UPDATE: What to do if my child or someone in my household has Covid-19 symptoms

By Jamie Portman4th September 2020

UPDATE: As of Sunday 6th September 5pm we have not had any member of our community test positive for Covid-19.

The following was posted on Friday 4th September:

I wanted to update our community on the recent school reopening procedures, and outline the specifics for what parents should do if their child or anyone in their household has any Covid-19 symptoms.

We really appreciate the positive feedback that we have received concerning the website that we created to support parents through the reopening process. As you will have seen, the videos explain the extensive measures that we have put into place concerning entry into the school environment, building, classrooms arranged into zones, split breaks / lunches etc.

As Principal of both XP and XP East, I have been absolutely delighted with the mature and focused approach from all of our students. To say their behaviour has been outstanding would honestly be an understatement. As we progress throughout the weeks and terms ahead we will need to maintain this level of conduct, and I know that we will be able to count on parents to support us as we continue to navigate any potential challenges that lie ahead.

Remember, if students show the following symptoms parents must ensure that they are tested:

  • A new, continuous cough (where you cough a lot for more than an hour, or have three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours)
  • Fever – where your temperature is above 37.8C
  • Loss of smell or taste

In addition, the table below includes specific details about what to do regarding a range of different scenarios for anyone else in their household (for instance, the Mother of a child that goes to XP).

Y10 & 11: We Are Crew!

By Mr M Voltaire24th September 2020

It’s been the most unusual starts to a year that we’ve ever had here at XP as it has been for most school across the country. But during this time of change and uncertainty, there has been one thing if which I am absolutely certain; the commitment and work ethic of students in our phase, Years 10 and 11. Walking around the school during Crew time I see the same thing everyday; our young people sitting in their circle speaking with compassion, maturity and usually with smiling faces. It’s been a big adjustment for some of us returning to school after such a ling break from routine. Some of us have struggled to slip straight back into the daily routine which has left some feeling tired, but still I’m delighted to see just how well our students are working. In lessons, I have seen students in years 10 and 11 working with focus, purpose and downright graft! Our ‘Crew Dashboards’ where we log all of the positive things we see are bursting at the seems with positive comments from out teachers and learning coaches which is wonderful to see. Here are a few excerpts:

 

X24:

–Admiral have been on fire since they returned to School. It’s a pleasure to be in their sessions.

-Kyra and Alfie: PERFECT translation of a text, wow, well done.

-Max W: Max worked really well in Citizenship an History, completing work both in a group, shoulder buddies and independently. Well done Max.

-Jayden, JD, Ricki, Max, Jaggy: Brilliant team effort on their work around ACC plot. Worked together well as a team and proved me and RJO wrong!

-Sam and Milo: Students supporting each other in difficult tasks, well done! Wonderful to see!

 

X23:

-Charlotte: Absolutely fantastic work , attitude and student. Keep going.

-Abi: Brilliant attitude to come back with stronger than ever.

-Mills: Know you’re finding it tough but you’re awesome and a role model to others.

-Tyler and Levi: Working incredibly hard in session, with a positive attitude. Grappling with tricky concepts. Really pleased.

-Isaac: Issac was great in art, head down and on task throughout. I’ve been impressed the last few sessions how Issac has joined a smaller group with myself, found images, shared and expressed, constructively his thoughts.

-Liam: Brilliant effort. This is reflected in your grade, well deserved

-Jac, Alex, Jon: Brilliant work in history today. Detailed answers and very involved – absolutely on fire!!!

There are hundreds more!

 

What has been even more pleasing this term is the way that our young people seem to be looking out for watch other and supporting each other in their own unique way. I’m seeing people take the time to check in with others and see how they are doing, hearing people speaking up and reaching out and feeling great about the way that our young people see us all as in this together. Our community meeting in X24 was a wonderful thing to see today as every single student wrote a personal positive message of support to their peers in X23. It made me unbelievably proud to see the maturity and compassion being shown to other students in the school have a lot on their plate and a lot on their mind. X24 are shaping up to be a fine set of young adults and I look forward to seeing them develop throughout the rest of the year!

