I am pleased to announce that there is a brilliant opportunity for C28 students for optional languages and cultural heritage fieldwork to Valencia 14th – 17th February 2025. The fieldwork will include various cultural visits, such as a tour of the world-famous Mestalla football stadium, a paella cooking workshop, a visit to Valencia Cathedral and old town, a flamenco workshop, and a visit to the City of Arts and Sciences museum. Please see the letter below for details. Students will receive a hard copy of this letter to take home with them tomorrow morning.
Places for the fieldwork are limited, and there is a tight turnaround on registering interest in order to secure places. To register interest for your child, please fill in the Google form linked here by no later than Monday 29th April. There will be a randomised draw to allocate places, and students will be notified of place allocation on Tuesday 30th April, as the initial deposit of £150 is then due in by no later than Thursday 9th May.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
D6 is back for our wonderful Y11 students as they prepare for their upcoming GCSEs. For the next 3 weeks until Mock exams, year 10 are also invited to give them additional opportunity for support with revision. This allows students the opportunity to revise in a quiet space away from home or to meet up and work in small study groups. Students can join us in the Study Area at XP East anytime between 9.30am-12pm, grab a drink and a snack.
Crew have been busy writing appreciations to other students in their year group, looking at the effects of energy drink on our bodies and then fed back to crew looking at the books they’re reading!
We also looked at praise and conduct and analysed crew attendance.
Crew attendance is looking pretty good and students have worked really hard to improve this.
Today, we had the most wonderful opportunity to attend the private launch of the exhibition dedicated to Sir Nigel Gresley at Danum Gallery Library and Museum. Here, a brochure created by XP was distributed to the VIP guests – some direct descendants of Sir Nigel, and other royalty amongst the rail community! Amongst these were the Chair of the Gresley Society, the Mayor, CEO of Danum Gallery – Damian, the regional director of Freightliner, and the director of the National Railway Museum!
Oscar and Seb were phenomenal representatives of XP School, and it was so lovely to see the rail experts (and the Civic Mayor) engage with them and discuss Doncaster’s rail heritage. Seb even made the rail experts a little teary when he described Sir Nigel as one of his heroes!
More to follow in the coming days… keep your eyes peeled. We’ll leave you with the lovely buffet we got to enjoy, too!
At XP Doncaster, we believe in the transformative power of nature in education. We are embarking on a project as part of our Year 9 learning expedition to encourage our students and their families to cultivate plants, herbs, and flowers at home. Our aim is to not only enrich their learning experiences but also to make a positive impact on our community by fostering a deeper appreciation for green spaces and sustainable living practices. This will help them to answer our guiding question: ‘What is our relationship with the natural world?’
To bring this project to fruition, we are reaching out to family and friends. We are in need of donations. Your resources could greatly contribute to the success of this initiative.
Specifically, we are seeking:
Plant pots
saucers
seeds
seedlings
compost
soil
any other gardening essentials that would enable our participants to kick-start their gardening journey at home.
We would like to make you aware that your child will be bringing home a leaflet about Extended Study at XPD before the end of the week. Please take time to read the information with them, and discuss the expectations for time spent learning at home as well.
Please contact your child’s CL in the first instance should you wish to discuss anything further.
Being Human – Beautiful Speeches from XP Gateshead
The G29 students speeches answering our guiding question “What does it mean to be human?” is now live on our website.
You can listen again and relive the POL speeches here!
This beautiful work is also available to visitors to the QE Hospital at the Windy Nook Entrance via a QR code on the art installation. This is important work matters, raising awareness of the importance of organ donation. A work that chimes with Olivias’ concluding remarks to our POL.
“…being human is about our social structures and relationships. How we connect, understand each other and have a sense of understanding and acceptance for ourselves and others. We build our world through our memories and experience to decide where we want to go in the future. Humans grow through our community and others around us.”
