Back to school…..again!

We started back, once again, amazingly!

First day we spent a couple of hours in Crew, reflecting on lockdown learning and discussing our anxieties about being back in school in the crazy world of Covid testing! A few of the students in our Crew had attended school throughout lockdown so were able to offer lots of reassurance to those new to the testing process and it was lovely to see them offering each other support and being there for each other NO MATTER WHAT! That’s what crew is about right?

After testing, we came back and had a HoWL’s reset, we made some new pledges and talked about not trying to catch up, but trying to be the best version of ourselves now we are back in school! You can see the boys working together to create their pledges below!

 

This week the students had the pleasure of being introduced to an expert in refugee’s and asylum seekers. Nic Burne runs the conversation club in Doncaster which helps out asylum seekers and refugees and has arranged for some of them to come in to school next week to tell their story which is an amazing opportunity!

You can see all of them listening perfectly and representing XP as the amazing school it is!

 

Have a nice easter guys! Enjoy!

 

 

Well done Alfie!

Alfie from our crew has been doing some extracurricular art work I wanted to share with you all! I am always so proud when someone from our crew goes above and beyond! He has been contributing to a project carried out by a care home in Matlby along side the residence and giving everyone involved a reason to smile!

Check out the article published in the Rotherham Gazette!

Keep it up Alfie. Above all, compassion. Always!

#CREWMARX #KINDNESS #COMPASSION

Final Push!

We are all feeling the pressure at the minute but we are so close to half term I can almost taste it!

On Friday I asked our crew to think about what they are enjoying and what they are struggling with at the minute, it is easy for us to forget how hard it can be for them so this opened up a forum of discussion for us to help each other out and appreciate people for their support!

Lots of people are struggling with tech issues, and the distractions round us at home in general and lots of us opened up about the subjects we are struggling with include Maths, Hums and Science. We discussed as a crew ways around this and how we can help each other out!

On a more positive note we shared the things we are really enjoying some of them being Maths, Science and HUMS. In particular they are enjoying Geography and learning about migration in India. However, it would seem the common enjoyment is coming from Art, Cameron stating “Andy Warhol is an absolute genius”.

We also shared a few appreciations and they are so heartfelt I thought I would share them with you!

Tammy “I appreciate my crew, especially Brooke and Alysia for always helping me out”

Riley “I appreciate Tammy for always sending me invites when I can’t get in to calls”

Alex, Charlotte and Brodie “I appreciate all the teachers and learning coaches for planning lessons and giving us an online education”

Alfie “I appreciate everyone for powering through this tough time”

Kiahna “I appreciate Brooke for helping me out in school”

Arina “I appreciate everyone who made a stand about online learning distortions in chat, it has really helped minimise distractions”

Brooke “I appreciate Max, Cam, Ben, Catherine and Jayden for always helping me in school”

Cam “I appreciate Brooke for helping me out with maths when I struggle”

What a way for us all to stop and think about the things you are grateful for! How amazing are our kids to be able to show such maturity at 11/12 years old and be able to appreciate kindness in others!

Keep up the good work guys #wegotthis #wearecrew

 

 

Carrying on as before!

Crew HIB have not shied away from their learning during this school closure and I can not express how proud I am of them adjusting to their new normal! We have all been open about how we are feeling day to day and making sure we are taking care of each other because WE ARE CREW.

Here we are cheering each other up and making each other smile!

 

Along side this we have been doing some very important work looking at our HOWLs and talking to each other about how we intend to support one another as a crew! I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate Arina on her amazing HOWLS (see below). Even with these FANTASTIC HOWLS she has pledged to stop being a passenger particularly in Art and Music and intends to participate fully and mindfully in all sessions! We as a crew will be holding her to account to this in academic crew check in, confirming with her class if she is fulfilling a pledge. We don’t just say the pledge, we follow it through, we are held to account, and we do what we say. Well done Arina!

Finally I just want to finish off by mentioning that, as staff, at XP we share beautiful work regularly to show each other and crew leaders how amazing the kids here are working! Miss Jones shared with me a piece of work created by Tammy in our crew (snip below) and I am so proud at how hard she has worked on this! Lots of thought and effort! Well done Tammy!

Keep going guys! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

 

 

What a return to school our crew has had! Slipped right back into the habits of work and learning at XP!

