Y10/E27 visit to Bradford University

All pupils in C27 have been given the opportunity this term to visit the University of Bradford to improve their knowledge of Higher Education. This local university is only around an hour’s journey away and offers a wide range of courses and entry requirements. Some pupils who have already visited other universities commented that “It was good to learn that not all universities are the same.” 

During the day, we visited a mock courtroom to discuss a fictional case of criminal damage presented by a university lecturer. This activity was a favourite, with some describing it as “absolutely brilliant.” Pupils enjoyed learning about how the court system is organised and the different roles of defence and the CPS.

We also toured the extensive engineering department, and it was fascinating to hear from the engineering students about their research into the products we all use every day such as shower gel. Pupils were encouraged to handle samples and see how the viscosity altered as the product was heated or cooled. Our pupils were really interested in how the engineering department uses equipment such as robots and CT scanners to develop complex equipment such as artificial hands.

Miss Cross

DofE Bronze Award – First Aid

Here’s E28 Crew Moore diving into the world of DofE, mastering the art of CPR and striking a pose with the recovery position. Our DofE adventurers are on a quest to blend life-saving skills with a touch of flair. Here they are learning the ropes, making safety training a lively and memorable experience. 🚀💙

Year 11 Art students in for upcoming staff day

On Friday 8th March we have a Staff day planned. This means that year 11 students will miss their usual 2 hour GCSE Art session where they would be completing important preparation work for their upcoming exam.

In order to minimise the time lost and to allow students to prepare fully for their exam piece, we are asking that

year 11 students at XP East attend school on Friday 8th March from 9am-11am.

year 11 students at XP attend school on Friday 8th March from 11am-1pm.

They will work in their normal Art classroom with their teacher, Miss Taylor or Mr. Doyle.

Y11/E26 Fieldwork to Huddersfield University

On Wednesday 21st February, our wonderful E26 students visited the University of Huddersfield to discover what higher education has to offer. All students are to be commended for their excellent behaviour and the way they interacted with the University staff and student ambassadors. 

During the quiz, students demonstrated their background knowledge and problem solving skills by working together in teams to win prizes (we all wanted one of the snazzy pens so competition was fierce!) There was some surprise at finding there are over 40,000 higher education courses to choose from and most people thought the accommodation with free gym membership and transport looked like a bargain! The session on student finance also helped to alleviate some of the worries around the cost of HE.

An informative lecture about Nazi Germany gave pupils the opportunity to interact with an expert about a key element of their GCSE study. Their history teacher would have been very proud to hear our students forming convincing arguments about Nazi propaganda and the other factors that played a part in Hitler’s rise to power. Their ability to confidently draw on their background knowledge to deal with new source material was impressive. Special mentions to Harvey, Faith, Liv, Rhys and Sam for their excellent contributions!

Students had plenty of opportunity to quiz the student ambassadors about student life. Questions such as “‘what happens if you fail or don’t do well in a module, can you resit?” and “how many lectures do you have each week?” kept the ambassadors on their toes! There was also lots of interest around the clubs and societies available to join and, of course, the social side of University life 😉

We were also treated to a campus tour where everyone was very impressed with the facilities, including a state-of-the-art gym and sports hall, huge science labs, a fantastic library and lots of places to grab food and drinks. One thing that we weren’t expecting was just how picturesque the campus was, set amongst historic converted mills and the scenic working canal.

All in all an excellent day, and – as always – it was a real pleasure to be in E26’s company.

Mrs Parker & Ms Cross 

E30 Talk about Hair and Eyes in Spanish

E30/Year 7 students learned to describe their hair, eyes, and give more details like glasses and moustaches in Spanish today. Students used photobooth props to create descriptions and then had a photobooth!

Mrs. Collinson

C26/Y11 Weekly Planner: 19/2/24

We hope you have all had a restful half-term break and are coming back refreshed and ready for the another 6 weeks of hard work and exam prep… Can you believe this is the last full term before GCSEs begin?!

Key Messages this week:

  • Learning Labs are back up and running for all Y11 students from Monday 19th Feb – full details of subjects/days/times can be found in the weekly planner.
  • Students will be visiting Huddersfield University on 21st February (XPE) and 23rd February (XP).  A packed lunch is required. More information about this fieldwork can be found in this blog post.
  • XP students will also be visiting the site of the old Plant Works on 20th February to conduct their site study in preparation for their History GCSE.
  • D6 will be back open on Saturday (9.30am-12noon).

Thank you!
Mrs Parker & Miss Cocliff 

Year 10 C27 work experience launch

XP Doncaster are excited to launch Work Experience 2024 on Wednesday 21st February at 5pm – 6pm which will include information on Next Steps for Year 10 as they prepare for their transition from Secondary school. Parents and Students are advised that it is important to attend.

Sharing our Stories: 09/02/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

XPG Studios

Have you seen this awesome Instagram page, created to showcase the beautiful work from the 150 (and counting!) artists at XP Gateshead? You can see everything they’ve done and follow them here.

Here are some examples recent work they’ve produced…

Beautiful Curation: Plover School

This week, beautiful work from LKS2’s last Expedition ‘Coming to Doncaster – Why then, why now?’ has been curated outside the school! Be sure to stop and take a look at their work on migration, Roman history and sharing stories!

Beautiful Work in the Community: Earth Emergency

In Autumn 2023, Green Top School’s UKS2 children undertook a learning expedition called Earth Emergency. The guiding question was: How can we help our planet survive? Their beautiful artwork is on display on a shopfront on Fieldside in Thorne.

Top of the Blogs

Beautiful work from Arlo and Daniel @ XP Gateshead

Exploring and Embedding Goldilocks and the three bears @ Norton Infants

Safer Internet Day @ Green Top

Crew RPU/ABT getting SLC ready @ XP

We Can Collaborate! @ Plover

Crew Rashford sharing the love @ XP East

Fun in the snow @ Carcroft School

Ponder, Persevere, Practice but never Procrastinate @ Norton Juniors

We’re looking for great teachers at XP Gateshead!

The next 65 seconds could change your life…

If you are a teacher looking for a model of schooling that dares to break the mould, then this might just be for you. There is now the opportunity of a lifetime to teach at the newest of our extraordinary schools, XP Gateshead.

Find out more and apply here to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!