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Dear Parents / carers of Y7 students at XP.
We have been advised by Public Health England that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the Y7 Year bubble.
The student tested positive over the weekend, and was not in school on Friday.
We have followed the national guidance and have identified that your child has potentially been in close contact with the affected student as they are a member of the Y7 XP year bubble. In line with the national guidance your child should now stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days.
We are asking you to do this to reduce the further spread of COVID 19 to others in the community.
If your child is well and does not have any Covid-19 related symptoms at the end of the 14 day period of self-isolation they can return to usual activities on Monday 7th December.
Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the 14 day self-isolation period.
We will now move to an online educational provision as shown below – this has proved to be highly effective in supporting students in other year bubble closures as engagement rates have regularly been above 95%:
We wish the student and his family the very best for a quick return to good health.
Best wishes everyone.
Jamie Portman (Principal of XP and XP East)
In light of the announcement concerning the closure of the Y8/X26 & Y9/X25 year bubble at XP the following arrangements have been made to support students whilst working at home:
We have been advised by Public Health England that a member of staff has tested positive for Covid19. The person had symptoms on Sunday 15th November, and the result came through today whilst isolating.
PHE explained to me that a person is infectious 2 days before the onset of symptoms.
We have followed the national guidance and have identified that some students at XP school in X26/Y8 and X25/Y9 have potentially been in close contact with the affected teacher. In line with the national guidance your child should now stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days.
We are asking you to do this to reduce the further spread of COVID 19 to others in the community.
If your child is well and does not have any Covid-19 related symptoms at the end of the 14 day period of self-isolation they can return to usual activities on TUESDAY 1st December (due to the planned Staff Day).
Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the 14 day self-isolation period.
We will now move to an online educational provision and details of this will be available on our school website tomorrow morning. Teachers will teach their classes live via Google Hangout and students will be set specific tasks to do during the school day.
All other year groups at XP School will remain open.
After speaking with the member of staff today, I understand that despite feeling unwell the teacher is not in too much discomfort.
We look forward to having our students back in school on TUESDAY 1st December.
Best wishes everyone.
Jamie Portman (Principal of XP and XP East)
I can confirm that a member of the kitchen staff at XP tested positive today for Covid19. The member of staff was in school this week, except Friday.
The XP kitchen will close, and the XP kitchen team will isolate for 14 days.
The XP kitchen area will be inaccessible for 72 hours, reopening on Wednesday. Food will be prepared and cooked at the XP East kitchen and transported across to XP. The catering company will be sending us additional staff to support our provision. Due to the challenges surrounding this, we will only be able to provide a Deli menu for next week which includes: cold/hot sandwiches, baguettes, pasta dishes, noodle dishes, jacket potatoes and a range of deserts.
This case was referred to a specialist consultant on infectious diseases at Public Health Doncaster who I spoke to this afternoon. He explained to me that no further action is required because I was able to confirm that:
– the member of staff used PPE (face mask) when serving food as per protocol
– the member of staff washed their hands with anti-bacterial gel before serving food as per protocol
– students and staff wear face masks when stood in the dinner queue
– students and staff passed by the member of staff very quickly, and over a distance of 1 metre when serving food
I understand that the member of Kitchen staff is feeling a little bit under the weather, but other than that is doing well.
As ever, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us should you have any questions.
Best wishes, Jamie Portman (Principal of XP and XP East)
Find out more here!
Just a quick reminder that D6 is on tomorrow as normal despite the staff days. Look forward to seeing you all there!
We’re all very aware of the financial impact the various lockdown/tier 3 restrictions have had on our community, especially on those who have been furloughed or are self employed and unable to work. So, in addition to the staple non-perishable items (cereals; tinned and packeted foods; tea/coffee/juice) we are specifically asking for donations of those ‘treat’ items that some families may have to go without this year.
For example:
If you are able to contribute, please can you send items in to be passed on to your child’s Crew Leader by Monday 15th December.
The hampers will be donated to St John The Evangelist Church in Balby and The Trussell Trust at Christ Church during the last week of term.
Thank you in advance for your generosity and support.
