C26 Celebrations – WOW!!!!

28th February 2024Melissa Cocliff

What. A. Morning!!!!! We had the pleasure this morning of sharing over 40 praise postcards for our wonderful Y11s, written by staff. We also had in-person appreciations from crew leaders and teachers who had made themselves available to join us!

As you read the postcards, you’ll get a feel for how hard Y11 are working, and how impressed we really are. As phase leads, these brought us to tears, actually – we are so proud of C26 and of how far they’ve come.

There’s also a really powerful message at the end from Jurgen Klopp – take this away from football, and apply it to Y11. We’ll get through the tough times together, as crew! ❤️

Keep going, Y11. You’ll achieve amazing things!

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X26’s Visit to Huddersfield University

26th February 2024Melissa Cocliff

No punchy title this time… but it was an awesome day out at Huddersfield University!

On Friday, we had the opportunity to take our incredible Y11’s to visit the campus at Huddersfield. During the visit, we were greeted with a number of smiley student ambassadors who had given up their time to work with us and share their stories, we took part in an ‘A-Z of courses’ quiz (although, as a team, staff were cheated out of the prizes… it was definitely a fix!!!). There was some surprise at finding there are over 40,000 higher education courses to choose from, and most people thought the accommodation with free gym membership and transport looked like a bargain!

Following this, an informative lecture about Nazi Germany gave pupils the opportunity to interact with an expert about a key element of their GCSE study. Their history teacher would have been very proud to hear the pupils forming convincing arguments about Nazi propaganda and the other factors that played a part in Hitler’s rise to power. Their ability to confidently draw on their background knowledge to deal with new source material was impressive.

We then spent some time in a workshop on budgeting (I think I learned the most here!!) and after lunch, we were taken on a tour of campus and saw some mind-blowing facilities. Here, we saw a state of the art Gym (Kolby was super impressed!), tech-y biomedical science labs, a HUGE library, an old mill conversion, a 350-seat lecture theatre, and a ‘hospital set up’ where student nurses were expected to take care of £45,000 mannequins – who acted as if they were real hospital patients. What a night shift that would be!

Pupils also had plenty of opportunity to quiz the student ambassadors about student life. Questions such as “‘what happens if you fail or don’t do well in a module, can you resit?” and “how many lectures do you have each week?” kept the ambassadors on their toes… they all expected questions about how often they could party! Everyone was very impressed with the facilities and one person said they were ‘mesmerised’ by the scenic working canal and locks running through the middle of campus. We even rated them 4.8/5 stars for the day overall!

All in all, each member of Y11 needs to be appreciated for their impeccable conduct throughout the day. Ambassadors commented on how ‘down to earth’ and respectful our students were during the day. We hope you all got a lot out of the visit – we certainly LOVED the day with X26. What phenomenal humans you really are!

Miss Cocliff, Ms. Cross, Mrs Burnitt & Mr Elliott x

A ‘Wheel-y’ good time at Wabtec for Y11!

26th February 2024Melissa Cocliff

…get it? Train wheels?!

This week saw Y11 visit WABTEC Rail, the former site of the Doncaster Plant Works. As part of component 2 for their exam (History Around Us), students have been studying The Doncaster Plant Works.

We got to see the work shops where the famous ‘Flying Scotsman’ was built as well as the ‘Mallard’, which still holds the world record for the fastest steam locomotive. We got to see some original workshops, some new workshops… and some that have changed, but the structures still remain as they are listed buildings! The visit also helped us to understand the significance of the site, not only locally, but also nationally – Doncaster was put on the map because of it’s rich coal seams, and perfect geographical location to ship this out country-wide!

We discussed how the site has changed over time and why; the sites turning points in history; its significance both locally; nationally and internationally; as well as looking for historical evidence. We noticed the HUGE windows to let in natural light, the tall workshops to allow locomotives to be brought in, and lots of suspended cranes to work on the top of the locomotives! The workers were so knowledgable about the site over time, too, which will really support Y11’s studies!

