13th September 2022
C29 will be travelling to Bletchley Park on Tuesday 13th September. We will be leaving school at 8am so students need to arrive at school by 7:30am. Students will also require a packed lunch, however free school meal students will have them provided. Students will be arriving back in school by 5pm, however, depending on traffic, this could change and so I will post updates on the website.
Any questions please email [email protected]
Andrea Goddard
Crew Malala have been working on communication and team skills. We talked about how working together means listening to one another and learning how to communicate in a productive way. To practice these new skills, Crew Malala played the spider web game. Standing in a circle, one person had to hold onto the end of a ball of wool and throw the ball across the circle to another crew member. That person had to hold on to the wool and throw the ball to someone else, and so on, until everyone was holding onto the wool. This created a spider web in the middle of the circle. Crew Malala then had to work together to untangle the wool without letting go, with the final goal of standing in a straight line while still holding on to the wool. There was some frustration but by working together, giving clear instructions to each other and listening carefully, they finished the game in a straight line! Well done Crew Malala!
Mrs. Collinson & Mrs. Batty
We wanted to update you about Crew Turing’s first week back at school! Along with welcoming a wonderful new crew member, Tyler – who has started to settle beautifully – crew have been up to loads of activities this week to reestablish their bonds as crew, ready for their final year at XP East!
Crew Turing joined the rest of Y11 in walking around Flamborough Head. They were absolutely fantastic! Ralph & Lewis led the way beautifully, Crew showed compassion by checking in on each other, and it was lovely to be out and about getting to know Turing more.. (and have a sneaky ice cream at the Lighthouse!)
We had a gorgeous day for walking, and took in some stunning scenery. Behaviour was impeccable, and the day was a beautiful start to Y11!
On Wednesday, we had a crew activities day – again, this was a lovely opportunity to get to know students in crew more, to start to build solid relationships, and to just have a laugh! We started to think about our journey through Y11 and the challenges we may face. We spoke at length about how crew Turing can support each other throughout the upcoming year – Crew has some beautiful ideas about how they can do this, and began to create some amazing ‘road maps to success’!
We started and ended the day with some card games – UNO seems to be a favourite! (Sami doesn’t like Liar, though – he ended up with half the deck!!) During the day we also took part in Mrs Elliott’s version of ‘the Cube’ – I’m very proud to say that Crew Turing’s sterling efforts, Sami, Lexi & Dylan’s FABULOUS point scores, and Mollie’s photographic memory meant that Crew Turing came out as the champions with 6,500 points!
On Thursday, Crew took part in more crew team building activities with an external company called Wise Up. We couldn’t even pick out a superstar from Wednesday – all students in Crew were AWESOME! They worked together really well, built each other up when they needed it, and offered loads of support! It was fantastic to see them come together as a crew to work out brain teasing conundrums and physical challenges throughout the day.
We ended our first week back with more crew activities and a presentation of learning. We’ve reflected on our time as crew from year 7 to now – identified our favourite moments (LOTS of them with Miss Haughey – gone but NEVER forgotten!) – and got some photos together from Y7 to now (and Lewis hasn’t changed a bit, but Lexi is unrecognisable!) Crew presented their slides to the rest of Y11 and did a great job!
A fanstastic start to what will hopefully be a fantastic final year.
Miss Cocliff & Mrs Parker
Welcome back to all our students returning from the summer holidays,
Starting this week the PE team are starting their after school sports clubs:
Male and Female Football Wednesdays- 3:30 – 4:30
Netball Thursdays- 3:30 – 4:30
All students both experienced and new to sport are welcome to join
Any questions please see Mr Stables
We are very lucky to have the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Brass Band visiting school this week to support our Y7 expedition.
Y7 Explorer and Pioneer are invited to come back into school (on the XP Stairs) on Wednesday 7th September from 7:30 – 8:30pm.
Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band (currently ranked 9th in the world!) have agreed to be involved with us again this year and support our students, which is amazing.
