Due to demand, and bearing in mind the ongoing situation with COVID, we are going to move the Year 6 Information Evening online. The event will replace the previously planned face to face evenings on September 27th and the 30th.
The online event will take place on 30 September, starting at 6pm, which you be able to access via a link on our website. If you wish to attend could you fill in the ‘register your interest’ form below which will enable us to send you a link to the ‘live’ event.
Even though we have identified a number of positive Covid cases across our schools over recent weeks, encouragingly the numbers are falling.
As you may be aware, our staff in school have led and facilitated the Lateral Flow testing procedure which has been above and beyond expectation. To enable the school to be fully operational the NHS has kindly offered to further support the school by providing two days of onsite PCR testing on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd September via two mobile testing units. In addition, we are hopeful that a mobile processing unit will also be made available allowing test results to be processed quickly on site, with results being reported to parents within approximately 4 to 6 hours.
Any students who have had Covid in the past 90 days are exempt from taking the PCR test.
The PCR testing applies to students of parents who gave consent for their child to be part of the asymptomatic testing back in the Spring term. However, if this no longer applies please contact the school.
Students this week have been given their own copy of the revision guide for our History exam board OCR B SHP History. All students should have named their copy so that if they are misplaced they can be returned. Students are encouraged to annotate and highlight the guide as they carry out their revision.
The revision guide has a number of different topics, however, students will need to focus on the following sections for revision:
The Elizabethans
The People’s Heath
Living under Nazi Rule
The locations of these topics can be found in the contents page. We would recommend in general students start by revising The People’s Health as well as focusing on page 88 in order to prepare for the upcoming assessment in lessons.
If any student has been absent when these revision guides were handed out, they can see myself or Mrs Hannam directly and we will make sure they get their copy.
A further revision guide focusing on the Viking Expansion will be issued to students in the coming weeks.
Our GCSE Psychology group have had a brilliant start to the year. Mrs Pulham and I have been super impressed with how focussed everyone’s been and how hard they’ve all been working.
It’s hard to stay on task for 2 hours, especially when the emphasis is on being leaders of your own learning and undertaking a series of self-study tasks, but these lot are absolutely smashing it!
It’s fantastic to see our Y10 and Y11 students supporting each other in these sessions, demonstrating that the power of Crew is embedded into everything we do.
We are excited to announce that extra curricular clubs are returning to school this term! Students will have the opportunity to try different activities and sports throughout the school year.
Starting this week with girls football and cheerleading for all years on Thursday the 16th of September from 3:30 till 4:30, the full time table will come into effect from Tuesday the 21st of September.
I always thought we had a strong sense of crew, we were always helping each other and holding each other to account. However, Outward Bound has more than strengthened that! We have created confidence, kindness, bravery and most of all friendships!
We have bonded as crew and made it to the top of the mountain. I will never forget this moment. We were tired, hungry, thirsty, hot and ready for home BUT they pulled together, held hands, pulled each other up the mountain. What a moment!
This photo captures a moment one of our members was struggling, the boys realised they were more capable, but most importantly nobody in crew gets left behind, so they waited, and we finished together!
We talked a lot about pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and doing things we thought we would never do. One of the days we canoed for over 3 hours and set up camp on a bay at the side of the lake. The kids had to build their own shelters and they camped out all night, eating rations and star gazing! It was amazing to see them enjoy every moment and even though some of us felt homesick, we were in it together! Check out the amazing views and the 5 star accommodation!
I can honestly say that this trip bonded us more than ever and we are most certainly CREW!
In Crew Frank during the first week, we achieved many things some of us never would have imagined we’d ever do! Some of us conquered fears, some of us yelled a lot, but most of all we all had fun as a crew.
First off, Ava showed courage by entering the cave in the first place even though they don’t like being in small, compact places.
“When I went into the cave, I felt nervous at first but then I felt better when I got in there because it was wider and I had more space. I felt safer when we got down there because I had more people with me.”
I asked them one last question, asking them how they felt the more time they spent in the cave.
“Um… probably worse because the more we went into the cave the less space we had and I didn’t like it, I wasn’t fond of being there. I don’t like small spaces like that so I just didn’t like being there.”
One of our other crew members, Mackenzie spoke about how compact the cave was and how uncomfortable it was to get through it.
“I felt alright going into the cave but when I finally got down there I didn’t feel comfortable going into small spaces. I just wanted to get through it all with the crew.”
Lastly, our newest crew member, Charlie Czerwionka, talked about how she managed to get through that cave with her new crew.
“On the way down into the cave I felt scared, I saw spiders and it really freaked me out. When I met the crew in the cave it made me feel better because I knew that everyone was there and they made me feel supported and safer because I wasn’t the first person to get down there. Exploring the cave made me feel better because It took my mind off the spiders and fears now that I knew I was safe and knew where I was going. I never would’ve expected to be exploring a muddy cave my first week of XP East”
She showed true courage, due to the fact that this was her first week at XP East and she has really fitted In well with Crew Frank. We’re excited to see how our crew relationships strengthen with Charlie throughout the year.
Personally, I think we all had troubles getting into or through the cave, how we , as a crew, got through it all together and it really helped us all to build up our crew relationships once again.
I’m really proud of everyone for getting through that cave and showing courage all day! First week of year 9 and we’re already stronger as a crew.
What does Jenga have to do with studying a modern foreign language? Last week our E24 Year 11 GCSE Spanish students competed against each other (except Rhys’s group that was using the much smaller “son of Jenga” kit) to construct the tallest free-standing tower possible in five minutes.
The construction of the towers formed part of an immersion session on Spanish food and festivals, and connected to the Spanish “castells” or free-standing “human towers” tradition, practised in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the in the Valencian community.
Today again Scott Faulkner from New College delivered a presentation to our year 10&11 cohort. I can now confirm that there is an opportunity for all our C24 & C25 students from both schools to attend the NCD taster day on the 27th September.
Could all students complete the form below for the taster day at New College on Monday 27th September. They need to choose 3 options and then a 4th standby. This information needs to be completed by Monday and prospectuses have been shared. The links to the college for both taster day options and the online prospectus are below.
Please encourage your students to choose sessions they think they will enjoy or are intrigued by rather than in friendship groups, this is an important opportunity to try out before they enrol. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me. Crew Leaders will also be able to support and advise.
On the day we will be picked up by a coach at XP schools and taken to New College, we need to ensure all students leave from XP. Lunch is provided by college which I am excited about. They will attend 3 sessions and return to school by the usual finish time.
Andy Sprakes and I had a meeting with Public Health Doncaster and representatives from Doncaster Local Authority yesterday afternoon in order to discuss the cases of Covid19 in our schools.
Due to the current situation, Public Health Doncaster has advised us to implement the following measures:
All students and staff (except those who are exempt) should wear face masks in communal spaces such as corridors, toilets, dining areas etc (the wearing of face masks is voluntary in classroom situations.)
Students are also encouraged to wear face masks on their way to school, particularly if they are using public transport. The Stronger Communities Team have offered their support in the local area to encourage students to follow this guidance whilst they are waiting at bus stops.
The above are in addition to the measures that we already have in place in response to increased infections:
Daily testing of Y8/X27 students for 10 days ending on 16th September
Testing all other students twice per week for 10 days ending on the 16th September
A request that parents maintain the testing of students at home via testing kits that school have provided.
Overall, Public Health Doncaster have suggested a graduated approach which may lead to other measures being implemented in the future. However, positive Covid19 cases have recently significantly reduced, and we will continue to monitor the situation as closely as possible.
