Crew Young recently joined the other E24/Y9 Crews on a fieldwork visit to Alton Towers, where they learned how forces and energy transfers apply on all of the iconic theme park rides. Following expert tuition in the physics of movement and motion taught in the on-site classroom, they then put the theory into practice on rides such as Oblivion and Smiler.
At XP East we continue to celebrate our students’ individual successes and achievements, and encourage the positive contributions that they routinely make to the wider community. In doing so, they demonstrate compassion, integrity, respect, courage and craftsmanship and quality often beyond their years.
I am delighted to hear that Ella has recently passed all of her assessments and is now a fully-fledged St John’s Ambulance Cadet.
None of these noble professions made it to Crew Young’s current aspirations list when we explored future career pathways in Crew last week. Having studied how a year 11 / X22 student prepared a letter of introduction for passage, annotating her script with our own notices and wonders for follow-up work this week, we were encouraged to research our own career interests. This developed work covered during immersion week, when our Crew created an online profile on the startprofile portal.
Crew Young were most interested in the academic routes into their current career ambitions, starting salary and opportunities for promotion. Lewis now knows the average national starting salary, Adam is aware of what a level 1 qualification means, and Ella appreciates that a future in animal welfare could cover multiple occupations.
Amongst our current interests are careers in: animal welfare, railway engineering, forensic science / criminology, police dog-handling, architecture, airline pilot and the fashion industry.
Aim high, Crew Young, aim high!
Day 3 of E24’s first week back saw students visiting Sheffield Hallam University. This fieldwork was designed to further develop students’ knowledge and understanding of how to get to higher education, what opportunities are available and what university life is like.
Throughout the day students discovered the different ways to get to further education, whether this is by completing A Level courses, maybe BTECs or through an apprenticeship, some of the many different types of degrees which could be studied (who knew that Surf Science was a degree?) and what else makes up life at college or university – anyone for a game of Quidditch at the Harry Potter Society?
A tour of the university allowed students to see the different facilities that are available. The size of the lecture theatre made students gasp and the flight simulator, used by students studying aeronautical engineering, had them asking insightful questions.
At the end of our visit, feedback strongly showed that the majority of students would like to go to university and now feel more confident knowing how they can access this amazing opportunity.
Well done, E24! Now, don’t forget your hiking boots tomorrow!
Following on from a great first day back, E24 (Year 9) have had another excellent day!
It has been wonderful today to see such high levels of engagement, focus, co-operation and graft!
The day started with a crew session where crews were given four different challenges to solve. These included: Radioactive Isotope, The Floor is Lava!, Precious Trophy and Scientific Breakthrough.
Here we are working as crew!
The next part of our day saw us building on our careers sessions from yesterday by finding out what potential employment opportunities might be suited to us. Using a programme called ‘Start’, we discovered which careers matched our qualities, skills and interests. We also researched what salaries different jobs would pay and the availability of specific jobs throughout the country.
Ali discovered that being an author could earn her anything from £9,800 a year to over £2million a year! She’s already started writing her bestseller!
Rhys is interested in becoming a paramedic. He researched the qualifications he needs to achieve this and found out that there are over 2,000 job opportunities in this field across Yorkshire. We’d all be in safe hands with Rhys!
Throughout this session, learning and conduct behaviours from ALL students were exemplary!
The final session of today saw students introduced to ‘Passage Presentation’ which is an important piece of work students complete during Year 9 to demonstrate that they are GCSE ready. More information to follow about this…
So, tomorrow, we are heading to Sheffield Hallam University. We can’t wait!
As Crew Young returned to school following the summer break they were immersed in a range of activities designed to “re-Crew”. Year 9 presents key challenges and opportunities, from achieving the Duke of Edinburgh Award, to undergoing an academic “right of passage” to exercising a degree of “choice” over future career pathways. We started and remained in Crew throughout the day:
After Crew Young completed a series of physical tasks, and the “rob the nest” sports activity they were introduced to the basics of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
For the rest of today they met several career professionals, who demonstrated the “tools of their trade” before exploring career pathways into their chosen professions.
Highlight of the day was seeing Louie B in riot gear before being placed in handcuffs by a police liaison officer!
A local plumbing merchant showed how, with a little technical expertise, their trained engineers can turn plastic pipes into a crazy golf course…..
As this academic year ends, we’re already looking forward to our first week back!
School starts again on Tuesday 27th August, 8.30am. Students will require a PE kit for Tuesday and Wednesday, along with their usual stationery (pen, pencil and ruler) A kit list has been provided for Friday’s activity.
**There is no extended study during the first week back**
Tuesday: In school with a normal finish time of 3:15.
Wednesday: In school with a normal finish time of 3:15.
Thursday: Students are out of school today, within normal school hours. They should wear their usual everyday clothes and bring their bags and stationery. They will also need a packed lunch and a bottle of water (provided for students on FSM).
