It is with great pleasure that we can announce our new Crew identity.

Crew MRO will now been known as… (drum roll please)..

After lots of fantastic ideas and loads of great Crew discussions, naming our Crew after the actor and adventurer Brian Blessed seemed the best fit.

We are on the edge of a big announcement regarding our final Crew name!

For those that don’t know, very soon we will be known by a globally influential and recognised persons name. This person, suggested by the members of our Crew will be a representation of who we are and the things we think are important in an inspirational person.

This is a very exciting time for Crew MRO and something we’ve been actively working on since last October. Various stages have been undertaken from initial ideas to important character traits in a person and a closed vote narrowing the suggestions down from 15 to just 3.

Watch this space for the BIG REVEAL in the coming weeks!

There have also been some lovely appreciations to individuals in our Crew and from Crew members recently.

• Hi Mollie, just wanted to say that your work since the start of lockdown has been awesome! – Mrs Goddard
• Hi Liam, just wanted to say that your work in Maths is brilliant, and thanks for your input to the hangout on Wednesday! Excellent Liam! – Mrs Goddard

• I appreciate Mr Robins because he still puts his effort in for us whilst we are not around but glad you got some peace from us.
• I would like to appreciate Mr Robins because when I needed to know my MEG he replied to my email and told me.
• I would appreciate my mum cause she helped me sort everything out with my work and crew hangouts.

Lots of positivity – thank you and well done!

It has certainly be a different term. One we will never forget, but it has also involved the similar qualities as any other term at XP.

• We have shown courage to deal with all the changes and worries within the current situation.
• We have displayed respect for our community by following government guidelines.
• We’ve continued to develop our craftsmanship and maintained our quality of work.
• We have shown compassion to members of our households, loved ones, extended families, our communities and of course the key workers of our country.
• And finally we have shown that integrity is so important. Doing the right thing, even when no-one is watching. Whether that is staying at home when we really want to go out or not Googling the answers while doing a ‘hangout’ quiz!

Here is a little reminder of what we look like as a Crew…

We wish everyone a healthy 2 week break and look forward to the time when we can create an updated Crew photo.

During our Lockdown period we have now had 2 birthdays within our Crew. There are a couple more to come in June, I’m sure these are birthdays they will never forget.

[gview file=”https://cdn.realsmart.co.uk/8fcb5ef6413072ba30cbe25fbf839dfb/uploads/2020/05/06134753/Ebony-S-Bday-Card.pdf”]

[gview file=”https://cdn.realsmart.co.uk/8fcb5ef6413072ba30cbe25fbf839dfb/uploads/2020/05/06134816/Malinas-Bday-Card.pdf”]

Staff have been working incredibly hard to support students and Liam had an appreciation for his Maths teacher…

[gview file=”https://cdn.realsmart.co.uk/8fcb5ef6413072ba30cbe25fbf839dfb/uploads/2020/05/06141547/Liam-to-Mrs-Goddard-Appreciation-Postcard.pdf”]

This week also saw our highest attended Google ‘Hangout’ – Well done Crew!

I won’t go as far as to say we are now used to our ‘new normal’ but we are definitely getting to grips with many of the new ways of doing things!

It’s been great to see all of Crew getting more involved with our Google Classroom and the daily check-ins, the Google ‘Hangouts’ and contacting each other to see how things are.

It feels like we have really re-visited those core values that we hold so dear and of course showing, above all – compassion.

Big ‘shout out’ to the following students in particular…

Also a massive well done to Ebony who completed the 3 Peaks Challenge with her Dad and members of her football team…

Finally as we start new expeditions and head into another week, sometimes it’s the small things that catch our eye in amongst the busy days. This week it was this plant called ‘Bleeding Hearts’ in my garden.

Each week we step it up and achieve more and more as a Crew. Moving forward and making progress is a real achievement in this current situation – Well done Crew MRO!

It’s been a productive week for Crew MRO this week, completing some beautiful work, having a successful Google Hangout, checking in daily and generally just getting on with things in a positive way. Well done Crew.

Here is an example of some of the great work done this week by Ebony…

[gview file=”https://cdn.realsmart.co.uk/8fcb5ef6413072ba30cbe25fbf839dfb/uploads/2020/04/24080050/Ebony-Sheppard-ASSESSMENT-DRAFT-1-PART-1-1.pdf”]

Well done to Liam who has pretty much completed all the work that has been sent to him.

The Crew Google Hangout was fun and Mr Robins is just about getting used to chatting on video calls!

Some interesting check-in comments too this week…

• Would you rather win £1,000,000 as a one off amount OR £50,000 a year for the rest of your life? Why, how would you spend it?

50k cos u don’t have to work for the money and you can pay for your pension easier when u get old

50,000 x 20 = 1,000,000 so you would have to wait 20 years for 1,000,000 but I would still get 50,000

1mill because then if I die I’ve still had chance to spend some of it

I would rather 50,000 Because with my job I will be a millionaire so with the 50,000 I am going to donate it to the air ambulance charity every year

• What have you done as an act of kindness for someone in the last few weeks (since we’ve been at home, no matter how small)?

I emptied the dishwasher

i’m forced to empty the dishwasher whenever its done… anyway i helped making dinner

Cheered my best mate up

I set up the dinner table for my family

• Where will be one of the first places you will go or visit (other than school) when the lockdown ends?

Toby Carvery for a breakfast

Maldives because we couldn’t go in July

Well done Crew, a great week with lots achieved. Keep it up and stay safe.

After 3 weeks of ‘lockdown’ and now are further 3 weeks to come this has been a challenging week for us all. I think the artist Charlie Mackesy sums it up perfectly in his piece above.

It has been great to continue to check-in daily with Crew and see their comments to a range of questions.

How do you feel today and why?

Mollie – Alright because I woke up later

Liam – Warm because its warm

Which Harry Potter character would you be and why?