Good Luck to Crew Parkinson!

By H Hickson27th November 2018

This week marks the start of the Crew Parkinson’s first SLC. Florence kicked them off yesterday, setting the bar high! In Crew today, she shared with the rest of the Crew her experience of her SLC to help the other students understand what to expect. Thank you Flo!

Most students have nearly completed or have already completed their script. That only means one thing – practice, practice, practice! In Crew today, students were rehearsing their SLCs with each other and giving critique to improve it.

This week we will continue to rehearse, prepare and reflect on SLCs. Good luck to everyone in Crew Parkinson with their upcoming SLCs – the hard work you have put in is sure to pay off!

 

Crew Shackleton ready to go with SLCs!

By A Brown27th November 2018

So Crew Shackleton are raring to go with their SLCs. We’ve done plenty of paired work, independent work, work with C24, work as a class…and generally just HARD work.

 

Here’s what they had to say on the matter:

Zach H: “I feel ecstatic and am looking forward to my SLC!”

Jacob: “I’m looking forward to my SLC because I have put a lot of hard work into it and I would like to see them to see what I have been up to in my academic studies AND HOWLs.”

Finley: “I feel excited because I haven’t done an SLC before and I’m excited to show my parents my work.”

Nikodem: “I am really looking forward to my SLC because I can’t wait to share my progress in learning.”

Lilly: “I am really excited and well prepared for my SLC. I can’t wait to share all my work. However, I am still a bit nervous.”

Zach M: “I am really ready because I feel that I’m really prepared and I’m really focussed on the work that I’m doing.”

Woody: “I feel good about it because I’m ready for anything.”

Thea: “I feel good about my SLC and I am excited to show my parents my work.”

Lucie-Mae: “I’m feeling organised but excited to share what I have done here to my mum.”

Denim: “I’m feeling organised and read to do my SLC. I’m excited to talk in front of my parents and share my work with them and share who I am as a learner.”

James: “I feel confident towards my SLC because I have prepared so much and worked really hard on it.”

Faith: “I am really well prepared and excited for my SLC. I can’t wait to present my beautiful work to my parents.”

 

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

A rather chocolatey update from Crew Turing

By Katie Haughey25th November 2018

This week I’ve met with almost every member of Crew Turing to discuss the progress they’ve made on the SLC script. We’ve spent 20 minutes doing a read through and making little tweaks, focusing on the craftsmanship and quality of their scripts.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed catching up with my crew and taking 20-30 minutes out of our days to review and reflect on their work. I am so proud of their portfolios and the graft they are putting into the re-drafting process – their hard work is really paying off. Also, drinking 10 hot chocolates in the space of 5 days has got to be a highlight of my week, it must be said!

The thought of having to stand up in front of my Mum, Grandma and form teacher at just 11/12 years old to present my work in a conference that I was running seems impossibly daunting. Looking back through my old workbooks, I feel no attachment to any of the pieces I completed, it was just another task to be finished and handed in.

Knowing my crew, getting a preview of their beautiful work, and seeing the new-found confidence that 10 weeks here at XP East has given them, I anticipate this SLC period is going to be one of celebration and pride.

Parents & guardians, you’re in for a treat!

SLC Preparations

By H Hickson20th November 2018

Crew Parkinson have been preparing for their Student Led Conferences over the last couple of weeks. We have watched videos of SLCs, discussed what the role of the student is during them, chosen their work from their portfolio, reflected on their achievements and challenges so far, reviewed their HOWLs and started writing a script. They’ve been busy bees!

Each pupil has chosen a piece of work they are proud of, one they found challenging and one they need to improve on. They have then reflected on their work in regards to the Learning Target, their MEG and the HOWLs. These 3 pieces of work will be central to their SLC.

Here’s Marcus, Dylan, Florence and Harvey in the midst of their preparations.

Crew Turing prepare for SLCs

By Katie Haughey19th November 2018

It has been a busy couple of weeks since returning from half term for Crew Turing! We’ve returned rested, and ready to prepare for our student led conferences which will commence on Tuesday 27th November.

