Dear Parents/Carers
Welcome back! We hope you have had a restful half term break and we look forward to welcoming our students back tomorrow.
Please note that this half term is shorter at 4 weeks. We break up for our Easter Holiday on Friday 28th March and return to school on Monday 14th April.
Our usual reminders for a good start back…
Punctuality
School opens at 8:00am every morning. Students should arrive between 8:00am and 8:25 am and there are spaces available for socialising, reading or completing extended study. Students must be on site for 8.25am for the call to Crew.
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 iPad
- Their AR reading book (please remember that as part of our reading strategy, we expect all students to read between 20-30 mins. each day)
- Headphones
- A healthy snack for break (no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
- A notebook
Dress code
A reminder that we ask students and staff to dress appropriately and modestly. Please note that for a normal day within school, we do not think it appropriate that students wear:
- Hats, hoods & coats inside school
- Revealing clothing, i.e. revealing the midriff, chest or upper thigh
- Noticeable make-up, including false eyelashes
- Valuable, sentimental or impractical accessories / jewellery. For example heavy chains, thick sovereign rings, or false nails
- Impractical footwear
As is always the case, we ask for your support in upholding our dress code. See link here to full details on our website.
The week ahead
National Careers Week
All students will be taking part in activities connected to careers in Crew this week, including a virtual careers fair.. For G29 this will form an important part of their Passage Presentations which includes a section on their future self.
You can access a guide for families to national careers week here, which has some really useful information on pathways after students leave XP.
G31 Students in the kitchen this week
Connected to their studies of nutrition and digestion, some of Year 7 will be in the kitchen this week. For more details see Mr Said’s earlier post here.
G30 Theatre Fieldwork
This is taking place on Thursday 6th March in the afternoon with a slightly later finish back at school. More details can be found here.
PE this week
- G31 (Year 7)
- Class 1 have PE on Tuesday this week.
- Class 2 have PE on Wednesday this week
- G30 (Year 8)
- Class 1 have PE on Monday this week.
- Class 2 have PE on Friday this week
- G29 (Year 9) have PE on Thursday.
- G28 (Year 10) have PE on Thursday.
In line with our dress code, we expect students to arrive at PE lessons with a change of kit which is appropriate for the activity and all accessories removed. This includes sports trainers with non slip soles e.g. running shoes/astro turf (not plimsolls).
Extended Study and Clubs
Clubs will all run this week along with extended study sessions every day except Friday. As usual, if a student attends an after school club or extended study session they must attend the full sessions until 4:30pm.
Looking Ahead:
G30 Final Shipley Gallery Fieldwork
Students in G30 Class 2 will have their final work session at The Shipley on Tuesday 11th March, and G30 Class 1 will do likewise on Thursday 13th March. These will all be during the school day but students will need a packed lunch.
Staff Development Days
A reminder that we have two staff development days this half term; Friday 14th and Monday 17th March.
Passage Presentations
The schedule for passage presentations has now been shared with families. Students will continue to work hard on their passage presentations this week and next. Please talk to your children at home about how their preparation is going and how they are demonstrating their readiness for GCSEs in sessions too: remember there will be feedback given on quality of reflection, quality of writing, integrity of reflection and organisation of the portfolio of evidence.
Monday 17th March is a staff day. Students will be welcome to arrive at school earlier than their passage presentation slot to do final preparations, and then should return home after their presentation. If students do not have a passage presentation, there is not a need for them to be in school on Monday 17th March.
Tuesday 18th March is not a staff day, however Year 9 teachers will be involved in passage presentations throughout the day so we will not be running a regular timetable for this day for Year 9 students. Students can come into school for the regular school hours or work from home where families give permission; we will be setting additional extended study to support students in their expeditions which students can access independently. Likewise, if students have a passage presentation on this day, and families give permission, then students can go home following their presentation.
Please note that Tuesday 18th March will be a regular timetable day for all of Year 7, 8 and Year 10.
More information on slots and attendance on these days can be found here.
Presentations of Learning
Below are the dates for our PoLs (Presentations of Learning) which will all take place before the end of this term (except Year 9). It is important to note that we expect for every child to have a family member there to support them.
Year 7 HUMAN – Why is it important to honour all those who sacrificed in WWI?
PoL on Tuesday 25th March in school at 4.30pm
Year 7 STEAM – Is survival sufficient?
PoL on Monday 24th March with experts from Edberts House (this is not an event that families attend, students will present their food packages to the workers at Edberts House)
Year 8 – What is Power?
PoL on Thursday 27th March at Caedmon Hall, above Gateshead Central Library at 5pm.
Year 9 – How can we continue to make progress on public health?
PoL on Friday 9th May in school from 2pm. This Presentation of Learning is in the form of a Public Health Conference, hosted by our students. Please note the earlier time for this.
Year 10 – Are we really free to choose?
PoL on Tuesday 18th March, venue and time to be confirmed.
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