Dear Parents/Carers
Itโs been another busy and exciting week at XPG. Our students have been working hard both in and outside of sessions as we continue to build our community and strengthen our character values of courage, respect, craftsmanship and quality, integrity and, above all, compassion.
This week immersion came to the end for both year groups and after lots of wondering and suggestions, students in G28 and G29 enjoyed the big reveal to find out their expedition guiding questions.
Our G28 students are now well underway with their new expedition, Being Human. The guiding question for this expedition is โWhat does it mean to be Human?โ
Our G29 students found out about their first expedition on Thursday. The expedition is called โFrom the Ground Upโ and our students will be studying the guiding question โWhat do the communities of North East England owe to the miners?โ
Our staff were also working hard this week and, as well as their usual planning and teaching, they successfully completed their Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) qualification. We are really proud now that as a staff, we have 12 members of our team fully qualified as MHFA. The course enables staffย to recognise mental ill health and help find the support required.ย
We care deeply about our students safety and wellbeing at XP Gateshead and this includes families too! As a group of schools in XP Trust, we have created a website XP Cares: Wellbeing Hub. We hope that this is a useful site for both students, parents and carers and a ‘one stop shop’ for your wellbeing needs, making it as easy as possible to find the support available to you.ย
This week:ย
Monday 19th September – Bank Holiday
Back to school – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdayย
Please note that PE sessions will resume this week:
G28 students (Y8) will need a PE kit for Tuesday 20th September.
G29 students (Y7) will need a PE kit on Wednesday 19th September.ย
Friday 23rd September – Staff Development Day
Students are not expected to be in school.
Extended Studyย
Extended study sessions started well this week. Sessions will run until 4:30pm every day except Friday when all students leave the site at 3:15pm. Like all of our after school provision, students who attend extended study must attend full sessions until 4:30pm. Please contact your son/daughterโs Crew Leader if there is an issue with this.
Our extended study timetable is as follows:
Initially G29 students will be set more Times Table Rockstars, with less Hegarty Maths Memri set to account for this.
For full details of our rationale for extended study, please click here.
Clubs
Please note that because of the shortened three day week, we have decided not to start our extra-curricular clubs (lunchtime and after school) this week. Clubs will start on Tuesday 27th September and we will be publishing a full schedule next week.ย
Reminders
Daily kit list
As always, students need to bring a school bag with:
- A filled water bottle
- Pencil case including: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser and pencil sharpener
- A fully charged iPadย
- Headphones โ ideally not expensive ones
- A healthy snack for break (no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
- A notebook
Looking forward, dates for your diary:ย
Monday 26th September – Staff Development Day.
Students are not expected to be in school.
XPG Open Evenings for prospective students, 12th and 13th October.ย
We will be asking for student involvement in these evenings – they are our ambassadors and our best advertisements! More details will follow as we get closer to the events.ย ย
Thank you as always for your ongoing support.ย
Julie Mosley
Co-Principal