guardians

It has been another busy week at XP Gateshead and students have now started their HUMAN expedition called ‘Do your bit‘ with the guiding question:

“Why do we need to honour ALL those who sacrificed in WW1?”

Students have also continued to prepare for their SLCs and have been completing their portfolios. In Science we have been studying elements, mixtures and compounds which is important background knowledge for their science expedition which we will be introducing over the next couple of weeks.

This coming week we will host a visit from officers at Gateshead Local Authority who were instrumental in supporting us on opening our new school and we look forward to giving them an Ambassadors tour. We also welcome Neil Butler, Executive Principal of XP Trust, who will be with us on Thursday looking at performance and leadership. In addition, on Friday,  we will  welcome Steve Bunce who is an Apple certified educator to discuss the possibility of putting on an exciting tech/coding workshop with some of our students.

Student-Led Conferences

Parents should by now have received an invitation to attend your 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. Please contact crew leaders in the first instance if you have any problems signing up or any questions.

Lateral Flow Testing

Please 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. This is how we look after each other – We are Crew.

Masks in classrooms

A reminder that students should bring a mask to school with them as an additional part of their daily kit.

As usual if you have any questions please contact your son or daughter’s Crew Leader in the first instance.

 

Mark Lovatt

Principal

XP Gateshead

Student-Led Conferences w/c 24th January

By Mark Lovatt11th January 2022

Students have been working in Crew sessions to send you a formal invitation to their SLC.

In the next couple of days Crew Leaders will send you an email with a link to a site called SignUpGenius. This will allow you to book a slot for your son or daughter in a page that will look like this:

These slots will typically be between 3.30pm and 5.00pm on:

Monday 24th January – Thursday 27th January

Tuesday 1st February- Friday 4th February

Each SLC can be attended by a maximum of two family members.

In this light, we are working on our COVID safety protocols in school for these meetings. We do hope to be able to have these meetings in school. Of course, we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation in terms of case levels in our school and in the local area.

PARENTS: We need your feedback around our COVID 19 protocols

By Mark Lovatt11th January 2022

We are always seeking ways to improve our handling of COVID and our communication of the protocols in school.

As such we would really appreciate if parents could spend a few minutes completing this short Google Form.

The information you will provide will help us to ensure that we continue to keep our school as safe as we can, and that we communicate our measures with you effectively.

Many thanks

G28 Weekly Update – w/c 10th January 2022

By Mark Lovatt9th January 2022

Dear Parents/Guardians

I would like to start by commenting on how superb our students have been on their return. They have dived straight back into their work and have accepted new and ongoing mitigations such as wearing masks in classrooms, having windows open to improve ventilation, wiping down surfaces and using hand sanitiser without a murmur. They are truly an inspirational group of young people who are determined to do their best to look after each other and their families. 

Student-Led Conferences

It has been a busy first week back and students have been immersing themselves in the start of new expeditions and beginning to prepare for their Student Led Conferences (SLCs) which will take place in the two weeks commencing 24th January.

We will consider over the course of this week whether SLCs will be virtual or face to face however given the current situation with Covid and the transmissibility of this new variant we are currently leaning towards a virtual meeting. Students will be contacting you this week with an invitation to attend your son/daughter’s SLC and crew leaders will then contact you to arrange a suitable time for you to attend.

Lateral Flow Testing

Please 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. This is how we look after each other – We are Crew.

New guidance around PCR testing

As per recent Government announcements, we have received confirmation from the Department of Education that should your child test positive for Covid via a Lateral Flow Test, they are no longer required to accompany this with a PCR test. Instead, they will be required to isolate immediately. If they do test positive, they may leave isolation after 7 days if they receive 2 negative Lateral Flow results 24 hours apart on days 6 and 7.

More details can be found here

‘Confirmatory PCR tests following a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test result are to be temporarily suspended from Tuesday 11 January. This will mean that anyone who receives a positive LFD test result will be required to self-isolate immediately and will not be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.

In line with the reduced self-isolation approach announced on 22 December, anyone who tests positive will be able to leave self-isolation 7 days after the date of their initial positive test if they receive 2 negative LFD results, 24 hours apart, on days 6 and 7.‘

Masks in classrooms

As you know, in light of a recent change to guidance issued by the DFE we are asking students to wear masks when they are in the school building and this includes in classrooms. Students should bring a mask to school with them as an additional part of their daily kit.

REMINDER: PE is now on a Tuesday

Please ensure students arrive with their PE kit each Tuesday.

 

As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance.

Mark Lovatt

Principal

XP Gateshead

COVID19: PCR test results no longer needed if positive via Lateral Flow. (From Tue 11th Jan)

By Martin Said9th January 2022

As per recent Government announcements, we have received confirmation from the Department of Education that should your child test positive for Covid via a Lateral Flow Test, they are no longer required to accompany this with a PCR test. Instead, they will be required to isolate immediately. If they do test positive, they may leave isolation after 7 days if they receive 2 negative Lateral Flow results 24 hours apart on days 6 and 7.

More details can be found here

‘Confirmatory PCR tests following a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test result are to be temporarily suspended from Tuesday 11 January. This will mean that anyone who receives a positive LFD test result will be required to self-isolate immediately and will not be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.

In line with the reduced self-isolation approach announced on 22 December, anyone who tests positive will be able to leave self-isolation 7 days after the date of their initial positive test if they receive 2 negative LFD results, 24 hours apart, on days 6 and 7.‘