Product launch

By C Duffield6th December 2017

 

On Thursday 30th November all of our students came together for the product launch session. During the session students were introduced to the final stage of the expedition and the groups they will working in to produce the final product, then they looked at a final product that has been produced by students from XP.

Students worked in pairs making notices and wonders about sections of the book and then feeding back to the rest of the school. Mr Smith then encouraged students to make suggestions for our product and how we can make it unique to us. The aim of this protocol was to ensure our product is produced to a high standard and reaches the levels of craftsmanship and quality expected of XP East students. By using the XP product as a model students were able to visualise what is achievable as a whole school community when working collaboratively.

 

 

Fantastic work !

By C Duffield5th December 2017

After hearing so much positive feedback from our students SLC’s over the last few weeks, I was so lucky to be invited to Alanis’ SLC. I was so impressed with how well she spoke about her learning and the use of her portfolio throughout. Her confidence is growing and her personality really shone through.

It is easy to forget that our students are only in their 12th week at XP East and secondary school, especially when listening to them articulate what they have learn’t.

Thank you to Alanis and a huge well done to all of our students on completing your first SLC.

Good luck to those who have got theirs over the coming week.

‘Shape of You’ – Thank you Louie B!

23rd November 2017Jamie Portman

Thank you to Louie B in 7 Explorer who chose the song ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran for an activity that opened our lesson today.

Students had to link the lyrics to what we are studying: ‘What does the community of Doncaster owe to the railway?’ It is an activity where students need to think really carefully about what the lyrics could mean within the context of what they are learning about.

Both myself and Miss Duffield were amazed with the connections that they made. Links to the lyrics revolved around previous studies around source work, economic and social benefits, indirect and direct employment, specific jobs, attitudes at the time and many more.

See if you can link the lyrics to Doncaster’s past!

 

 

‘FREEZE!’

By Jamie Portman21st November 2017

Today I shouted ‘FREEZE!’ to everyone in 7 Explorer.

I then asked specific students to ‘unfreeze‘ in order to show the body language of students in the class, whilst others were still seemingly frozen in time.

This helped me to physically show how every single student was totally absorbed in our historical enquiry on sources from Doncaster’s past. Their body language showed a level of intensity that resulted from their determination to move forward in their learning.

As you can see from some of the photos, students were interrogating the details in the historical sources to find clues into how the community of Doncaster benefited from the Railway. I was thoroughly delighted with their focused approached, and by the way in which they can adopt an enquiring mindset to the task in hand.

Thank you Andria Johns!

By Jamie Portman9th October 2017

Last Thursday we kicked off Case Study 2 of our ‘What does the local community of Doncaster owe to the Railway?’ expedition by taking part in fieldwork to Hyde Park Cemetery. Here, Andria Johns of Friends of Doncaster Hyde Park, gave our students a superb tour of the gravestones of some of the people who had contributed to the growth of Doncaster during the Industrial Revolution period.

Andria provided key details and background information to these people, many of whom died due to accidental death and poor health and safety measures. The visit helped to immerse students in the next phase of our expedition, and also helped students to begin to understand how Doncaster’s rich historical Railway heritage has shaped the town that they live in today.

Andria works voluntarily for Friends of Doncaster Hyde Park, and she gave up her day off to work with XP East. We really appreciated her time and input.

Thank you Andria!

 

 

7X Steam

By C Duffield8th October 2017

In Steam, 7X have been exploring and beginning to understand balanced and unbalanced forces. To help understanding further Mr Smith took 7X outside so students could feel these forces in practice.

Students used tug of war to explore the balance and unbalanced force and were able to feel the difference between the two when Mr Smith altered the number of students per side.

 

 

The productivity of 7X!

By Jamie Portman6th October 2017

I’ve been absolutely delighted with every single student in 7X this morning.

After a very busy week due to our walk to Doncaster’s Hyde Park cemetery for fieldwork and two hectic Y6 Open Evenings on Wednesday and Thursday (which many students attended) we continued to work hard on the first draft of our reflection work on answering ‘What makes a successful Community?’

After weeks of learning about the different elements of Community, and an extended study assignment, students began to write a reflection piece in order to conclude and assess understanding of Case Study 1.

After a brief discussion, and with a break in between, students wrote continuously from 9:30am up until 12pm.

As highlighted on my blog post about 7P, being productive is an essential element of being a great learner, and ‘work hard’ is a key habit of work and learning at XP East.

I think a well earned rest is in order after a very productive week!

 

 

C24 Fieldwork: Hyde Park Cemetery

By K Poncia2nd October 2017

As C24 prepare to launch into Case Study 2 of our expedition ‘Society, Steam and Speed’, they will be visiting Hyde Park Cemetery on Thursday 5th October.

Here, they will be given a guided tour by a volunteer from The Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery.

The arrangements are as follows:

  • 7X students will depart promptly from school at 9.15 a.m. returning to school at 11.00am.
  • 7P students will depart promptly from school at 1.15 p.m. returning to school at 3.15 p.m.

Students will be walking to the cemetery and conducting fieldwork outdoors and so will need suitable rainwear and footwear.  In addition, please send any prescribed medication if appropriate.

Many thanks.

What Makes a Successful Community?

By K Poncia26th September 2017

Year 7 have been working towards answering their first guiding question: ‘What makes a successful community?’
To begin with, they studied different maps of the local area around XP and XP East schools and noted key landmarks, features and land uses.

Next, fieldwork took Year 7s around Doncaster’s Lakeside.  While stopping at different ‘pit stops’ along the way, they were able to make notes of key notices and wonders to find indicators to help decide whether the area is an example of a successful community.

‘I notice that there is a sign saying ‘Welcome to Lakeside’.’
‘I wonder if the lake gets dirty in Autumn due to the leaves from the trees and who is responsible for keeping it clean.’ (Theone C, Year 7)

‘I notice that CCTV is in operation at Keepmoat stadium.’
‘I wonder why they need cameras.’ (Maclaren K, Year 7)

Now, Year 7 are correlating their findings and using them to write an answer to the guiding question.

7X Human

By C Duffield25th September 2017

At the start of last week, 7X began to consolidate their ideas about Community, based on the learning they have been doing in the previous few weeks. To record their knowledge they worked together in groups to produce a mind map. As part of this process, students were given further instructions to help them record their thoughts more effectively. 7X will continue to develop their idea’s about community and how this links to their guiding question in the coming weeks. Well done all of you ! Keep up the hard work.