E26 Fieldwork Tuesday 19/11/19

By H Hickson17th November 2019

This week, all students in E26 will be going on fieldwork for their expedition on Tuesday 19th November. They will need to arrive at school for normal time and should be back at the end of the school day. We will be travelling about 45 minutes away in a coach so please give students who experience travel sickness any medication if necessary and/or bring it with them for the journey home (please hand into staff).

Students will need:

  • a warm coat (we will be inside for most of the day but will spend a period of time outdoors)
  • a packed lunch and drink (there will be nowhere for students to buy this so it is vital they bring this with them – FSM students will be provided for by school).
  • blue/black pens
  • a bag to carry the above in.

Students are not allowed sweets or fizzy drinks.

Image result for question mark

We will reveal the location on the day to the students, but for now – keep guessing!

 

 

E26 Pioneer Have a Gander at Propaganda

By H Hickson17th November 2019

This week 7 Pioneer began their History learning target which is based around a source analysis of propaganda. We started the week by following a Gallery Walk protocol, so we took a break from the classroom to have a look at numerous First World War propaganda posters and make notices, wonders and questions about them. Once back in the classroom, we discussed our thoughts and then learnt about why and how propaganda was used in the Great War.

We then analysed and annotated two posters looking at the messages behind them.

We explored and explained how the body language, facial expressions and the language used would persuade and convince people to enlist whilst placing the poster into the context of the time. Next for 7 Pioneer is to look at a written WAGOLL of a source analysis in order for them to understand the structure before they write their own. All students work fantastically well at this and were so focused and insightful in their analysis – keep it up!

E24 Silent Conversation

By A Brown14th November 2019

Silent and super speed conversation by E24 Explorer to revise and consolidate our understanding of stave 3 in A Christmas Carol.

Having previously read, annotated and analysed key parts of the stave over a series of lessons, this was an excellent opportunity to not only recall specific ideas and events, but to assess our understanding of the ideas we’ve been working on.

Great effort today, Explorer!

Given Freely, Freely Given Fieldwork

By A Brown13th November 2019

An incredibly eye opening and powerful morning of fieldwork for Pioneer and Explorer over the last two weeks. As part of our expedition ‘Small Change’, we visited Balby Church to take part in their ‘Big Sort’ on a Monday morning, providing much-needed clothes, food, toiletries and household items for those who have very little.

Both classes have done the school and themselves proud with their contribution to the ‘Big Sort’ working hard alongside existing volunteers sensitively, respectfully, and with lots of compassion. Well done!

See a bit of the Big Sort for yourself below:

A number of students commented on how lucky they were in their home situation to have easy access to things that are so easy to take for granted, such as soap, basic food and water, and it made them feel more grateful for the things they have. And question what they actually need!

It was also really uplifting to see just how many things are donated, and the variety of donations, reinforcing the positivity and compassion of the local communities providing for those in want.

And yet it is shocking that we learnt that everything would be gone the next day when those in need queue up outside the church in the hope there is enough to go around.

What a wonderful operation being run at Given Freely, Freely Given, and what a privilege it has been for our students to be able to take part and work alongside these amazing volunteers.

E25 Sponsored Walk for the Conversation Club

By H Hickson11th November 2019

On the 26/11/19, E25 will be taking part in a 5km sponsored walk or run. This will be part of their HUMAN expedition ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’ and will take place during their PE session.

We will be raising money for the Conversation Club, a charity in Doncaster who supports asylum seekers and refugees. This charity is vital in creating a support network for people who have had to flee their country due to political and religious persecution.

Earlier in the expedition, we were lucky enough to be visited by a group of asylum seekers who are supported by the Conversation Club. It was lovely to see the students so engrossed in listening to the stories of each of the asylum seekers but also sharing a laugh with them too! The students were shocked by some of the reasons why our visitors had to flee, what would’ve happened to them if they had stayed and were moved by the stories of being separated from their family and the emotional impact this has. It was also interesting to hear how many misconceptions there are in society about asylum seekers and by speaking to our visitors we all learnt a lot about this.

We were pleased to hear our visitors enjoyed the experience of visiting our school as much as we enjoyed having them!

