Crew-hooting

By Katie Haughey26th April 2020

This week we’ve condensed our crew sessions and switched up our activities to make them more diverse, and I have really enjoyed the time we’ve spent on google hangouts together. I set up a kahoot this week with a tonne of questions on topics they had been learning about using their google classrooms. I mixed all their different subjects up, and added in some general knowledge and Shrek trivia, just for my crew. Annoyingly, the quiz I made didn’t actually work (I’ve saved it in my drafts for next week), but I found a good replacement and I’d like to congratulate Charlotte for winning the quiz!

I’ve had some wonderful submissions from crew members sharing what they’ve been up to this week. Sami has been going out daily to walk his dogs, and has been enjoying time at home with his brother. Jess has sent us more gorgeous pictures of the work she does on the farm with her horses and donkeys. Lewis has also showed us his new quarantine ‘do! I love these little updates!

An aspect of school that I am really missing are the community meetings on a Friday. The opportunity to appreciate someone is really important to our crew as giving thanks to others helps develop the character trait of compassion.

Just because we are social distancing doesn’t mean we have to give up on all the nice elements of social interaction. I asked each crew member to create a little appreciation postcard for another member of my crew, it didn’t need to be academic, just something nice that another had done for them, no matter how small. Here’s what they came up with:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s great to hear these stories of crew members supporting each other with work, or providing entertaining discussions – something we all need while stuck at home. I’m going to look at filling some more of these in this week during crew (Monday 11:30am and Thursday 2:00PM).

Excited to update you with more shenanigans next week!

Rising to the Challenge!

By K Poncia24th April 2020

I think it’s fair to say that, even though we’re not in school and have the challenge of working at home, our staff and students in E26 (Year7) and E25 (Year 8) are still Working Hard, Getting Smart and Being Kind.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen determination (when the work has been tricky), compassion (when helping our fellow crew members who have been stuck) and the completion of so much beautiful work, ranging from stand-out science assessments, amazing artwork, passionate speeches and marvellous maths!

Here are just a few appreciations for students and their beautiful achievements:

Oliver. S. (E26):

Jayden (E26):

Marcus (E25):

Cerrina (E26):

Raphael (E26):

Marshall (E25):

 

Quality Work from Crew Parkinson!

By H Hickson24th April 2020

We’re now in week 5 of lockdown and Crew have been very busy. It’s lovely to catch up with Crew each week using Google Hangouts – we check in to see how everyone is and what they’ve been doing. It’s great to hear that Crew have been out on bike rides, baking and dog walks – it’s so lucky that we’ve had this lovely weather to enjoy.

It’s also been fantastic to see how each student is taking responsibility for their own learning and responding so maturely to the change to normality. Have a look at the quality work Crew have been producing:

  • in Art students have been producing waves in the style of ‘The Great Wave’ by Hokusai – here’s Marcus and Ava’s fantastic work: 
  • In Hums to end the ‘I’ve Got the Power’ expedition, students have been analysing persuasive articles and writing their own – here are examples again of Marcus and Ava’s articles on whether power is a force for good or not.
  • Callum also worked super hard on this article, always trying to push himself and Get Smart – here’s an email I received from him so that he could respond to my feedback before the final submission – what a responsible and hard working young man! 

 

  • Rosie also blew me away with her commitment to analysing an article by Jo Butler – answering the question ‘How does Jo Butler try to convince the reader that British people are being taken for granted?’ – here’s her great response!

 

  • Last but not least, over to maths! Aaron has been working above and beyond on Hegarty maths – it was lovely to be copied into this email from Mr Nixon to Aaron and his Mumwhat a superstar!

 

I’m so impressed with all crew members – here’s just a selection of work and praise but I’m so proud of everyone for how they have adapted to these times – I love checking in with Crew each week and hope you all continue to work hard and play hard!

Stay safe everyone

Shackleton Craftsmanship and Quality

By A Brown23rd April 2020

It’s been an absolute pleasure to receive emails about some of the amazing things being done in Crew Shackleton while at home this week.

Special mention for April – what an amazingly gifted and caring young lady. Not only has she been working hard on school work, but she’s been using her sewing machine and old donated materials to make masks and headbands for NHS staff. i was clapping for April at 8pm this evening too.

