How does a frisbee fly? We’ll tell you how!

By Web Blogger2nd February 2021

Last week, the whole of year 8 in XP and XP East had an absolute treat when an expert came to talk to us! The expert was Dr John Hart from Sheffield Hallam University and he came in (virtually) to tell us all about his research in using knowledge of forces and physics to help optimise performance in sport.

This was all to help with the current year 8 STEAM expedition ‘Flying High’ where students are grappling with the question: ‘How can we use STEAM to optimise participation and performance in mixed gender sport?’

We got to learn from Dr John all about how to use engineering and maths go make a bike go faster, a sledge slide easier and to make a frisbee can fly!

Its great to see all 100 kids engaging so well, respecting and listening beautifully to our expert and showing him what XP is all about! From all the fascinating questions that were being asked at the end, I definitely know we have some budding scientists and engineers in this awesome year group! I’m sure the year 8s will agree that it was so cool, so interesting and I’m sure we were left feeling the same as Rhys G who said at the end: “When can I come to University?”

Set your goals and Fly High!

Expeditionary Art Gallery – Lockdown 3.0 – Part 1

By Emily Jones27th January 2021

Hi all,

Here is a rundown of some of the beautiful artwork that has been produced by our wonderful XP and XPE students during lockdown 3.0.

As a team, we have been blown away by the effort and resilience that our pupils are showing.

I hope you enjoy having a flick through their work as much as we have.

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Important dates for the rest of term…

By Jamie Portman24th January 2021

Please find an overview of key events for the remainder of this term:

Y9 & Y10 (both XP & XP School) Leaver Booster and Men-ACWY vaccinations: will take place on Tuesday 26th January as per this blog post.

Staff Days: As per the normal school calendar these will take place on Friday 29.01.21 and Monday 1st February (all of our staff take part in training concerning the planning of expeditions, safeguarding, SEND and Teaching & Learning.) The in-school provision will not be available.

XP16 Student Led Conferences are taking place between 25.01.21 and 05.02.21. Parents are invited to attend online via invitation.

Y7, Y8, Y10, and Y11 Student Led Conferences: These will take place online for all students during the window of Tuesday 2nd February and Friday 12th February. The process will be a slightly different version to the normal in-school format, and parents will receive an Academic Snapshot that contains details of HOWLs and academic progress. Parents will be invited to select an after school appointment this week. *Y9 students do not have an SLC because of their involvement in Passage (see below).

Passage: This will take place for Y9 students during a 2 week window between Monday 15th February and Friday 26th February. Due to Covid restrictions, Passage presentations will take place online and parents will be invited to attend by students shortly – stay tuned for further updates on the process and purpose of Passage.

Please contact your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance regarding any questions or concerns.

Best wishes,

Jamie Portman.

The Vaccination and Immunisation Team will be attending East School

By Rebecca Mohammed22nd January 2021

The Vaccination and Immunisation Team will be attending East School on

TUESDAY 26TH JANUARY 2021. For all those students who have consented to have the adolescent vaccinations.

Year 9  East School students   12:30 – 14:00 pm

Year 10 East School students   14:00 – 15:30 pm

It is a drop-in service between those times.

Further information on the vaccination Leaver Booster and Men-ACWY can be found on NHS Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber.

The MenACWY vaccine is given by a single injection into the upper arm and protects against 4 strains of the meningococcal bacteria – A, C, W and Y – which cause meningitis and blood poisoning (septicaemia). The School Leaver booster, also known as the 3-in-1 or the Td/IPV vaccine, is given to boost protection against 3 separate diseases: tetanus, diphtheria and polio.

Bop, bop, bop, straight to the top of the HOWLs leaderboard!

By Web Blogger21st January 2021

Well, back online it is… but as expected, Crew Rowling are smashing it out the park!

As we know, we’re not a competitive Crew at all 🧐 🤪  However, i am super duper excited to reveal the latest HOWLS data:

Work hard: 3.59

Get smart: 3.5

Be kind: 3.8

Which is not only impressive as far as a set of Crew averages go… but it also means…

WE HAVE THE BEST HOWLS IN XP EAST!

and

THE BEST (WH/ BK) ACROSS BOTH SCHOOLS!

