Today provided a fantastic showcase of the focused, high-quality interactions happening across our school. During session 5, myself and a visiting colleague from Meridian Trust conducted a walkthrough and were impressed to see such a great start to students’ work across all the classrooms we visited.

It was a privilege to step into E33 Explorer with Miss Johnson, E32 Explorer with Miss Barton, E31 Explorer with Miss Buckley, and E31 Pioneer with Miss Wilkinson. We also had the opportunity to spend time with the E30 Ethics group and the E29 Science groups. Across the board, students demonstrated a genuinely great attitude to learning.

One of the most impressive takeaways from the walkthrough was the confident academic language on display. Students are consistently using and applying tier 3 subject-specific vocabulary, confidently using complex terms into their contributions during lessons and in their books.

While the standard was high everywhere, there were a few particular highlights from the session. In E33 Explorer, students were deeply and enthusiastically engaged with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Meanwhile, our Y11 students were seen rising to the occasion, responding brilliantly to high challenge and direct questioning specifically tailored to hone their exam technique.

To help us maintain this excellent momentum, we ask parents and carers to support us with our daily equipment checks. Please ensure your child arrives at school with their iPad and a suitable reading book. Having these essential items ready every day ensures their access to learning is fully supported and allows them to make the most of every lesson.

Year 7 (class of 2033) have had a great start to the academic year!

Our academic year began with a phenomenal immersive experience at Kynren in County Durham. Following a two-hour journey, students walked from the coach through a meticulously recreated Viking village and into an open-air theatre. As smoke rose and a low drone of music echoed through the venue, actors entered the arena. Before long, our students were captivated by a spectacular reenactment of a Viking battle, complete with swords, shields, and flaming weaponry!

Next, the students explored a Victorian-era exhibit, learning about the significant technological advancements of the period. This segment also featured a choreographed sword fight between two actors.

The itinerary continued at a second open-air theatre with a spectacular falconry display. Students observed vultures, owls, eagles, falcons, and parrots in flight across the arena, with some birds swooping thrillingly close to our heads!

Returning to the Viking village, students had the opportunity to interact with historical interpreters playing carpenters, farmers, and blacksmiths, gaining valuable insight into daily Viking life.

This was followed by a theatrical performance depicting folklore and village life, in medieval times, including a dramatic portrayal of a witch casting spells.

The final performance showcased an impressive display of horsemanship and medieval jousting. It was a long, action-packed day, but thoroughly enjoyable for all involved.

Upon returning to the classroom, students spent time reflecting on their experiences and the historical insights gained at Kynren.

On Friday, we revealed the Guiding Question and outlined the expedition plan, setting the stage for the next 12 weeks of our learning journey.

We look forward to seeing our students engage deeply with this expedition and are excited to witness all that they will achieve!

Time is flying past and somehow we are already into week 3. Everyone in crew CBO is back and getting involved with their new expeditions. I thought it would be nice to share some highlights of our 1st week.

We started off getting back into our crew norms and establishing why “crew is so important to our XP core values. We started by setting up our crew board now that we have moved to a smaller room on the top floor of the school. We let off a bit of steam by having a mini sports day where Crew CBO tried to take on the might of the other 3 crews. (we are not well known for our sporting prowess,} but I feel that we did give a good account of ourselves finishing in joint third place.

Day 2 was spent walking for what seemed forever to visit Sandal Beat wood where we were taught how to hunt for beetles and other mini beasts, simple map reading skills and helping to clear some over grown parts of the woods, we then had to make the 1.5 hr walk back again, there were a lot of very tired feet by the time we reached home.

Part 2 to follow

Crew chips made a brilliant start during the first week back.

The pupils made a scarecrow which was showcased in last weekends scarecrow competition in Doncaster

The pupils completed a mini first aid course learning the basics of CPR and how to use defibrillators

The week culminated in fieldwork to the Monsal trail in Bakewell where the students made a start on utilising skills for D of E by reading maps and finding waypoints.

Crew Spencer have made a fantastic start to Year 11 and are settling back into school really well. We’ve enjoyed a walk to Langsett, explored revision techniques to help us succeed in our GCSEs, and got back into the spirit of Crew.

Students produced some fantastic work creating mind maps about how they are going to be successful in Year 11. It has been a brilliant start, and I’m really looking forward to the year ahead!

Miss Dickinson

Find out more and apply here to #JoinOurCrew

https://xptrust.org/were-looking-for-an-amazing-leading-learning-coach-hlta-at-plover-2/

Our Year 7 cohort did a great job of leaving the Outward Bound Centre with no trace, cleaning down their dorms and repacking their own bags. However, there were some items left unclaimed before we left.

These have been shown to students in community meeting and where parents have emailed we have been able to return items. However, we would appreciate your support in reviewing the image below and asking your child to collect items from XP Office if they belong to them.

We will keep this items for another week, then in line with the degunge process in school they will be given to the charity shop.

Thanks for your support.

Year 7 will be studying the History of England as part of their 7.1 Expedition ‘This Land is Your Land’. In support of this, you may wish to visit Conisbrough Castle for their Viking Open Day this Saturday 12th September.

Further information can be found here: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/viking-open-day-conisbrough-castle.html