Y7 Students and their parents / guardians are invited to come in and watch an hour of the band’s rehearsal so we can use this experience during our work in Music in the coming weeks. This will be a great opportunity to see world class musicians at their best.
Any questions please email Mr Robins at [email protected]
Best wishes,
Mr Robins.
Students in E29 Year 7 will be visiting the National Coal Mining Museum on Thursday 8th September. This fieldwork will be part of students immersion into their first expedition of the year. We will leave school at 9am and return by 3.15pm. Students will need to bring a bag with:
A packed lunch (students on free school meals will be provided with a lunch), a pen / pencil / pencil case to complete work during the day and a warm coat as part of the day is outside.
If your child needs to take any medication, please inform their Crew Leader so that any necessary arrangements can be made.
If you have any queries please contact [email protected] or [email protected]
After a successful show last year, XP’s Dance and Drama Club are putting on another show. This year we will be doing a rendition of… Disney’s ZOMBIES!
Are you interested in Dance, Drama and all things Performing Arts? Are you wanting to try something new? Look no further, XP’s Dance and Drama Club is here.
Auditions will take place tomorrow (Monday 5th September) in the XP Drama Space after school from 3:15 – 4:30pm. There will be an audition preparation session at lunch from 12:45 – 1:10pm in the XP Drama Space. This will be a chance for students to look at some of the audition material before the auditions after school. The auditions are open to all year groups!!
A note for all students wanting to join the club – rehearsals will take place on Mondays and Thursdays, both at lunch and after school. 100% commitment is needed for this club, as everyone has a part to play in the show.
If you have any questions, please contact Miss Mitchell via her email [email protected].
Please join us and show us what you’ve got. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at lunch and after school!
#AnotherOpeningAnotherShow
What a brilliant first week back!
First and foremost I would like to say Thank you, thank you for making our first week back a memorable one! We’ve laughed a lot, we’ve gotten a little frustrated at times, we’ve shown respect and reflected on how we can achieve our very best together as crew!
Our week started off taking part in the Wise Up Team Building activities.
It was safe to say that we struggled at first, after 5 weeks being off school and coming back together there were a few teething problems. However, after one or two activities it was evident that we are awesome together.
We started working together as a crew and completing activities. Crew members stepped and stepped back ensuring everyone has a voice and a chance to show their skills. Encouraging each other and showing compassion when others found it difficult.
There were so many stand out moments, but Holly really showed us what she’s made of in the pyramid challenge. The lads and their careful precision of the helium pipe and working out how to higher and lower it, so everyone in crew could complete the activity. Jorja for her excellent and hilarious navigational and communication skills during the herding sheep game.
Crew Rashford started to take shape again by the end and that is what is most important. Super proud of you all!
Flamborough Head Hike. What an incredibly beautiful place, having the weather on our side was also a blessing.
It was great to see the resilience throughout crew and everyone enjoyed the time spent together catching up, playing the yes-no game.
One particular member of crew that stood out today was Keegan, he really stepped up today and grappled with the walk. He even looked like he was enjoying it. I’m sure I saw him up front during the hike. When we were in Ullswater Keegan grappled with the mountain walk so to see this and crew members noticing and praising this was amazing.
Lots of laughs along the way. I still didn’t get a chocolate biscuit Tara!
I have to mention the behaviour of crew – It was awesome! If this is the level that we can expect going forward this year I am looking forward to being part of more Fieldworks for sure!
We ensured no trace was left after lunch and I witnessed crew members being respectful to members of the public, saying thank you and hello to them as they passed and showing compassion when we had to wait for others to catch up and being patient.
Back in the classroom.
We really looked closely at our data and what this meant for us going forward in Y9. Students were able to identify areas they want to improve and maintain.
We looked at what is ahead for Year 9 in terms of passage and Duke of Edinburgh (DofE). There was a clear buzz around the room and crew came up with some amazing ideas for DofE. I can’t wait for this to get started!
We created Road Maps and identified each crew member’s bumps and green lights.
