Hi everyone,
please find below the student overview for week beginning Monday 22nd June.
Please note that Friday 26th June and Monday 29th June are Staff Days. During this period, our staff will be working on preparations for the new Y7 Transition process, next expedition planning and a wide range of other operational and development aspects of our work.
Building on the updates from 12th May and 28th May, I would like to further update parents of Y10 and Y12 students regarding extending our in-school provision.
You may remember that the Government had requested secondary schools to offer ‘some face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of Year 10 and Year 12 students’ from 1st June. However, after liaising with XP Trust school leaders and the Local Authority, we decided not to reopen and review this in mid June.
I can confirm that we are ready to open up on Monday 15th June pending advice on the local situation from Public Health Doncaster. The most up to date local information is not yet available, but this will be communicated to all Headteachers of Doncaster’s schools late on Wednesday. As a result, we will be in a position to confirm whether we will go ahead with reopening for Y10 and Y12 by Friday morning at the latest. However, I would like to reiterate that any decision will be taken in light of the specific region of Doncaster, not the national picture as a whole.
I know that this update does not give parents the precise information that they need, but we feel that it is important to keep everyone informed about developments.
If we do open, the provision will focus on those Y10 and Y12 students who are most at risk of falling behind. Attendance will not be compulsory, and we totally respect any decision that parents make. The provision would revolve around a light touch approach to helping students to assess what they have done, what they might be struggling with and what they could do in the weeks ahead.
Whilst we would not be in a position to offer traditional lessons, we would be able to provide support for those students who have struggled to stay on top of their workload, or feel overwhelmed with what they need to do to catch up. Attendance would be no more than one or two days a week, and our online educational provision involving the use of Google Classroom, videos, teacher tutorials, Hegarty Maths, and Crew video hangouts will continue throughout.
Again, if we do reopen on Monday 15th June I will provide parents with details of the extensive changes that we have made to the physical environment and working protocols. These are already in place due to our in-school provision for children of key workers, and all staff are familiar with them.
Crew Leaders and XP16 staff continue to be the points of contact for any questions, and they will be in touch with the parents of any students who have been identified as needing support the most.
If you have not already done so, could parents please complete this parental survey, as it will further help our preparations.
Best wishes, Jamie Portman (Principal of XP and XP East)
Please find below the student overview for week beginning Monday 8th June.
As per our announcement to review the reopening of our schools for Y10 and Y12 students in mid-June, we would like to gain your opinions on providing ‘some face to face’ provision.
Although we are still exploring options for what this provision would look like (and the frequency in which some students could come back into school) I would be grateful if all parents of Y10 (XP) and Y12 (XP16 at XP East) would please complete this survey.
We will continue to keep everyone updated on any potential plans.
As part of our learning expedition Here Comes the Sun we have been learning about the building blocks of all living things, cells. These revision diagrams from Theone are stunning!
She has even started doing some initial research on the nightjar ,which we will study in more depth later in the learning expedition.
Theone has also done some extension work on cell division too. Absolutely fantastic effort Theone. Well done!
Also we have been asking students to bird watch throughout the expedition. Megan has put in a brilliant shift these last couple of weeks, well done Megan.
We hope everyone has enjoyed the sunshine over the recent holiday period – let’s try and establish some routines by getting back into the swing of things wherever possible.
The student overview for this week is below (week beginning Monday 1st June).
We are currently reviewing aspects of our online provision so please stay tuned for updates in the weeks ahead.
If you a parent of Y12 student, please see this update concerning reopening.
I would like to take this opportunity to provide you all with an important update.
As you will be aware, the Government has requested that secondary schools offer ‘face to face support’ for Year 10 and Year 12 students from 1st June.
To explore the possibility of reopening, we have had many long and detailed video conferences with XP Trust school leaders and the Local Authority which have revolved around our comprehensive risk assessment processes. These discussions have also taken into account the number of students currently receiving in-school provision and our commitment to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our community.
As a result of these long and difficult conversations, we have therefore decided that we will not be extending our provision to Y10 / Y12 students on 1st June. We will however review the situation in mid-June and keep you updated.
Please also note that our online curriculum will continue after the Spring Bank holiday and that our commitment to maintaining our high standards in this area is unwavering.
We will of course also continue to offer our in-school provision for children of Key workers, and those students with Special Educational Needs.
If parents of these specific children are considering requesting a place, please do complete the survey below as it will help us to make relevant staffing arrangements (parents of existing children who already attend do not need to complete the survey).
If you do have any concerns regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Crew Leader.
I hope this update finds you and your loved ones, safe and well. We look forward to welcoming all students back when we can.
Jamie Portman (Principal of XP and XP East)
We have a new record in Year 9 for the most birds spotted in a single session.
Kyle in X24 spotted an incredible 60 birds from 14 different species, including a sparrow hawk and two herons.
Whilst we have not set any work for students in Year 9 to complete over the two week break we would love it if they continued with their birdwatching, bug hotels and bird boxes. Please remind them to send us lots of photos. We are in competition with XP for the most birds spotted. This means we need to up our game, as E24 are currently behind X24 in the leaderboard.
I’m sure parents will be aware of the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday that some lockdown measures are beginning to ease, including the return in some instances of students to schools. With regards to the context of XP, the Department for Education has stated:
From the week commencing 1 June 2020 at the earliest…We will ask secondary schools, sixth form and further education colleges to offer some face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of year 10 and year 12 students who are due to take key exams next year, alongside the full time provision they are offering to priority groups.
Over the next 3 weeks I will be working with XP Trust school leaders, the Local Authority, and our leadership team to consider the implications of the announcement. We will not make any hasty decisions on what this provision will look like, and we need time to consider other details as and when they are released by Government.
Our priority continues to be the care, safety and support of students and our XP community. The in-school provision for children of key workers and vulnerable students currently based for both schools at XP East will continue to operate as normal throughout this period.
We will shortly be communicating with parents of Y6 students who have a place at XP and XP East.
Moving forward, we will use our websites to communicate any developments and I encourage all parents to communicate directly with their child’s Crew Leaders should they have any questions at this stage. Please continue to be patient in waiting for updates, and we are ever so grateful for the emails of support and appreciation for our amazing staff.
Best wishes, Jamie Portman (Principal of XP and XP East).