X26’s conduct was impeccable, with workers at WABTEC commenting on how impressed they were with student’s knowledge, respect, and questioning!

Ben and Alex even got to have a go at tightening up some huge ‘bogeys’ (where axels attach on the underneath of a train)… maybe an apprenticeship is on the cards! Awesome work, Y11. We’re super impressed!

Miss Cocliff, Mrs Hannam, Mrs Batty, Mrs Burnitt & Mrs Pulham x

Christmas Jumper Day – Thursday 7th December

13th November 2023Miss Jones

I know it’s November – but I wanted to let you know so you have the time to get organised (and buy a Christmas jumper if you wanted to)

XP & XPE will be celebrating Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 7th December and asking pupils to bring in a donation that will go to the charity ‘Save the Children’

Christmas dinner will also be served at both schools on this day.

Thanks

Miss Jones

Year 11 (C26)’s SLC Window!

13th November 2023Melissa Cocliff

Student Led Conferences are vital to our work. They put our students in charge of sharing information about their academic progress with their families. In the words of expeditionary learning guru Ron Berger, “Student Led Conferences require and empower students to take the lead role in communicating their learning” – in other words, our students know they have to be responsible for their learning and progress, and they must be able to explain to their families where they are at, and where they are heading!


As per our Y11 calendar, our Y11 SLC window opens from next week (20th November 2023) and runs for two weeks. This window follows the marking and feedback of mock exams, and so all students will own their data and know where they are currently at. Year 11 will start to prepare for these SLCs from tomorrow morning.

Students will reflect on their mock grades and predicted grades in these upcoming Student Led Conferences. The timing of the SLC will allow students to consider any personal pledges that they need to make in advance of the next round of mock exams, which take place in February.


Please keep an eye out for available slots from Crew Leaders, which will be sent out this week. This may be done via Sign Up Genius – Slots will be available both after school and within school hours.

Best,

Miss Cocliff

Celebrations in X26 (Y11) & X27 (Y10)

12th October 2023Melissa Cocliff

We had SO many things to celebrate in our final KS4 community meeting of this half term!

From incredible amounts of praise points, to students identifying others working hard across sessions… and outstanding acts of kindness, we had SO many postcards to share from staff too!

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See below some of the awesome things happening this term in Y10 & 11 – they’ve come back with a bang and done themselves SO proud!

Have a fabulous half term,

Miss Cocliff x

UNBELIEVABLE work from KS4!

14th September 2023Melissa Cocliff

I’ve had the pleasure of spending a little more time in sessions this week with Y10 & Y11 – and I’ve seen some absolutely phenomenal work from X26 & X27!

X26 have had an amazing week across all sessions. Admiral smashed it out of the park in Miss Buckley’s English session – some incredible contributions from Max, and who knew Kolby could analyse poetry in so much detail?! Skipper have been brilliant this week too, especially in history – I’m hearing SO many positive comments about Y11 and their hard work!

We’ve launched Learning Labs this week, too – attendance at this has blown us away – I think for English, 80/100 students attended. These run on a 5 week cycle, so every session will help Y11 to get smart and achieve their potential. AMAZING!

In science this week, you could hear a pin drop as X27 Skipper focused so much with Mr Morrison on the work they were completing about atomic structure – not an easy topic – but every single student in there showed incredible respect – for each other and their learning environment! A special shout out this week to Noah, Billy and Nadia B – who have been absolutely brilliant in EVERY. SINGLE. SESSION. Keep it up!

With so much fantastic work going on, it’s no wonder X26 have earned a collective 226 praise points this term… but X27 are racing ahead with a collective 561 praise points. WOW!!!!

Keep showing everyone how wonderful we really are in Y10 & 11!!!

Miss Cocliff x

Crew Kahlo’s second week in Year 11

6th September 2023Miss Jones

During crew at the beginning of the second week, I asked members of crew Kahlo to share a quote that meant something to them. We then discussed how each quote could relate to the year ahead of them – in the run up to their GCSE’s.

