E27 (Y10) ‘Awesomeness’ Community Meeting

It’s always a pleasure to share praises and appreciations in our community meetings, and this morning was no exception. Y10 have had an absolutely amazing start to the school year and we shared lots of praises from staff, as well as hearing appreciations from students to fellow students for being kind, working hard and helping each other in sessions.

We also had a few apologies made for behaviours that don’t reflect our character values and I would like to praise those students for showing the integrity and courage to put things right.

It’s so encouraging to hear that some students are starting to think ahead to Y11 and are already creating revision resources to help them through the next 2 years.

Well done, Y10!

Mrs Parker 🙂

E27 (Y9) Fieldwork to West Yorkshire Playhouse

We are excited to be taking our Y9 students to see a production of Lord of the Flies on Thursday 30th March. Please see the letter below for full details.

If you have any questions, please contact our English Lead, Mrs Desborough – [email protected] – or your child’s Crew Leader.

E27 Micro Adventure to Cleethorpes

This was an exciting opportunity to reset crew norms and establish relationships. It was a pleasure to see Crew, support each other and celebrate success throughout the day

At XPE we firmly believe ‘If you get crew right you get everything right!’ This statement could not be any more true and we witnessed some awesome character traits being displayed.

Here are some of E27’s reflections from the day. 

Why does our crew need you?

I think my crew needed me because I was very calm.

I think my crew needed me because I showed respect and  acted as steward, I made sure the beach was clear of any rubbish.

I think my crew needed me because I encouraged and supported them throughout the day

Reflection: List one character trait that each crew member has displayed.

Manveer for working hard and trying to get us out and showing courage.

Keegan for being smart and getting answers.

Isabelle for staying calm and showing courage.

Sofiya gave me her hoodie when I was cold. Showing compassion.

Callum for showing compassion when I was scared.

I think these reflections say it all! What a crew E27 is becoming and with these awesome mindsets and character traits they displayed. We know that our year group is fast becoming a stronger united crew. Students stepped up and steppe back, allowing everyone to be involved and show their strengths and XP character traits.

As part of their personal development students stepped outside of their comfort zones and support each other in many ways. It was an absolute pleasure to see by all crew leaders!

We have more activities planned for when we return next academic year! Please have a look at the blog post for our first week back in August. 

Here is our video montage of our day in Cleethorpes.

These kids are awesome!

We look forward to the holidays but even more so for our return to Year 9!

Have a fun packed summer and we will see you all real soon!

First Week Back: Crew Immersion

As Y7 and Y8 go off on their Outward Bound adventure, Y9, Y10 and Y11 will also spend the first week back with their crews undertaking various activities because, if we get Crew right, we get everything right 🙂

The plan for the week is above, and you will notice that it includes a coastal walk to Flamborough. Details of the coastal walk for each year group have been posted on separate blog posts:

Y9 (C27)

Y10 (C26)

Y11 (C25)

Crew Leaders will go through the kit list with crews before we break up.

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s Crew Leader.

#wearecrew

C27: Coastal walk on 31st August

As ever, we will be kicking off our first week back at school by regrouping and rebooting Crew.

On Wednesday 31st August our C27 (new Y9) students will be going on a coastal walk to Flamborough.

Students should arrive at school between 8am-8.15am so that we can leave at 8.30am.  We are aiming to be back at school by 3.30pm, but will keep you updated on the day.

All students will be expected to bring the Outdoor Kit listed below:

  • Appropriate rucksack for walking.
  • Packed lunch (those on FSM will be provided with a school pack lunch.)
  • Water bottle: approx 2 litres (no energy drinks, milkshakes or fizzy pop)
  • Waterproof jacket
  • Appropriate walking trousers/shorts/leggings for the weather.
  • Walking top/base layer; made from synthetic, man made material (polyester, nylon etc). This type of material removes sweat away from your skin keeping you cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather
  • Appropriate outdoor shoes (sturdy trainers, walking shoes or walking boots are compulsory – no open toe sandals, canvas shoes or sliders)
  • Sun hat/Sun cream
  • Medication

For further information or questions please email your child’s crew leader.

Thanks!

Phew! What a start it has been…!

Wow… I can’t believe what a crazy but amazing first couple of weeks this has been. Only week 3 but we have been everywhere!

Lets take it back to the first week, what a week that was. Students returned and got straight back into crew and did what we do best: had a big old catch up!! This is where it was revealed that we would be doing a ‘microadventure’ for the first week. Our microadventure in year 8 was all based on the quality of kindness and how we can show this to ourselves. each other and the wider community. We shared ideas and started on making gifts and little acts of kindness to hand out to people in our local community at Lakeside! Below you can see some of the gifts we made as a crew…

Our trip out to Lakeside was very nerve racking for a lot of us as it was hard to imagine speaking to and showing kindness to people we didn’t know. A few of us from crew needed to show a lot of courage and put ourselves out of our comfort zone. In the end, everyone managed to speak to someone at Lakeside and I could not be prouder of the crew. The feedback from the community was so positive and a lot of people were amazed and overwhelmed by the kindness that they felt from the kids. It is great that we can spread positivity in these times!

