Focus on checking in, communicating and connecting

With everything that is going on around us at the moment, it can sometimes be difficult to remember the most important stuff…. connecting, interacting, and looking after one another.

If you ask any member of crew Kahlo they will probably say that I say the same things over and over again like a broken record – but hopefully, they listen when I say (almost every morning)

‘Email me if you need me, let me know if there is anything wrong’

I say it because I mean it. I always tell them that I can’t help them unless they let me know what is the matter. That goes for all pupils at XP. Every single member of our staff wants each pupil to be safe and happy and will always be there if and when needed.

This is one of the reasons why each morning during our crew sessions we have a ‘check-in’, where each pupil is asked to share their thoughts in some way. I don’t know about other crews, but our check-ins ALWAYS spark some kind of discussion, debate, or even just an opportunity for us to have a bit of a laugh.

Here are some examples of our crew check-ins during lockdown 3.0:

 

Some of our check-ins provoke insightful and interesting revelations and others just make it very clear that crew Kahlo is a special little bunch who I fit in with perfectly.

My crew knows how much I love a cat meme.

Stay safe

Miss Jones

Hi all,

Here is a rundown of some of the beautiful artwork that has been produced by our wonderful XP and XPE students during lockdown 3.0.

As a team, we have been blown away by the effort and resilience that our pupils are showing.

I hope you enjoy having a flick through their work as much as we have.

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On Friday, I had the pleasure of hosting our weekly community meeting for X26. I wanted to take the opportunity to speak to my crew and their peers about seeing the positives in life at the moment.

I started our online hangout by asking pupils to have a think about what this quote means:

One of the explanations from a student was ‘When you’re unhappy you don’t feel like doing anything but when you’re more positive you have more energy and you’re happier ‘. I have to say that I agree with this. 

I described my own feelings about lockdown 3.0 and the fact that we are working in a very different way. We are all going to have good days and bad days but we must remind ourselves of the positives.

It’s very easy to think negatively about ourselves, about a situation, or about an event that has happened or is about to happen. However, it’s really important that we find positive thoughts to keep us happy and feeling good. 

Finding the positives isn’t easy and is a skill that we definitely have to work on.

Last week, I asked all the teachers of Year 8 to give me some feedback about how pupils are getting on with their online learning.

I was so impressed and it genuinely gave me a warm fuzzy feeling being able to share this feedback with X26 and especially crew Kahlo.

Look at this lot!

#wearecrew

Our last week as crew EJN

This week, crew EJN have been working on their crew name presentations that they will be showing Miss Robinson next week during their weekly crew hangout.

Crew have a few ideas about who they would like to be named after and why:

Crew have also been busy completing their home learning, creating some beautiful work.

These are for the nature page for their visual diaries:

 

Positive and motivational quotes for their visual diaries:

In other news, Olivia has been swimming in a river!!!

…and Jessy has a new dog called Callie.

We are back to school for a new term. Back to home learning and trying our best – having good days and bad days and just trying to get through and stay safe.

Crew EJN were ready for a break and a little time off last week. Luckily the weather was absolutely stunning!

This is what crew got up to:

Arthur went on lots of walks, met his grandad and took Dotty the dog for a walk and play. He had his first KFC in months (Its was delicious!) He went to Birkin fisheries for ice cream and a picnic and he saw lots and lots of ducklings. He also made a bug hotel for his garden by cutting lots of bamboo up and putting twigs around an old pop bottle in a plant pot. He also painted a pebble to say thankyou to the NHS. 

Brandan went to Cleethorpes for the day (social distancing of course) and sat and played on the beach. He also went to his sisters for the day where they had a new pool and a 7ft dinosaur sprinkler called Dino.

Tammy built a bird table and found an old colouring book to colour in. 

As well as being out in the sunshine, crew were still keeping busy with their home learning tasks.

Max has created some lovely artwork based on the artist Kandinsky

Crew EJN have also made a cracking start on their Visual Dairies for their new expedition called ‘Above all, compassion’. Here are their front covers

Im really proud of crew EJN and all their hard work. They have enjoyed their holiday and have got back to working hard with their home learning!

Well done crew!

Crew EJN being creative!

Crew EJN have produced some beautiful work based on the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky during lockdown.

By Nida

By Tammy

By Bryan

By Arthur

By Jessy

By Olivia

They have also started their new expedition ‘Above all, compassion’ off with a bang by designing a storyboard to show the environmental changes during ‘The Lorax’.

By Harrison

By Arthur

By Jessy

There is a website that has been created especially for this expedition to help pupils find the tasks that they need to complete and to give them extra guidance. The link for the website is here.

Keep up the good work crew and remember that I want you to concentrate on the most recently set tasks on google classroom and try to meet your deadlines. If you fell behind with the work from the beginning of lock down – that needs to be done after you finish the new work.

Take care and stay safe!