E24 Active Citizenship Investigation

26th November 2021A Parker

Despite an intense couple of weeks sitting the first set of Y11 mock exams, E24 haven’t put the learning brakes on and are continuing to work hard across all sessions.

I have been particularly impressed with the focus in Citizenship this week as students prepare their investigation portfolio, which is worth 15% of their final grade.

This part of the qualification focuses on active citizenship and asks students to explore through case studies and by their own actions how citizens are able to try to make a difference to society. Our students have always been encouraged to be activists, starting way back in Y7 with our Stand Up expedition, so researching and producing this investigation portfolio is right up their street!

Here are some of the topics being explored:

  • How can we encourage Society to better accommodate those with hidden disabilities advocate for them?
  • Why do 1 in 4 people in the UK experience a mental health problem each year and as citizens of the UK, how can we fulfil our moral duty to support them?
  • As members of UK society we have a moral duty and a responsibility to protect all living things. How do we ensure that our most vulnerable living creatures are looked after?

The class are already having considered, insightful and mature discussions around their chosen topics not just in their Citizenship lessons, but in Crews too.

Absolutely fantastic, Y11!

D6: business as usual

22nd November 2021A Parker

C24 can breath a huge sigh of relief as the first set of Y11 mocks are almost over (they still have the Spanish Speaking and Art mocks to look forward to!)

However, it’s really important that students keep the momentum going with their revision all through the year, and not just before the next set of mocks (which are scheduled for March).

Click here to view our current enrichment timetable, which includes details of all the all the lunchtime and after school revision sessions available.

We are also encouraging all Y11s to attend D6 on a Saturday morning from 9am-12.30pm each week to access additional support, or just to have a relaxed space for a bit of focussed self-study away from any potential distractions at home.

For those of you who don’t know, D6 is our voluntary sixth day of school which will take place each Saturday during term time. D6 is led by ex-students of XP who are returning to provide our current students with peer to peer academic study support. There will be additional support from our school learning coaches and members of the Leadership Team.  Refreshments will also be provided.

We’re really looking forward to seeing our Y11s at D6 this Saturday!

(Please note that D6 is only open to Y11s at the moment).

1 DAY TO GO C24 & 25 Parents Evening – Post 16 Provision. Wednesday 8th December 2021 at XP East 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

22nd November 2021Kathryn Burns

XP & XP East are proud to announce our Post 16 Evening and would like to extend the invitation to parents/carers and students in years 10 & 11 at both schools. FXP have kindly offered to support so refreshments will be available on the night and all funds raised will support our students across both schools. As you will be aware opportunities to attend potential provisions have been difficult to arrange so at XP we decided to invite providers to come and meet our students.

6th form providers have been invited to give a short presentation and will be available with stalls for the rest of the evening to answer any question you may have about their Post 16 provision. We are delighted with the response so far from providers and are looking forward to supporting our students in making informed choices as they come to the end of their XP journey. Please complete the form in the link below if you will be attending.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEMK2-Gyx2y90anT01mGV31pyVwohWZ1BU2zxmXr9754m23Q/viewform

Launch of C26’s Fight the Power plaque – Friday 3rd December 2:00PM

16th November 2021Katie Haughey

The Fight the Power final product is being officially launched on Friday 3rd December at 2PM, at Sir Nigel Gresley Square (just outside of CAST).

We’d like to say a massive thank you to parents, carers, and our community for supporting the crowdfunder, and we look forward to launching it with students and those involved with the expedition.

If your son/daughter is in C26 (Year 9) and you would like to attend the event to celebrate its launch with us, please join us – feel free to email [email protected] if you have any questions about the grand reveal.

Y11 ‘down time’!

15th November 2021Web Blogger

It’s been a wonderful lunch time today spent with Y11 (and other years!) at Embrace in the library at XPE. Some Y11s were revising in study groups ready for this afternoon’s maths exam, but the highlight for me was seeing Tom, Hollymay, Frida, Mia, Ruby and Eleanor play Twister with students from Y7! [I’m not sure how Mia managed to stand back up, though!!] What a fantastic example of Crew – and a good laugh, too!

Back to Business!

9th November 2021Web Blogger

After returning from half term we have been busy in Crew, alongside our additional Common Mission and Duke of Edinburgh sessions, which are new for this year and it is great to see. 

