The Japanese Puffer Fish

By Jamie Portman3rd November 2017

I covered Miss Poncia’s Crew this morning, and our check in discussion revolved around ‘stand out moments’ from our expedition so far.

Interestingly, many of the student’s points were related to Case Study 1, and the work that we did on ‘What makes a successful community?’ I was delighted to hear students making comments about some of the more sophisticated aspects of our work, and how much they enjoyed working hard on some of the extended pieces of writing.

We then watched the following video on the Japanese Puffer fish, and Ben B was able to make links to our character value of ‘craftsmanship and quality’.

It’s an amazing piece of footage – check it out for yourself.

The latest from Crew 7DP – Restart-a-Heart training

By D Pearson22nd October 2017

Our Crew member tasked with drafting this week’s blog was absent when it was due to be posted, so I have taken over. Building on our recent CPR course, Crew 7DP have completed further training endorsed by the British Heart Foundation, including another practical “hands on” session on placing casualties in the Recovery Position. We learnt the acronym D.R.A.B., and so in this photo our Crew are checking for Danger to themselves and others when approaching a casualty, looking for a Response before opening the Airway and then checking for Breathing.

We are delighted to report that following this training, part of the BHF’s Restart-a-Heart campaign, our Crew have all received a certificate and wrist band and would know what to do (should they choose to intervene) in the event of a medical emergency. For more info:

https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/how-to-save-a-life/cpr-kits/cpr-training-for-schools/get-involved-on-restart-a-heart-day

 

Reflections

By A Parker21st October 2017

Phew! We’ve made it to our first half-term break – and what a journey it’s been!

You’ll know by now that our crew sessions are an essential part of our day at XP. East. Every morning we crew up for our daily check-in, and this term we’ve mostly been focussing on teamwork, relationships and character building, using our character traits and HoWLS (Habits of Work and Learning) as the foundation.

During our last crew session of the term, we all reflected on how far we’d come since starting at XP. East. What became clear is that I now have twelve very different children to the ones I met when we first crewed up together in Malham… But then again, my crew have a very different Crew Leader now, too.  In the words of Fat Boy Slim (ask your parents, kids!) “We’ve come a long long way together.”

I’ve seen my crew really develop in confidence and find their voices (especially Megan R and Ali M). I’ve seen improvements in behaviour (and we’re getting better at not swinging on our chairs, eh, Bryn W 😉) We spoke about where we feel like we need to work harder to improve and, just like Tom D, I want to improve in STEAM!  Brendan K spoke about how much he’s enjoying HUMANS and, I have to say, that is evident in the quality of work he’s producing.

But it hasn’t always been easy for us. We’ve had some difficult conversations around being kind, building friendships, and appropriate behaviour/language. We’ve had to make apologies and stands. My crew have held each other accountable and publicly challenge the behaviour of their peers (which shows great courage!)

We’ve all had bad days, but we’ve supported one another – just like we did when we had to jump into the freezing cold water at Malham and climb up Jacob’s Ladder at Kingswood. In other words…

We’ve become Crew.

Have a wonderful holiday, stay safe, and I’ll see you all in two weeks.

Mrs Parker

P.S. I pledge to post more crew blogs next term!

What’s New In 7DP Crew? – Restart A Heart (CPR)

By Ella5th October 2017

Today, Crew 7DP learned the simple steps to CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation). We used an Annie manikin to learn how to do it. We watched a video that was very helpful.  It was a door-opening experience for some as they would like to be a doctor or a paramedic.

We had to interlink our fingers and lean over the manikin, then push the chest until we heard a click. Once we had heard the click, we knew we were doing chest compressions that were hard enough. We then moved on to the mouth-to-mouth technique. We had to put one hand on the forehead, pinching the nose. Then, our mouths had to cover the manikin’s mouth and blow into their mouths so that they have breath in their lungs.

We learned how to do CPR on both an adult and a child so that, if we needed to, we would know what to do. This skill is very important in everyday life in case somebody nearby goes into cardiac arrest. Once we finish our training, we will receive a certificate and a wrist-band from the British Heart Foundation.

For further information on the Restart-a-Heart initiative, and to view the training video that we watched in Crew, please visit:

bhf.org.uk/…/get-involved-on-restart-a-heart-day

https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr/cpr-training-videos

What happened in Crew 7DPE recently?

By D Pearson1st October 2017

In one of our daily Crew sessions 7DPE explored the concept of “conflict” and Crew members contributed to the discussion of four key questions:

(1) What is conflict?

(2) What causes conflict?

(3) What happens to us when we experience conflict?

(4) How might we defuse or resolve conflict at school?

We considered the global conflict of interests on the Korean Peninsula, the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and contemporary sources of conflict in the local and national news.

We identified the “fight or flight” reflex that sometimes governs our reactions when we experience conflict, and the physiological response to it that cannot always be controlled. 7DPE then discussed how we might defuse or resolve conflict in the school context.

This week in Crew 7AP…

By A Parker23rd September 2017

We’ve started to read ‘Lion: A Long Way Home’ by Saroo Brierly.  For those of you not familiar with the book – or the film! – ‘Lion’ tells the true story of how the author, Saroo, finds his way home from Australia to a remote village in India, 25 years after becoming lost in Calcutta when he was just five years old.

We’ve read the prologue this week, and we’re already starting to wonder and ask questions: How did Saroo become lost? Where did he come from? How did he end up in Australia? Will he be reunited with his family?

Reading ‘Lion’ together as a Crew will allow us to unpick and discuss our character traits, as we’ll be looking out for examples of compassion, respect, courage, integrity and craftmanship and quality (there are lots of examples throughout the book, but I won’t give too much away at this stage!)

We’re also looking forward to using Saroo’s journey to do some more focussed work in lessons, as we continue to work towards answering our first expedition’s guiding question: “What makes a successful community?”

Mrs Parker