Forward thinking!

Over the past few weeks Crew have been thinking carefully about what they may like to do after their time at XP East. They have spent time researching different forms of education that are offered post 16. Many have looked into A-levels, apprenticeships, T-levels and BTEC options. This is all to support their next chapter at XP East when going on to year 10 and then 11. Some even revisited and added to their previous research on careers they may want to pursue. 

Crew Rowling also did a spot of litter picking during one of our afternoon sessions. It was great to see them working together as a team while looking after our environment and getting some fresh air!

We will update you more on the next steps towards GCSE’s in the coming weeks.

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson 🙂

Watch me rise!

As you will know, year 9 have undertaken their passage presentations over the past couple of weeks and as crew leader I have been absolutely blown away. The outstanding craftsmanship and quality has shone through each and every one of Crew Rowling’s presentations.

This has been a turbulent journey and I’m sure that crew will agree that there have been plenty of ups and downs while preparing for their passage presentations. The preparations have taken, what seems like a lifetime but I am very proud of the determination and resilience that each student has shown. The professionalism that each student showed was incredible and it was very clear that passage meant a lot to them. 

There were a few nerves leading up to their presentations for some but the amazing friendships and support from crew really shone through with daily debriefs about the passage presentations from the night before and some even stayed behind to give moral support to other crew members. This was something that did not go unnoticed by other staff and experts that joined us. 

Here’s just a few snaps I managed to get along the way…

I am incredibly proud of each and every single member of Crew Rowling and we had a 100% pass rate which was incredible!!

Huge well done once again, I can’t wait to watch you all take on the next chapter at XP East.

Mrs Barnes

C26 – Thackray Museum of Medicine Fieldwork

Students in C26/Year 9 will be visiting the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds.

We are venturing out on 2 separate days as part of their current expedition ‘You Give Me Fever’. 

XP East – Tuesday 15th March 2022

XP Wednesday – 16th March  2022

The primary purpose of the visit is to explore the galleries which will help students get to grips with the science behind disease, and the state of public health when Victoria was on the throne. This opportunity to travel back through time and meet key figures in the fight against disease will support the learning on how its history can help us inform the very current issues we face today.

Oh wait there is more…  Alongside this amazing experience, we are also booked on a workshop that looks at the following – Does history always move in a straight line? Is innovation always straightforward? This engaging talk uses events and changes throughout medical history to consider the past, present and future of medicine.

We will be departing at around 9:00 AM and returning at approximately 15:00 PM.

Students will need to bring a packed lunch unless they access free school meals, in which case school will provide one for them. 

Students will need to dress appropriately and in line with the school dress code. As we will be walking around the museum, comfortable footwear is required.

Usual school rules will apply in terms of mobile phones and these should not be used by students on the bus. Students may wish to take devices such as iPads to take any photographs or to make notes.

If your child needs to take any medication, please inform their Crew Leader so that any necessary arrangements can be made. 

All medication should be labelled with their name, and passed to a member of staff.

If you have any questions about the day, feel free to contact me at ewatson@xpschool. 

Bit of History!

The museum building has a long and chequered history.

It first opened in 1861 as the purpose-built Leeds Union Workhouse, a harsh and unwelcoming home for poor and homeless people with nowhere else to go. Over the years, new buildings were gradually added to the workhouse complex, including a separate infirmary.

Click Pic for more info…

Aiming high in all we do!

As you may remember, before Christmas Crew Rowling were raising money for our chosen local charity Big C Little Warrior and Rhys volunteered to cut his hair to raise funds for them to go towards hair accessories for those going through cancer treatment and potential hair loss from this.

A few weeks ago, Crew were surprised and humbled to receive a sweet parcel each from Big C Little Warrior as a thank you along with a lovely card which now is pride of place on our Crew wall.

This week we were so pleased to be able to welcome Annette Powell into our Crew at XP East for a short visit. Annette wanted to come and personally thank Crew Rowling for the amazing fundraising achievement and we were very proud to be able to present Annette with the money we raised which totalled £720! It’s amazing to think how many people this will support, making a very difficult time that little bit more bearable.

We can’t wait to continue supporting Big C Little Warrior even more in the future.

