See Dyslexia differently!

By A Parker14th May 2018

Four of our Crew have Dyslexia.  One student in particular has been feeling a bit upset about this over the past few days, so we thought it would be useful to discuss how his Dyslexia effects him.  We used the recently released video from The British Dyslexia Association – it’s a really useful introduction to the subject.

Big thanks to Ali, Mackenzie and Bryn for speaking so open and honestly about their experiences with Dyslexia, and even bigger thanks to all the Crew for showing empathy towards their fellow students during the discussion.

A short week for Crew 7DPE!

By D Pearson11th May 2018

Tuesday 8th May – Due to Bank Holiday Mayday Monday we checked into Crew on Tuesday instead, and also seized the opportunity to contribute to a shared debrief about the second round of Student-Led Conferences.

Wednesday 9th May – Accelerated Reader programme, allowing us to engage in collective silent reading for 40 minutes and/or to complete a comprehension exercise based on the books that we have just finished.

Thursday 10th May – Outside in the sunshine for a Danish Longball tournament…..and OUR CREW WON THE ENTIRE EVENT….YAY!!!!

Friday 26th Jan – Our XP Trust Community Meeting provides a weekly opportunity to give apologies and pledges, share appreciations and make stands for things that we feel strongly about. XP East usually holds a further school-specific Community Meeting in the afternoon.

And finally a polite reminder that – as we have worked so hard to currently rank first place (overall) for our cumulative Crew attendance – routine appointments and holidays should be arranged for out-of-term time please. We cannot afford to allow Mrs Parker’s Crew to catch us up and overtake us!!!

Crew SLCs

By A Parker4th May 2018

 

A big thank you to all the parents who made it to SLCs this week.  The biggest thank you should go to the students’ themselves, for their portfolio work, their preparation, their presentation, their self-reflection and for all their hard work during this term’s expeditions.

SLCs are always a bit nerve-wracking, but all my crew did themselves, their parents and (most of all) me proud 🙂

(Apologies for my terrible photo-taking skills; Megan and Brendan somewhere on this picture, I promise!)

Our second round of SLCs..

By D Pearson3rd May 2018

This week saw the culmination of the second round of 7DPE’s Student-Led Conferences. I had the pleasure and privilege of attending all thirteen of my Crew’s SLCs and I was again delighted with the quality of conversations about learning that took place between our students and their parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crew 7DPE’s weekly blog

By D Pearson23rd April 2018

Monday 16th April – We checked in, by sharing with each other what we had been up to over the weekend.

Tuesday 17th April – Our HUMS teachers used Crew to help us to prepare for our forthcoming SLCs.

Wednesday 18th April – The Accelerated Reader programme requires us to spend one Crew session each week, as well as time at the start of sessions 1 and 4 and Extended Study time, engaged on quiet reading to improve our literacy levels.

Thursday 19th April – We used Crew time to start the tick list of tasks that are needed to prepare for the SLCs. Some of us sent e-mails to invite our parents to attend whilst – for those whose parents have already signed up – we sent out e-mails confirming appointment times.

Friday 20th April – Our whole school Community Meeting provides a weekly opportunity to give apologies and pledges, share appreciations and make stands for things that we feel strongly about. XP East held a further school-specific Community Meeting in the afternoon that was visited by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.

OUR CREW ATTENDANCE FOR THE PREVIOUS WEEK WAS 97%. WHILST THIS IS VERY GOOD, AND ABOVE NATIONAL AVERAGE, CREW 7DPE ASPIRE TO BE TOP OF THE ATTENDANCE LEAGUE NEXT WEEK WITH AN EVEN HIGHER PERCENTAGE!

SLC Preparation

By J Smith21st April 2018

Crew Blog-

Crew JSM have been working extremely hard this week to ensure all portfolio work is in order for the 2nd student led conference of XPEAST. Three students have already completed their conference in the first part of the week.

The craftsmanship and quality and professionalism of those who have already performed has been outstanding. In particular the reflections made by Frida on her ‘most proud’ work and ‘area to improve’ was particularly impressive, and a credit to her character growth since starting at XP in August 2017.

 

Crew name

By A Parker16th April 2018

As much as we love to be known as Crew Parker, crews at XP are generally named after influential people who embody our character values and HOWLS (so, much more worthy than the humble Mrs Parker!)

We’ve been having lots of discussions about who we want to be named after, and have narrowed it down to two options: Crew Atticus (for Atticus Finch) or Crew Peake (for Tim Peake.)

The crew have been split into 2 teams, and each team will produce a character profile of Atticus and Peake, ready for our final vote before the end of term.

There is a firm favourite at the moment, so let’s see if the group presentations can sway the vote 🙂

Last week in 7DPE

By D Pearson15th April 2018

Monday 9th April – We all checked in to crew following the weekend.

Tuesday 10th April – We worked on our personal profiles – a series of Google slides to share a hobby or interest with our Crew members will allow us to become more confident and more proficient in our presentational skills. 

Wednesday 11th April – AR reading during Crew sessions is paying dividends as all students in our Crew are making progress in their reading levels.

Thursday 12th April – We joined Crew KPO in the drama room for a inter-Crew dodgeball session….with hastily amended rules.

Friday 13th Dec – Our whole school Community Meeting provides a weekly opportunity to give apologies and pledges, share appreciations and make stands for things that we feel strongly about. XP East School usually holds an additional school-specific Community Meeting on Friday afternoons.

‘Roots’ – A Soundtrack by Crew KPO

By K Poncia10th April 2018

As part of our expedition ‘Stand Up!’, we have been learning about the Trans-Atlantic slave trade during the 18th century.

To help us understand the deeper context of this time in history, we have been studying the mini-series ‘Roots’.

In Crew, we decided to create a soundtrack of songs which we think represent the life and times of the main character, Kunta Kinte.

Here are our choices.  Have a listen. What do you think?

 

Kaiden: Human by Rag ‘n’ Bone Man

Ben: Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Kyle: Chain by Fleetwood Mac

Lewis: Human by Christina Perry

Rhys: You Don’t Own Me by The Blow Monkeys

Adam Mohammed: Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson

Theone: Try by Pink

Aran: Glory by John Legend and Common

Alyssa: Because of You by Kelly Clarkson

Ruby: Where is the Love by Black-Eyed Peas

Tyler: I have Nothing by Whitney Houston

 

Accelerated Reader

6th April 2018A Parker

 

We spend a lot of time reading here at XP. East: we dedicate at least one Crew session a week to our accelerated reader programme and comprehension testing, as well as 15 minutes at the beginning of morning session, and another 15 minutes after lunch.  We also expect students to read for 20-30 minutes at home.  We are seeing some good progress in Crew Parker as students improve their reading age, and have strategies in place for those who need some extra support.

I do hear quite a few of our children grumbling when asked to get their reading books out, so it’s important to remind them why it’s so important, and why we invest so much time into reading:

  • Reading helps to build our vocabulary and language skills
  • Reading helps improve focus and concentration
  • It stimulates our imagination, which consequently helps to develop our own creative writing skills
  • A good book will leave us wanting more, so that we go on to learn more!
  • Developing good reading habits now will help the students when they go to University and have to research things using resources other than the internet (no, Google doesn’t have all the answers!)

As an ex-Librarian (or maybe that should be once a Librarian, always a Librarian!) I can’t promote the benefits of reading for pleasure enough.  I don’t really care if it’s a physical book or an e-book; it’s the act of reading that counts.