If there was an exam for kindness, April would get a grade 9. Take a look at some of her handy work…

(Thank your mum for the photos!)

 

And it’s brilliant to get emails from teachers too showcasing the brilliant work being done in lesson at home. Mr Nixon emailed me today to share some of the amazing work completed by Lilly, celebrating the standards we’ve come to expect from her.

Take a look…

Outstanding craftsmanship and quality. I’m a HUMS teacher so I’m taking Mr Nixon’s word for it that the maths is good! Well done, Lilly.

And not forgetting other conversations I’ve had about James and his work ethic and beautiful work at home; Nikodem completing all the tasks each week on time and to a high standard; and all the students in Crew Shackleton who are showing great independance and resilience to keep going despite these challenging times.

You will all be sorely missed. Keep up the amazing work.

Making the most of the sunshine and some great praise!

By J Townson20th April 2020

Crew Ali have been busy over the last week with various endeavours, many of them making the most of the lovely weather we have been having around keeping up with their online learning schedules.

I have seen some lovely praise for our Crew from staff who are recognising students Working Hard and Getting Smart with their learning.  Keep it up Crew Ali!  Here is a message Mr Pearson sent to Cerys for her hard work in Spanish:

And Caiden’s artwork here for his ‘Power poster’ earned him a special mention from Mrs Cross and was highlighted during a staff Expeditionary Team meeting:

Ruby hadn’t used her bike since Year 7 but is enjoying the long, if tiring bike rides with her dad and brother.  A great way to pass the time, get fit and ensure you sleep well at night too.

Tom has been exploring his local area on foot and found some new places to walk, essential for someone who loves to be outside.

Marshall’s family and neighbours go outside every day at 11am to dance on the street whilst observing social distancing rules – a great way to exercise and have fun.  They regularly update the YouTube channel – why not subscribe and join in from your street?!  Check out Marshall and his dad (dressed as The Hulk!) from 1 minute and 45 seconds in:

They also do a weekly quiz as many of you have been doing, with a modified WWE belt as a prize for the winner!

Caiden’s family are getting ready for when lockdown finishes as their garden is looking great – with a completed vegetable patch ready to feed everyone, as well as buildng a garden bar and rainbow painted seating area.  He’s looking into do the Chelsea Virtual Soccer School activities with his younger brother too.

Charlie has been making up for missing out on haircuts by shaving his head, and now informs us that he needs to put suncream all over his head when he goes out in the sun – the sunshine hasn’t been great for everyone it seems!

I have been spending time with my two daughters and husband in our garden, making dens out of all the garden furniture, blankets and pillows and helping my eldest learn to ride her bike.  She also loves the Chelsea Virtual Soccer School activities (I showed a few of the Crew a video of her balancing a football on her foot) and we can recommend the Lockdown Panto on Facebook for all ages on a rainy day!  She is starting school in September and loves to hear what my ‘school children’ in the Crew have been up to, as well as practising her writing, alphabet and numbers.  Many of our Crew have younger siblings and it’s lovely to know many of them are working on their learning together.

It is always lovely to see what Crew Ali get up to and we continue to check in every Monday and at various other points in the week 1-1 as needed.  More photos and videos to be posted soon!

Crew in quarantine

By Katie Haughey17th April 2020

It’s been lovely keeping in touch with Crew Turing during these strange times, getting to enjoy some normality while we’re all stuck inside. It’s been wonderful checking in with everyone and seeing the amazing work that’s been done both academically but also beyond their school work! The crew meetings have undoubtedly been the highlight of my days.

Can she kick it? [yes, she can]

Firstly, I’d like to thank Mollie for sending in this video of her amazing attempt at the toilet paper challenge that we’ve seen tonnes on social media. Mollie spoke about how she was finding it hard not training as she usually does, so I loved to see her switching up her normal training routine to try this out:

I also loved hearing about how Mollie and Abi had been working together on Google Hangouts on any bits of work that they had been stuck on. It goes to show that working smart doesn’t just happen at school. Equally, I want to give Molly a special mention as she has worked her socks off this week and is on top of the tasks that have been set. I’ve had some great feedback from her class teachers, keep it up!