Here are the quotes that crew chose:

Harrison – ‘Strive not to be a success but rather to be of value‘ by Albert Einstein

We linked this to the character traits that we value here are XP – how its important to be successful academically but also really important to be a good (well rounded) person.

Arthur – ‘Believe in yourself and you’re half way there‘

We discussed how it is really important that you believe in your abilities in school and to stop doubting yourself. Saying that you can’t do something is not very helpful and its important that everyone tries their best – especially in Year 11!

Kearan – ‘Nothing is certain except death and taxes‘ by Benjamin Franklin

Kearan chose this to show that you can’t predict anything – nothing is certain in life (apart from death and taxes). Linking to the fact that GCSE’s are defiantly going to be happening for Y11 – but lots of twists and turns and ups and downs might happen in the run up to them – we just don’t know! (But that’s why crew is important)

Max – ‘Don’t exist, live‘

Max is a very positive person who likes to push himself (especially in the gym). He is determined to do well in his exams and wants to do well. Just existing and getting through each day isn’t enough for Max – he wants to live!

Tammy – ‘Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead‘ by Benjamin Franklin

This was a bit of a curve ball for crew – but interesting to talk about. We spoke about secrets and how some people aren’t very trustworthy. How sometimes it’s better to keep things to yourself.

Billie – ‘Whatever you are, be a good one‘ by Abraham Lincoln

Crew spoke about the fact that if you’re going to do something – you may as well do it properly and well. Don’t just coast through Y11 and your GCSE’s – go for it, try your best – then reap the rewards on results day!

Bryan – ‘Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find‘ The Greek Bible

Crew spoke about asking for help when and if they need it this year at school. If you don’t understand something or you need some extra clarification – ask! Don’t be embarrassed or nervous – its your year, its important and if you don’t ask – you don’t get!

Olivia – ‘Never give up‘

Olivia wasn’t the most enthusiastic for this task (I’m not sure she is a morning person). But this is a good one. Especially this year – don’t give up, keep going. Its going to be tough – there are going to be days that you really can’t be bothered and you’re sick of everyone telling you that’s its important (blah blah blah). But you owe it to yourself to keep going and never give up.

Nida – ‘You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water‘ by Rabindranath Tagore

This is a good one and brought up conversations about the effort you put in during Y11. You’re not going to get the best GCSE’s you can by just turning up to school. That’s just the first step – what you really need to do is graft! Get your head down and concentrate, revise at home, get feedback from teachers and act on it.

Alex – ‘Without training they lacked knowledge, without knowledge they lacked confidence, without confidence they lacked victory‘ by Julius Ceasar

Crew didn’t fully understand this quote at first, but after a little discussion we spoke about the fact that this year is all about being a bit of a sponge – taking in all the information that your teachers are giving you – all the advice and the knowledge about each subject. But the most important thing is what you do with this – you learn it, remember it and apply it. Hopefully, as the year progresses you become more confident going into your exams – then, victory! Amazing GCSEs on results day!

Miss Jones – ‘Keep calm and carry on‘

This has been something I have said to myself for years. As my crew know, I get worked up regularly – I overthink things and can sometimes get a little overwhelmed with all the things I have to do. So I repeat ‘Keep calm and carry on’ to help reduce the noise in my brain. It sounds silly but it really does work. Maybe this will help you during year 11 when things get a bit much.

Y11 (C26) GCSE Information Evening

6th September 2023Melissa Cocliff

We would like to invite all Y11 parents to our Y11 GCSE Information Evening at XP East on Tuesday, 12th September from 5:00-6:15pm. 

This evening will focus on providing information about exam layout/content, exam dates, revision/work required for each exam and component. This was a really useful evening last year to ensure parents knew how to best support our wonderful Y11s throughout their GCSEs. Subject leads and teachers will also be around if you have any questions. 

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

Mel & Angella