Last week our E24 students were issued with a task sheet on shops in Spanish designed to help build the working vocabulary of over 2000 words tested at GCSE level. This work is due for submission on Friday this week. Spare copies will be provided tomorrow for students whose task sheet got wet and tore last Friday due to the inclement weather on the school visit.
Thank you,
Mr Pearson
In our STEAM lessons this week, Year 7 have been grappling with the concept of speed, distance and time. We have been using constructivist principles of learning to develop understanding, by kicking the week off with a practical investigation outside, measuring the time and distance travelled when we walk fast or slow.
We then discussed the relationships we could see in our data and some data generated from the ‘Marbleympics’ 5m sprint. We noticed that when the speed changes, the time and/or distance change and there is a direct relationship between this; ultimately we deduced the equation:
In today’s session Explorer were applying this by substituting our own data, with the challenge being to use the equation in unfamiliar contexts – check out Faith’s attempt at four of the challenge questions on the photos below! The level of engagement in this task was excellent, and not only did I have a lot of verbal praise to give individuals, as well as the class as a whole, but we also had a spontaneous round of applause! Zak was using purple pen to remind himself of how to improve his calculations next time, and Caiden and Sami got their heads together to see where they went wrong in their calculations and correct them.
We also tried out some new more flexible seating arrangements to support us in building our confidence; as we experiment we find we have different skills and qualities to offer one another in our problem solving and all students engaged really positively in the process. I loved Marshall’s quote, particularly as he had rated his confidence at the beginning of the lesson as a 1 out of 3, but at the end of the lesson he said “this is a breeze now!”
Our learning focus this week has been to keep trying to get ‘unstuck’, even when we are grappling with something new or a concept we can’t quite get our head around; at XP East it’s all about getting to the top of the next ‘mountain’. That’s why we have a new quote on the wall from Carl Sagan:
“When you make the finding yourself, even if you’re the last person on Earth to see the light, you’ll never forget it“.
Well, I think so anyway!
Yes – it’s student-led conference time, where our students get to share their learning and targets with their family.
Crew will spend the next couple of weeks preparing for their SLC, which involves reflecting on their learning and selecting the work that:
Crew will also reflect on and discuss their HOWLs, extended study record and general conduct.
I have set my Crew an extra challenge this year of setting a Year 9 Pledge, to get them focussed on the year ahead and their Passage Presentation.
SLCs will commence week beginning 24th June and will run on selected days over the following 2 weeks. An email with the booking link will be sent to parents before the end of this week. Hopefully there will be a convenient time slot for you to book but if not, please email me on [email protected] to discuss.
See you soon!
Last week we started with a bang! We’ve been thrown straight into our expeditions after the holiday and Crew have certainly stepped up.
We began the week with check-ins from the 2 week holiday – it was lovely hearing the great activities, social events and relaxation that crew members took part in during their time off.
On Tuesday we didn’t have a crew session – but don’t despair we spent the day at Jodrell Bank! This fieldwork was part of the ‘Escape Earth’ expedition and was a brilliant way to spend time with crew in a different setting. I loved hearing how enthusiastic and curious crew members were when discussing physics and asking questions about space. We took part in a number of workshops which revolved around Newton’s laws of motion and gravity, an inflatable planetarium and the constellations.
What a wonderful day!
(All video credits to Miss Haughey – definitely not my area of expertise!)
When we returned to school our crew sessions were then directed around the upcoming Student Led Conferences – students began to choose the pieces of work they are most proud of, found challenging and would like to improve to showcase during their SLCs. This is a great way for crew to reflect on their learning and understand their academic strengths and areas to improve on as well as their HOWLs.
More information will be released about SLCs shortly, so watch this space!
Yesterday during community meeting Mrs Poncia asked X25 about their highlight of the week, and I amongst other members of my crew struggled to pick! We have just six weeks left of this academic year, it is wild to think how quickly my crew’s first year at high school has passed and how much we’ve crammed into 2018-2019.
