E26 (Year 9): First Week Back 

By K Poncia16th July 2021

E26 (Year 9): First Week Back 

 

As this academic year ends, we’re already looking forward to our first week back!

School starts again on Wednesday 1st September when we will be embarking on a week of Crew.  Please take a look at the outline for the week so that students are fully prepared for each day.  

Wednesday:

Students will be in school all day (normal school hours).  They will require their usual equipment (pen, pencil, ruler and device). Sensible footwear is required. School dinners will be provided as usual.

Thursday: 

Students will need to be at school for 8am as they will be out of school on crew activities. Students will need a backpack with a packed lunch (provided for students on FSM), a bottle of water, hiking boots and waterproofs.  Please check the kit list for further details of the required clothing.  Please can students come to school in trainers, not their walking boots.  We are expected to be back at school between 4.30pm and 5.00pm.

Friday: 

Students will be out of school today for the morning (normal school hours).  They should wear the same clothes as required for Thursday (please refer to the kit list) and bring their bags and equipment (including their device). Sensible shoes and waterproofs will be needed so please make sure that students bring these, too.

Students will also need a packed lunch and a bottle of water (provided for students on FSM).

*We have been advised that students wear and bring insect repellent for our morning fieldwork.

Please refer to these important docs and ensure you and your child are familiar with them.

Have a wonderful summer break!

 

 

NJO Academic Crew in action!

By D Pearson12th July 2021

Last Thursday I happened upon Miss Johnson and her Crew using Academic Crew time to consolidate Spanish language learning. As some students had previously studied town places, and others had focused on asking directions around town, Miss Johnson used the time to address misconceptions, e.g. “librería” means “bookshop” and not “library”, and to make literacy links, e.g. “carnicería’ = “butchers” – think “carnivore” and “carnivorous”.

What impressed me the most was the number of students that produced their completed Extended Study task for marking, that was only set last Tuesday and not due in till tomorrow. Bien hecho Señorita Johnson!

 

Maestras/Maestros de Español

By Web Blogger17th June 2021

As a Crew the HOWLs grades we collectively needed to work on were in Spanish. We discussed in Crew why we thought this was and we established that many were not as confident to offer answers in these sessions because they were unsure of pronunciations of words. So in true Crew spirit we decided that we would practice Spanish together via the website linguascope. in Crew, Miss Johnson and Mrs Barnes included! Our first go at this was great fun and we look forward to improving with this and building everyone’s confidence, hopefully resulting in an increase in HOWLs grades and becoming Spanish masters (maestras/maestros de Español).

 

We have also been looking into which local charity we would like to support. Crew Rowling selected Big C Little Warrior which is a Doncaster based charity that works in hospitals, homes and hospices in the surrounding area providing free beauty and grooming treatments to anyone undergoing treatment for cancer. We thought this linked with our drive to encourage confidence. During our sessions we are looking at possible ways of fundraising for the charity and we can’t wait to get started!

We look forward to keeping you all up to speed with our Spanish and fundraising efforts.

 

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson

 

Above all, Compassion!

By Web Blogger11th May 2021

As most of you are aware unfortunately one of our Crew members’ bike was stolen a few weeks back and in our mindful Monday session as a Crew it was decided that a fundraising page was a way of helping the community, very close to home by raising money for a new bike. We were blown away by the generosity of so many people and quickly reached the target. 

 

With bikes being a sort after item at the minute, sourcing one, in stock locally could have proved a challenge, but an amazing local company Cycle Supreme stepped in to help us out.  

So with everyone’s hard work and kindness, Crew were able to surprise Logan with a new bike last friday in front of his family. We also raised enough money to purchase a diamond standard lock, to hopefully prevent such an awful event happening again.

In true Crew spirit, we tackled the issue of how best to use the new bike lock. This took a few attempts and many different ideas but they pulled together and Logan’s new bike was safely locked up.

 

Crew were asked how it made them feel to do something good or a good deed for someone else and some of the responses were:- 

 

‘It makes me feel good as I feel like I’m making a difference even if its small’

‘I feel happy’

‘A sense of pride’

‘I’m just glad I can help someone else and make their day better’

 

There was a real excitement and buzz in Crew and the afternoon really highlighted the bonds and togetherness within Crew Rowling.

