This expedition we have been studying Nazi Germany and have read our anchor text, Number The Stars, about the Nazi occupation of Denmark and how Danish Jews were smuggled to safety from Denmark to Sweden. However, many European Jews were victims of the Holocaust. For our fireldwork, we are attending the National Holocaust Centre in Newark. As well as speaking to experts and looking at the exhibitions, we will also hopefully be priveleged enough to receive a talk by a Holocaust survivor.
Students will need to arrive at school at the normal time and attend Crew to be registered. We advise students to dress appropriately should there be unpleasant weather, when travelling to and from the coaches. Students will also need a packed lunch and sufficient water for the day. Please don’t pack any products containing nuts in packed lunches as we are a nut-free school! The journey to and from Newark is only expected to take around 40-60 minutes, so snacks and drinks without lids are not permitted on the coaches.
We aim to arrive back at school at around 3.15pm, however due to the unpredictability of traffic, we may be slightly later than 3.15pm.
Mock exams are in full flow and Crew Finch have been working so very hard! We’ve been trying to keep our Crew time quite relaxed this week but it has, of course, been dominated with exam talk – be it comparing answers or discussing how easy or hard the previous days exams were.
We’re always up for finding ways to make revision a bit more fun, so today we played History Hangman. The usual rules applied but with an added twist: whoever chose the word had to end their turn by explaining how that word or phrase linked in with either of our two History exam topics: The People’s Health or Living under Nazi Rule.
Top Marks to Kenzie for ‘hanging’ the rest of Crew with his choice, John Snow. Kenzie then went on to remind us that Snow was responsible for identifying the water source responsible for a major Cholera outbreak in Broad Street in 1854, by plotting cases on a map of the area. The water pump was removed and cholera infections immediately dropped.
Crew have been absolutely amazing throughout this first week of mock exams. This is their first experience of sitting in an exam room and having to work under exam conditions. Having to stay still and quiet for up to 1 hour 45 minutes at a time is probably more difficult for them to manage than the exam content itself! As ever, they are making me proud 🙂
As most of you are aware unfortunately one of our Crew members’ bike was stolen a few weeks back and in our mindful Monday session as a Crew it was decided that a fundraising page was a way of helping the community, very close to home by raising money for a new bike. We were blown away by the generosity of so many people and quickly reached the target.
With bikes being a sort after item at the minute, sourcing one, in stock locally could have proved a challenge, but an amazing local company Cycle Supreme stepped in to help us out.
So with everyone’s hard work and kindness, Crew were able to surprise Logan with a new bike last friday in front of his family. We also raised enough money to purchase a diamond standard lock, to hopefully prevent such an awful event happening again.
In true Crew spirit, we tackled the issue of how best to use the new bike lock. This took a few attempts and many different ideas but they pulled together and Logan’s new bike was safely locked up.
Crew were asked how it made them feel to do something good or a good deed for someone else and some of the responses were:-
‘It makes me feel good as I feel like I’m making a difference even if its small’
‘I feel happy’
‘A sense of pride’
‘I’m just glad I can help someone else and make their day better’
There was a real excitement and buzz in Crew and the afternoon really highlighted the bonds and togetherness within Crew Rowling.
Crew Turing have loved being outside during Monday’s crew sessions to do check in, catching 45 minutes of sun before we go back to session. Now that lockdown restrictions are lifting slightly the check-ins are far more interesting. Everyone seems cheerier now they’re able to see friends and family, and carry on with the sports they’re involved in.
We’ve also managed to get booked into the sports hall during crew a couple of weeks back, we enjoyed a rather competitive game of dodgeball. We mixed crew to random teams, and even Miss Narey and I played.
As mentioned in my previous post, as a crew we’ve been self-assessing HoWLs leading up to the actual data drop, which finally got released last week. We spent the crew session adding our updated HoWLs to our crew narrative, gains were made across the board. We then compared the new data with our previous crew targets that were made in November 2020. Those targets were:
– Improve extended study record as a crew, aiming for 95%+: we greened this target as this has massively improved thanks to daily reminders in crew and students working together to support each other on any work they’re unsure about
– Improve HoWLs in art and HUMAN, aiming for at least secure in all HoWLs grades: this is partially completed, as HoWLs in these subjects have gone up across the board, however we’ve not 100% met the ‘secure’ section of the rubric or above in these subjects. I’ve got to appreciate Dylan, Callum, Torran, Mollie and Sami for smashing these targets, some of whom even received HoWLs in the excellence category!
In the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at where we can be making improvements using Crew Turing’s HoWL improvement project. Every student in my crew has identified a subject in which their HoWLs could do with some work. I then asked students to write a rationale explaining why they’d chosen that particular subject and a SMART target that another member of our crew could peer-asses them on.
I then gave each student someone to peer assess on a mini HoWL tracker. Every student gave at least a secure on the peer assessment, and knowing that someone was tracking engagement, meant that members of my crew really pushed themselves in those sessions to contribute and ask clarifying questions. I’m going to try this again in a few weeks to get snapshots of what is going on in sessions.
