Crew Blogs | XP East

Welcome to our new normal!

By A Parker27th March 2020

The picture above captures what our new Crew room looks like – thanks to Bryn for the screenshot of us in action!

As you can see, we’re still checking in regularly via Google hangouts. Just a couple of students missing from yesterday’s session – I can’t stress how important it is that you all log into these Crew hangouts, guys!!! I do expect 100% attendance wherever possible!

As well as the whole-Crew hangouts, I’ve been checking in with individual students too and will continue to regularly schedule these in with all of Crew while-ever we’re working from home.

A few have already told me that they’re struggling to adapt to working alone from home so we’ve booked in some timetabling sessions where we can create a personalised timetable that works for them. And I’ll make sure that there are lots of wellbeing breaks scheduled in, too!

As I’ve said to Crew all week – I don’t really care what your day looks like or how you manage your time as long as work is handed in by the deadlines set by subject teachers!

On a personal level, at the beginning of the week I really wasn’t sure how we could continue to ‘be Crew’ during this time and it was making me quite anxious. That was on top of everything else we all have to be anxious about, like keeping ourselves and our families safe and the more personal one of “Will I ever be able to buy pasta again?!”

Well – I’m finishing the week feeling a lot more positive and reassured that we will continue to be Crew whatever the world throws at us. And it made me realise:

Crew isn’t just “something” that happens in a classroom in school. Crew is more than that. Crew is part of us. Crew adapts to be whatever it needs to be.

I, for one, have found great comfort in that. Thank goodness for technology!

Mums/dads/carers:

Your children have been absolutely amazing adapting to our new ways of working and most of them are managing to stay focussed on their classwork and submitting tasks on time. I will continue to support them throughout this.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I’m also here for you. If any of you ever want to chat about any worries or concerns you have about your child during this time, please don’t hesitate to email me to arrange a call or even a hangout – I’m getting quite used to seeing my face on the big screen!

Oh, and don’t forget about the Parent Support Centre that’s been set up to help you get your head around how work is being set and accessed online.

Meanwhile, I’ll continue with these weekly updates. I can’t wait to see how our Crew sessions develop!

And finally, because it can’t be said enough:

Stay safe everyone.

Mrs Parker x

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!

Still Crew, wherever we are!

By A Parker19th March 2020

As we come to terms with this Strange New World, I just want to reassure you that we will still be very much focussed on Crew. I for one have been very anxious about losing contact with my Crew, and refuse to let a global pandemic get in the way!

I have set up a Google Classroom for Crew activities (including weekly wellbeing challenges) and will be scheduling regular online Crew check-ins, probably via Google hangouts.

Crew Finch: look after you and yours, and we’ll check-in with one another soon 🙂

Winning at Life – and Taboo!

By A Parker16th February 2020

I absolutely love this picture which was taken the morning after the night before of Crew Finch’s last Passage Presentation. Phew!

It was nice to finally be able to put the last portfolio back on the shelf and have a bit of fun regrouping as a Crew with a ~~competitive~~ friendly game of Taboo!

It’s been an intense few weeks of final preparations and practicing in Crew, with feedback from those who had presented prompting last minute tweaks, changes and minor panics from those who had yet to deliver theirs!

I didn’t manage to take any photos during the presentations because I was too engrossed listening to what these incredible kids had to say. All 12 presentations have been very different and I have been left gobsmacked after each and every one.

I don’t know what impressed me the most: the honesty and integrity shown as they discussed their academic and character growth; the ambition and determination shown when they spoke about their future selves; the awe-inspiring confidence as they spoke not just to me, but to a whole panel of adults; or, they way they weren’t phased at all by any of the panelists’ questions at the end (and we asked some tough questions!)

GCSE choices have been made and Crew are now more than ready to tackle the next stage of their learning journey. They have all acknowledged that the GCSE years are going to hard, with some needing to up their game a little to make sure they get the grades they need. We talk a lot about climbing a metaphorical mountain in Crew. They have achieved so much already and I’ve no doubt at all they they will all get to where they want to be. However, if any of them stumble along the way, they know that they’ve got the whole Crew behind them ready to give them a supportive shove up to the top of their mountain.

A massive appreciation, as ever, to all the families who have supported their children through this milestone. It’s been an honour to share the experience with you.

DofE Update: getting ready for the outdoors!

By A Parker11th February 2020

We’re getting to the exciting part of our Bronze DofE – the outdoor expedition! A few of the DofE team attended a 2-day Outdoor First Aid course at Peat Rigg, tackling different emergency scenarios right in the middle of Storm Ciara (we’re hoping for better weather conditions on our actual hikes!) You’ll be pleased to know that we all passed.

So far Crew Finch have completed their skills section and are well on the way to completing their volunteering section (reading with Y7 students.)

Crew have already chosen their hiking groups – they’ll be walking in two groups of six rather than all together – and the nice part of this for me was hearing them say that they wanted to be in groups with those members of Crew who they wouldn’t usually spend time with so that they could have the chance to bond with them a little bit.

