Dear Parents/Carers
Another great week for us at XPG as we brought all of our students together in school this week. We are building a great community, with staff and students going the extra mile this week to make sure everyone was settled, felt supported and cared for in our school. Our shared responsibility of ‘getting each other to the top of the mountain’ has really been apparent in the compassion shown by all.
Our G29 students spent the first part of last week working with their Crews getting familiar with routines and considering what Crew looks like in school. We launched our first Crew Read ‘Seedfolks’ with them which will support with their understanding around what makes a successful community and iPads were distributed along with initial Google training which will continue this term to ensure our students make best use of the collaborative technology we have. On Thursday G29 started immersion into their new learning expedition and enjoyed a great day of fieldwork at the National Coal Museum on Friday.
This week G29 students will continue their immersion which builds curiosity and background knowledge in readiness for the first case studies. Year 7 students will find out the guiding question to their new expedition later this week.
Our G28 students demonstrated great leadership skills last week and really supported us in settling in our new Y7 students. We couldn’t have been more proud of them.
G28 have been fully immersed in their new learning expedition last week and will find out the guiding question for the expedition tomorrow. There has been some brilliant thinking around what this could be in sessions so we look forward to the big unveil tomorrow!
Our week ahead
Extended Study
From Monday 12th, we will offer extended study sessions until 4:30pm.
Sessions will run every day except Friday when all students leave the site at 3:15pm. Teachers will start to set extended study this week and sessions after school allow space and time for students to complete extended study with the support of peers and staff on hand.
Please note that our extra-curricular clubs (lunchtime and after school) will not start until next week. More details will follow on this.
Mental Health Training
As part of our commitment in providing the best support for our young people, all of our staff will complete Day 2 of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training this week. Following this we will have 11 fully trained MHFA staff in school, this will be a real achievement and acknowledges the importance we place on our Narrative for Success at XP Trust.
PE this week
As part of Mr Devitt’s ongoing professional development he is out of school this week. As such there are no PE sessions this week. PE sessions will return in the week beginning 19th September.
Reminders
Immunisation letters
All consent forms need to be completed and returned to Crew Leaders by tomorrow.
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
- Headphones – ideally not expensive ones
- A healthy snack for break (no confectionery (sweets), fizzy drinks or energy drinks, nut products)
It would be great if students could also bring in a notebook and a reading book. This won’t become essential kit yet to allow time for students to gather these.
Looking forward, dates for your diary
Monday 19th September – Bank Holiday
Friday 23rd September and Monday 26th September – Staff Training Days
Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
XP Gateshead would like to pass on our condolences and pay our respects to the Queen’s family on the sad news of her passing. She was a remarkable woman who performed her duties with grace and dignity. Queen Elizabeth brought a sense of constancy through a changing times and the world is a lesser place without her.
Thank you for your service Ma’am.