Our first University of Cambridge visit!

The beautiful Homerton College!

XP’s first ever visit to the University of Cambridge took place just prior to half term as a follow on activity after presentations delivered in school. Places were fully funded by the University of Cambridge, and we are very grateful to them for this opportunity. All pupils on this visit completed a written application to Phase Leads outlining their suitability for the visit and only the most detailed and carefully crafted applications were successful. This provided pupils with a valuable opportunity for self reflection. 

Despite the early departure of 6.30am, everyone arrived at school on time and in high spirits. We shared the coach with other schools from the Yorkshire region, which provided opportunities to make new similarly minded connections. 

We were hosted by Homerton College where we were able to look around the student accommodation and enjoyed lunch in the main dining room. The student guides who showed us around were Doncaster expats, which we really appreciated. It helped our XP pupils realise that Cambridge is a university destination for Northerners too! Pupils chose to attend either a history lecture about the Elizabethans or a STEM lecture about cancer research. This was a great opportunity for pupils to experience university teaching and many were confident to question the lecturers further about their work. Some of us even got to meet (and speak to) Simon, the principal at Homerton College!

We enjoyed a guided tour of the city centre where we admired the architecture of the various colleges, watched students punting on the river and noticed landmarks such as the Corpus Clock. Pupils also enjoyed spotting their favourite shops and takeaways (essential aspects of student life!) 

Everyone returned home tired after a long day but feeling it was worth it. Staff would like to appreciate all pupils for their great company and conduct throughout the day – what a wonderful day we had!

Miss Cross, Mrs Parker & Miss Cocliff x

C25 (Y10) – WHAT A WEEK!

We had the pleasure of holding our Y10 Awesomeness community meeting this week – and what a week it’s been for Year 10!

It took us AGES to get through all of the appreciations, along with a bit of a ‘cultural reset’ focusing on apologies and stands this week, too. Some Y10s showed great courage and integrity!

Check out the masses of praise postcards below – a special shout out to this week’s crew superstars!

We’re proud of you, C26!

Miss Cocliff & Mrs Parker x

Crew Kahlo putting the hours in at home

I wanted to show some pieces of work that Olivia, Jessy and Nida have been working on at home.

All three girls have really impressed me with their work ethic and are showing how they ‘Get Smart’.

Olivias Hums work:

Jessy’s artwork:

Nida’s artwork:

X26 (Y10) Maths Moguls!

A super shout out today for Nida & Oscar S in Maths – they produced some fantastic work and strengthened their knowledge about factorisation. Look at how beautiful Nida’s book looks – amazing Craftsmanship & Quality!

I was mightily impressed by Admiral today – additional ‘well done’s’ to Shaurya & Kolby, Lucy & Rebecca, & Liam!

Keep up the great work, Admiral!

Miss Cocliff x

X26 – Year 10 – Smashing it!

X26 have come back to school with a sterling attitude! Most students are already working hard, getting smart and being kind every single session!

This morning’s community meeting highlighted the good stuff going on – along with a few reminders from our behaviour policy. We have incredibly high expectations, because we see every day how amazing X26 are!

Take a look below at the reminders and the praises highlighted this week 🙂

Great work, guys!

Miss Cocliff x

Crew Kahlo at the end of Year 9

As they are coming to the end of Year 9, crew has been reflecting on their year. When thinking about their journey throughout the year, here are some of their highlights.

They have been looking at their HoWLs and AP grades from the last data drop. They have then made pledges each week to focus on small changes they can make to try and improve. Crew holds each other to account during this process, discussing whether they think they have been successful in achieving their pledges.

They have finished their second expedition of the year called ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ by creating beautiful work. They looked at Islamic tiles and then used rotational symmetry to design their own patterns to paint with acrylic paint.

Here are some examples from Crew Kahlo:

 

Crew also chose their options for ‘Leading Our Own Learning’ that they will be studying next year. The crew has picked a range of options such as Engineering, Citizenship, Psychology, Further maths, ICT / Computing as well as some members of the crew decided to take up the opportunity to join the ‘pushing for 4’ group that will support them with Maths, English, and Science leading up to their exams.

They cant really believe that they are coming to the end of Year 9 and going into Year 10!

Today students aged 12 in Year 7 and all students in Year 8 and Year 9 were given information letters and a consent form for the Covid Vaccine. These students are able to have a Covid Vaccine on Monday 27th September.  Please could parents read the information letter and return the consent form back to school by Thursday 23rd September.  If a student is not having the vaccine, this can be indicated on the consent form and returned, please.