Crew White checking out for Christmas

We can not believe that we have completed our first term here at XP East, in one way it feels like we were only boarding the bus for Aberdovey yesterday, but then in another way we feel so settled and like we have been here forever.

Between us as a crew we have collected 194 praise points and this week we have been reviewing our HoWL’s. After looking at our data we have made pledges for the spring term. Some examples are below:

I pledge to improve my Get Smart HoWL in Maths from a 3.0 to a 3.5 by the end of next term. I will do this by putting my hand up and asking more questions. This will help improve my AP by the end of next term- Lola Endicott

I pledge to improve my Work Hard in P.E from a 2.5 to a 3 by remembering my kit every week. I will do this by the end of next term – Elsie Wright

I pledge to improve my attendance to 97% by the end of next term – Arlo Hague

As a crew leader I have also made a pledge to visit my crew in their sessions more and look at their beautiful work- I’m sure they will remind me of this.

It’s safe to say we have crammed lots into this term, Aberdovey, the coal mining museum, Bletchley park and Billy Elliott performances just to name a few! We can not wait to share our POL with you in the new year.

Here are some of the things our crew have said are highlights/favourite moments from this term and some photos of what we have been up to.

Nicole: My highlight of this first term was learning about Billy Elliot and reading in the character/pretending to be them with Miss Buckely. Also exploding the quotes and phrases to learn more about the characters.

Kiera- My highlight from our first term was when a student in HUMS asked Mr tucker a bunch of questions about coal and it got to a point where he had to walk out of class because he found it so irritating but funny at the same time.

Lucas-My highlight was in Aberdovey when i got to know my roomies and neighbours properly whilst spending cherishable time with them. Im pretty sure everyone was happy with the people they were put in a room with.

Have a wonderful and restful break, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Crew White.

E28 Presentation of Learning

On Tuesday the 19th of July, Year 7 XP East students would like to invite you to their Presentation of Learning. This presentation is the final one for year 7 until their next one in year 8! It is a great opportunity to see all the learning your child has done during their expedition “What a Wonderful World”. This will start at 4pm and last until approximately 5pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

E28 Year 7 Presentation of Learning

Finally E28 are able to show off their great work to their families in a Presentation of Learning. This is an opportunity for the students to show off their work and learning from their current expedition From the Ground up! Something we are so excited to have back at XP and XP East.

The current expedition has focused on mining and students have been answering the guiding question “What does the community of Doncaster owe to mining?”, alongside showing their work, parents and carers will have the opportunity to hear the music students have created inspired by the Colliery bands of South Yorkshire and see the Artwork students have produced!

If your child is in E28 they will be hosting a Presentation of Learning on Thursday 9th December, starting at 16:00 and will finish by 17.00.

Students will be expected to stay at school at the end of the school day before the Presentation of Learning.

We ask that students bring a change of clothes and dress in smart clothes as it is a formal occasion. They may also want to bring a snack to eat before the start of the evening.

We will post a reminder closer to the event and we hope to see you all there!

Year 7 Immersion – Dia de los Muertos

November 1st and 2nd mark the festival of Day of the Dead in Mexico, and Year 7 spent their Spanish session this week learning all about this festival, and attempting to create an important part of the festivities – papel picado – or paper cutting. In Mexico this is very intricate and time consuming. Our version was simpler but gave students an opportunity to experience this unique craft!

Students watched a video in Spanish showing how to create a simple papel picado design. Then they worked independently, watching the video again in their own time, trying to recreate the cutting done in the video. The results were absolutely fantastic! Buen trabajo Year 7.

The art of (silent) conversation

Our 7P students are preparing to write their first piece of reflective writing next week, where they’ll consolidate all their ideas and evidence around what makes a community successful.

Mrs Poncia introduced a new protocol in class this week: the ‘silent conversation.’ We presented the class with five different images (one on each table), gave them some marker pens and the instruction to move around each table, consider the image for a few moments, and then write down what it represented to them… all in complete silence!

This protocol gives students time for some focused thinking, allows them to reflect on the views of their classmates, and helps to stimulate new ideas for them to include in their own work.  It also means that all students have the same opportunity to share their thoughts with the rest of the class.  It really is a silent conversation!

At the end of the exercise we discussed the common theme, which we agreed was around the sense of ‘belonging’ to a community.

Mrs Parker

This week in Crew 7AP…

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