Both staff and students are winding up to the grand finale of the STEAM and Human expeditions, where they will be working on final products and preparing to share their learning in a presentation of learning. In STEAM, they are continuing on with ‘Escape Earth’ and yesterday their new Human expedition was announced.
On Tuesday X25 visited the Jodrell Bank Space Observatory, which is home to the UK’s largest radio telescope and the 3rd largest in Europe! Each student was immersed in workshops and classes that allowed them to discover elements of our universe, experience Newton’s Laws, and watch real accounts of the astronauts that visit the Space Station. I’ve uploaded the video file above, check out the incredible resources and facilities that we had access to!
We will be taking the lessons we learned from the specialists back into school to help answer the expeditions guiding question:
“Should humans leave Earth?”
With growing reports of the danger that climate change poses, and the scientific advancements in the technology that could allow us to potentially re-locate our species to another planet, X25 will be concluding what they think the future for our species and our home will be. I can’t wait to hear their responses.
I chose the backing track for the video from an album I really love by a band called Public Service Broadcasting, I was struck by this line that was originally part of a JFK speech from 1962:
I’m taking this particular message back to crew this week. We will be encountering difficulty over the next six weeks with deadlines. We will be setting up Student Led Conferences over the coming weeks, to reflect on and review this years work. We will be finalising products and developing our presentations of learning. It may be the last few weeks, but as per every other day we spend at XP East, I hope that each of my 12 crew members recognises that despite this work being hard, it is also extremely important, and that working hard, getting smart and being kind is fundamental if we are to achieve.
The students were a credit to the school, and despite the weather, conducted themselves brilliantly. Well done, E24.
Watch this video for a glimpse at our day.
Thank you to all of the parents that came to 8 Explorer’s and 8 Pioneer’s Presentation of Learning last night. I must say that the Y8 ‘Making My Mind Up’ expedition has been an exceptional one.
Thank you to Mr Brown, Miss Parker, Mr Rider and Miss Haughey for all of the hard work that went into the planning, fieldwork, the expedition’s Google Site and the POL. A special mention needs to go out to Mr Brown for being expedition Lead – great work Drew!!
In only 48 hours the video clip of the final product that I put onto Twitter has had nearly 1600 views! It highlights the national interest that we have in the way in which we do things around here.
'Am I responsible for my own thoughts and deeds?' Y8 expedition Presentation of Learning tonight.
Via a 16 week study of Macbeth, Nazi propaganda & the influence of 'fake news' students showcased their collage artwork that will go into Libraries / public buildings in Doncaster pic.twitter.com/TRxtXOAGsl
— Jamie Portman (@JamiePortman) 5 June 2019
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As ever, we cannot underestimate the role of Presentations of Learning in our expeditions.
They act as the period in which students have to step up to the pressures of articulating their progress to an authentic audience. POLs are high stakes, and hours of preparation goes into them. Knowing that your Mum, Dad, Uncle Tony or even your Aunty Dot are coming to the event means that students have to work hard to pull it off.
Yet again, I was dead proud of the way in which all of our Y8 students (ranging from those on the Autistic Spectrum, Special Educational Needs to those who may be academically gifted children) articulated their learning with such clarity, and it’s always nice to hear such positivity from parents.
Well done everybody!
Today as crew leader I was incredibly proud of the crew for showing the courage to once again speak in front of the entire year group and 50 parents for the latest HUMs expedition.
In particular, the moment where Corey spoke about his family to the audience brought the entire crowd close to tears! It was an emotional evening and all students produced high quality work, this was highlighted by Frida’s explanation of the Macbeth story and how this contributed to ‘fake news’
Last night someone broke into the school grounds to take a bike that had been left overnight. Fortunately, they decided not to take the bike so it is now safely in the school building.
This is a reminder that any personal property, including bikes, should not be left outside school overnight. Also, any bikes brought into school for during the day must be padlocked in the areas provided.
If you need to leave anything overnight please speak to a staff member and it can be arranged to store the item indoors.