This is down to the fantastic efforts of all members of the Crew, sharing their ideas, contributing to sessions, supporting one another, and generally being Crew. Mrs Barnes has definitely joined the best!

Speaking of Mrs Barnes, all Crew members received a phone call or email home over the last week or so and feels they were really positive. She enjoyed getting to know Crew parents and we hope that this supports the transition into having not just 1 Crew Leader.. but 2!

Over the last couple of weeks Mrs Barnes has been taking some of our Crew sessions whilst I have been attending meetings under my new role, I have been pleased to see students still logging in on time, paying attention, and completing what is expected. I am proud of the grafters they have become/ are becoming!

Crew highlights: 

  • All Crew members are attending sessions on time and completing work expected.
  • The hangout chat has been a huge success again. Students are relying on each other for support and removing any issues by simply reaching out. This has also helped students to complete work when they are struggling.
  • Shawn provided some thought provoking Check In questions.
  • Harvey has taken on the first of the returning Friday afternoon quiz (I know some parents will be pleased to hear this!) 
  • Cerrina and Harvey have been keeping everyone organised ensuring they share the relevant hangout link before sessions.
  • SLC scripts are coming along nicely and all Crew members are working hard- even adding peer critique!
  • Faith has been acting as a Learning Coach in the in school provision, alongside doing her work to support other students. Take a look at the notes she has captured:

There’s so much more i could go on all day… 

 

In light of the work we have been doing around Crew HOWLs, we intend to raise the profile of students being Great and Awesome by spotlighting one student per week on our blog, this will be written by a Crew member so they can highlight what has been discussed during sessions. This should give support to others who are trying to improve their HOWLs grades and inspire them to become Awesome too! Keep your eyes peeled for who is in the spotlight in next weeks blog post!

I appreciate all of the hard work Crew Rowling are doing, and i know Mrs Barnes does too. Not only are you becoming leaders of your own learning but you’re making our job super easy too!

Stay safe and well. 

 

Crew Churchill are on it!

By K Poncia21st January 2021

It’s fair to say that the start of the new term was rather different to what we were expecting!  We’re now all back to working online due to lockdown but, oh my, that hasn’t stopped Crew Churchill smashing it!

It has been great to see all crew members attending crew in the morning and we’ve had some interesting check-ins such as, following the snow last week, what would you name your snowman?  The names ‘Bill’ and ‘Bob’ were popular, as well as Clarence.  However, Aran couldn’t understand why you would want to name a snowman so hers was the ‘snowman with no name’.

A Snowman Named Just Bob: Moulton, Mark Kimball, Good, Karen Hillard: 9780824917074: Amazon.com: Books

Crew Churchill are now in the process of preparing for their Student Led Conferences (SLCs) which will be slightly different this time as they will be held online.  Crew are working hard to plan their presentations, during which they must talk about their recent expedition, HoWLs grades and academic grades.  They must also make pledges which will help them on their path to becoming the best versions of themselves.

Theone impressed everyone on Monday when she shared her presentation which she had completed at home.  It’s absolutely wonderful!

Here are a couple of slides from Theone’s presentation.  See what you think…

Pretty good, eh?

Crew, Mr. Allen and I can’t wait to meet with your parents and listen to your presentations.  We know you’ll smash it!

Zak’s success in Spanish!

By D Pearson20th January 2021

We all know what a challenge it is for our staff and students to study and teach remotely under the current lockdown situation, all the more so with a subject like Spanish that often demands a high level of linguistic proficiency and strong face-to-face communication skills.

My highlight this week was to receive an e-mail from Zak that just served to remind me of how secure his Habits of Work and Learning have become:

Me: “Thanks (for sharing your Linguascope self-assessment certificate score of 33% with me) Zak, but knowing you like I do, I think you’ll not be happy with your score and may wish to repeat it. What do you think”?

Zak: “I’m going to re-try and I aim to get at least 60%“.

Me: “Go for it”.

Zak: “I managed to achieve my goal of over 60%“. He actually doubled his result to 67% and has the certificate to prove it.

Smashed it out of the park, Zak. With HOWLS like that, anything is possible…….!

 

Don’t Worry… Be Happy Crew JRI!

