So this week we celebrated Ella becoming the first teenager in Crew Mercury!
We celebrated during Friday crew treating ourselves to some Angel Slices, Mini Battenburgs and Fondant Fancies while sharing our apologies, appreciations and stands for the week.
It looks like Kaylee and Jayden are enjoying their treat!
After a long weekend break, it was nice to get back into Crew and get down to business this morning.
Today we started by reflecting upon our Accelerated Reader results from the test we completed in last weeks Tranquil Tuesday. We were all pleased to see that we had all made progress from last year and we were keen to take this to the next level.
We spent some time thinking about a previous session, ‘Why is reading important?’ and reminded ourselves that GCSE papers are set using the reading age 15 years 7 months. We discussed how much more difficult we would make it for ourselves if we didn’t reach this goal… and although GCSE’s are a long way off, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day!’
During Crew this morning we started by looking at just how much we had improved, but also how far off we were from the target of 15 years 7 months. We discovered that many of us still had work to do, but some of us were ready:
Harvey Shawn
I’d like to personally appreciate both boys who showed compassion towards their peers in Crew today by not bragging about how much they had exceeded the target reading age, but offering support and advise to their peers about how they too can reach the same goal and exceed it.
We decided that you don’t stick to anything unless you pledge it. So in true XP style we cut out pictures of a reading book and wrote a pledge which we thought would support us in improving our reading ages. We then agreed to include a note of just how many years and months worth of improvement we wanted, so when it lives on the wall it will be a daily reminder of our goals.
I was proud of how Crew maturely dealt with their results and supported one another to make achievable pledges. I will be even prouder to see the result when we come to the next testing period!
It would be brilliant if Crew parents could discuss the pledge your son/ daughter has made with them, and ask about their reading age and what goals they have. In school we offer reading time for 15 minutes at the start of Sessions 1 and 4 in order to reach the advised 30 minutes a day but I know some pledges included home reading too!
Dashboard update:
I have spoken to a number of Crew parents and agreed that the blog posts will also feature an update on the praise and conduct log. Students are aware that this will happen too so the stakes are high! This weeks praise log looks like this:
We remain on the highest average praises this week too! Great effort Crew Rowling- keep it up!
Stay safe, look after yourselves.
What a great start to the new year Crew Mercury have had!
I was so pleased to see everybody and to see the crew members in person.
This year we have started Crew Curriculum, and crew have really embraced Thoughtful Thursday. As a crew we looked at out most recent data for HOWLs and grades, then each member made an academic pledge.
Check out some of Crew Mercury’s pledges…
Josh – ‘I pledge to achieve a 3.0 or higher in HUMS by asking more questions’
Jayden – ‘I pledge to improve my be kind HOWLs to at least a 3.0’
Ella – ‘I pledge to improve my HOWLs in PE and crew are going to support me by giving me lots of encouragement’
Even with COVID-19 nothing has stopped us having our weekly whole school community meeting. Every Friday we have had the community meeting via Hangout and lots of appreciations, apologies and stands have been made.
Would just like to give a big shout out to Lynden for making his first stand during the community meeting. Well done Lynden! Lots of courage shown!
What a start!
I am super proud of the attitude and commitment to learning Crew Rowling have returned to school with! It has been great to get back together as a Crew following learning from home and the long summer break!
Our return…
Crew sessions have had a revamp! Although we’re still checking in and catching up about what we have been up to over the weekend/ night before, we’re also getting down to the nitty gritty! Our week in Crew now looks like this: 
Each day we have a different focus and it has been lovely to hear more of the quieter members of our Crew getting involved and voicing their opinions too!
Today we considered ‘Why is reading important?’ exploring the effects of illiteracy… none of us are there (thank goodness!) but we now know why we also need to make the most of our AR reading time in sessions. Some of the feedback gathered in our closing circle really highlighted the answer to our mini ‘Guiding Question’ and reflected just how much our Crew has grown (even literally!) over the Summer.
Proof is in the pudding…
It has been really refreshing opening the Dashboard and having supporting evidence that what i’m seeing in Crew is also happening in sessions. Two weeks in and we’ve all picked up at least one praise point, we’ve not missed any homework, we’ve not gained any conduct logs and most importantly… we’re top of the leaderboard! (not that we’re competitive!)
Year 7, who?
This year we’re determined to go bigger and better, making pledges to build on our success from Y7 and send us soaring into Y8… Please hold us to account!
(Due to iPad technical difficulties, please wait in anticipation for Shawn and Layton’s!)
Long may our success and good behaviour continue!
Stay safe, everyone!
After a few weeks off blogging, i couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to express how proud I am of Crew Rowling for their attitude, hard work and dedication to getting stuff done!
We decided to set up a new deadlines doc for this term, one whereby the students could project manage their own workload and track their progress. And WOW. I’ve been blown away… i can’t even count how many people i’ve bragged to already, and now i’m here to brag even more! Just look at all the completed tasks on here:
I mean LOOK AT IT!
A Crew average of 98% completion rate!!!
We’re working our socks off!!
So I know you want to know, how do we do it?!
Every Monday i sign on to my laptop with messages, which will usually have already been replied to:
Crew are keen to use Google Chat to check when hangouts are and send regular reminders which means no one can forget:
Sometimes we struggle and we need a helping hand, we know we can ask teachers but in our crew we have our own experts:
If we can’t resolve it over a chat, we take to a hangout:
I so wish i’d have recorded this so you could hear how well Harvey explained these tasks!
If we can’t solve the problem over a chat or a hangout, we leave it to the experts:
We continue to hold each other to account (they even catch me out!):
But most importantly, we recognise how hard people are working: 
So as you can see, our fantastic outcomes are as a result of Crew continuing to maintain their fantastic HOWLS throughout lockdown, sticking together, supporting each other, holding one another to account and knowing there is no ‘i’ in team. It’s no good one of us being at the top of the mountain after all!