Friday: Students need to be at school for 7.45am. We will be out of school all day so students will need a backpack with a packed lunch, a bottle of water, hiking boots and waterproofs. Students on FSM will be provided with a pack lunch.
Please check the kit list below 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 for around 5pm (to be confirmed during our first week back.)
Please refer to these important docs and ensure you and your child are familiar with them. A medical form will be sent home on Tuesday 27th; please return this to us on Wednesday 28th.
Have a wonderful summer break!
Yesterday Crew Young competed in a range of inter-crew sports events held at the athletics stadium, beginning with 6-a-side football mini tournament. The quality of sportsmanship, commitment and participation were self-evident, as was our enjoyment of our annual sports day.
Today Ella brought a copy of the anthology of poems that includes her creative prose, and shared it with Crew Young. Superb work Ella, as you now have two of your creative pieces of writing published in a book. Congratulations.
This rounds off a successful term and academic year for Crew Young, and we continue to grow in stature and character some 40 weeks after we began Year 8 going Outward Bound in Aberdovey, Wales. Until we circle-up as Y9s towards the end of August, we’re checked out…..
What a fabulous result towards the end of the academic year!
It is with immense pride and to my professional satisfaction that I post the results of the third Data Drop assessment of Y8/E24 HOWLs. In all three areas – work hard, get smart and be kind – Crew Young lead the way, topping the leaderboard in their Habits of Work and Learning.
This is down to sheer hard work and to the collective effort of each and every member of our Crew. But it is only part of the story, and it encouraged me to reflect on the individual successes – academic and otherwise – that contributed to our cumulative grades during this academic year:
Adam – overcoming significant personal difficulties and now making concerted attempts to close the gap between his MEG and current grades.
Louie – featuring on round two of our student pledge successes board, Louie led a highly -organised Crew session demonstrating admirable sports leadership qualities.
Lewis – showed quiet determination to honour his pledge to volunteer more of an oral contribution in Spanish, justifying his position on round one of the student pledge successes board. Lewis is also justly proud of his excellent 100% attendance record for the year.
Eleanor – exceeding her MEG in Data Drop 3 for maths, science, English and history, Eleanor has consistently demonstrated a secure grasp of the concept of HOWLs. She also routinely volunteers her time to help out at FXP events, all selflessly for the benefit of other students.
Maclaren – Making it onto round two of our student pledge successes board, Maclaren has worked hard to widen his social circle, and he is also developing confidence through the mountain biking club.
Ella – Showed integrity in her latest SLC, and an awareness of her strengths and areas for development. Ella led a very powerful Crew session on mindfulness and had one of her poems published from amongst 8000 entries in a national competition.
Alesha – Alesha has an excellent 100% attendance for the whole year. Latest Data Drop assessments show she continues to exceed her MEGs in four areas and her HOWLs are consistently above 4.0. Another outstanding year for this highly industrious student.
Isabel – A recent addition to round three of the student pledge success board, Isabel has now accelerated her progress and attainment and is currently exceeding her MEG in English, maths and science.
George – George hosted his SLC yesterday and made his mother extremely proud of him, especially when she discovered that he had absolutely smashed his MEG in STEM…..exceeding it by a huge 0.9 grade. What a way to end the year George!
Keisha – I’ve lost count of the multiple spontaneous peer appreciations for compassion that Keisha has received in Community Meetings this week! Academically, Keisha has made it to the pledge board on account of her exceeding her MEG in HUMS, maths and history. She’s also a member of the Eco-Crew.
Aaron – Another member of the Eco-Crew, Aaron has offered countless positive contributions in session, and this year he has improved his fitness by regularly joining the mountain biking club.
Nathan – Nathan has often been prepared to set up and take down sports equipment, and he has frequently “bought into” the extra-curricular sporting provision on offer after school. He plays football for his club at the weekends.
Dominic – Out of school Dominic has secured his black belt in Mixed Martial Arts and delivered a very interactive Student-Led Conference recently. He doubled his HOWLs grades from term 1 to term 2 and he is now beginning to widen his social circle.
Our recent HOWLs are the best grades we’ve had so far…..but like any “personal best” they are there to be beaten, and they’re still not as high as they could be, just yet.
I expect even more of my “Youngsters” next year, and I’m confident they will rise to the challenge. Great work, Crew Young. Enough said.
This should, of course, read: “demonstrating Final Product in his SLC” as this afternoon Dominic chose to invite his parents to try out his Final Product in STEM – an electronic buzzer – during the course of his Student-Led Conference.
Dominic concluded his SLC by also sharing a time-lapsed video recording of the creation of his propaganda / fake news collage. Whilst I am so far very pleased by the high quality discourse used by Crew Young to articulate their learning and progress, I was delighted with how Dominic used digital media to help justify his inclusion of the propaganda collage amongst the work in his portfolio that he is proud of, shows mastery, and requires improvement.
Well done, Dominic!
