Monday – Badminton Practice 3.30-4.30. Cheerleading practice 3.30-4.30
Tuesday- Man City fieldwork, leaving school at 3.15. Return around midnight. Will contact parents on the way home. Students will need warm clothing, packed lunch for the bus and money if they would like to buy any food there. All letters have gone to parents/guardians whose child is on the fieldwork.
Wednesday – Year 7 and 8 girls netball game at home finish at 4.45. Year 7 boys football match at home finish at 5pm. Please tick your name off the team sheet.
Thursday – KS3 badminton fixture at home finish at 5pm. Please tick your name off.
Today, our Y8 students at XP School explored this guiding question in the most powerful, creative and authentic way — alongside the incredible Michelle Clarke-Stables.
Working shoulder-to-shoulder with Michelle, students created a legacy artwork that will live on in our school: a large-scale micrography portrait of Frida Kahlo, built entirely from handwritten words, reflections and quotes that answer our guiding question.
Every mark is a voice.
Every layer is a story.
Every word speaks to the messy, beautiful, painful and resilient nature of being human.
Frida Kahlo feels like the perfect muse for this work. Her life was shaped by courage, compassion and fierce tenacity — choosing colour in the face of pain, truth in the face of silence, and creativity in the face of adversity. She epitomises what we hope our students discover: that being human is about resilience, tenderness, and the bravery to tell your story.
Watching students collaborate, debate, write, paint and truly see one another was extraordinary. Michelle brought out the best of them — their empathy, their curiosity, their willingness to be bold with ideas and generous with meaning.
This is what authentic Art education looks like.
This is legacy work.
This is XP. 💙
Thank you, Michelle, for inspiring our students to make something deeply human, and deeply unforgettable.
This afternoon, E30 Explorer showed what thoughtful, passionate learners they truly are during our big debate: Who was responsible for the deaths on the island?
The enthusiasm in the room was infectious; students were animated, expressive and full of insightful ideas. What made the debate so special, though, was the level of respect they showed one another. Even when opinions differed (and they definitely did!), students listened, challenged each other kindly, and built on each other’s thinking.
Discussions like this remind us just how powerful books can be: they spark curiosity, emotion, imagination and deep thinking. E30 Explorer absolutely brought the story to life today.
Fantastic work, all of you. Keep debating, keep questioning, and keep reading! 📚✨
It has been a fantastic week of extra-curricular sport, showcasing brilliant effort, teamwork and resilience across our teams.
Our girls’ football squad put in an outstanding set of performances, playing three competitive fixtures with superb attitude throughout. They secured two impressive wins, 3–0 and 2–0, and battled to a determined 0–0 draw in their final match. Their defensive organisation was excellent, and the whole team should be proud of their discipline and work rate.
Meanwhile, six Year 9 boys represented the school in a badminton fixture. They competed with great spirit and sportsmanship, showing real progress in their games. Although they unfortunately finished on the losing side, their positive attitude and determination were a real credit to the school.
We’re excited for the upcoming weeks, with plenty more fixtures and enrichment opportunities ahead. Well done to all involved—keep up the brilliant effort!
We would like to invite parents and carers to Y11’s Teacher-Student Led conferences on Wednesday, 3rd December 2025 at XP East.
These conferences will provide parents with an opportunity to meet with subject-specific teachers, allow students to discuss and reflect on their progress in different subjects following their recent mock exams and look at areas for development as they move into Y11.
Students will be given a booking form which will allow them to book a time between 14:30 and 17:30. These will be booked on a first come first served basis, so please ask your child to see their booking form and suggest a time to meet teaching staff. These booking forms will be handed out in crew time this morning.
This morning, Crew Peake demonstrated incredible activism and community spirit by tackling a litter pick around the school grounds and car park… even though it was freezing!
Their hard work is a brilliant example of stewardship in action. Stewardship is all about students and staff taking responsibility for our surroundings and actively working to protect and improve them.
This is also a perfect way to get involved in our Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) volunteering. Volunteering is a crucial section of the award, and activities like litter picking will help us to achieve the required number of hours in school time.
Well done, Crew Peake – it was worth the frozen hands!
We would like to remind all students and families of our expectations regarding PE lessons.
Students are expected to bring a full PE kit for every PE session. This includes a complete change of clothes appropriate for physical activity. If a student forgets their kit, they will be required to borrow a PE kit from school to ensure full participation in the lesson.Students in Year 7-9 have a PE t shirt that they should be wearing for every lesson. If you do not have a PE top please purchase one from our school website.
Tuesday- Cheerleading practice 3.30-4.30, Year 7 and 8 girls football away return to school at 5.15
Wednesday- Year 9 boys football away return to school at 5.30. Netball practice 3.30-4.30. Cross country only for students who have received a letter from Mr Currie, during school time finish at 3.15.
BTEC learning labs 3.30-4.30
Friday – EFL Year 7 and 8 girls cup, during school time finish at 3.15, letter has gone to students who are taking part with all the information.
In Friday’s Community Meeting our Student Leaders shared their appreciation for all the students who had applied to be part of the Student Leadership Team at XP East.
It was lovely to hear and see current student leaders stepping up! Noah, Ethan, Veya and Matilda announced those students who had been successful in their application and they were warmly welcomed to be part of the Crew.
Our new Student Leaders!
While Friday afternoon offered a second highlight of the week, I was once again impressed by the oracy skills of Ava, Delilah and Cora. Their confidence, expression, and delivery to a visitor from Australia clearly encapsulated what expeditions, Student Lead Conferences and Presentations of Learning involved at XP and how they had helped them grow their character and academically.
When Delilah and Cora explained, “The Learning Targets are broken down so you know how you have done in each aspect of the work,” it was a perfect articulation of our process. Ava followed this by talking through the use of a portfolio and student black boxes, offering her brilliant summary of the collation of her work as “XP in a box.”
I look forward to seeing the next steps the Student Leadership Crew take. Applications are still open so if students wish to apply they need to make sure they submit their presentations to the team.