You can see here Charlotte and Leo here getting smart in an afterschool maths session, I popped in for some socially distanced support but they were showing me how it’s done!

Our crew members Tammy, Kiahna, and Arina working hard in PE. Working as a crew to become champions in mat ball, it was amazing to watch them help each other out and encourage each other!

Finally, a member of our crew has been off school for a while and we are missing him in the crew, so we decided to show an act of kindness by delivering him a note and some goodies to show him we are thinking about him!

#WEARECREW

 

CREW HIB – Temporary return to school!

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all keeping safe and well! I managed to get into a few lessons on Tuesday before isolation began and I was so struck by how my crew have fallen back into Working hard, getting smart and being kind! They fell straight back into school life and it was a pleasure to watch them in their stride and doing what they do best!

We have Leo, Tammy, Alfie and Brooke working hard in Hums looking at causes of the peasants revolt and Charlotte, Brodie and Cam smashing it learning about molecules in science!

Keep up the amazing online learning, you’re doing a fabulous job all of you!

See you all soon!

 

Crew Ibbotson

We are one the home run for half term and our crew have been making pledges of how they can be the best version of themselves for next term! Check out some of the amazing things they have pledged for next term!

I have been hanging around some sessions over the last couple of weeks and watching our crew work hard, get smart and being kind in their sessions! From Riley, Alex and Kiahna practising their Spanish to Cameron and his group carrying out a science experiment!

We have also focused on kindness this week, and the importance of being kind. We had a silent conversation in crew. This meant each of us had a sheet of paper with our name on and we had to go around each one and say something kind about everyone in our crew! When we discussed this we all say how lovely it was to receive nice comments, but also how lovely it is to give them!

Watch this space next week…….our crew name will be officially decided!

 

 

Crew Ibbotson

For the last two weeks we have been looking closely at diversity in crew, resulting in some fantastic and really mature discussion. We have looked at what diversity is, what ways people are different and why we should embrace these differences. This creates a culture at XP that is like no other!

I would like to thank a few crew members individually – Tammy, Alyssa, Brodie and Riley – for sharing some really personal and difficult things in crew, which I think brought us all closer together and really consolidated our bond. We have each other’s back in crew Ibbotson NO MATTER WHAT and that is evident from the courage and compassion shown in these sessions. We understand that whilst we may not all play in the playground together, WE ARE CREW, and that’s what matters.

It’s an honour to work with such wonderful young people. 

We have also been working on memory techniques in crew last week. We played some memory games and tried to figure out the best way we remember information as individuals. You can see Alex, Cam and Ben in the picture trying very hard to remember all the items they were shown (I promised the winner a sweet!). It was so much fun  and very insightful for us to figure out which way worked best for us, hopefully to help us in our sessions!

Crew Ibbotson

For the last two weeks we have been looking closely at diversity in crew, resulting in some fantastic and really mature discussion. We have looked at what diversity is, what ways people are different and why we should embrace these differences. This creates a culture at XP that is like no other!

I would like to thank a few crew members individually – Tammy, Alyssa, Brodie and Riley – for sharing some really personal and difficult things in crew, which I think brought us all closer together and really consolidated our bond. We have each other’s back in crew Ibbotson NO MATTER WHAT and that is evident from the courage and compassion shown in these sessions. We understand that whilst we may not all play in the playground together, WE ARE CREW, and that’s what matters!

It’s an honour to work with such wonderful young people. 

We have also been working on memory techniques in crew last week. We played some memory games and tried to figure out the best way we remember information as individuals. You can see Alex, Cam and Ben in the picture trying very hard to remember all the items they were shown (I promised the winner a sweet!). It was so much fun and very insightful for us to figure out which way worked best for us, hopefully to help us in our sessions!

Crew Ibbotson settling in!

Crew Ibbotson have had a fantastic first two weeks at XP East and they have adapted and shown amazing courage! We started amazingly developing our sense of crew by carrying out team building exercises and we had so much fun doing so, especially the marshmallow towers! Appreciation to Tammy, Brodie, Alfie, Cameron and Arina who won the challenge!

 

We have spoken about diversity in our crew and they have developed some fantastic and mature ideas and discussions, they have shown respect and integrity throughout all discussions! 

 

We have a strong sense of crew already and we are currently discussing possible names for our crews of influential figures which is prompting some amazing debates! I know our crew will only get stronger with these guys bringing out the best in each other and the best in me!