Before breaking up for the half term, Year 9 were introduced to ‘Passage’. This is something we will be working on in our Crew sessions and Common Mission sessions in order to demonstrate why each individual is GCSE ready. As part of this we began to think about careers and what our hopes and dreams for the future were. This led to a fantastic afternoon of Crew researching careers, and job roles they may be interested in.

Last Wednesday was the first session working on our Passage presentation scripts and I have to say that we were blown away with how hard each person worked and how seriously they took the task.

Since starting the Duke of Edinburgh bronze award Crew have been learning the skill of First Aid and have worked on specific topics each week which have included, practical skills, completing a workbook, posters and diagrams. It has been great to see how the Crew have helped and supported each other in these sessions when completing tasks and produced some beautiful work.  

We also don’t want you to think we have forgotten about our charity we selected to help at the end of Year 8, as this certainly is not the case. As a Crew we emailed ‘Big C Little Warrior’ at the start of last term asking how we could best help them. They were so grateful we had selected them as our charity and were keen for us to be able to help. They had a team meeting where our offer of help was discussed and they came back to us asking if we could raise money, as this would be used towards the cost of making hair accessories for those undergoing cancer treatment. How we can raise money is something we are currently looking into and organising in Crew. 

As we have moved Crew rooms this year this meant that we were able to redesign the Crew wall. This is something Crew Rowling pride themselves on and take very seriously. Our plan is to continue to add to this throughout this year’s journey and move it with us if we relocate again next year. Just like the photos from the Year 7 Outward Bound week have!

We have already begun thinking of how we can decorate the Crew room at Christmas!

We can’t wait to show you more beautiful work and keep you up to date on all things Crew Rowling.

Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson 🙂

Enrichment Timetable – October – December 2021

9th November 2021Web Blogger

Due to the fantastic efforts of our incredible staff, we are delighted to be able to offer so many extra curricular opportunities to our wonderful students!

Please see attached an updated version of our enrichment timetable. On here, you’ll find sports clubs/fixtures, Arts clubs (including our new Vocaleles!) and KS4 Revision sessions with staff. We would encourage our students to attend as many of these sessions as possible to secure their GCSE grades and achieve their potential!


I can also share with you that D6 will begin again this coming Saturday, November 13th. D6 is our Saturday provision where students are able to come and work with coaches in school from 9am – 12:30pm. For the time being, D6 is open to year 11 only.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the staff running any extra-curricular activities, or myself at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued support – we look forward to seeing many of our students in these sessions!

Mel Cocliff
XP Y11 Phase Lead
Crew Macmillan Crew Leader

E24 mocks: ready for round 2!

6th November 2021A Parker

What an awesome first week back, Y11! 

I’ve been popping in and out of sessions all week and have been blown away by the hard work and focus of every single student, in every single lesson as they prepare for their upcoming mocks. One of the highlights of my week was seeing Aden give himself a little victory fist pump after successfully working through a particularly tricky maths question!

I’d like to give a massive appreciation to all staff for going above and beyond to support students this week, especially to Miss Poncia and Mrs Desborough for putting on extra revision sessions during lunchtimes this week.  This was reiterated during student appreciations at our year group community meeting.  As Louie said, these revision sessions have been “amazing.”

The Y11 team are putting together a timetable of subject specific ‘learning labs’ which will run during lunchtimes and after school – full details will be posted here very soon.

D6 is also restarting on Saturday 13th November, 9am-12.30pm.  This is open to all Y11 students with Student Coaches on hand to help them with their studies and exam prep.

As I said, all students have been working extra hard this week, but a special mention has to go to Lewis D and Tom D for working exceptionally hard in lessons at school, revising at home and for actively seeking out extra support and advice from subject teachers – this is what getting smart is all about.

We’re in for an intense couple of weeks so I’d just like to end by saying that even though it’s important to stick to revision timetables, it is just as important to schedule in some downtime to focus on your own wellbeing. Go for a walk, watch a film, read a book, check in with family and friends, eat well and get plenty of sleep!

Mrs Parker 🙂

C24 (Y11) Mock Exam Timetable

21st October 2021A Parker

Year 11 will be sitting mock exams over a 2 week period, starting on Monday 8th November:

Please note that Wednesday 10th November may be subject to change due to the school nurses being in to administer Covid Vaccines.

Students have been given revision resources to help them prepare for these mocks, as well as having access to Seneca (science), Hegarty (maths) and all their previous session slides on google classrooms.