Cake-off

Another couple of contributions I’ve enjoyed hearing about while we’ve been off school was the baking Callum has been doing with his family when he’s not been with us in school, the chocolate buns look absolutely delicious! As does Charlotte’s Victoria sponge cake:

Flippin’ wonderful:

Lexi has set up camp on her trampoline where she does a set amount of work out in the sun, followed by some trampolining. For those who know Lexi already, you’ll know she is super active and trains for hours every week to compete at the level she does with her gymnastics. It’s great to see her keeping up the hard work despite not being able to make it to the gym.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distance gaming:

I was lucky enough to be in school last Monday with Torran and Callum, I felt so rejuvenated and energised getting to leave the house and see some people from my crew (at a 2m distance). We ended the day with some games, including mafia and ‘the mind’. It was a lot of fun listening to them all try to work out who had which role.

Special Mention for Jess Rollins & her adorable new friend:

I’d like to send a special appreciation out to Jess this week, who has been a shining example during these times. Not only has she been looking after her horses, donkeys and other animals, she has also completed all her work to an incredibly high standard. She’s had a special mention from Miss Hickson about how impressed she’s been with her humanities work, and Mr Nixon was also impressed at the work she’s done for maths on Hegarty.

Also, she’s shared my absolute favourite news from lockdown that one of the Donkeys on her farm has had a foal! Meet April, Crew Turing’s honorary newest member!

I look forward to checking in again this coming week with more news from my crew, and I really look forward to the moment we are finally united after all of this is over. Until then, keep washing those hands!

How am I spending my time?

By J Townson10th April 2020

We had our second Google Hangout this Monday and I’m glad to say we had almost a full-house!  It was lovely to hear from you all; it’s really important we have that contact each week to make sure everything is going ok.  We had two students missing, so I have been in touch with them and next week we will be aiming for all 13 online together.

The Crew Challenge this week was for each member of the Crew to come up with an idea of something they wanted to do or work on during the time spent away from the classroom, particularly for some of our students who live further from the school site, who are gaining in some cases almost 2 hours a day in saved travel time!  Here are some of the ideas they have had so far:

Caiden – he and his dad have built a vegetable patch and he even took his device out into the garden to show us.  We’re looking forward to seeing how it goes, with potatoes and carrots being just some of the vegetables they plan to grow.

Charlie – keeping fit, as Charlie is a keen footballer and obviously can’t play with his team at the moment!

Ruby and Leoni – Ruby and Leoni have been tidying their rooms, getting it all in order and Ruby really wants to have a solid plan in place for next week’s Crew session.  There’s a lot to be said for setting aside time to organise the space you spend so much time in.

Tom – learning to solve a rubix cube.  We have requested a video of him doing it once he has mastered the skill!

Marshall – alongside putting a focus on his schoolwork, Marshall has dedicated time to playing family games with his parents and younger siblings

Zak – developing his basketball skills is on Zak’s to-do-list, including perfecting his slam dunks.  We’re waiting for some photos of his makeshift basketball net!

Mrs Townson – alongside keeping my two small daughters busy, I have been reading, playing board games with my husband and taking time each day to develop my meditation skills – some of the Crew enjoy it when we take a few minutes to quietly refocus in Crew – some of them feel a bit silly sitting still with their eyes closed, but they humour me and do it anyway!

A few of you mentioned getting a bit bored once your schoolwork is out of the way each day, so remember the resources on our Crew Google Classroom to inspire you, including the Duke of Edinburgh resources to develop your Physical fitness, your Skills and also ideas to allow you to do Volunteering, even whilst in lockdown.  We won’t start D of E until Year 9, but the ideas apply to people of all ages.

Looking forward to our next Crew Hangout next week!

Mrs Townson

Crew Ali checking-in from home

By J Townson3rd April 2020

The school highlight of my week has definitely been our Crew Google Hangout on Monday morning; whenever we have had time away (even just for the weekend!) I always find seeing our Crew members in our morning sessions sets me up for the day and reminds me of why I work at XP.  The last few weeks of the ‘new normal’ have been anything but normal I think, but Crew Ali is doing well and I’m so proud to be their Crew Leader!

In our Google Hangout this week we just did a simple check-in to see how everyone was getting on with workload and the new ‘timetable’, as well as find out what they had been doing to fight the boredom that some of them were feeling, particularly with not being able to visit friends or family or leave the house for days out, etc.