During our time off, Alan Turing hit the headlines – there has been speculation that he is likely to be the new face of the polymer £50 note! As a crew, we discussed why we believed he was the most worthy candidate, and we each took turns to vote for him on the Bank of England’s survey. You can vote too, here’s the link: https://app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/1348443/10fc/

I was delighted to hear of the many fantastic achievements from numerous members of Crew Turing over the past weeks. I’d like to congratulate Lexi for placing 4th in a national gymnastics competition and Jess for her horse riding achievements. Not only this, I was genuinely moved by the beautiful remembrance service that C25 held last week. Seeing you all develop and grow as people, standing up in front of a packed out audience and showing the courage you did was inspiring.

If your service was anything to go by, then the SLCs are going to be amazing! Judging from all the positive news I recieve from members of staff about my crew, having looked through their portfolios, and hearing the lovely appreciations that are made in community meetings, there is certainly lots to be discussed in terms of their progress in the first 10 weeks at XP East. The link to sign up is below if you have not done already:

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/70a0b4ca9ac2ba4ff2-student

We discuss our struggles or goals frequently in Crew, we acknowledge that here at XP East there is always room for development and improvement in our academic work, but also through thethe charac traits and HOWLs. In the upcoming two weeks, we’ll be populating our crew notice wall with personal targets which we will set in our SLCs. We will then hold each other to account once a week, during academic crew, where we will evidence the steps we are taking in order to achieve these targets.

Watch this space!

 

Crew Ali: Look beyond instead of backwards

By J Townson16th November 2018

This week in Crew Ali, we have been preparing for our Student-Led Conferences by sending formal emails to our parents and planning which three pieces of work we will share with them: one to demonstrate mastery in our learning, one which we are proud of and one which needs improvement.

Mrs Townson quoted Kyle from last week’s Community Meeting, when he said we should “look beyond instead of backwards”.  Yes, our SLCs will involve a great deal of reflection on how we have been working since we began our XP East journey, but they also focus on the future beyond the SLC and how we will continue to improve.  We are definitely not looking backwards at the types of Parents’ Evenings we had in Primary School; we are looking forward to sharing with our parents how we can be accountable for our own learning and facilitate a formal event which illustrates the depth of our learning journey so far.

 

What has Crew Parkinson been doing this week?

By H Hickson12th October 2018

Yet another fantastic week in Crew for us!

Monday: We had our check ins from the weekend –  it’s lovely to hear what an exciting and relaxing time Crew had at the weekend – I look forward to this weekend’s update on Monday.

Tuesday: This session was dedicated to accelerated reader. It’s great to see some students so engrossed in reading, meaning they have already finished their books, taken the quizzes and moved onto a new book.

Wednesday: We discussed homework and organisation. It’s vital we all take responsibility for remembering to do and complete homework – this is a perfect opportunity to show that you work hard and get smart.

Thursday: Rosie’s birthday! (We all enjoyed cupcakes- thank you!) We also challenged Crew Churchill from Year 8 to a game of dodgeball – both crews showed respect, compassion and worked well together – we need a rematch to decide the ultimate winners! 

Friday: Apologies, appreciations and stands followed by community meeting – it’s brilliant to hear crew reflecting on the week and appreciating each other for their friendship and compassion. For instance, Ava appreciated Lacey for showing compassion by waiting for her after lesson so they could eat their dinner together. It’s the small acts of kindness that make a big difference.

Let’s see what next week has in store for us!

 

 

 

Climbing our Everests in Crew Ali

By J Townson11th October 2018

Last week, Crew Ali focussed on climbing their personal and academic mountains.  Some we had discussed at the beginning of the week, some were more unexpected.  We dealt with our emotions, physical and mental challenges and worked as a Crew to get through the week.

Ruby’s mountain was to “think about what I say before I say it”; being more mindful of her mountain really helped her to begin to achieve her aims.

Lacey said “my mountain was to stop cracking my fingers and I still do it a bit but not all the time”

Leoni chose to “try to use grammar correctly in class” and she feels she has improved in HUMAN this week in her poetry writing as a result of focussing on this mountain.

Charlie’s mountain was to “work hard in every lesson because I really enjoy HUMAN but I want to show my determination in other subjects too”; he’s getting there, but still has a way to go!

Cerys said she wanted to “put my hand up in HUMAN more often” and she is improving here.

Tom’s mountain was to “get the best poem possible in HUMAN”; he’s on his third draft this week and is feeling really positive about it.

Marshall’s mountain was “not to laugh in lessons unless it is appropriate” and his Crew have reported that he has worked really hard on this area.  He appreciated the Crew this morning for keeping him on track.

Well done Crew Ali!  Now to get further up the mountain or tackle the next!