Here are some quotes from crew about what they believe kindness is and how important it is for our community:

Holly – Kindness is something everyone should do all the time. I think i made their day because it is also/could be the little things like a small gift to make someone happy.  If everyone was kind, it would stop a lot of problems and hate that is happening around the world.

Liam – I can be kind by helping other people out be that if they are a student or staff. I also always try to stay polite in any situations possible.

Nik –

I felt proud when i was handing out my kindness gifts as i was very nervous and anxious at first.

Kindness for me is very important because without kindness the world would be a dull and scary place and without kindness the people would be selfish and mean so thats why kindness is very important.

Lukas – Kindness is a source of happiness formed from doing a kind task.

Lily H – Kindness is doing something for others and Caring for others and just smiling at people.

Max – When I gave my gifts to people I felt warm and good that I had done something kind to someone and maybe made their day. I feel like they would be more impressed by XP as we were being kind and helpful to people so they would be impressed. I think that kindness impacts the world because it makes people more kind and polite. I will be kind at school by following my HOWLs and treating everyone equally and listen and be polite to everyone.

Fantastic reflections from a fantastic crew, well done guys on your first week of year 8!

Fun in the Sun for E27!

E27’s fieldwork to Sandall Beat Wood was great! We went as part of our expedition “No One is Too Small to Make a Difference” which is focusing on the world’s animal and plant species in different biomes and the threats to the environment globally.  We were lucky to have such beautiful weather which made the experience even better. We’re so pleased with how the students conducted themselves, got involved in the activities and were listening and asking questions to the experts that guided us around the wood.

Students learnt about the history of the wood, for example, when and why it was created and how it has changed over time.  We identified and learnt about different tree and insect species, where they are in the food chain and how each one of them plays a vital part in the ecosystem of the wood. Another focus of the day was the carbon cycle and the role that dead trees and wood has and the management of the wood due to its SSSI status. We discussed the importance of creating a balance between protecting the environment but also having a space for people to enjoy at their leisure.

Overall, it was a great day and we were really impressed with the students and how they could articulate what they had learnt when we returned to the classroom.

E27 Are Finally Going On Fieldwork!

I am really pleased to write that we are going to be taking E27 on their first fieldwork at XP East on Monday (7th June) and Tuesday (8th June) to Sandall Beat Wood as part of our expedition “No one is too small to make a difference” which has an environmental focus. Due to Covid, we haven’t been able to do this sooner so I am really excited they are finally getting the opportunity.

Explorer will be going on Monday and Pioneer will be going on Tuesday.  We will be leaving school at 9.30am by minibus and be back in school for 1.15 pm.

Students are advised to wear appropriate clothing for the weather that day as we will be outside for the entire time – suncream will be a definite if the weather is like it has been during the holiday! Hopefully we won’t get any rain but if it is forecast make sure students bring waterproofs. Sensible shoes such as trainers will need to be worn as we will be walking and on our feet for most of the time.

Students will need to bring a packed lunch and make sure they have plenty to drink if it is warm (unless on Free School Meals where one will be provided).

Normal school equipment (pens/pencils/device etc) should still be brought to school as the students will have their normal school lessons in the afternoon, iPads etc will be left in the classroom when on fieldwork which will be locked.

I Love Camping - Timeline Photos | Outdoor quotes, Life path, Path quotes

Back to basics…

Super glad to have everybody back in crew. It’s ace to see everyone again after such a long time and hear everyone’s stories about working from home!

Over the first couple of weeks back we have hit the ground running. In crew we have focussed on resetting the basics. During Wise Wednesdays, we have discussed how we can improve and keep an eye on our mental health as well as how we can support each other during tough times. There have been some really mature and in depth discussions with some fantastic points. Big shout out to Holly, Amelia, Max and Louie who consistently add to conversations in crew.

Thoughtful Thursdays have consisted of resetting our Howls and making pledges to help our learning this term. Here are some of the fantastic pleaders some crew members have made to help improve their Howls!

Liam, Amelia, Holly and Lukas pledge to get less distracted so that they can work hard.

Lilly and Poppy pledge to ask and answer more questions in order to get smart.

Max pledges to use the explore further tab on the expedition to dive deeper into his subjects. A really fab pledge to get smart.

Pledges are really important in XP to help to hold ourselves and each other accountable for our learning. I am looking forward to seeing the effect of these pledges on our next Howls drop!

Lastly, we have had a really exciting opportunity these past couple of weeks… we have had lots of experts in to talk to us in art and Human. Yesterday, students were lucky enough to hear the stories from some refugees who fled their countries in order to seek safety here in this country. Everyone sat beautifully and respectfully to listen to them speak. The stories we heard really opened our eyes to what some people experience and gave students a great idea of how to answer their guiding question “Is migration worth the risk?”.

Hearing their stories makes me grateful for what I have and I’m sure my crew will feel the same.