I couldn’t be any prouder as a Crew Leader.
To me this proves, ‘if we get crew right, we get everything right’.
It doesn’t get much better than being blessed by these smiling faces twice a week (yes, we even get 100% attendance on those!) Keep going, we’re nearly there. I’m so proud of everything you have all achieved so far.
Thank you Crew Rowling, and your parents for all their support!
Another great week from Crew Mercury, every member is producing real quality learning and also enjoying their time at home.
Kaylen has been learning many new skills during this time, including learning to play the guitar, doing lots of gardening and baking.
Have a look at this bread!
And my favourite new skill he has learnt…how to crochet! I’m sure I’ll have a new crochet buddy when we get back to school!
As well as all of this, Kaylen has been doing amazing with his online learning. He has done so well working independently! Mrs Collinson is very impressed with his Spanish saying how she is ‘really proud of his courage and commitment’.
I can’t wait to get back to school to hear all about your new skills Kaylen.
Take care everyone!
Another week of amazing artwork from XP and XPE students!
We love seeing your work! Well done!
As the weeks go by homeschooling seems to becoming easier for Crew Rowling! We’ve had a much more productive week this week and i’d like to appreciate the parents for their support in us reaching this point!
At the end of the Crew Session on Monday, I asked Crew if by the end of this week they could share with me some work they are proud of and I have to say it has been extremely uplifting to see my inbox inundated with positivity and work which has well and truly blown me away! This blog post will highlight some of the fantastic work thats been going on!
Hums has proven difficult for many of us in Crew Rowling, many a hangout has been conducted in order to assist us all in reaching the ‘hand in’ button… but we’ve done it, and we’ve done it together! It gave me a real sense of achievement for all of the Crew members therefore when I looked through some of the work I had been sent, and it was Hums!
You go Crew Rowling!!
Faith had completed her DRC Speech:
I particularly liked how Faith has used persuasive techniques in order to capture the readers attention alongside our shared language of ‘making a stand’ in order to emphasise her points. Excellent job, Faith!
Rhys wanted to write something he was passionate about in order to change peoples viewpoints, therefore his speech surrounded the idea of children gaming:
Its great to see Rhys also including some presentational devices in his work, meaning his speech can be displayed for clarity! Great work Rhys, keep it up!
As Harvey is whizzing through the work that has been set for him, he spent some time this week completing tasks for the new Y7 Expedition:
This work clearly captures Harvey’s understanding of ‘The Lorax’ by Dr Seuss. I am impressed with the vocabulary Harvey has chosen to use! You are working so hard- i am really impressed with the progress you are making!
Layton had trouble completing his speech, but with a little help from his friends in Crew he was able to produce this belter:
A fantastic job showing clear understanding of the topic and implementing some persuasive and presentational devices, alongside a link to really get his point across! Fantastic! Well done Layton for persevering with this.
The stand out Crew member for me this week though, had to be Cerrina! Its no secret that Cerrina has struggled to settle into a new routine, working from home, managing her own timetable and deadlines and in the first few weeks we had to strip things back, take manageable chunks, and settle for getting done what we could, when we could! And that was fine! But this week we’ve seen a huge leap forward in Cerrina’s progress, she has met all her deadlines for this week, is happier, and has also been able to spend time doing things she enjoys! It was particularly uplifting for me to receive emails from other members of staff this week about Cerrina’s progress too. Check this out!
The best part for me about all of this though, although the work is superb, has actually been to see the smile return to Cerrina’s face! Sometimes we all need to take a moment to remember that having an off day (or couple of days) is fine! We need to give ourselves time to rest and recuperate in order to return to our best!
Well done Cerrina, i am incredibly impressed with all that you have achieved this week. You have worked super hard and it has paid off! Keep it up!
It would be fair to say that Cerrina’s success has stemmed from having the support of Crew around her. Every day I am blown away by the support and compassion they show one another. I mean, just imagine stumbling across Crew messages like this.. using language like this!
To quote Cerrina’s Mum: “The support from Crew is great!”
The commitment they show to helping each other ‘up the mountain’ in times of trouble, at such a young age is like nothing i’ve ever experienced. Thank you all for your time and patience, for not only each other but me too!
#WEARECREW
Inspired by my talented crew who love to bake, I decided to do a live bake-a-long on Youtube for my crew. This is so we could bake together, give students a break from school work, do something fun and be part of our new routine.
This week it was banana bread which seems to be a new craze at the moment since going into isolation! I had pictures sent from Crew Obama parents and crew members of their versions of banana bread… they looked even better than mine!
Click on the image below and check out my baking superstars.
If you are interested in doing the live bake-a-long here is the link to my Youtube channel with the past and upcoming videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqmfp_CNL4ank09fVlVc3zw?view_as=subscriber
The ingredients and equipment are in the description box of each video (click on the video and press show more to see this) which are posted a week in advance.
Stay safe & happy baking!
Another fantastic week for Crew Mercury, lots of hard work finishing off expeditions and completing final products.
Have a listen to how amazing Poppy’s speech is for the final product of the expedition ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ with the guiding question ‘When is it right to make a stand?’.
Mrs Poncia was over the moon with it! Well done Poppy!
As well as the fantastic learning Poppy has been completing, she has also been enjoying spending time with her sister baking…looks yummy!
And of course, Poppy being the amazing dancer that she is, she has also been doing lots of dancing!
Look at this…!
It was fab catching up with Crew Mercury on our Crew Hangout on Monday, I look forward to seeing you all again next week!