 

Above all, compassion!

 

Miss Johnson and Mrs Barnes

 

Pulling Together as Crew!

By Web Blogger27th April 2021

We are living in uncertain times, what students don’t expect is having the uncertainty of how they are getting home from school at the end of the day. 

 

Unfortunately, like many other schools in the area, XP has been hit by bike theft. 

 

At XP we feel strongly about supporting our community, showing kindness, compassion and respect. We were devastated to hear that a member of a Crew had had their bike stolen, after hearing so much about the jaunts they had been on during lockdown with their siblings on it- plus the fact it was relatively new! Therefore, we want to put right the actions of others! 

 

Crew members wanted to help and therefore a fundraising page was set up. This had an amazing response in such a short space of time. The target was smashed in no time!! So watch this space…

 

https://gofund.me/9b11c4c1

Keeping with the notion of showing compassion, we were privileged to be asked if Crew Rowling could model how we ran our Crew sessions to Mrs Watson’s Crew, Crew Rashford. This was a really positive experience and there were some amazing notices, wonders and questions about what was shared. We even had the opportunity to observe Crew Rashford in one of their sessions and give guidance on writing their Crew norms. Crew Rowling were excellent role models and gave praise and useful feedback to Crew Rashford which will give them the tools to keep them going from strength to strength. This in turn led us to reflect on how far we had come as a Crew and how much we wanted to continue to set a good example for others.

Above all, compassion

 

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson

Welcome Back!!

By Web Blogger12th April 2021

It’s been lovely seeing everyone face to face rather than on a screen! 

Crew seem to have grown at least a foot, with the exception of Miss Johnson and Mrs Barnes of course! Crew have settled back into being in school really well. I do not think the transition would have been as smooth without the continuous support that the members of Crew Rowling have given each other.

Crew Rowling have been lucky enough to gain a new crew member, Jake. I know that Crew Rowling are experts at making people feel welcome as I have witnessed it first hand. They pulled together to show Jake the ropes and he is fitting in great with our Crew sessions. He did shock us with his amazing ‘poker face’ during a game of ‘two truths, one lie’, which we used as a fun way of reconnecting after so long of not being together. Jake has also done a great job of helping Mrs Watson and his peer with litter picking and keeping the school looking clean and tidy. We were very impressed with the job they had done.

This week in Crew, students took time self evaluating their HoWLs and recorded this for each subject. The interactions between students were great as they gave feedback to each other via comments on the spreadsheet, highlighting areas that they may want to increase their grade and examples why. This seemed to give a boost in crew and everyone seemed quite positive after the session. I do think some were a little hard on themselves to start with.

 

Rounding off last week, we played the mystery game ‘Mafia’,  where Harvey did a fantastic job of narrating and making the story entertaining. It was a great way to end the week and we went into the E26 community meeting on a high after having fun as a Crew. 

Keep up the good work Crew Rowling!

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson

Recharging and Reconnecting with ‘Off Screen’ time

By Web Blogger28th February 2021

Another great week for Crew Rowling this week, they continue to blow me away with their hard work, positivity and creativity.

 

Crew Highlights (from Crew members):

-Harvey always has an answer ready and is always listening.

-Thomas works really hard to make his work the best that he can do and always has a good detailed answer.

-Layton is always prepared to give critique to others in his class and is always there when you need help or struggling with any work at all.

-Cerrina gives a lot of helpful feedback and she is an amazing friend. She is very helpful and kind, thank you! Cerrina is also always asking for critique to make her work better which shows how much she cares about her lessons and how responsible she is for her learning.

 

Other news this week:

-Faith’s quiz was slightly kinder than previous weeks and no one is looking forward to Layton’s turn more than him so he can reduce everyone else’s brain cells! These quizzes really have become something we all look forward to!

– Shawn’s recreation for the ‘Off screen’ task on Wednesday made headlines in our community meeting and made everyone laugh, it was brilliant!

 

Star Student Nominations for last week:

 

There were some great nominations within Crew for our star student. I wanted to share these with you all as it is always lovely to hear the Crews thoughts on the efforts put in by their peers. 

 

Shawn was nominated as he always works hard in sessions and in science he helped a group of people who didn’t understand the task.

Harvey is always on task every week so he was nominated for his consistency and dedication.