To celebrate our successes, Dylan treated us to homemade sponge cake with custard and Torran bought in a chocolate birthday cake. Not only this, Miss Narey who has been with us over the past few months prepared a quiz for us to enjoy! Big appreciations to those who made Friday’s crew session so fun, and congratulations to Mollie, Charlotte, Dylan, Callum, Sami and Jess for winning the quiz.
This is just a reminder that on the last day of this term, Friday 21st May 2021, the school will be closing for all students at 1:30pm after Crew. This is for staff to prepare for the new term. There will not be any provision for students to stay after this time so all students must leave at 1:30pm.
Posted on behalf of Mrs Vayro (Assistant Principal – Y7 Phase)
In light of the announcement concerning the closure of the E27 year bubble at XPE the following arrangements have been made to support students whilst working at home:
All Crew sessions and lessons will take place LIVE via Google Hangout and the timetable is highlighted below.
Students are registered in Crew (8.30am), at the beginning of the morning session (9.15am) and afternoon (1.15pm).
Work will be set by the Teacher on Google Classroom as part of the lesson.
All students are expected to join each session. If a student is absent, Crew Leaders will contact home to ascertain the reason why. If a student is unable to join a session, for example, they are unwell, we ask parents to please contact the office. Crew Leaders and Subject teachers will send Google Hangout invitations to their classes.
Dear Parents / carers of Y7 students at XP East there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19.
After speaking with the family in question, conversations with staff and liaising with the educational public health helpline this morning, we have identified that your child has potentially been in close contact with the affected student as they are a member of the Y7 XP East year bubble. The public health helpline has advised me that in line with the national guidance your child should now stay at home and self-isolate for 10 days.
The helpline are asking us to do this to reduce the further spread of COVID 19 to others in the community.
If your child is well and does not have any Covid-19 related symptoms at the end of the 10 day period of self-isolation they can return to usual activities on Monday 17th May.
Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the 10 day self-isolation period.
We will now move to an online educational provision and details of this will be available on our school website shortly.
All other year groups at XP East will remain open.
What to do if your child develops symptoms of coronavirus (COVID 19)
Having been identified as a close contact, if your child then develops symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) or a new, continuous cough, or a high temperature, or a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia). Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for a PCR test – this is the type of test that is normally available and can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.
People who do not have symptoms or have not tested positive using a Lateral Flow Device should not request a PCR test unless this has been specifically requested by Public Health England or the local authority.
Finally, we are really disappointed to have to inform parents and students about this sad news. We want our kids to be in school – not having to learn via computer screens. However, we realise that these steps are taken in the best interests of all involved. We will continue to do everything that it takes to support our students during this period.
I understand that the student is doing well, and we wish for a speedy recovery.
Keep an eye out for the online timetable – Mrs Vayro (Assistant Principal) is putting this together and it will begin with Crew on Monday at 8:30am.
Students have access to a digital textbook through Kerboodle. There are some hard copies of textbooks which we can loan out if students prefer. They can get those from me.
Recently our Year 10 / C24 GCSE Spanish group has been preparing for the forthcoming mock exams in speaking and writing. As our students were routinely exposed to the format and content of the role play and photo card tasks in sessions throughout year 9, they are already accustomed to their rubrics and are aware of the need to respond spontaneously to unexpected and unpredictable elements. This year we have additionally practised the general conversation task, that requires students to develop and extend their answers to a series of questions based on a general theme.
In terms of the Foundation Tier writing exam, our students are required to describe a photo in Spanish, write a 40 word paragraph using 4 bullet point prompts, translate 5 short sentences into Spanish and respond in writing to one of two 90 word tasks, again to the four bullet points that are provided. Each week since September, one of these tasks has been the focus of a full session, so that students have become familiar with what is required, and practised with a rubric according to exam criteria.
Our students will undoubtedly find these mock exams challenging, as opportunities for meaningful spoken interaction with others have been limited by the confines of distance learning, whilst retention and spontaneous recall of key grammar and vocabulary used in written Spanish has not been practised with anything like the regularity of previous years. However, we are confident that our students will continue the revision and preparation started in school over the last three weeks at home, and be well prepared for the two Spanish exams.
It would be fantastic if parents and carers could support during this time, even if it’s something as simple as listening to your son / daughter saying their General Conversation (either on School or Holidays.) As we said in class, students are completely in control of this part of the speaking exam. Please encourage them to spend time on this, along with drilling of verbs in the three main tenses (preterite, present and near future). Again, as we said in class, revision should be “little and often”, to help embed this current learning into long term memory.
Finally, thank you for your support during this period; please do not hesitate to contact me at school should you wish to discuss any of the above further.
Today C25 citizenship groups thought about what a modern version of Magna Carta might say. We tested our creative skills with some tea staining and wax seals.
