Dear Families
It’s been great to see families in school this week for Student-led Conferences. Our students continue to step up to the challenge of being ‘Leaders of their Own Learning’, sharing their work with their family, discussing their progress in terms of academic learning targets and HOWLs. Students are in charge of the SLC, they take the driving seat, learning to advocate for themselves and share the information that they feel best reflects their learning journey and the question ‘Am I moving to where I need to be?’. This is an important aspect of students leading their own learning.
It has been wonderful to see and hear the pride from families following SLCs, and to read feedback from parents:
“I just wanted to say thank you. My son has had a great year and is so much happier. You’ve given him confidence and I have watched him grow. It is an absolute pleasure to watch.
Please pass on my thanks to everyone, especially Mr Mead. My son’s love of all things Science is just shining through.”
“I really like the SLC process, empowering the students to take ownership of their own learning and being accountable for the positives and negatives within this.”
SLCs are graded against two aspects – quality of work and quality of presentation. Here is the rubric to assess our students, give feedback and areas for development for future SLCs.
As part of XP Trust monitoring and evaluation, we had an external school review last Thursday. This gave us the opportunity to see how we are doing and inform us of areas for development against the current Ofsted framework . It was a really positive experience for us, and the outcome was totally consistent with our school self-assessment which is a great baseline for our work moving forward. When we get the full written report, I will share further feedback with you.
During these staff days on Friday and tomorrow our staff team are continuing to work together, looking forward and planning new Autumn term expeditions for Y7, 8 and 9. As you can imagine, there are lots of elements to consider when planning expeditions – learning targets, assessment opportunities, case studies, experts, fieldwork, guiding texts, etc. All of this ensures that your children continue to get a great deal from our curriculum.
It wasn’t just our staff learning together on Friday, we had our first Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA®) course for parents. It was great to see parents working with Jane Nyberg – who has worked as a Mental Health Social Worker for over 30 years – to gain their Youth Mental Aware certificate. The training raises awareness of young people’s mental health and covers:
- Some of the common mental health issues affecting young people, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and psychosis
- Understand some of the issues young people living with mental health issues may experience
- Ways to support young people with a mental health issue and relate to their experiences
We are offering two further face-to-face sessions – Monday 26th June pm and a twilight session on Monday 3rd July. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions about this course.
This week
Staff Development Day – Monday 26th June
This is our final staff day of the year. As always, students are not expected to attend school.
Extended Study and after school clubs
There are no Extended Study or after school clubs running this week and next week due to SLCs.
PE sessions
PE sessions will take place on Tuesday for Year 7 and Wednesday for Year 8 students this week. Please make sure that your child has a full PE kit.
Looking Ahead:
G30 Transition
Our Transition Days for Year 6 children will now be on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th July. Our current G28 and G29 students will be involved in transition and will help us work to settle our new students into our school and our culture. Like last year, they will be key to the success of our transition.
G28 Fieldwork – Monday 3rd July
As part of answering their guiding question “Is migration worth the risk?” students have been studying climate change as a push factor for migrants, something that will become a greater issue in the decades to come. Students are learning about energy production, including renewables and fossil fuels. Students will visit Gateshead Energy Centre, a world-leading energy project which is an example of how innovations in technology and science can be part of the solution to reducing our carbon footprint. During this fieldwork students will also look at evidence along the quayside of the influence of other cultures in the architecture of buildings.
G29 Fieldwork – Tuesday 4th July
Students in Year 7 have the guiding question “How does water shape our world?”. Next week they will be carrying out an enquiry to address some important standards from Geography. Students will make predictions about what they would expect to happen to physical features of a river as it moves through its course. They will then take measurements of these features to test their hypothesis.
More details on both pieces of fieldwork will come in separate posts this week. It is worth noting that for both, students will be out of school for the full day. So Year 8 will need a packed lunch on Monday 3rd July and Year 7 will need a packed lunch on Tuesday 4th July – students that normally have free school meals will be provided with a lunch.
Strike Action – Wednesday 5th and Friday 7th July
We will be posting important information regarding strike action on these days later today.
As usual, if you have any questions please contact your child’s crew leader in the first instance.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Julie Mosley
Co-Principal