Layton was nominated as he always works hard and on Thursday in science he was doing very well grappling with his work.

Charlotte, for always joining the call on time and working harder in lessons.

Tom because even though he had trouble logging into his school account he still tried to take part in the lessons as much as he could.

 

The winner over all this week with a majority of votes was Tom! 

As a Crew we saw how hard you tried to participate in lessons and the work set when you were having trouble with your account, Well done!

 

‘Off Screen’ Time

 

This week we began our off screen time as we acknowledged how much time we are all spending on our screens, we therefore have come up with tasks to get us off the screens, recharging and reconnecting with things we enjoy and our family.

 

Tuesday was launch day so we decided to get out and photograph nature, the majority got involved and we had some beautiful photos uploaded to our Crew slides.

Wednesday we were tasked with recreating something in our house. Some decided to draw items, build items and Shawn made himself into a burger!

Thursday it was time to do something with our families. Activities varied and it was great to see how much everyone enjoyed this. There were bike rides, walks, board games, reading, baking, trips to the park, exercising and relaxing with pets.

Friday we got competitive with a scavenger hunt! 

For those who have attended the in-school provision, they also completed activities within school, including board games, dancing and outdoor photography. 

 

We have all enjoyed these activities so far and it has given a boost within Crew. It’s been good to check in each morning with what we have all been up to by looking through photos of everyone’s activities.

 

Keep up the good work everyone and keep the amazing photos coming in!

 

Mrs Barnes

Another positive week for Crew Rowling!

By Web Blogger19th February 2021

This week saw Crew Rowling complete their Student Led Conference’s online and both Mrs Barnes and I were blown away by the effort students had put in and the level of confidence and commitment to their studies students shown.

It was a very proud moment for me personally seeing how far each individual had come since the first round of SLC’s we completed in Year 7, it also made me eager to return to school and unite as a Crew to follow up on some of the pledges and actions which were discussed.

Though all of the students did a superb job adapting to online SLCs, presenting their screen and sharing their work virtually, there were some who had gone the extra mile to also include a presentation! Great work by Harvey, Cerrina, and Tom, who had done this off their own back following a suggestion by another Crew member.

It was also nice to be able to see Logan! His camera hasn’t worked all lock down, but for the SLC he was able to use another device- Mrs Barnes and I couldn’t believe how much more grown up he looked!

It made us wonder if we would recognise our Crew when they returned!

This week, as always, we nominated a ‘Star of the Week’ for Crew and within the Y8 phase, and the winner was…

Cerrina!

Both Crew and the year group recognised that Cerrina has been trying really hard in all of her sessions, and supporting others where possible. She has been actively engaged asking questions and also creating separate hangouts to support students in the longer lunch breaks.

 

Other Crew Highlights for this week:

  • Faith is working hard, contributing with amazing answers. It is clear she is always engaged!
  • Miss Barnes has been appreciated for being a very kind person who can always find a way to cheer you up! We also appreciate all of the help, guidance, and checking you did of the SLC scripts to ensure we presented well. 
  • Lily read out her SLC with the struggle of the ‘present now’ button not working, and though she is hesitant to put her hand up for questions, when she gets cold calls she comes out with amazing answers!
  • Charlotte has improved getting on calls as much as possible and has done some beautiful work!
  • Ben is always on lessons and is there to help whenever someone needs it. He always has the best answers when a teacher calls his name and many people have probably learnt from his help and critique in the SLC practise! 

We thought about some reflections in Crew this week and I wanted to share this comment that stood out to me:

“I feel the whole crew has really benefited from lockdown as we’re helping each other and pushing each other to achieve higher.”

This made us think of what we can do to have a positive impact, not only in Crew but in our school community and at home with our parents. Off the back of this we all agreed to complete an act of kindness this week, and it was great to check in and see the impact some of the appreciation emails and support we had given had had on others. After all, we all need to help each other up the mountain!

We ended last week on a very professional quiz from Shawn who had captured it on slides!

This Friday we look forward to Faith’s Quiz, who has already tested out her Quiz on her parents! Hopefully it isn’t too tough, i’m growing concerned at the amount of braincells Layton feels he is losing!

Stay safe and look after each other, 

Miss Johnson

 

 

The Power of a Quiz!