 

Crew Pankhurst – the dangers of the single story

By Sarah Hannam24th September 2020

Our Crew Guiding Question over the past few weeks for Wise Wednesdays has been:

In what ways do “single stories” impact our own identities, how we view others, and the choices we make?

We have had some really thoughtful discussions around this question. We have based our discussions around the following:

1.Where do stereotypes come from?

2.What stereotypes do the two men in “Street Calculus” have about the group the other one belongs to?

3.When, if ever, can stereotypes be harmless or even helpful?

4.When do stereotypes become harmful?

5.What does “Street Calculus” suggest about how stereotypes might impact the way we see ourselves and the way we see others?

6.How might stereotypes impact the choices we make?

There has been some really powerful responses from Crew.

We listened to the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explain the dangers of the single story. We discussed as a Crew what ‘white privilege’ is and how those in power dictate the history that we learn and the books we read.

During academinc Crew this week we focussed on STEAM and ended with a maths Kahoot!: Factors, Multiples, and Primes
Hubert was crowned champion!

X26 Admiral Spanish Getting Smart

By Mrs N Sprakes23rd September 2020

This week Year 8 have been describing their friends, using masculine and feminine adjectives. It was fantastic today to see them drafting on whiteboards, and producing beautiful writing in their books. Appreciations go to Cain for grappling with the idea of adjectives and nouns, Lucy for explaining masculine and feminine, and Reuben for describing his Disney character!

What does a Thoughtful Thursday look like in Crew Earhart…

By Miss S Robinson18th September 2020

This week in our Thoughtful Thursday crew session we focused on supporting each other to get on top of our academic work. Some students decided they wanted to work on revising for their test in History by studying the rise of Hitler, whilst others used this time to do additional work for Common Mission.

I was really impressed with Crew Earhart’s focus during this session. Well done to Bobby who also wrote a superb essay on how Hilter gained power in 1933.

 

Crew Macmillan: Spotlight

18th September 2020Melissa Cocliff

This week has been really successful for Crew Macmillan!

Crew have, once again, worked really hard in crew and in sessions, and have received tonnes of praise from staff! See some examples below:

Miss Johnson: Ricki & others in his group: “brilliant team effort on their work around ACC plot. Worked together well as a team and proved me and RJO wrong!”

Miss Taylor: Alfie, Milo, Ricki & Charlie: “Worked hard, created lovely paintings!”

Miss Johnson:  All of Crew Mac! “Fantastic start to English GCSE. Focused and keen to get on. Brilliant HoWLS- Well done! Keep it up!”

Mrs Sprakes: Alfie – “Detailed responses in writing, well done.”

Mrs Batty: Vinnie –“Excellent recall of knowledge in quick fire test“

I absolutely love reading through the praise entries for crew and seeing how excellent you guys really are in sessions!

This week we also focused both Wise Wednesdays and Thoughtful Thursdays on some revision materials – we know that in Y10&11, we need to be organised and consistent with revision.

So far, we’ve looked at Procrastination (and the dangers of it – we learned that Crew don’t like tidying bedrooms, or adding pots to the dishwasher!!) – then we’ve seen what makes an effective flashcard, and put that into practice in preparation for a history assessment.

Members of crew were focused and engaged, which resulted in some beautiful examples of flashcards created, and some brilliant teamwork in Crew Macmillan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up the brilliant work guys!

Miss C x

‘Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?!’ X26 Skipper on fire!

By Sarah Hannam13th September 2020

I paid a visit to see X26 Skipper in one of their HUMS session with Miss Ibbotson and I was blown away by what I saw and heard .
Students were discussing State vs Church within the context of the medieval period.
The room was buzzing. Students had been studying the murder of Thomas Beckett and were debating why this event supported their argument that the church was more powerful than the state during the medieval period.
Keep up the hard work everyone!

VCERT, Creating a Knee Joint

By Charlotte OGrady10th September 2020

Well done to X23 for a positive start to VCERT PE. Yesterday we studied the knee joint and to enhance our learning we recreated the knee joint using plasticine. So many exciting ways to learn and prepare for our GCSE exams