Back where we belong!

By A Parker3rd September 2020

My newsfeed has been overrun with ‘back to school’ photos this week – so here’s ours!

After almost 6 months apart, it’s fantastic to be back in Crew together – albeit socially distanced from me, as per our bubble safety measures!

I can’t praise my Crew enough for how they’ve handled the return to school.  They all sauntered back into school like they’d never been away, keen to get right back into lessons.  It’s been an absolute joy to see them back where they belong, sat at their desks with their classmates, enjoying the challenges of this week’s immersion activities.

I always notice the physical changes after the Summer holidays, but the changes have been on another level this year.  Yes, they’ve all come back taller, but I’m even more astounded by the changes in their attitude and outlook.  All of a sudden, my Crew are very grown up!

As we look ahead to what we want to achieve in Y10,  we’ve spent some time revisiting the pledges we made at the start of Y9.  This time last year we were thinking about Passage Presentations and beginning our GCSE journey.  Many of the pledges focussed on improving HOWLs grades in certain subjects by the end of the school year… but the rest is history and we never got to see what those grades would’ve been!

However, I reckon Crew have achieved so much on a personal level during lockdown, above and beyond what we could teach them in school (and no, I’m not talking about Mackenzie’s new found block paving skills!)

So, as most of them wanted to end last year with improved grades, I’m giving them all a 4.5 for their courage, resilience and determination not to let the missed time at school hold them back from wanting to succeed.

Year 10 – we’re ready for you 🙂

Dear Crew

By A Parker16th July 2020

Dear Crew

I’ve just read the blog I posted this time last year, on the last day of Y8.  Look how happy we were!

I remember our last Y8 Crew Session well, not just because we had cake, but because even though you were were all excited for the holidays, you were also looking forward to starting your Y9 journey.

  • You knew it would be an important year.
  • You were nervous about having to do your Passage presentations.
  • You were looking forward to starting your GSCE Choice studies.
  • You were excited about achieving your DofE Bronze Award.

And then this happened:

School Closure Update

Overnight, we had to adjust to a new socially-distanced, locked-down, scary world… We took lessons and Crew online and we had to get used to our new normal:

This change, on top of being told that we couldn’t see family and friends, hasn’t been the easiest thing to cope with and I absolutely get why some of you have struggled with our Strange New World.

I want to thank those of you who have turned up for every Crew hangout, for keeping up with your work and for helping me feel that things were (kind of) normal at least once a week!

If you haven’t shown up for Crew – don’t worry; we understand.  We’re right here waiting for you and your place in our Crew circle is safe.

If you’re behind on your work, be prepared for some hard work catching up, but remember that our whole Crew will be supporting you. As ever, we’ve got your back.

A massive appreciation to those of you who have had the courage to reach out and say that you’ve been struggling to cope.  You are all braver than you think.

 

Our end of year photo looks a little bit different this year, doesn’t it?

I visited some of you yesterday and I can’t tell you how happy I was to see you!  I didn’t realise how much I’d missed you until I saw your smiling faces.

An extra special thanks from me to you – Thomas, Noah, Tom and Ali – for “just” getting on with it (that’s harder than you think during these times!); for your continued hard work; for your kindness; for your humour (even when you didn’t realise you were being funny!) and, above all – for the compassion you’ve unknowingly shown over the past 4 months just by rocking up and being there with me every Thursday at 2pm…  You really are Crew Superstars.

 

 

Y9 wasn’t what we expected it to be but we’ve managed to get up to the top of our Y9 mountain.  The journey was a a bit slower and sometimes lonelier than our Y7 and Y8 journeys, but we made it all the same!  The Y10 mountain will be the biggest and hardest one to climb yet but #wearecrew and I’m ready to race you to the top 😉

Now – go off and enjoy the Summer break.  I’ll see you all back in Crew at the end of August, back in school, getting used to another new normal.

And now I’m checked out.

Stay Safe,
Mrs Parker xx

Dear Crew Parents

By A Parker16th July 2020

Dear Crew Parents

 

We have a saying in school that “if we get Crew right, we get everything right” and my Crew would be far from ‘right’ if it didn’t include you.

