Perspective is key

By Katherine Taylor19th February 2021

We’ve done some incredible work over the last few weeks…. Our crew have all passed their SLC’s with flying colours!! We’ve had some really interesting (and sometimes tricky) conversations during these and I am incredibly proud of how X27 is learning and growing throughout these challenges. All of our crew have shown great integrity and we’re all working hard to overcome our own personal barriers.

The other side of the coin is how hard this all is. I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling the screen fatigue, and I know through conversations that we’ve been having in the in school provision, and in crew that many of our students are feeling it too.

 

We’ve spoken this week about the positives from this lockdown to try to get some perspective, and shine some happiness on the school website through our thoughts. Here are some of the things our crew had to say about the positives that they’re finding at the moment:

 

CH I got to see my mum smile about my SLC. My mum hasn’t been smiling much during lockdown so to see her smile is great.

GB I have found online learning more enjoyable than in school because I prefer working fully on devices because everything is in one place. Also over this lockdown I have been in school so I have had the same support as normal . It has also given me the opportunity to make new friends and find different ways of learning. 

CG I’ve gotten some really great praise around my Spanish, Science and my SLC!

BG; I get to see my friends on video call. Also for the SLC’s I felt really confident and happy of what work I have done in the last two terms.

CL; I get to sleep in a bit later and my friends make sure I don’t miss my lessons if I don’t have the link. I’ve made new friends and best friends

SH; I did well on my SLC online

ML I have amazing friends that help me with life

NB; online learning is great for me because I like that it is quiet. It’s also nice that we can do whatever we want on our breaks

MA; I’ve made a new best friend

EB; I have a reason to wake up before 1 pm, so I’ve got a better routine

MS; It sounds weird but I like being at home better in my room because I really love the quiet work environment at home.

EB  I can communicate with humans so it’s less lonely

TW I’ve got to spend more time with my mum

So I want to say thank you. Thank you to all the parents supporting their small humans at home, thank you to all of the students trying their best under really hard circumstances, thank you to my fellow teachers who are exhausted – but pushing through to provide incredible learning for their classes.

XP is an incredible school, where the quality of the lessons and the honest conversations are first class. I am very proud to be part of that team. We will climb this mountain together.

#WeareCrew

All in a day’s work…

24th January 2021Katherine Taylor

I am continually impressed and inspired by our student’s ability to adapt.

X27 have had so much thrown at them this year. A pandemic, two lockdowns, online learning, bubble closures, a whole new school and a whole new curriculum … and they are taking everything in their stride.

In crew we have been learning about healthy eating for our wise Wednesdays, having discussions about what we eat, and how to be healthier.

Other days we have been looking at our HOWLs data, and reflecting on how we can be better students. We’ve been having some great conversations on how we can overcome barriers to learning, and also support each other in our endeavours.

This will also help for our SLCs, when students will present their learning to their parents.

Aside from that as you can see, we had snow!!!

I was in school with the provision that day and luckily, Martin Said let us from Sheffield go at lunchtime, so that we got home before dark.

It was beautiful. It was cold.

And I literally had to dig my car out to drive home…. but all in a day’s work.

By Katherine Taylor24th September 2020

 

So we’re into week five and there’s exciting stuff happening all over the shop!

Year 7 have been introduced to their first expedition after three weeks of immersion. They’ve been looking into inequalities in society and tackling some REALLY difficult and thought provoking topics in Human. They’ve been also looking at inequalities in numbers and learning how to conceptualise a billion – and why billionaires shouldn’t exist…

In Art they have been creating positive posters to show their personality. Students were instructed to take ownership of their rooms by choosing how they wanted to decorate them and also what they like to see to make them smile!

In crew we’ve been talking about crew names and thinking about which qualities we want to represent us as Human beings. We’ve had some brilliant suggestions so far – some activists, writers, scientists, engineers, feminists and artists. So if you have any inspirational people that you want to teach your small humans about – now is the time!!! All suggestions welcome.

 

Watch this space.

 

An exciting new start for everyone!!

By Katherine Taylor9th September 2020

What a whirlwind of a start to XP!!

I can honestly say that my mind has been blown over the last two weeks….. My first day of teaching at XP after moving from another school I met my crew – and we had the MOST fun filled and wonderful first few days as an excellent introduction to our new school!

We built spaghetti towers, talked about compassion, character traits and about how we felt about our places in the world. We played ‘Splat!’, did some fact finding about each other and generally had a brilliant time having real conversations as well as fun.

I’m super excited to be getting to know all of my new crew members over the coming five years – and we’ve already gotten to a brilliant start! We’ve played some great games over the first few days, and every day our crew sessions help us to learn more about and create connections with each other. We have a brilliant range of skills and personalities in our crew and I’m eagerly awaiting our discussions over the next term to come up with an inspiring name that suits us as people.

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I’ve never worked at such a place as XP. I feel excited and proud to be able to be a part of such an incredibly unique and compassionate school. XP is a place where you can be unashamedly yourself.

I can’t wait to meet all of the parents of my crew… who we will call Crew KTA for now. But not for long…… Watch this space 🙂