Mrs Mawby, Miss Cocliff, Mrs Batty, Mrs Collinson and Miss Wilmot (Crew Leaders Year 10)
in Thursday crew sessions over the last couple of weeks, Hahn have been looking at their Habits of work and Learning (HoWLS). This forms part of our Narrative for success, together with attendance and academic progress. (Academic progress data will be out early December).
Our HoWLS (Habits of work & learning) are:
Work Hard:
I arrive for each class on time and prepared
I participate fully and mindfully in class
I complete all work in a timely manner to the best of my ability
Get Smart:
I take responsibility for my learning by asking questions and seeking help when needed.
I assess my work based on established criteria and rubrics
I welcome feedback and revise my work
Be Kind:
I communicate politely and kindly
I work cooperatively with others
I take care of resources and materials and act as a steward of our community
Teachers and crew leaders assess students on their HoWLS at specific times during the academic year and are graded between 1 to 4.5.
Less than 2.5 is Serious
Between 2.5 – 2.9 is a Concern
Between 3 – 3.4 is ok / secure
Between 3.5 – 3.9 is Great
And 4 and over is Awesome
Students should be achieving at least a 3!
This data is then analysed by students during crew so they can identify areas of success that can be celebrated and areas that need to be improved on. By doing this students take accountability and ownership of their learning.
When students have analysed their data they make pledges on what they are going to improve on. This is then supported by a crew leader pledge of how we can support them further.
We will be checking in weekly with our Pledges to really hold each other to account. at the moment our overall average HoWls are between 3.0 and 3.2. There are a few people in crew who can really make a difference in helping to bring our average up to a 3.5 and there are some who are already achieving this as individuals so well done to them!
we have made pledges as a crew before, however we have not regularly looked over them so they have often slipped or not actually improved. As it says in the name, HABITS of work and learning….. if we want to improve on this we need it to become habit and for habits to form we need to keep practicing and returning to it over and over again.
This is my pledge as crew leader:
to return to pledges and HowLS every Thursday to reinforce our habits to support my crew to work harder, get smarter and continue to be kind.
Our pledges will be displayed in our crew room and students will be sending a copy out to parents soon, however you can ask to see your child’s as they have access to them on their devices.
If you have any questions about HoWLS or anything else please feel free to email me.
Best wishes,
Kate
XP16 Lead
Hahn Crew Leader
XP Trust Outdoor Expedition Lead
This morning Crew Earhart (albeit a smaller version) worked hard to reflect on their HOWLs and think about their pledges. I must say how impressed I was by students’ ability to look back on their HOWLs, along with their productivity in sessions, and be totally honest about how they need to improve. Well done Crew.
Tomorrow is FINALLY the day I can return to work after having to self isolate for 8 days; the longest I’ve been away from Crew!
As a crew, we would like to say a HUGE thank you to Mrs Johnson for stepping in whilst I joined Crew on hangout from home. And a personal thank you to Charlie – who has made sure I’m able to join crew, organised everything that needs organising, and has just in general been a great deputy crew leader. I wasn’t joking about getting you a badge! 😉
It seems Crew Macmillan have still been flying the flag around school whilst I’ve been working from home, which is evidenced by the data on the praise form. Take a look at our figures so far – I’m so glad you’ve carried on being just as amazing, you have all done me, yourselves, and crew really proud!
Alfie, 60 praise entries is unbelievable. Frankie, 50!? INSANE. The fact that we have EVERYONE in crew with over 15 praise entries blows my mind – remember, praises are entered when students go above and beyond expectations in sessions, whether that relates to working hard, getting smart, being kind, or compassionate, or respectful, or showing brilliant craftsmanship and quality; it does get noticed! Let’s make it our mission for ALL of Crew to reach at least 25 praise entries by Christmas!
I can’t wait to be back with crew and give you more updates in the upcoming couple of weeks.
Remember this Friday and Monday (27th and 30th November) are staff days, so students won’t be in school; crew, make sure you’re caught up on any outstanding work; our focus as a crew is going to be on handing in all extended study on time!
Keep working hard. You’re incredible humans!