I can’t thank you enough for the support you’ve given me over the last 17 weeks.  I’ve spent a lot of time working from home and some of you will know how lonely that can be.  However, I’ve always felt like I’ve had you lot right behind me (especially when chasing up missing work those first few weeks!)

So:

Thank you for responding to my emails and calls.

Thank you for letting me know when I’ve needed to to more.

Thank you for letting me know when I’ve needed to ‘back off.’

Thank you for the messages and kind words you’ve sent to me (there have been a few tears shed after reading them on a Friday night!)

Thank you for supporting your children, the school and me.

Just ‘Thank you’ for everything you do.

You’re all simply amazing and I feel so privileged to get to work with you and your children.

It’s hard to think back to everything Crew achieved before lockdown, but can I just say again how incredibly proud I was of them all during their Passage presentations – certainly the highlight of the year for me and I’m guessing most of you, too!

If you get the chance, please have a watch of our short film All About Crew just to reinforce why Crew is so important to me, featuring our very own Ali from 8 minutes onwards.

Stay Safe,
Angella xx

Crew Young catch-up, Keisha’s butterfly!

By D Pearson8th July 2020

We’ve all heard of Austin’s butterfly…..so how about Keisha’s butterfly? For our latest update from Crew Young I’ve captured comments from students describing their reactions to recent tragic events in America, and shared their current work and progress on the DofE First Aid course.

Keisha e-mailed me a piece of her beautiful art work last week, and I simply had to include it in our blog as an example of work that she’s really proud of:

Great work here Keisha – I like how you’ve blended the colours together in both the butterfly and the plant. Remember Austin’s butterfly? How he crafted and re-crafted his work acting on kind, specific and helpful peer feedback?

Dominic reminded us that he’s still training for MMA and for his DofE Award:

Well done Dominic, we already know that “you are amazing!” at times, but it’s helpful to be reminded of it now and again!

Summer wished to contribute her thoughts about the death of George Floyd in America:

“...Even things that many people grew up with, things such as comedic blackface or use of racial slurs, were only deemed acceptable due to the deeply rooted history of racism that, despite slavery being abolished, was never truly made illegal.

Therefore, I don’t believe that our generation is “overreacting” as many older generations may have the media believe.
No, we are not overreacting. We are thinking. We are watching. We are solving. We have seen what is wrong with the way things are, and we want to make sure it is never the same way again. 
All lives cannot matter until black lives matter.“
Keisha agreed: “I support the Black Lives Matter movement and I think it was very upsetting and a little unsettling what the police did to George Floyd”.
Maclaren added : “I feel that George Floyd’s death has pushed an issue that was already
at the boiling point from all of the other deaths like this one“.
Louie thought: “The death of George was truly tragic, and it’s upsetting and scary that there are police officers out who took an oath to help and to protect the people in their community, but I’m against the rioting just because he was black, and that they think that the cops killed him because he was black, when the real story was the cop was just a bad officer…“.
Lewis was also less persuaded of a racial element to the incident: “It shouldn’t be all about racism and it has became that. What happened was a police officer was brutal and inhumane to a man. Just because it was a white man and a black man does not mean it is racist at all….”.
One of the things that I’ve really missed during lockdown is the opportunity afforded in Crew sessions for us to discuss and debate key worldwide events such as the Coronavirus Pandemic, or George Floyd’s death. We do this within a compassionate framework where differences of opinion and perceptions are welcomed, voiced, respected and encouraged, especially when they might link directly to our expeditions such as, in this case, “Stand up!”.

 

 

A familiar face!

By A Parker3rd July 2020

I do spend time catching up with Crew at least once a week, either via hangouts or by telephone, but nothing quite beats the feeling of seeing them face-to-face!

As children of key workers, both Bryn and Aden have been accessing our in-school provision and today I got to see Aden for the first time in 15 weeks.  I think I was more excited than him, though!

(Note: the only picture I’ve got is of Bryn is of him doing star jumps for our Crew PE Challenge, so I don’t think he’d appreciate me publishing that!)

Crew’s experience of lockdown has varied but as restrictions are eased, actually being able to see and talk to other people “in real life” outside of our households has been a major mood booster for us all.

In this week’s Crew session, I really enjoyed hearing about Crew’s visits with Grandparents, bike rides with friends, family trips out to the seaside and Brodsworth Hall, and even a shopping trip to Meadowhall to spend birthday money!  We’re all enjoying being able to do ‘normal’ things, albeit at a safe 2m distance apart!