Asylum seekers have to live on only £37.75 a week and any support they receive from the Conversation Club is funded through charity and the kindness of volunteers. E25 and X25 will be taking part in this event (separately) so we have the potential to raise a lot for this charity.  We will be taking part in other fundraising activities throughout this term to raise more money towards this cause.  If each student can be sponsored £1 then it will be a massive help in reaching our target amount for the charity, but feel free give as little, or as much as you can.

Students were handed a sponsor form last week in crew but if they have lost it then they can ask myself or Miss Johnson for another one.

Without wanting to get political it is important to remember instead that these are people who just want to secure their safety. Our character traits of respect and compassion ring out in the students when they get involved with members of our community in this way and I am be proud to work with such mature and compassionate students at XP EAST.

 

ABOVE ALL, COMPASSION. 

Start the day with gratitude

By A Brown8th November 2019

So this week in Crew we’ve been focusing on gratitude and appreciation. How can we be more grateful for the things we take for granted? How can we remind ourselves of all the positivity around us when there are so many negative images forced upon us each day? How can we use gratitude to shift our feelings from negative to positive?

We started with some appreciations, then looked at this meme and discussed what resonated with each of us in Crew?

It was really interesting that our discussion took us into a way of realising that actually even in really difficult, sad, troubling or depressing situations, gratitude and spending a moment to think about either the positives in an apparently negative situation, or even looking for the things we are grateful for can help to lift us into better spirits: more contentment and happiness.

We explored the language of “cultivating a shift” – how can we take control of our emotions and feelings, to not ignore them (it’s ok to be sad, feel down, have a tough day!) – but we can choose whether we let those emotions control our mind, or whether we want to try and shift our minds into a more positive state.

We can dwell on situations out of our control. For instance, Fin showed courage and talked about his bad knee, and how it prevents him from doing activities and being as physical as he’d like to be, but he realises there is little he can do about the situation.

We discussed how this could be really frustrating or depressing. But with a shift in thinking about what good has come out of his injury – what he has to be grateful about – he could see that his friends really step up and look after him when he’s in pain, rallying around him; his friendships are strengthened by his injury!

We ended the session by writing down as many things as possible on a post-it note that we are grateful for.

Try it at home? What are you grateful for today? Can you acknowledge the things that make us depressed or sad or down, and “cultivate a shift” towards using out emotional energy to be grateful and feel positive about what we DO have?

E26 HUMAN Fieldwork

By H Hickson7th November 2019

E26 will be going on fieldwork on Tuesday 19/11/19.

We will be visiting a mystery location approximately 45 minutes away from school.

Students will need to arrive at school at normal time and should be back by the end of the school day.

 

More details will be released next week – so keep checking the website!

“I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup.”

By H Hickson13th October 2019

8 Pioneer have been busy working incredibly hard over the last couple of weeks towards their English Learning Target:

I can evaluate texts critically explaining and analysing how they use language and structure to achieve effects and influence the reader.  

We have been understanding how Lennie is presented by acting out extracts from Of Mice and Men, undertaking quotation explosions, zooming in on the meanings of words, making inferences and understanding how Steinbeck’s language choices affect the reader. This has been a step up from last year and at times has been a struggle for some in Pioneer – but they persevered and I’m so proud of the work they produced and their attitude towards their learning.

Mrs Poncia gave us a visit during our lesson and she was so pleased with what she saw she wrote this on the praise sheet:

“Superb focus in HUMAN when completing their first assessed piece of writing. Well done, Everyone!”


We’re moving onto our History learning target now looking at the question:

“The most significant cause of The Great Depression was the Dust Bowl.

How far do you agree with this statement?”

We began to identify and explain the numerous causes which lead up to the Great Depression, such as the First World War, overproduction of goods and the unequal distribution of wealth. We’ll continue analysing these causes to come to a conclusion about whether the Dust Bowl was the most significant cause of the Great Depression.

Keep up the hard work 8Pioneer!

How does your garden grow?

By Thomas Dawson11th October 2019

Crew Young are learning gardening skills as their first activity going towards their Bronze DofE award, by getting down and dirty planting new crops for a delicious salad. The crew split in half to make a new addition to the XP East garden. One group was busy working on a flower bed, the other groups onions, cress plants, parsley and basil. At this time of year these miniature plants are quite easy to grow because they are resilient to the wintry breeze.