I think it’s fair to say that most of us (me included) have found being away from the rhythm of daily Crew and carving out a routine at home a challenge.  Many of us have more distractions at home and the lack of structure can be stressful for some; conversely, for others, in the first week that school was closed, the high expectations and volume of structured work on the timetable were overwhelming!  We appreciate the work Mr Portman and the leadership team have put into taking student and parent concerns on board and creating a flexible but really clear and manageable overview to support students in engaging in their learning from home. I particularly love the scheduling of Common Mission time to enrich our students’ learning opportunities and give breadth to our existing offering.  Remember that across the XP Trust we take a 3-dimensional approach to learning, which incorporates Academic Success, Beautiful Work, and Character Growth.

This week, in response to our check-ins, I challenged Crew Ali to think about their personal as well as academic development, by reflecting on the question: What will you do with the time you have available in lockdown?  We had some ideas in the Crew session and they are spending this week planning goals for themselves and coming up with more ideas to make the most of their spare time around their academic studies.  Here are some of the things our Crew members have been getting up to so far – why not try a few out yourself?

  • Watching a new series on Netflix with other family members – Ruby recommends ‘Locke and Key’
  • Learning a new instrument – Lacey’s family brought their piano down from the loft and they have been learning to play it
  • Lots of us have been keeping in touch with friends on Facetime or Houseparty
  • Exercise – several of the Crew have been doing the Joe Wicks workout each morning; Caiden has been cycling; Leoni has been playing football in the garden; Ruben has been walking his new puppy!
  • Cooking – Caiden has been making bread and homemade lemonade
  • Crafting – Marshall has been making salt dough handprints, then baking them ready to paint; he has also been drawing and playing console games with his dad
  • Mrs Townson has been writing a list of goals I want to achieve before my new baby arrives in June – then putting a plan in place to action them!  One of these is to make time for myself each day – it can be difficult to do when you’re in a house with other people all the time, but is really important for your wellbeing.
  • Check out the resources on the XP Trust EMBRACE website to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing.  Encourage More, Be Resilient And Consider Everyone

Keep safe and stay home everyone!

Still Smiling in Crew Parkinson!

By H Hickson23rd March 2020

We said goodbye to each other on Friday and we’re not sure when we will be back in school again. We’re in very uncertain times as a country right now but what really made me proud was how mature Crew has been over the last week. We had some very sincere discussions about how we were feeling about what is happening right now and it has been a pleasure to spend time with them.

 Despite the seriousness of the situation and the sombre tone in Crew this week we have still managed to look on the positive side and come together as a Crew. It’s been great hearing how we’re going to check in and support each other during the school closure.

We don’t know when we’ll all be back together again but I can honestly say I’m going to miss my Crew. They never fail to bring a smile to my face (even when they’re driving me mad) and it’s great to spend another year with them – it’s strange thinking these could be the last photos of year 8 – but who knows? While we are all social distancing at home, I wish Crew and their families the very best and if you have any worries or questions, I’m only an email away.

Please continue with all your hard work at home and take responsibility for your academic development. Whilst it is important to continue with your school work, in these challenging times, it’s also important to keep a positive mindset and look after your wellbeing so keep time free to do what you enjoy (as long as you’re social distancing!).

For now, keep being bonkers – huzzah and hurrah!

E25 Human Work During School Closure

By H Hickson23rd March 2020

It’s good to see some students already starting their online learning assignments. Here are the instructions on how to complete the work set. This was shared with students in lessons but those who were absent last week will have missed them. They must READ all the instructions on the slides/Google Classroom.

Submitting work 

  • Currently on Google Classroom, there are 2 assignments set. Students need to complete the Geography one FIRST and then the English slides. They should submit the doc on Google classroom once they have got to the end of each slide. 

What to complete and when

  • Each set of slides are broken down into ‘lessons’, students need to complete a minimum of a lesson a day or follow the ‘weekly planner’ timetable sent out my Mr Portman each week.
  • Whenever the students see a red ‘TASK’ symbol which looks like the one below they need to complete the activity on their doc.

Layout

  • On the docs, work needs to have the layout of:

           Subject: Geography/English/History

           Lesson Number:

           DLT: 

           Task: 

Students need to write in Quicksand font, size 12.

If you have any questions, email me at [email protected]. I will be checking emails everyday and student work completion – if work is not being done, parents will be contacted.

Thank you!