We come to the end of another strong half term where our students and staff have continued to embody the core principles of XP Gateshead: Working hard, Getting smart, and Being kind in service of Beautiful Work, Character Growth and Academic Success.
This is testament to the strength of our Crew culture and the high expectations we set.
A Note on Our G28 Pioneers
Our G28 Pioneers (Year 11) have continued to lead the way, showing maturity, determination, and resilience as they navigate their GCSE exams. They are now half-way through their final exams and to thank them for their efforts and dedication, we celebrated this half way point with fresh pizza and ice lollies out in the sun.
Staff will once again be offering revision sessions during the May Half Term break to ensure they are fully prepared for the final push.
Expedition Highlights and Community Impact
- Year 10 (G29): Students approached their first GCSE mock exams with admirable courage and commitment. They have started to reflect on their progress to date and look at next steps. These will be shared in their upcoming SLCs. They successfully completed a week of work experience in diverse fields such as engineering, retail, and education, receiving positive feedback from employers across the region.
- Year 9 (G30): Students culminated their ‘You Give Me Fever’ expedition by hosting a powerful Public Health Conference at the start of this half term, where they shared their expertise on health inequalities and created leaflets on alcohol dangers for local health centres. Their work is now well underway with this term’s expedition ‘What a wonderful world’ and already completed a geographical study around the Ouseburn.
- Year 8 (G31): Our students returned from a successful Crew Day where they developed leadership skills and prepared for charity bake sales, as well as engaging in important fieldwork at Windy Nook Nature Reserve. They are now immersed in their new expedition, ‘Is Migration worth the risk?’. In the rest of this term Year 8 will play a central role in our first XPG Live Festival in school. More on this very soon.
- Year 7 (G32): Students recently completed the demanding ‘Walk for Water’ Crew Day challenge, where they walked approximately 10 miles carrying 5 litre water bottles to raise funds, showing immense courage and compassion. This charity work aligned to their last expedition. This term’s expedition, ‘How does water shape our world?’ is well underway with upcoming fieldwork improving local beach environments, and also studying our local river The Tyne.
Across Years 7 and 8, Student Led Conferences (SLCs) have continued, serving as vital moments in the deliberate development of character and seeing our students’ confidence and maturity grow.
School Culture and Community
The strength and spirit of our school culture are continually recognised; a recent visitor was “completely blown away” by the commitment students show to their learning and to each other. The investment in Crew remains our most important work, as it is the bedrock of our school culture and ensures that, as a community, we all support each other to get to the top of the mountain. This term we have also successfully navigated our first JCQ exam inspection and continued our transition work with our new G33 (Year 6) families.
We return to school on Monday 1st June 2026 at the normal time.
As usual if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance. Thank you as always for your ongoing support.
Julie Mosley