We want to make sure that students are fully prepared for the qualifying expedition element, so our Friday afternoon sessions are now fully dedicated to preparing for the outdoor expedition and will cover such things as:

Basic first aid (including CPR)
Menu planning
Stove safety/cooking
Packing rucksacks
Route planning
Codes of conduct

Key dates:

14th Feb – Medical consent forms to be returned to me please!
3rd April – Kit check (we’ll send a list home with students)
23rd April – Practice hike (day only)
9th-10th July – Qualifying expedition (overnight)

I’ll be handing over the DofE blogging to Crew so that they can keep you updated on their planning and progress.

Crew Turing lead the way

By Katie Haughey10th February 2020

I’d like to say a huge thank you for all parents and family members who attended my crew’s SLC over the past 2 weeks. The stakes rose this year as I introduced the pass/fail element. Thankfully and as expected, all my crew have passed! To prepare for their SLC, I gave them a quiz on what they thought they’d got in the most recent data drop, hoping that they would remember their most recent grades and HOWLs scores that I’d shared in crew. When they self-marked the following day, each crew member wasn’t far off their actual scores.

Hot chocolates were well deserved since my crew were highest in all 3 HOWL categories for the year group. We noticed that we were also 2nd from top for ‘be kind’ in the entire school, and that in the year 8 group, we were considerably ahead of other crews for get smart and work hard.

We also held our second student led crew this past week, Mollie and Torran prepared a football drill session. I told them I needed it to be well planned and structured so that everyone had a role and there was a clear goal for the session. They prepared 4 drills, including a warm up, passing drill, piggy in the middle activity that helped people develop their tackling skills and we finished on a short game. Roll on this coming sports day – my goal for crew is to try not to come last again!

I have asked a couple more students to prepare a session in the coming weeks, Sami has already pitched an idea to me that sounds really exciting. Finally, we doubled up with crew Parkinson on Friday to look at an important topic: sleep hygiene. We read this article and jotted down any surprising facts about sleep and the effects a lack of it had on our health.

Students were shocked about the links good sleep had with weight and appetite, dementia, cancers and performance during sports and everyday activities. We also watched a snippet of a National Geographic documentaryon how sleep can improve retention if we get a good 9hrs after a revision session. I’m challenging my crew to aim for 8-9hrs every day this week!

E26 are creating beautiful work in their art sessions

9th February 2020Emily Jones

E26 pupils have been using watercolour paints to create beautiful sunsets and silhouettes inspired by African landscapes.

I am extremely impressed with E26 and their enthusiasm to create their artwork. We have some very talented young people at XP East! Well done!

Community Service – with great gusto!

By D Pearson4th February 2020

This week was Crew Young’s turn to perform routine community service around the school site sporting colourful day-glow tabards and gloves, wielding litter pickers and plastic sacks. Needless to say with the strength of the wind this proved a very challenging task in itself, for no sooner having deposited a stray piece of litter in the plastic sack was it turned inside out or blown open and the contents left to blow away in the wind. Who would have thought that litter picking could be so much fun?

Still, it gave us the opportunity to laugh at ourselves, let off a little steam, and blow away a few metaphorical cobwebs of our own during a really challenging week of Passage Presentations. So far I have been hugely impressed with how our Crew have risen to the challenge, the sense of purpose with which they have approached this crucial entry into the next phase of their education. I am proud of each and every one of them. Well done, Youngsters!

SLC Success!

By Natalie Johnson2nd February 2020

Crew NJO completed their first Student Led Conferences this week, sharing both their academic and personal progress with their families.

I was incredibly proud to see how much all of the Crew had grown in confidence and was blown away by their ability to articulate what they have learnt, what they have struggled with, where they need support and finally how their data looks after our second data drop.

It was incredible for me to see Cerrina explain HOWLs and MEGs to her mum and sister, making pledges to improve even further by creating an action plan. Data isn’t the be all and end all it is important to say, but it was moving for me to see students engaging with it in a positive way, highlighting their own strengths and weaknesses by making links to their experience in school.

Students in Crew Rowling worked tirelessly to ensure they were ready for the event, writing their own scripts, practicing to each other, providing kind, specific and helpful feedback in order to help everyone achieve.

Special mention to Summer, a Y9 student who stepped in to help a very nervous Layton at the last minute! Embracing the aspect of Crew, Summer gave up her Crew, Break and Lunch time to support Layton, not only allowing him to practice but also writing difficult words down phonetically to support his reading. She also helped him to further understand his data and praised his efforts so far!

Under all of the strain and pressure that already existed, some of the Crew were even faced with a camera too! Filming for the Edge Foundation has followed the students progress from Wales… it will be good to see how far we really have come!

I am in awe of the bravery and confidence of all of the Crew this past couple of weeks, they have worked tirelessly so ensure that they understood their role in an SLC and get everything prepped and ready. I am looking forward to seeing what you achieve in the next data drop!