Year 8 | XP East

8 Pioneer let the pen do the talking!

By A Parker10th October 2018

8 Pioneer are well into their reading of ‘Of Mice and Men’ and have now been introduced to the characters of George, Lennie, Slim, Curley and Curley’s Wife.

Today we started to map out our ideas about the different characters, in preparation for a more in-depth character analysis. We did this using a Silent Discussion protocol, where we use the pen rather than our voices to express our ideas. This protocol allows for everyone’s “voices” to be heard within the group discussion.

A big well done to Callie who backed up her comments with quotes from the book. Great stuff!

Checking in with Crew Turing

By Katie Haughey9th October 2018

Firstly, I’d like to state a massive thank you to all members of Crew Turing that helped out with our Y6 Open Evening, you were fantastic! I was so impressed to see Sammi’s, Jess’, Callum’s, Dylan’s and Charlotte’s confidence in talking to parents and year 6s about their expedition. They have grown so much in their maturity and character just 6 weeks into school and I really appreciate them taking time out their evenings to help us out!

This week during crew we’ve had three separate focuses, one being stewardship, another being their WW1 expedition, and the final being a personal focus on their life so far.

Whilst at Outward Bound, we came across the protocols of “de-gunge” and “leave no trace”. We spoke this week about how important it is that we respect our environment and how we can adopt these same protocols in school, especially after our busy open evenings. This is why stewardship has been our first focus, we spent half a session clearing up after we had the year 6s visit. We discussed the value we felt in keeping our school tidy, and how it should not be left to other staff to sort it.

Another highlight from our sessions has been the time we spent dedicating to show and tell. Lewis brought in some real ammunition which we passed round and some members of the crew were able to identify. Callum and Alice showed us pictures from their weekend trips to War Museums, which was insightful and really interesting! Finally, Reece brought in his family’s medals and historical documentation, as well as some pictures, which we really enjoyed looking through. I love to see how engrossed we all are in our expeditions, and how we’re taking time at the weekends and evenings to do additional research!

Finally, this week we’re working on a piece of art work in our crew, where the students will create a ‘river of their life’. We discussed pivotal events in their lives, such as starting school, siblings being born, getting pets etc., which they have all been encouraged to add to their rivers. It’s opened up some really amazing discussions about where our crew members have lived (Oman and South Africa!) and what fantastic achievements they have made, be it sporting, academic, with their friendships or families.

Jess’ piece showed just how incredibly creative she is, she added a beautiful drawing of herself kayaking, which she also competes in during the weekends – I loved this little touch that made her river so personal.

I look forward to updating you with our final products!

C24 Expert visit from architect, Leanne Stamp

By J Townson7th October 2018

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming Leanne Stamp, the architect who designed our school, to XP East. It was not the first time Leanne had visited the school, but she expressed her joy at finally seeing the school full of students, staff and furniture and being used just as she had envisaged!

Both 8Pioneer and 8Explorer demonstrated excellent focus during each of her two hour sessions, in which she detailed her role as an architect and explained where it fitted into a wider team; she also shared with our students the design principles behind developing a building from concept to actual use, before setting up a group activity for them to apply these principles to the design of XP East.

This week we have followed up Leanne’s visit by consolidating our notes, using marketplace activities to share our learning from the group work sessions. 8Pioneer students have each chosen an area of the design principles which interests them and 8Explorer will identify their own areas of interest next week. Each student will use this area of interest as the focus for a piece of extended writing on how XP East was sustainably designed and how we could develop it in the future.

Many thanks to all of our students for their questions, keen interest and for demonstrating the Character Traits during Leanne’s visit, particularly those of Respect and Craftsmanship and Quality. I really enjoyed the day and I know it was a turning point in the expedition for many of our students, as it really brought the importance of sustainability to the fore.

Academic Crew Check in

By J Smith4th October 2018

Crew Mandela have again had a Humanities focus this week- our academic Tuesday crew was focused on Hums book work. The crew held each other accountable and showcased the work they were most proud of and presented why. They also held each other accountable for any work that did not showcase the HOWLS. Outstanding contributions to the discussion came from a number of students, in particular Holly N. who showcased some outstanding craftsmanship and quality of draft and redraft work.

