There is the opportunity to teach PE for a fixed term period of 1 year at our extraordinary schools, XP and XP East. We need someone to teach PE within our highly regarded expeditionary learning curriculum.
Find out more here.
Here’s an update on Crew Finch’s 500 Mile Challenge for Firefly.
We have pledged to walk, run or cycle a total of 500 miles over a 3 month period – find out more in this previous blog post.
We’ve totted up the miles for March and I’m delighted to announce that we have already smashed our target with a combined total of 509 miles done in the first month of the challenge! Â
Massive shout out to Noah for clocking up the most mileage, by walking and cycling a total of 167 miles – that’s the same distance from Doncaster to Cardiff (although Noah stuck to walking around the lake and woods near his house 😉 )
When we first spoke about setting the mileage target we thought 500 miles was going to be tough for us. But Crew have really pulled together here to reach the target and to raise much needed funds for our Crew charity, Firefly.
Even though we’ve reached our target, we’re going to carry on walking until the end of the challenge to see just how far we can go together.
Thank you for the donations so far. We are still a little way off our £100 target so all donations are gratefully received and will really push us to put a few extra miles in.
Here’s the link to our Virgin Money Fundraising Page.
Thank you 🙂
‘A spine-chilling story about a boy who finds himself drawn to an empty house. He enters the house to find twelve ghostly figures sitting around a large table. A thirteenth chair is pulled out for him. He takes his place at the table and the story begins.’
Crew Anoa’i have been reading Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton as part of our weekly book club. Each week, on Tranquil Tuesday, we read a new chapter of the book. Taking it in turns to read aloud, we follow the story of a boy called Jack. After reading a chapter, we answer a set of questions that help us understand and retain what has happened before we move onto the next chapter. Each chapter is one of the thirteen tales told by the ghostly figures. 
So far, we have read up to chapter 3. Each week we learn something new about the characters in the story – Jack doesn’t know anyone at the table, the ghostly figures have names and the tales that are told are eerily cryptic.
A few students from Crew Anoa’i wanted to share their thoughts about our book club. Let’s see what they’ve got to say.
Lucie-Mae Cordell
I am finding the book club interesting, as it is a fun way to learn about reading. It also gives us a chance to find a new story to read. Thirteen Chairs has given me a break from my usual type of book. Having the book club helps me to focus on one story at a time.
Zachary Hague
I am really enjoying the book club in crew, as the book Miss Mitchell has chosen is interesting and it’s from a genre that I wouldn’t normally read. It’s fun to read something new and exciting. I’m looking forward to reading the next chapter!
Faith Farmery
I’m really entertained by this book club we have during crew, because Miss Mitchell has chosen a book for all of us to read together instead of reading individually. This gives us a chance to communicate over the same book and wonder together instead of alone in our own world. Everyone is there with you in this world. This type of book isn’t one that I would normally pick up off of the shelf, it is a good change and something out of my comfort zone.
“A book is a gift you can open again and again!”
– Garrison KeillorÂ
#JustOneMoreChapter
We’ve been enjoying our reunion form lockdown 3.0 since coming back in March and we’re glad to be back together after months of isolation. We spent the first day back in crew, with an extended check in on how we’d found 9 weeks online.
The guiding question for the upcoming weeks as a crew was:
We reminded ourselves about the protocols, timings of the day and the importance of wearing masks and washing hands regularly. We then spent the afternoon discussing how lockdown had impacted our lives and wellbeing. Some members of crew had really enjoyed learning online and spending time at home, but many were like me, and much preferred being back at school.
We then adjusted to the regular testing that we’ll be doing in the coming weeks, we all had a bit of a laugh watching each other swabbing noses and throats! Luckily, we’ve not had any issues with having to self-isolate so far, we hope to keep it that way!
Last term we started working towards our Duke of Edinburgh award, we completed the First Aid element of the award. For the second segment, we are working on fitness. Students were able to select from either 5 mile walk, ultimate frisbee or football. We then spent the Friday afternoon in groups, playing best to 5.
Another important feature of crew over the past few weeks has been the work that my crew have done self-assessing their HoWLs (habits of work and learning), namely, work hard, get smart and be kind. Coming back to school has been a big shock to the system for many of us, leaving us exhausted after the first few weeks, but we’re getting there.
In order for us to get a handle on our learning, we have been grading the HoWLs across each subject to look at areas for development and improvement, as well as celebrating where we’ve been doing really well and applying those principles to other classes.
Here’s a summary of week 1, PE and art have been a highlight for my crew. Being a stickler on students giving themselves 3.0 (secure) for HoWLs that aren’t always so secure, I decided to reboot what we mean when we talk about ‘beginning’ or ‘excellence’, so the self-assessments made can be accurate. I felt that some members of my crew are working more on a 2.8-9 across the lessons I’ve been visiting, and I felt that this also reflected my experiences in the maths lessons I teach.