Miss C x
¡Hola amigos!
Ever been to Spain or a Spanish speaking country? Would you like to learn some Spanish? Well, Year 8 at XP and XP East have created some beautiful work to help you out!
Students have been learning to describe their morning routine, and how to explain when or where they do something in our expedition “La rutina”. They also recorded their work in Spanish and English, to help you follow the words through sound. Take a look at their very first product!
Inspired? Then use the slides to create your own storyboard, it would be amazing for Year 8 to enjoy and critique your work too!
Crew Berger have been focussing again on revision tasks. A couple of weeks ago we started a programme of revision inspired by Mrs Sprakes work last year with crew Bronte.
Each member of our crew selected an area of study that they were comfortable with and pledged to create some revision materials based on that. We gave ourselves two weeks to get it started and this week we presented our work.
Abi worked on the Vikings and shared several pages of notes that she’d made on Viking society. Joe found and shared a sample Maths question and Henry produced some notes on Cell Biology, looking at cell structure and moving into DNA.
Rex and Laura also worked on Biology – producing flashcards on Hormones and Menstruation. Laura went down the more traditional route of writing hers out on cards and then taking photos so she could share them. Rex used an app to create his flashcards which allows you to see how long you’ve spent studying each one.
Laura also produced some character notes for one of our English texts – An Inspector Calls, and Khushi worked on flashcards for characters in Macbeth. We enjoyed testing each other on these – can you remember who Fleance is!?
Jac decided to focus on Physics and, although he is doing the higher tier papers, he produced foundation study material to help others in crew. His worked examples of answers on volume, density, electricity and other topics are beautifully presented and explained.
We’ve pledged to continue to produce this revision material and to make it public over the coming months leading up to the exams in summer next year. We’re also pledging to put together a website so that our work can be made available to other crews and other students hoping to do well in their GCSEs.
The ladies from the Big Talk Education will be in talking to students about Relationships and Sex Education on the 20th and 26th November. Each Year groups will have their own separate sessions.
They will be focusing on:
If you have further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
Mrs Vayro
This term our Wise Wednesday crew sessions are focusing on how we can support our own mental well being.
Some students may feel that this will be of no benefit to them, that they feel absolutely fine, don’t need any help or techniques to help with their mental well being…
However what if we think ahead and create a tool kit of supportive strategies now, before problems like anxiety, depression, isolation, and other life pressures hit us. Hopefully, if or when any of these problems arise we are already equipped to deal with them.
Like anything, these techniques need to be practised to get the true benefit from them. By becoming familiar with them sooner rather than later, will make it easier to engage in them when things get tough.
This weeks session was the BODY SCAN. A body scan is a type of meditation whereby you mentally scan yourself from head to toe. You are bringing awareness to every single part of your body, noticing any aches, pains, tension, or general discomfort. Staying present and breathing into these sensations can help bring relief to our minds and bodies.
Our learning target was: I can identify the benefits to my mental health through taking part in a form of relaxation technique called a body scan.
As expected not everyone felt an immediate positive impact from it. As crew Hahn had already done this last term, we tried an alternative type of scan where we focus on contracting our muscles before relaxing them which helps to identify what it actually feels like for certain areas of our body to be relaxed. For example when we are stressed we naturally tense our shoulders and neck so sometimes we might think we are relaxed when actually we are not.
As i previously said, not everyone will feel its benefits after doing it once or twice. For people who haven’t done anything like this before it can seem very odd lying on the floor next to your mate concentrating on parts of the body and your breathing. Hopefully though, if and when students are experiencing difficulty such as poor sleep or if they are feeling overwhelmed with anxiety they can look back to these session and have a go.
Why not have a try at this yourself? There are loads of body scan meditations on the internet. Here is a link to a headspace.com body scan free trial, why not give it a try yourself…….
This week Year 10 have been working hard to meet the Learning Target “I can identify and articulate a simple agreement / disagreement of school rules”. The most interesting one was “Tienes que llevar una mascarilla” (You have to wear a mask!). Here they are grappling with a Gallery Walk protocol, matching the school rules with the appropriate picture.
