SLC prep

By A Parker18th November 2017

We’ve spent most of our Crew time busy preparing for our Student Led Conferences (SLCs), which begin on Monday.  Students have really had to think hard about the work they want to present to parents.  As well as showcasing the work they’re most proud of (and there’s lots of it!), they’ll also be discussing where they feel they need to improve, and what their targets moving forward into the next expedition.

We’ve spoken a lot about MEGS during our prep, and I’ve been struck by how all my Crew are determined to work hard to improve their initial grades.  As Tom D said, “None of us know what the future will hold for us. We all know that this first score isn’t all that important, but what is important is the score we leave school with.”

So, good luck to all my Crew over the next two weeks – I personally cannot wait to celebrate all your academic achievements!

 

Reflections

By A Parker21st October 2017

Phew! We’ve made it to our first half-term break – and what a journey it’s been!

You’ll know by now that our crew sessions are an essential part of our day at XP. East. Every morning we crew up for our daily check-in, and this term we’ve mostly been focussing on teamwork, relationships and character building, using our character traits and HoWLS (Habits of Work and Learning) as the foundation.

During our last crew session of the term, we all reflected on how far we’d come since starting at XP. East. What became clear is that I now have twelve very different children to the ones I met when we first crewed up together in Malham… But then again, my crew have a very different Crew Leader now, too.  In the words of Fat Boy Slim (ask your parents, kids!) “We’ve come a long long way together.”

I’ve seen my crew really develop in confidence and find their voices (especially Megan R and Ali M). I’ve seen improvements in behaviour (and we’re getting better at not swinging on our chairs, eh, Bryn W 😉) We spoke about where we feel like we need to work harder to improve and, just like Tom D, I want to improve in STEAM!  Brendan K spoke about how much he’s enjoying HUMANS and, I have to say, that is evident in the quality of work he’s producing.

But it hasn’t always been easy for us. We’ve had some difficult conversations around being kind, building friendships, and appropriate behaviour/language. We’ve had to make apologies and stands. My crew have held each other accountable and publicly challenge the behaviour of their peers (which shows great courage!)

We’ve all had bad days, but we’ve supported one another – just like we did when we had to jump into the freezing cold water at Malham and climb up Jacob’s Ladder at Kingswood. In other words…

We’ve become Crew.

Have a wonderful holiday, stay safe, and I’ll see you all in two weeks.

Mrs Parker

P.S. I pledge to post more crew blogs next term!

This week in Crew 7AP…

By A Parker23rd September 2017

We’ve started to read ‘Lion: A Long Way Home’ by Saroo Brierly.  For those of you not familiar with the book – or the film! – ‘Lion’ tells the true story of how the author, Saroo, finds his way home from Australia to a remote village in India, 25 years after becoming lost in Calcutta when he was just five years old.

We’ve read the prologue this week, and we’re already starting to wonder and ask questions: How did Saroo become lost? Where did he come from? How did he end up in Australia? Will he be reunited with his family?

Reading ‘Lion’ together as a Crew will allow us to unpick and discuss our character traits, as we’ll be looking out for examples of compassion, respect, courage, integrity and craftmanship and quality (there are lots of examples throughout the book, but I won’t give too much away at this stage!)

We’re also looking forward to using Saroo’s journey to do some more focussed work in lessons, as we continue to work towards answering our first expedition’s guiding question: “What makes a successful community?”

Mrs Parker