By Web Blogger17th February 2021

Wow, what a couple of weeks! 

 

Everyone has worked so hard on their SLC preparations within crew time over the last few weeks. Quiz Friday has become something we all look forward to and Rhys’ ‘hardest quiz in the world’ on 5th February was a great way to unwind and have some fun. Even though we found it super difficult, we all laughed throughout.

 

Star Student Nominations!

 

Each week in our crew session on a Friday afternoon we vote for an over all star student, this is within Crew and the year group and announced within our community meeting. We are proud to announce that these students were selected as nominees for start student from not only our Crew but also others within E26.

 

  • 22nd January 2021, Shawn was nominated for trying every challenge he is given, giving detailed answers to questions and working hard no matter the situation.
  • 5th February 2021, Lydia was nominated for always being kind, contributing in lessons, always being on time and consistently working hard and trying her best in all sessions.

 

Well done both of you! Your hard work is paying off- keep it up!

 

Crew Highlights: (Discussed and nominated by Crew members)

 

  • Rhys has been working really hard especially in maths. His quiz was just as hard as Harvey’s the previous week, but great fun! (We were hoping Shawn might be easy on us with his quiz)
  • Cerrina always tries her best and answers lots of questions in her science session.
  • Logan has been working really hard and has improved by speaking up more in crew sessions.

 

The Crew also wanted to highlight how Miss Jonson always knows what to do in any situation, how organised she is and how much support she has given to the Crew during the preparation for SLC’s which has been difficult online.

 

I want to say a huge appreciation to all of Crew Rowling for their continued efforts with their online sessions, their never ending support for each other and never failing to make quiz Friday so much fun!

 

Stay safe 🙂

 

(Mrs Barnes and all of Crew Rowling)

Bop, bop, bop, straight to the top of the HOWLs leaderboard!

By Web Blogger21st January 2021

Well, back online it is… but as expected, Crew Rowling are smashing it out the park!

As we know, we’re not a competitive Crew at all 🧐 🤪  However, i am super duper excited to reveal the latest HOWLS data:

Work hard: 3.59

Get smart: 3.5

Be kind: 3.8

Which is not only impressive as far as a set of Crew averages go… but it also means…

WE HAVE THE BEST HOWLS IN XP EAST!

and

THE BEST (WH/ BK) ACROSS BOTH SCHOOLS!

This is down to the fantastic efforts of all members of the Crew, sharing their ideas, contributing to sessions, supporting one another, and generally being Crew. Mrs Barnes has definitely joined the best!

Speaking of Mrs Barnes, all Crew members received a phone call or email home over the last week or so and feels they were really positive. She enjoyed getting to know Crew parents and we hope that this supports the transition into having not just 1 Crew Leader.. but 2!

Over the last couple of weeks Mrs Barnes has been taking some of our Crew sessions whilst I have been attending meetings under my new role, I have been pleased to see students still logging in on time, paying attention, and completing what is expected. I am proud of the grafters they have become/ are becoming!

Crew highlights: 

  • All Crew members are attending sessions on time and completing work expected.
  • The hangout chat has been a huge success again. Students are relying on each other for support and removing any issues by simply reaching out. This has also helped students to complete work when they are struggling.
  • Shawn provided some thought provoking Check In questions.
  • Harvey has taken on the first of the returning Friday afternoon quiz (I know some parents will be pleased to hear this!) 
  • Cerrina and Harvey have been keeping everyone organised ensuring they share the relevant hangout link before sessions.
  • SLC scripts are coming along nicely and all Crew members are working hard- even adding peer critique!
  • Faith has been acting as a Learning Coach in the in school provision, alongside doing her work to support other students. Take a look at the notes she has captured:

There’s so much more i could go on all day… 

 

In light of the work we have been doing around Crew HOWLs, we intend to raise the profile of students being Great and Awesome by spotlighting one student per week on our blog, this will be written by a Crew member so they can highlight what has been discussed during sessions. This should give support to others who are trying to improve their HOWLs grades and inspire them to become Awesome too! Keep your eyes peeled for who is in the spotlight in next weeks blog post!

I appreciate all of the hard work Crew Rowling are doing, and i know Mrs Barnes does too. Not only are you becoming leaders of your own learning but you’re making our job super easy too!

Stay safe and well.