An all of a sudden, the world is not as frightening as it was back in March.

As we make plans for the return to school, one thing I’ll remember from our time apart is that we still remained Crew.

A different type of Crew, maybe, but still Crew.

I’m absolutely positive that we’re now an even stronger one.

Stay safe – even more so now!

Mrs P x

What makes us XP? Crew Young’s advice to new staff and students

By D Pearson22nd June 2020

It’s great to have regular contact with Crew Young and hear how they’re doing during lockdown. Recently I asked them to share advice for new staff and students, with the benefit of their (nearly) three years of experience at the school, about “what makes us XP?”:

“For teachers to join next year i would say take each day as it is and try and relate with students more then ever before if you actually want to know them as many fail to do so in many scenarios in the education system“.

“For new teachers I would give the advice of not being afraid to teach differently to others because if you teach differently it could help the student retain information easier. For new students, I would possibly say it’s okay if you’re shy but if you know the answer to something, maybe try putting yourself out there and put your hand up“.

“My advice would be to just follow what the current teachers are doing right now with feedback on work and fieldwork building onto expeditions“.

“The advice I would give to any new student at XP/XP East is that they shouldn’t worry about making friends and should just be themselves. This is because, as a recent new student, I was very nervous that people wouldn’t like me or wouldn’t want to be my friend because of the way I act. However, XP East was extremely welcoming and everybody accepts who you are without hesitation. Therefore, any new student shouldn’t make the same mistake I did by doubting themselves and should instead put themselves out there, because there will always be someone willing to talk to you or be your friend”

In our next Crew blog we’ll report back on which distance learning measures Crew Young feel have been the most effective as they head towards the demands of GCSE study in Y10…..

 

 

Top advice from Crew: “just keep smiling!”

By A Parker19th June 2020

I’ve spent most of the last 3 weeks on Google Hangouts with Y6 students who are coming to join us at the end of August.  These meetings usually happen in person at their primary school, but our transition process is yet another thing that we’ve had to take online!

I’ve met some very excited children who can’t wait to start school.  I’ve also met some very anxious children (and parents, too!)

I asked Crew if they could remember their own Y6/7 transition visits… Most could, and could even remember which member of staff visited them, which I guess shows the impact of these visits.

We had a lovely discussion about what their Y6 selves were worried about as they moved up to our school: most were worried about not knowing anyone, not making new friends and that the work would be too hard.

And these were more or less the same worries that the current Y6’s spoke to me about, 4 years on!

So, what advice would my Crew give to Y6 students today?

  • You will definitely make friends on your first day, and even if you struggle, your Crew will always look out for you.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
  • Don’t let your worries stop you from enjoying all the experiences XP East will be offering you.
  • Everyone probably feels as nervous as you, so just keep smiling and someone will smile back! (love that one!)

Wise words from the founding year of XP East!

This Crew session gave me a good excuse to look through old photos and get a bit teary eyed at the first ones we had taken together at Malham Cove in 2017.

My, haven’t they grown? Not just in height and appearance, but also in character (especially over the last 3 months!)

I’m a little bit envious of my colleagues who are about to start their own unique journey with their new Crews… I hope their journey is as eventful, exciting and enriching as my own with Crew Finch.

In other news…

Well Done to Noah for winning the monthly Crew Quiz during Thursday’s hangout!  Well done also to Thomas H for showcasing his excellent knowledge of ‘Animal Farm’, even with the cheeky bonus point questions (one which unintentionally gave a major spoiler – sorry about that, guys!)

 

DofE Bronze Award Update

19th June 2020A Parker

In April we told you about changes to our DofE delivery in this blog post.

We now know that students won’t be able to complete the Outdoor Expedition within the original timescales set.

Unfortunately, this means that our Y9 students won’t be awarded the full Bronze Award this academic year.

However, DofE still want to recognise and celebrate participants’ achievements so far – and rightly so! – and will be awarding a Certificate of Achievement to all those who complete the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections before the end of the year (31/12/20 is the official date but we will be setting our own school deadline, which is likely to be much earlier!)