Meanwhile, time is ticking closer and closer to Crew getting the chance to share their Passage Presentations. It’s been great to hear snippets of conversations regarding their thoughts on what they may want to do after their GCSEs. They have all given each other so much support throughout this process and this for us as their Crew leaders makes us very proud. They have all worked so hard on these and I can’t wait to watch the final polished products.

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson

Crew Rowling’s XPionage

Over the past couple of weeks E26 have been tasked with a secret mission. Their mission was to collect information on a member of their class (pioneer or explorer) and to produce a positive statement about them which would remain anonymous. The aim of this was to reboot crew after the Christmas holidays.

Here is what the secret spies observed…

‘Logan has worked really hard throughout the week in all sessions. Mainly quietly getting on with his work, showing respect, and occasionally helping people who are stuck on the work, showing compassion. In Art especially, he shows Craftsmanship and Quality in all areas of the work and his book.’

‘Lydia worked well in HUMS lessons on Wednesday, she always gets on with her work and is good at partner work. Even though she may be quiet she is always ready if anyone else needs help.’

‘Lily worked hard in all sessions this week. During the week, she has had an excellent work ethic and worked hard. She got most, if not all, work done and to a high degree. I believe this is a great start to the term and the year of 2022.’

‘Harvey has shown respect to everyone and he is not scared to tell you if you did something wrong he is always there to help people. For example, today he helped clean the classroom after doing art and he always has got time to play a game of chess with anyone during break and sometimes lunch.’

‘Ben has worked incredibly hard during these couple of weeks, without particularly being noticed for it. In HUMs, Ben created some beautiful work regarding annotating texts. During active lunch, Ben worked very hard in Dodge-ball, and did very well. And of course, Ben always works hard and always creates great work!’

‘Thomas has worked very hard in maths this week. He has also been very attentive in lessons such as Spanish and HUMS. In Maths, Thomas has shown compassion as he was helping others once he had finished his own work.’

‘Shawn has worked hard in all lessons this week. In class, Shawn answers a lot of questions, which shows courage. In Maths, he has worked hard and completed the work to get onto and finish the pushing for 4 and above worksheets. In HUMs, he produces a good quality of work, all the time, and is very compassionate as he helps others with their work in lessons such as Spanish where others get confused. Others around him are always laughing, which shows that he is a great person to be around.’

‘Cerrina has been helpful in Crew. She always has my back and tries to help me. She participates in most sessions and is kind.’

‘Charlotte has knuckled down in passage and has been asking older years to help her with it. In maths I feel she has also been working really hard with our new teacher Mr Hamilton, she’s working really hard with getting on with her GCSE work.’

‘Rhys has been trying harder in lessons to get the work done as every time i look up he has been having his head down. I haven’t heard anything negative about Rhys’ behaviour in sessions which is amazing and an outstanding improvement.’

‘Faith has worked really hard by writing a lot of notes down when told to .She has also been really respectful in most sessions by always listening to the person who is speaking. Faith has shown craftsmanship and quality by keeping her book neat.’

‘Layton worked really hard in HUMs this week. We were learning about diseases in the past and he ‘got smart’ by asking questions and talking to his partner, Robert. In art, Layton showed craftsmanship and quality by keeping his art book and work tidy. In PE, Layton showed respect by listening and following instructions.’

It has been great to see all of the positive comments for each person.

I also wanted to congratulate Faith and Harvey on successfully gaining places on the Doncaster Youth Council where they will be representing XP and XPE. I am very proud that 3 out of the 5 candidates were from our crew, they all did a great job!

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson

How far we’ll go!!

We hope you have had a lovely Christmas and New Year.

You may remember that as a crew we were fundraising to support the local charity, Big C Little Warriors and that Rhys had offered to cut his hair as a way of raising money.

We originally thought that this was going to take place 18th December but Rhys gave us all a huge shock when he came to crew on 17th December and pulled down his hood to reveal his new do!

I’m sure you will all agree that Rhys’ hair looks so good and we wanted to thank everyone for their support in sharing and donating. We have raised an epic £720 in total for Big C Little Warrior! I am in the process of liaising with Big C Little Warrior in order to present this to them.

We will hopefully be able to share more about this soon!

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson

Big C Little Warrior

As a way of giving back to others in our community Crew Rowling have chosen to raise money for a local charity called ‘Big C Little Warrior’.