Here’s a few examples. Callum – Green light DofE – Callum “I am looking forward to taking part in the program”. Emma “I am worried about passing my passage”. We even had the opportunity to present in a POL. Everyone did it, every member of crew participated and spoke clearly and with confidence. So proud!
Our guiding question for the week was ‘How do we get to the top of the mountain?”
Here is Crew Rashford’s answer!
We have identified our potential bump and slips on our path and pledge to seek support from staff and crew to help us overcome them. We will support, praise and hold each other to account throughout the year.
An awesome start to Year 9. I am super excited to see you all grow and develop to be the best version of yourselves throughout the terms.
The Mighty Crew Rashford can achieve anything when we believe and support each other!
Mrs Watson!
As part of their immersion, C27 are going on fieldwork to Sheffield to visit Park Hill and the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield.
We will be departing at around 9:15AM and returning for approximately 4PM. Students should arrive at the usual time in the morning but please note the later finishing time. We will keep you updated on the day about a more accurate time for our return. Students will need to bring a packed lunch unless they access free school meals, in which case school will provide one for them. Students will need to dress appropriately and in a waterproof coat and warm layers, as we will be walking around Sheffield at points of the day. If you have any questions about the day, feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Miss Boon
How time has flown for Crew Anoa’i and E25. It feels like it was only yesterday I met the crazy bunch of kids who would change my life forever. We’ve had many ups and downs along the way but we’ve made it! I can’t believe that in only a few months time Crew Anoa’i will be fledging the nest and venturing into the big wide world.
For the first few days of Year 11, we spent time refocusing and coming together as a crew once again. We reflected on our time here at XP East, looking back through photos and reminiscing the journey we’ve had so far.
On Tuesday, we travelled to Flamborough Head, where we walked from North landing to South Landing. Whilst faced with a beautiful landscape, we were given the opportunity to catch up with one another after a long 5 weeks off. It was a great way to start the week, tiring but great.
On Wednesday, we spent the day in crews. We started with a check in regarding the summer holidays then completed several tasks as individuals: tasks such as ‘We Can Be Heroes’, an activity that involves each student designing a fancy dress costume. The designs are then swapped over and a background is created to set the scene of someone’s car breaking down whilst dressed in the costume. This naturally is the worst place imaginable. Then the designs are swapped over again and students have to design a superhero, the saviour of the person stranded in their party outfit. A superhero name is given and powers are selected wisely, all relating back to our XP character traits. All designs are then revealed to each other, here are some examples.
Crew Anoa’i then focused on completing their letters to their year 7 self. Everyone took their time and thought very carefully about their individual journeys at XP East and composed some great letters offering guidance to their younger selves.
We then moved onto our last task of the day, our GCSE Roadmap. We were given instructions to create a journey that resembled our last year at XP East, including Mock Exams and revision techniques. Our aim was to create a roadmap but in a theme of our choice. All designs are then judged and the winning design would secure the prize cake for their crew to share. (We will update you on this next week, fingers crossed we win!)
On Thursday, Crew Anoa’i and the rest of C25 took part in countless activities organised by Wise Up. We worked together to complete a number of team building tasks, including ‘Flip It’, ‘Giant Nails’, ‘Crazy Maze’ and ‘Say What You See’. We were given the job of scoring ourselves in the following categories – Planning, Communication, Motivation, Teamwork and Completing The Task. During this process we showed integrity with our marking. After we completed as many tasks as we could in the time given, we calculated the average of our scores. We came SECOND out of 8 crews, with an average of 21.8! This was a huge achievement for us and we are very proud of ourselves for doing so well with the team activities, something we have previously struggled with.
On Friday, we celebrated our success with some sweet treats and then focused our attention on answering the guiding question:
“How can we get everyone to the top of their mountain?”
We created a short video showing our journey from year 7 to present day and how we have come together, as a crew, in this past week. We presented this video to the other crews in E25 and shared our answers to the guiding question.
What a start to the year we’ve had. I can’t wait to see what Crew Anoa’i do in their final year at XP East. I’m looking forward to spending these last few months together, creating memories that will last a lifetime!
– Miss Mitchell