My crew got into groups and worked on creating their own rubric for the HoWLs, and we spoke of times where students in E25 had fallen into the beginning, developing, secure and excellence categories. We uncovered that from those conversations, we were going to work on avoiding passenger behaviour in sessions moving forward into next week. I am wanting each student to be in at least secure across the board in the upcoming weeks, and we’ll be setting crew challenges and working on encouraging others to achieve in their HoWLs.
The car park is now accessible at the side of the school which was previously locked.
Thank you
XP East
Crew Young…..getting to know you (again)!
“Would you rather be really good looking, or super intelligent?“, “What is your ‘go to’ tea?“, and “What song always gets you on the dance floor?”. These were some of the prompt questions that Crew Young members fired at each other, in a 2 minute “blind date”, conducted in a Covid-friendly way recently. The aim was for our crew to reacquaint themselves with each other and strengthen the bonds that bind us together after such a long period of remote learning.
It’s been lovely seeing everyone face to face rather than on a screen!Â
Crew seem to have grown at least a foot, with the exception of Miss Johnson and Mrs Barnes of course! Crew have settled back into being in school really well. I do not think the transition would have been as smooth without the continuous support that the members of Crew Rowling have given each other.
Crew Rowling have been lucky enough to gain a new crew member, Jake. I know that Crew Rowling are experts at making people feel welcome as I have witnessed it first hand. They pulled together to show Jake the ropes and he is fitting in great with our Crew sessions. He did shock us with his amazing ‘poker face’ during a game of ‘two truths, one lie’, which we used as a fun way of reconnecting after so long of not being together. Jake has also done a great job of helping Mrs Watson and his peer with litter picking and keeping the school looking clean and tidy. We were very impressed with the job they had done.
This week in Crew, students took time self evaluating their HoWLs and recorded this for each subject. The interactions between students were great as they gave feedback to each other via comments on the spreadsheet, highlighting areas that they may want to increase their grade and examples why. This seemed to give a boost in crew and everyone seemed quite positive after the session. I do think some were a little hard on themselves to start with.
Rounding off last week, we played the mystery game ‘Mafia’, where Harvey did a fantastic job of narrating and making the story entertaining. It was a great way to end the week and we went into the E26 community meeting on a high after having fun as a Crew.Â
Keep up the good work Crew Rowling!
Mrs Barnes and Miss Johnson
Unfortunately the car park used to drop off and collect XP East students is temporarily inaccessible to us, we are working on this to get it re-opened ASAP, during the mean time parents will need to collect students from car park 3 on the other side, making sure that your registration is logged with either office by email [email protected] [email protected] or by phone 898792. Any longer than 20 minutes could create a fine letter in that car park, many thanks, XP & XP East.
Year 9 Common MissionÂ
Purpose
To explain how we use Common Mission to support students to access different pathways to academic, career and life readiness at XP. Common Mission is a curriculum process that is additional to our Core GCSEs, where we further develop character and positive habits of work and learning in our students. In addition to our Core GCSEs, we run one session a week from Year 9 called ‘Common Mission’. These sessions allow students to think about, prepare and take qualifications in pathways that will help them to become who they want to be later in life. Common Mission sessions include career and further education advice, as well as time for them to study a GCSE of their choice if they have the motivation, capacity and capability to do so. Common Mission includes the opportunity to study a Choice qualification or to pursue other curriculum or personal interests. In these sessions students develop their self-study skills so they are ready for their next steps in the education process.
X25/E25
On Wednesday the 14th of April, students at X25 and E25 students will choose one of the following common mission options to develop their self-study skills so they are ready for their next steps in the education process, with the potential to gain the listed qualifications. 28th of April will be the start date Your support and guidance as parents will be invaluable to our students making a choice that is right for them. As well as discussions at home, our students will spend time in crew this week. Please see the video below outlining the overview of Common mission. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate use the form attached and I will answer any questions as soon as possible.
Topic Options:
| Common mission Option | Potential Qualification | Specification |
| Business Studies | GCSE | AQA |
| Engineering | NCFE Level 1/2Â | NCFE |
| Maths pushing 9.0 | Additional Study GCSE AQA | AQA Maths |
| Music | ABRSMÂ | Level 2 Music qualification through the Rock School (RSL) |
| BTEC PE | BTEC | Pearson Edexcel |
| Triple Science | GCSE | AQA Triple Biol, chem, phys |
| Psychology | GCSE | AQA |
| Dance | BTEC | BTEC Pearsons Level 2 |
| Geography | GCSE | AQA |
| Core Expeditions | Additional Study | STEAM, MATHS, HUMAN |
| Self Study | Mix | Mix |
XP Self Study Website Examples:
Have any questions?: