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The XP Trust is a family of schools that deeply connects with and makes a positive difference to the communities we serve

Our students work hard to craft high quality products that have an impact on the world around them

Their work lives in the heart of our communities - hospitals, parks, museums and beyond

At XP, our beautiful work isn’t contained within the classroom walls - we wanna be with you everywhere.

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Each year thousands of students from the EL Education network take action on Better World Day to co-create a better world in partnership with their local communities, connect with each other, and celebrate meaningful student work.

It’s a day where we get to experience school the way our students do every day: as a place where learning is the key to changing the world.

Here’s how our schools in the XP Trust have contributed to EL’s Better World Day
through activism, beautiful work and acts of kindness.

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It's been a wonderful first week back at XP, XP East and Green Top! We've welcomed back familiar faces and been lucky enough to get to know some new ones, too! These are challenging times, but we continue to move forward together as one #Crew - we're already looking forward to another week of #ComingBackStronger.

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This video is private.

Book Launch Evening

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An original song written and recorded by Year 3 and 4 students across the XP Trust to raise money for the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation

DONATE AND DOWNLOAD THE SONG HERE!

https://childrenofxptrust.bandcamp.com/album/dear-world

The story behind the song...

In the Spring of 2022, year 3 and 4 pupils from Primary Schools
across XP Trust studied a cross-curricular expedition, ‘What a
Wonderful World’ looking to answer the guiding question,
‘Why should we protect our beautiful planet?’

We undertook our expedition with the
underlying purpose of highlighting, at
first to our children, and then the wider
community the environmental problems
that we are faced with, specifically the
impact of greenhouse gases on the melting
of polar ice caps and rising sea levels.

We did this through focusing on an area
of the world known as Svalboard, which
is also the town where the core text is set.
This part of the world has suffered the
greatest temperature rise of anywhere
else on the planet: a 6 degree rise in the
last 100 years and 4 degree rise in the last
30 years.

To provide context and develop background
knowledge, the first case studied centred
around geography, locating Svalbard
and comparing the two different localities
focusing on geographical and
meteorological differences, specifically
topographical features as well as comparing
the climate of both areas.

The second case study focused on the
dramatic effect that greenhouse gases has
on global warming and the impact it has
had throughout the world but specifically
focusing on the polar regions. Here, children
examined many sources of data from
scientific reports on air pollution to graphs
and tables monitoring arctic ocean sea
levels. From this, children then developed
their understanding of climate change and
the negative impact of humankind on it.

To provide context of abstract ideas such
as global warming, children undertook
scientific experiments such as observing
and recording ice under different
temperatures as well as examining the
different effects of having a thermometer
in a closed container opposed to an
exposed one. The second case study
culminated in the children exploring
magnetism and how that can help with
recycling. A trip to a recycling centre
brought this understanding to life for
our children.

The fi nal case study tied together all the
children’s learning from the previous case
studies and provided a platform to write
their own lyrics to a Trust XP charity single.
Here, they worked with experts on
songwriting and drew on their learning from
the literacy cycle that had a focus on poetry
- using rhymes to construct rhythmic and
melodic compositions.

During this time, the children evaluated and
appreciated music throughout the decades
to develop their understanding of melodies,
lyrics and composition. Furthermore, they
had the opportunity to create music in a
class composition, using body percussion
to represent a rainstorm and drawing
on reused plastic materials to create
the sounds.

Finally, the children wrote their own verses
to the chosen melody which resulted in
them singing from memory with accurate
pitch, singing in tune and performing with
control and an awareness of others.

Prior to the celebration of learning, all four
primary schools came together at XP East
to perfom and record the song with our
experts, Geoff Hewitt and Alex Byard-Cooke.
The children stood on the steps of the
school’s auditorium and sang both together
and as individual schools. This allowed us to
capture footage for the music video that was
produced alongside the product by XPT
Comms Crew.

The schools then hosted their own
celebration of learning by inviting families
to come together and listen to the children
performing the single. Children articulated
the journey of the expedition and presented
key learning outcomes as well. Families were
then given the opportunity to purchase or
download the single and all proceeds were
donated to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Foundation – a charity selected by the
children and with whom we collaborated
throughout the expedition.

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Our Expeditions 19-20

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The Journey of All Together Now

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'Should I Stay or Should I Go' is a film created by Year 8 students at XP & XP East schools over a number of weeks in the Autumn of 2019. Working with the support of the Doncaster charity the Conversation Club and the people they help, the film is about migration and the stories that deserve to be told.

https://xptrust

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What are SLC's?

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The Assessment Process at XP

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XP School in Doncaster is by no means an ordinary school. At XP, the focus is on character growth and creating beautiful work that has a place in the real world.

Students learn via a series of cross curricular expeditions which can might include activities such as an outward bound trip, interviewing older local people for a history project or working with a local charity. Not only does this make learning more engaging for youngsters, it puts lessons in the context of the real world and helps them develop the skills they’ll need in the workplace and beyond.

XP believe that by ‘working hard, getting smart and being kind’ students can achieve academically. So it seems to be true. This year, in their first set of GCSE results since its foundation, XP students scored half a grade higher than the national average in the subjects taught via expeditions. They have been judged by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ in every category.

However, while the ethos at XP is for students to have the confidence and resilience to be ambitious, high exam grades are seen as a consequence of making beautiful work, not a goal in itself.

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Chief Academic Officer Andy Sprakes gives an ignite speech at the Whole Education stand out schools visit to XP School.

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Teachers like Andy and Gwyn are setting up new schools across the country. If you’ve ever thought of starting a school of your own, read our free guide and see how we can help you: http://www.newschoolsnetwork.org/setting-up-a-new-school-teachers

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Principal Andy Sprakes and Teacher Martin Said talk about using realsmart as the vehicle to showcase beautiful work at XP School.

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Free schools are new independent state schools. Charities, groups of teachers, existing schools and parents can set up these new schools if they can prove that they are needed and wanted by a local community. Free schools are set up for many different reasons so New Schools Network followed six as they got ready to open for the first time this September. This is the story of XP...

Based on successful schools in the United States, this free school is bringing new ways of learning to the UK education system. Expeditionary Learning, which is based on the idea that pupils learn best by completing challenging ‘expeditions’, has been popular in the United States for over 30 years and has been praised by Barack Obama for its success. But it hasn’t been an option in the UK, until now.

XP School is a new secondary school in Doncaster which was started by a group of local teachers and parents. It’s using its freedoms as a free school to pioneer an Expeditionary Learning style curriculum, which is based around pupils completing challenging projects, or learning expeditions, that cross over different subjects. In the school’s first year this means expeditions which include, for example, looking at the site where the school’s permanent building will eventually be located or working with local partners to think about what makes a good community.

Community is an important theme for the school, which aims to involve the talents of local people in all of its expeditions and is currently housed in a wing of Doncaster Rovers’ football stadium.
Doncaster is certainly an area where new thinking in education is needed – currently around 70% of its secondary schools are rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted – and XP School is offering its pupils to the chance to do things very differently, including by starting their school year in the wilds of Wales!

NSN followed XP School as it got ready to open its doors for the first time in September 2014. This is their story...

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