By Web Blogger19th January 2021

And so begins another week in the land of online learning and honestly? I could not be more proud of what I can see. I am amazed everyday with how my crew are grappling with the ever changing circumstances, coming to crew every morning ready to learn and fuelled with motivation. This start to term has been tough… but I want to appreciate every member of my crew and their wonderful parents for all the work and encouragement going on at home!

So far this term in crew we have been discussing about and preparing for our Student Led Conferences with a particular focus on how we can improve our HoWLs. Everyone has spent some time reflecting on their HoWLs ready to make them even better in the next data drop so we can make our way to the top of the leader board!

I wanted to make a few appreciations to some members of my crew who have particularly impressed me so far this term:

I appreciate Holly and Lily Harbour who have been early for every single session, your attendance has been brilliant. Your hard work pays off.

I appreciate Poppy and Max who has been completing work to a very high standard and helping others, well done.

I appreciate Lukas who was AMAZING in a preparing for SLCs crew session and helped everyone remember the last expedition

I appreciate Louie and Nik for reading sections of the book Wonder very beautifully in a group reading session.

Everyone really has been pushing themselves working hard, getting smart and being kind so I appreciate the whole crew for that!

Working from home has definitely has had its challenges for everyone (teachers, students and parents). We had needed to learn new skills quickly, attempt tricky tasks and use a lot more patience than usual. I think this quote from William James says it best: “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” With a good attitude and a willingness to grapple with hard tasks, we can acieve anything!

It’s safe to say, I miss having this lot around. I sure am looking forward to more laughs, discussions and funny check ins when we are all together again. For now though our daily Google Meet catch up will have to do. To finish off, here are a few pictures that I took in one of our last crew sessions before Christmas where we were doing Christmas crafts! Enjoy these festive photos!

Checking out for now…

Crew JRI

 

We’re Back!

By H Hickson19th January 2021

Crew Parkinson have had a wonderful return to school despite it being an online return rather than in person. The last time we were all together we were celebrating Christmas with each other, opening secret Santa gifts, listening to music and having a laugh as you can see below – it all seems so long ago now. I don’t think any of us thought that we’d be returning to school under lockdown number 3 and facing the next term online, but we’re making the most of it.

In terms of how they’ve been getting on – they’ve been absolute angels! Despite the challenges of online learning we’ve had nearly 100% attendance for every crew session and lesson for the last 3 weeks! Students are doing so well tackling their new expeditions online – I got an email through with this lovely praise for Ava from Miss Haughey, it’s great to see she’s smashing it in maths.

Students have also been doing really well in their live science lessons – here’s some of the scores from the quizzes set by Mr Said on Prokaryotes & Eukaryotes and specialised animal and plant cells. Great scores from Lacey, Bob, Rosie and Aaron! 

We’ve also been busy preparing for Passage over the last few weeks in crew, continuing the hard work students put in when we were at school. We’ve had to adapt a lot over the last weeks and Passage is included in this but I’m so proud of the quality reflections students have made on their time at XP East so far and how they have grown and changed since year 7. I’m sure they will be able to explain really articulately during their Passage presentation why they are ready to start their GCSEs – watch this space for updates over the coming weeks!

XP16’s ‘worst’ check in! Lol

By XP East18th January 2021

It was wonderful to chat with some of my XP16 crew on Friday morning. I really want to say thank you to those that joined as it really brightened my day and was a real pleasure to hear their voices. Obviously we needed to chat about some important matters such as UCAS applications (see my email), however we started off with a very funny check in of, ‘what was the worst Christmas present you received this year’?… I was in stitches with their answers.

WORST presents they received ranged from:

Teabags…..

A belt…..

A raw chicken breast…..

Socks… which were thrown back at the giver!

a family board game which the person thought was going to be a pair of ugg boots!

Marmite flavoured deodorant…. love it or hate it?

I wonder if you can guess which was mine? ? ?

We moved on to more important issues such as getting UCAS applications in, the deadline of which is Wednesday 20th January. Please see my email for more detail on this.

The crew sessions is on at 10.30am every Friday, hope to see you all there.

Thanks

Kate

I know what Mr ap Harri is getting next Christmas! Lol