Students will receive the full Bronze Award once they have completed the Outdoor Expedition, and we already have plans in place to get this done as soon as we can!

It is important to note that students will NOT receive the full Bronze Award if they don’t have the 2020 Certificate of Achievement before the end of the year.

We really hope you continue to support and encourage your child through their DofE journey.

Here’s the WHY:

Outdoor Education is a huge part of the XPE experience; it starts with Outward Bound and carries on through fieldwork and the DofE Awards we offer from Y9.

DofE in particular helps students build key life skills – not least compassion, resilience, and teamwork – reinforcing what our CHARACTER TRAITS, HOWLS and CREW.  We want our students to be the best versions of themselves, and truly believe that DofE helps them to achieve this.

So, here’s a quick summary of where we’re at at XPE:

 

 

 

 

 

Students have completed the Volunteering section.  This was done in school with Y9 students becoming Volunteer Reading Mentors for Y7.

 

We have asked all Y9 students to complete the St John Ambulance First Aid Course. Details have been uploaded onto the DofE Google Classroom.

I’d like to give a massive appreciation to the the following students who have been working through the weekly First Aid tasks that are being set for them:

Thomas H, Ben, Aran K, Rhys, Summer, Maclaren, Kaiden, Keisha, Theone, Eleanore and Chloe

Thank you all so much – I’m really impressed with what you’ve all done so far and would definitely feel safe being out on expedition with you guys!   

There are still quite a few of students who need to join the classroom, or who have joined but have yet to start – it is really important that they make a start as soon as possible and get these tasks done!


Many students were using out of school activities as evidence for this section.  However, once we went into lockdown, these activities were stopped and some students haven’t been able to collect enough evidence to complete this section.

However, students still need to continue with evidencing some form of physical activity and we have made some suggestions of what they could easily be getting on with: walking, running, gardening, Joe Wicks’ daily PE lesson on YouTube to name a few.

These sessions can be added to any which were previously recoded before lockdown (so you don’t have to start the 12 hours again!) but you MUST agree this with your Crew Leader. New evidence sheets are on the DofE Classroom.  

Submitting Evidence

All evidence will be submitted via the eDofE mobile app.  It’s really easy to use and I’ll be in touch with each Crew to talk them through the process.

Thank you. 

Beautiful Crew and Beautiful Butterflies!

By K Poncia9th June 2020

As time is ticking on, we are all finding our weeks busy, filled with new expeditions and immersing ourselves in new learning, working hard on the tasks we have been set whether it’s Hegarty maths or finding out about Fair Trade in Spanish or even reading ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell in HUMAN.

Taking part in Google Hangouts has become the norm and has greatly helped in allowing us to access our learning even more. A face-to-face chat with our teachers and learning coaches can soon set us on the right track.

Within all of this ‘busyness’ going on, I have to say that my favourite part of the week is our Crew Churchill hangout.  It is just wonderful to touch base with my crew members, hear what they have been up to, what’s been working well for them and it gives a chance to discuss if any help is needed.

It has also made me realise how much I miss you all and how much I look forward to when we can be reunited as our crew!

Here’s a flavour of just how great you all are!

 

 

Return to work for Crew Young

5th June 2020D Pearson

After a two week break we return (metaphorically) to school in what is incredibly the fifth and final term of this academic year, and the end of another Key Stage for Crew Young. As we move inexorably towards GCSE in Year 10 it’s clear that some of us are finding time to research common mission options and subjects; Maclaren is keen on computer science, Summer is interested in media and geography for a possible career in journalism, Eleanor favours business studies and Keisha prefers psychology, but Louie is still undecided.

It’s also great to receive praise shared by colleagues for the hard work that is going on at home by students that are engaging with assignments being set. This week Mrs Sprakes was full of praise for Eleanor and her progress in Spanish+, whilst Miss Batty really appreciated the effort that Louie is putting into his Empire task and the Indian Wars of Independence. Well done everybody!

There’s still lots more for us to get through:
– This term we begin a new STEM expedition entitled “here comes the sun”.
– We are now aiming to complete TWO DofE First Aid course sessions per week (Chest Pains and Low Blood Sugar both this week) to ensure full completion of the course.
– We’ve also been invited to Go Wild for 30 days (and beyond!) by Mr Said here:   https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/57739/petition/1