A week full of enrichment

Well done to all the students who have taken part in enrichment this week. Great effort from the year 9 boys football team who visited Outwood Adwick on Wednesday evening out in the cold. Cross country was another huge success this week where have had a number of students make it through to the South Yorkshire next round.

Well done to the year 7/8 girls football who have had a busy week. First fixture was against Hungerhill on a cold winter night, not the result we were hoping for but the girls did not give up. The girls then went on to compete in the EFL cup at the Keepmoat, where 21 school competed. The girls were fantastic and came top of their group with some outstanding wins against Hall Cross, Don Valley, South Axholme and many more. The girls then made it through to the semi finals but unfortunately lost 1-0 in what was a tight match. What an incredible achievement, well done to everyone who played.

We have another busy week next week so please read the what coming up next week blog post.

Have a fab weekend from Team PE.

Next week in PE W/C 24th Nov

Monday – Badminton Practice 3.30-4.30. Cheerleading practice 3.30-4.30

Tuesday- Man City fieldwork, leaving school at 3.15. Return around midnight. Will contact parents on the way home. Students will need warm clothing, packed lunch for the bus and money if they would like to buy any food there. All letters have gone to parents/guardians whose child is on the fieldwork.

Wednesday – Year 7 and 8 girls netball game at home finish at 4.45. Year 7 boys football match at home finish at 5pm. Please tick your name off the team sheet.

Thursday – KS3 badminton fixture at home finish at 5pm. Please tick your name off.

Any questions please email

cogrady@xpschool.org

dcurrie@xpschool.org

abowser@xpschool.org

Sharing our Stories: 21/11/2025

Beautiful work this week

Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust!

To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.

Top of the Blogs

KS1 Community hero awards! @ Green Top

Our Paris Video @ Plover

Snow Day @ Carcroft School

Authentic Art making in Y8 @ XP

And sew it begins… @ Norton Juniors

E30 Explorer – A Debate Full of Energy, Respect and Brilliant Ideas @ XP East

G29 Geography – Has the regeneration of the Ouseburn been a success? @ XP Gateshead

Remembrance Day Celebration @ Norton Infants

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at comms@xptrust.org –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Authentic Art making in Y8: Using Text and Portraiture to Define Humanity

What Does It Mean to Be Human?

Today, our Y8 students at XP School explored this guiding question in the most powerful, creative and authentic way — alongside the incredible Michelle Clarke-Stables.

Working shoulder-to-shoulder with Michelle, students created a legacy artwork that will live on in our school: a large-scale micrography portrait of Frida Kahlo, built entirely from handwritten words, reflections and quotes that answer our guiding question.

Every mark is a voice.

Every layer is a story.

Every word speaks to the messy, beautiful, painful and resilient nature of being human.

Frida Kahlo feels like the perfect muse for this work. Her life was shaped by courage, compassion and fierce tenacity — choosing colour in the face of pain, truth in the face of silence, and creativity in the face of adversity. She epitomises what we hope our students discover: that being human is about resilience, tenderness, and the bravery to tell your story.

Watching students collaborate, debate, write, paint and truly see one another was extraordinary. Michelle brought out the best of them — their empathy, their curiosity, their willingness to be bold with ideas and generous with meaning.

This is what authentic Art education looks like.

This is legacy work.

This is XP. 💙

Thank you, Michelle, for inspiring our students to make something deeply human, and deeply unforgettable.

#ArtEducation #XPTrust #ProjectBasedLearning #FridaKahlo #BeingHuman #LegacyWork #Creativity #Compassion #StudentVoice #MichelleClarkeStables