 
Big C Little Warrior was founded in 2019 and specialises in boosting the self esteem and confidence for individuals going through treatment for cancer by offering beauty and grooming treatments. After speaking with Big C Little Warrior they informed us of a new venture that we could support with. This is to raise money towards vouchers that individuals undergoing treatment who have lost their hair, can use towards handmade hats and headbands with hair pieces. Every £50 raised will help go towards one voucher per person.


We brainstormed ideas on how we could raise money and one of our amazingly kind and thoughtful crew members, Rhys has offered to cut his thick shoulder length hair, going for a short back and sides! This is something he felt fitted well with the charity and what the money raised was being used for.


As a crew we feel it is important to give back and support others in out community. The character values and traits that we strive to maintain at XP East are extremely important to us and we hope you will agree this is for an amazing cause!


Crew Rowling would really appreciate a small donation to help our charity and for Rhys’ courage in having his hair cut short.


The proposed date is 18th December for Rhys to have his hair cut so there will be updates to follow this 🙂


We are already doing so well in such a short amount of time but here is the link to donate. 


https://www.gofundme.com/f/raising-money-for-big-c-little-warrior?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1


We want to thank everyone in advance for supporting Big C Little Warrior and Crew Rowling.


Kirsty and Natalie

Launch of C26’s Fight the Power plaque – Friday 3rd December 2:00PM

The Fight the Power final product is being officially launched on Friday 3rd December at 2PM, at Sir Nigel Gresley Square (just outside of CAST).

We’d like to say a massive thank you to parents, carers, and our community for supporting the crowdfunder, and we look forward to launching it with students and those involved with the expedition.

If your son/daughter is in C26 (Year 9) and you would like to attend the event to celebrate its launch with us, please join us – feel free to email [email protected] if you have any questions about the grand reveal.

New College Taster Day Monday 27th September

Posted on behalf of Mrs Burns, Careers Lead: 
Today again Scott Faulkner from New College delivered a presentation to our year 10&11 cohort.  I can now confirm that there is an opportunity for all our C24 & C25 students from both schools to attend the NCD taster day on the 27th September.
Could all students complete the form below for the taster day at New College on Monday 27th September. They need to choose 3 options and then a 4th standby. This information needs to be completed by Monday and prospectuses have been shared. The links to the college for both taster day  options and the online prospectus are below.
Please encourage your students to choose sessions they think they will enjoy or are intrigued by rather than in friendship groups, this is an important opportunity to try out before they enrol. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me. Crew Leaders will also be able to support and advise.
On the day we will be picked up by a coach at XP schools and taken to New College, we need to ensure all students leave from XP. Lunch is provided by college which I am excited about. They will attend 3 sessions and return to school by the usual finish time.

C26 (Y9) Bronze DofE

C26 (Y9) across both schools have made a the first steps toward achieving their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award!

Students, with the support and guidance of dedicated DofE Leaders and Crew Leaders, will spend time each week working on a programme of activities which include:

  • Skills: students will be undertaking a 3 month First Aid programme.
  • Volunteering: students will spend 6 months raising money for their Crew charities, becoming reading mentors to younger students and litter picking around our community.
  • Physical: 3 months of undertaking any sporting activity done as part of an organised club out of school, or by joining any of the after school clubs which will be launching soon!)
  • Expedition: planning for and undertaking 2 days/1 night hiking expedition (dependant on Covid restrictions at the time).

Find out more here!

By the end of the academic year students should have done enough to have achieved their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. Students are expected to achieve all sections of their Bronze award programme unless they have a valid reason not to.

The DofE programme forms a crucial part of the Trust’s Outdoor Curriculum, and we are extremely grateful to the FXP for their continued support and fundraising efforts to ensure that we are able to purchase the Bronze welcome packs and enrol every student onto the DofE award scheme.  The welcome packs will be delivered to your home addresses after students have registered on the eDofE app and include a handy discount card for outdoor specialist shops!

If you have any questions specifically about the Bronze award, please contact your child’s Crew Leader, or you can contact me (Angella Parker) direct: [email protected]

*Just a note to add we have plans in place for C24 and C25 to complete the expedition element of their DofE award later this year!