This week, crew Kahlo had a visit from Rufus. It was lovely to get some fresh air – what a lovely start to the day!
When Rufus came to visit crew Kahlo
Category : Crew EJN Blog
What a busy first couple of weeks crew Kahlo has had in Year 9!
There’s never a dull moment at XP, especially at the beginning of term. We kicked off the new year with an outward bound trip where we went abseiling off a bridge (80ft!) and caving:
On our second day of Year 9, crew took part in a number of fun challenges (working as a crew) in the morning and then played the other Year 9 crews in a bench ball tournament. We ended the day with a community meeting.
On our third day of Year 9 we walked to Potteric Carr nature reserve and then did a ‘Solo’.
When we got back to school, crew prepared for their POL to explain what they had done that week and what they had learnt from it. They worked well as a team to present to their peers and parents.
As you can see – we don’t mess about! We start as we mean to go on here at XP.
Cant quite believe that crew Kahlo are in Year 9 already – bring it on!
Students today and tomorrow who hold prescribed medication at school will be handed back their medication. Students who require medication to be taken at school in the new term 2021/22 will be required to fill in the medication form.
The Google form is required to be filled in and then press send. This then gives staff consent to administer medication and for it to be kept on school premises.
Please ensure Inhalers, Epi-pens and other prescribed medications are sent into school with the child’s name and expiry date clearly visible.
Well, it’s been a busy couple of weeks in crew. We have been working hard and cracking on.
This week, crew Kahlo has been looking at ‘British Values’ as part of our crew curriculum. We have been learning about how British Values teach us tolerance and respect for others.
We even made a display in our crew room.
We then moved onto looking at the difference between weather and climate. Pupils carried out research into causes of climate change.
I wanted to highlight this beautiful work by Bryan and Jessy. For our current Y8 expedition ‘Wherever I Lay my Hat’ where we have been looking at the artist Luke Dixon for inspiration. Pupils have practiced adding lines and patterns to simplified copies of his work and also using a viewfinder to zoom in on details. I don’t know about you, but I think Jessy’s pencil-tone portrait is absolutely amazing! I only asked for a line drawing – but she went for it! We didn’t want to add any lines (like Luke Dixon does) over this drawing – so we have photocopied her work and she is adding lines to a copy so she has not one but two beautiful pieces of work!
On Thursdays, crew Kahlo has started to think about the HoWLs grades that they would give themselves for that week in each subject area and crew. Pupils critiqued each other’s grades and commented on whether they agreed with them or not. This led to loads of discussion about what ‘work hard’ looks like and how they could try and improve their own ‘get smart’ in lessons. It has been really great to have Mr. Challen in crew with us as he has been able to comment on pupils’ work in their maths lessons.
A very productive couple of weeks crew! Keep up the good work.
The Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) school age vaccination team will be visiting XP school shortly to continue the HPV programme for all boys and girls in Year 8 (1st dose) & 9 (2nd dose). Thursday 6th May 2021 is the day allocated. All parent/carers of Year 8 students only should have now received an email with an attached link from your child’s crew leader. It is really important you fill in the form that is attached with the email in the link. This will save time in phone calls being made a week before vaccines in response to whether your child will be having the vaccine or not.
If you have not received the link for the HPV vaccine from your child’s crew leader then please contact them or myself [email protected] requesting the link for the HPV vaccine.
HPV Vaccine Overview
So, we got through our first week back after Lockdown 3.0. It was a tiring week but we made it.
Crew hit off the week with a covid test before they were able to mix with their classmates. They did really well and were really sensible about it.
To end the week, X26 crew leaders thought that it would be good for pupils to blow off a little steam and have a couple of games of dodgeball.
I was really impressed with crew as we didn’t come last! Even though we were two crew members down.
I was particularly impressed with Arthur who was throwing the balls so so far and properly took poor Kolby out at one point! He was a great sportsman and said sorry for the powerful take-out.
I hope Nida won’t mind me sharing this – but I was so happy to receive the following photos of some artwork she has been working on this weekend based on the artist Luke Dixon that we are looking at in Y8 art sessions. Nida always works so hard and has a real talent for drawing. Everything she does is presented so neatly with great care and attention. Absolutely brilliant work Nida!
Fantastic week back crew! Roll on next week.
We made it!
So, we made it crew! A 9-week term online – WOWZER!
It’s been tough, but we have got through it.
There has been some wonderful work produced by crew Kahlo this term and they have worked so so hard and I’m really proud of them.
These last two weeks we have been able to log off lessons and have some time at the end of each school day to do something a little different.
The crew have been….
- Building dens:
- Taking time out to read.
- Meditating and relaxing to music.
- Creating their own perfect playlist of music.
- Taking part in a rainbow photography challenge.
- Following youtube drawing tutorials
- A world book day scavenger hunt
It’s been great to see the crew doing something a little bit different!
For our crew members that have been in school, they have been working off some of their energy by playing badminton, basketball, or busting out some shapes following ‘Just Dance’ routines with their friends. Look at Olivia go!!!
Have a relaxing 2 weeks off crew Kahlo and try to stay off those screens!
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
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
Well, what can I say!? What a strange time we are having to deal with at the moment! I have to say though, that I am a very proud crew leader and I am so impressed with how crew Kahlo has adapted.
We have had to change the way we do crew. We now have a video call every morning to have a catch-up and check-in. One of our check in’s was ‘Crew Kahlo Cuppa’ – where we all went to grab a cuppa to have a chat. As you can see, we have a few Harry Potter fans and one crew member who really loves his mum…can you spot which person that is?
I wanted to upload these photos of crew from just before Christmas. This is from our Christmas Jumper day in school with the fabulous MIss Haythorne!
This photo was taken on the last day before we broke up for Christmas, we had a bonus crew session at the end of the day. The last crew of 2020. It’s going to be weird to look back on these photos in years to come. Hopefully, by that time we won’t have to wear facemasks anymore! (fingers crossed!)