Accelerated Reader

By H Hickson2nd October 2018

Crew have started Accelerated Reader now. They have taken their STAR reader test and now Tuesdays in Crew are dedicated to reading and taking the AR quizzes.

Reading is so important for building vocabulary and stretching the imagination – as well as reading in Crew and during school hours, pupils should also be reading for 2 hours at home over the course of a week.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…the man who never reads lives only one.”

George R. R. Martin

What mountain will you climb this week?

By J Townson1st October 2018

When Crew Ali circled up for the first time, it was on the first of four days at Outward Bound in Wales. Now four weeks into the academic term at XP East, we spent this morning’s Crew answering the question ‘What mountain will you climb this week?’ Our answers were both personal and academic, but what we can be sure of is that the mountain we climbed in Wales was the first of many mountains we will climb as a Crew, supporting one another, holding each other accountable and making sure we reflect on how we got to the top.

Here is another taste of what we got up to in Wales, at the start of our journey together:

C24 expert visit from Leanne Stamp, Architect

By J Townson1st October 2018

On Tuesday 2nd October C24 will work with Leanne Stamp, the architect who designed XP East and who is the expert for the next learning target in our Expedition, A Place Of Our Own. We have prepared for her visit by learning new key words such as ‘innovation’ and ‘sustainability’; considered how emotion could be linked to different architectural styles; discussed heating and lighting techniques to minimise energy consumption and have written questions about her role and rationale for the design of XP East.

Watch this space to hear more after her visit!

Praise for Crew Parkinson!

By H Hickson1st October 2018

Today in Crew we had our ‘check-ins’ where the pupils spoke about what they had done at the weekend. It’s lovely to hear what an exciting and relaxing time crew had!

We then reflected on the last week – most importantly, looking at the praise sheet. I was filled with pride to see so many of Crew Parkinson being praised for the wonderful hard work they have done and the compassion they have shown in their lessons and around school.

Here’s some examples of how fantastic the pupils in Crew Parkinson are:

Kristian – “Kristian has been a superstar this week. I am forever catching him being kind, asking if I need little jobs doing, or for extra work in extended study. He tries really hard in maths which is what I like to see. Keep it up Kristian!”

Marcus – “Marcus has shown mature conduct when performing practicals in STEAM”

Dylan – “Dylan was nominated and voted for by his class to be put onto the praise sheet for consistently working hard in HUMs lessons and being kind”

Shanna – “Shanna has been nominated by her peers for her hard work in Drama”

Rosie – “Rosie stepped up to the role of Director for her role play group in X Block Drama, enhancing the flow of the piece and using thought tracking to add depth to the narrative”

Keep it up Crew!

Inspired by Doncaster’s Architecture

By Katie Haughey1st October 2018

This week in X-Block, C24 are starting draft one of their screen print designs:

After researching the local architecture across Doncaster, the classes each created an outline of the local museum in the session today. Over the past two weeks we have been delving into the rich history of the town and its many desolate buildings. We’ve made some incredible discoveries, for instance, that the Beatles played a gig in the old Gaumont Cinema which sadly no longer exists!

I loved how some students adopted a minimalist style in their artwork today, while others worked hard to show the detail and intricacies of the museum’s architecture.

Here’s examples of Theonie’s, Aran’s, George’s and Holly’s work from the session:

I love how unique they are, and I can’t wait to see what each student picks for their final design next week and to continue through this drafting process!

Miss Haughey

Student led crew

By J Smith1st October 2018

This week students in crew Mandela have taken over with an academic focus. We started the week with Callie and Holly leading a student led crew with a maths focus. They kick started the session with a ‘Do Now’ engaging the crew with a version of Splat with a maths twist.

The main task was focused on angles, with a collaborative working style. The crew feedback for Callie and Holly really showed appreciation for the amount of work that had gone into the planning.

On Thursday Raven and Lewis led the second academic crew of the week. This had a Hums focus and led on from the work on the great depression. The boys used protocols fantastically and Lewis took the role as teacher and leader in his stride!