XP Y9 Fieldwork to Thackray Museum
The Power of Change @ Carcroft
In Spring 2024, students from Years 5 and 6 at Carcroft School embarked on an Expedition to explore the 19th century’s impact on our lives today, examining whether its influence has been positive or negative. Students immersed themselves in the era by creating African pattern-inspired book bindings and sculptures. They delved into the work of British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonabare to understand cultural identity and globalisation. The history case study focused on the British Empire, particularly its effects on South Africa and the Zulu people, comparing Victorian society with Zulu society and discussing the legacy of these interactions. The science component of the Expedition related these historical impacts to the concepts of reversible and irreversible changes, using chemistry to draw parallels between the societal changes and scientific processes.
The Expedition’s culmination was an art exhibition-style event where students showcased sculptures inspired by Yinka Shonabare, reflecting on cultural identity and personal, cultural, or ethnic adaptation in an ever-changing world. This final product, along with literacy-based assessments and case study reflections, demonstrated the students’ learning and understanding of the 19th century’s influence. Throughout the Expedition, a diverse range of texts, including graphic novels and classic literature, enriched the students’ experience. Despite limitations on fieldwork due to economic conditions, video calls with South African residents offered insights into the lasting impacts of the British Empire on the Zulu people, enhancing the students’ global perspective and understanding of historical legacies.
Highlights from UKS2’s COL @ Plover
In the last week of term, students in UKS2 at Plover celebrated their work from their Expedition ‘The Power of Change’. Their guiding question was ‘How did the 19th century influence our lives today?’ and their final product explored significant locations in Doncaster, creating a history trail for members of the community to follow to learn more about the City’s history.
‘How will what I do today impact the world tomorrow?’ @ Norton Infants
Last term, students in KS1 at Norton infants explored ocean pollution – contrasting clean and polluted waters and their effects on wildlife, leading to local litter collection activities and artistic recycling projects, culminating in a family event promoting the reduction of single-use plastics. They delved into the science of this by examining the characteristics of living and non-living entities, focusing on animal needs and dietary types, and assessing human impacts on ecosystems, resulting in a detailed report on local fauna. Their geographical studies spanned identifying global continents, oceans, and specific habitats, enhanced by a narrative exercise based on “Somebody Swallowed Stanley.” Art skills were honed through various mediums in creating a sculpture and alternate story settings from “The Tin Forest.”
The students’ final product drew together learning from all three of these case studies. They created these activity booklets, which contain examples of beautiful artwork and written information, and include activities for children to complete – here’s a sample of their work below!
We would like to donate these booklets to local places so that children can complete them whilst they are out in our community! If this is something that you feel you would like copies of, we can send them to you! Please send an email to [email protected] and we will organise sending them to you!
Y10 students will be sitting a full set of mock exams w/b: 29th April. These will take place under full exam conditions to give them a taste of what to expect next year. The timetable is attached, along with some information around what each subject will be covering. Students have been provided with revision resources, and will be expected to revise outside of school to ensure they give their best efforts.
To help them prepare, we would like to invite Y10 students to D6, our in-school Saturday provision, which runs from 9.30-12pm in XP East’s study area. These are really useful sessions where students can meet up for independent study-time or form study groups and access more revision resources.
Y10 have lots of things to look forward to on the run up to the Summer break (fieldwork, college open days, work experience to name a few!) so to keep you fully informed we will start sending out a weekly planner so we can all keep track of key dates and events.
It’s really encouraging to see that many of our Y10 students are already showing the learning behaviours and focus needed to pass GCSEs, which will make the transition into Y11 so much easier for them!
Crew CBU have had a great start to the term- today we looked at the impact energy drinks can have on children. Crew were really surprised to find out the amount of sugar and caffeine content they contained.
Crew also had a fantastic first couple of days with a check in on Monday – learning what everyone got up to over the holidays and tranquil Tuesday where all students made sure they had a book to read and completed some independent reading to start the day.
We would like to remind you of the Year 7 XP’s presentation of learning which will consist of them showcasing their work from both Humanities and Science. The POL will take place on Thursday 25th April from 4:30 to 5:30pm.
