Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust from the last two weeks of term! It’s been filled with all kinds of wonderful things from all of our schools. To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.
Why the Arts Matter at XP – Our Festival Highlights @ XP Trust
Year 6 leavers party 2025 @ Green Top
At the Coalface: POL @ Norton Juniors
Climate Change Through Data @ XP
G29 What a Wonderful World POL @ XP Gateshead
We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.
It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.
Write to us at news@xptrust.org – we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!
This term, our students have been combining their knowledge from science and maths to explore one of the most important issues facing our planet: climate change. As part of a cross-curricular project, pupils worked in groups to investigate different climate-related topics, using the statistical skills they developed in maths to interpret and present real-world scientific data.
Here’s a snapshot of the fantastic work they produced:
Group 1 investigated how different countries generate their energy. They discovered that in the UK, wind energy is now the leading source, while in India, coal remains the primary energy provider.
They discussed why this difference exists. The UK has invested heavily in renewable energy infrastructure and benefits from strong and consistent winds, especially offshore. In contrast, India relies more on coal due to its large domestic coal reserves and growing demand for affordable energy in a developing economy.
The group clearly presented their findings using pie charts, making the differences in energy sources easy to understand.
Group 2 focused more closely on energy use within the UK. They were pleased to find that renewable energy now makes up the majority of the UK’s energy supply—a sign of the country’s ongoing commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.
Using another well-designed pie chart, they showed how wind, solar, and other renewable sources now outpace fossil fuels in the UK’s energy mix.
Group 3 examined global carbon dioxide emissions, identifying which countries produce the most and what that means on a per capita basis. They explained that “per capita” means emissions divided by the number of people—so it shows how much CO₂ each person is responsible for on average. Their research revealed that Saudi Arabia has the highest CO₂ emissions per capita, largely due to its oil industry and high energy use per person. They used a bar chart to compare emissions between countries and make the data accessible
This group explored how global temperatures have changed over time. Using a scatter graph, they plotted temperature data from past decades and found a clear upward trend—evidence of global warming in action.
This group made great use of their maths skills to interpret the pattern in the data and connect it to what they had learned in science about greenhouse gases and climate change.
Group 5: Arctic Sea Ice – A Visual Decline
The final group looked at how Arctic sea ice has changed over time. They created a bar chart comparing sea ice levels from 1995 to 2025, showing a clear decline over the 30-year period.
Their work helped highlight how rising temperatures are affecting our planet’s polar regions—and why this matters for ecosystems, wildlife, and sea levels.
This project was a brilliant example of how students can use maths and science together to explore real-world challenges. Not only did they strengthen their understanding of data and climate, but they also developed teamwork, research, and communication skills.
I am incredibly proud of the effort and thought our students put into their work—and the powerful messages they shared about the state of our planet. 🌍📊
Mrs Barnes and X28 Maths
As we approach the end of the school year, we would like to inform parents and carers that any medication currently held at school for students will be returned to them at the end of the day on Thursday or Friday this week. This applies to all students who have previously signed over medication for use during school hours.
Please check in with your child for their medication when they get home.
Looking ahead to the 2025–2026 school year, new medical permission forms will be required for any medication that needs to be kept or administered in school. These forms will be made available at the start of the new term and must be completed before any medication can be accepted or administered. There is also a digital form on the parents tab of the school website if you wish to complete this.
We appreciate your cooperation and wish all our families a safe and healthy summer.
As we approach the Summer Holidays, we wanted to share the information provided below from the Family Hub for parents reference. We hope you find this useful.
Last Wednesday, 43 students from Year 7 through to Year 10 had the incredible opportunity to visit the heart of British democracy; Parliament!
From the moment we arrived, it was clear our students were representing XP and XP East with pride. Compared to other school groups touring Westminster that day, our young people stood out as the most polite, knowledgeable, and respectful by far. Staff from the Parliament Education Service commented on how impressed they were with the conduct, curiosity, and confidence of our students, feedback that was 100% positive across the board.
Throughout the day, students explored the House of Commons and House of Lords, took part in a hands-on workshop about how laws are made, and even had time to rub shoulders with some politicians. Among the highlights: spotting Diane Abbott in the corridor, chatting with members of the House of Lords, and touring Westminster. Sadly, Sir Keir Starmer was tied up; rumour has it he was a bit busy running the country, but we did meet Sally from the Parliament team, who made time for our brilliant students! However, Students did have the opportunity to discuss petition ideas with Sally Jameson (local MP for Doncaster)!
What really stood out, though, was how every student embodied our character traits to the fullest: respect, craftsmanship & quality, and above all, compassion.
A huge shoutout and heartfelt thanks to Mr Morrison, Mrs Fowler, Mrs cross, and Mrs Burrows for supporting the fieldwork, and for getting up at 4am!.
Please see letter – Crew Leaders will be handing these letters out in due course. If you have any questions please contact your child’s Crew Leader. We look forward to seeing you soon.
We are well on our way home after a great day in parliament, even meeting the MP for Doncaster Central. We have hit intermittent traffic along the way and so our current return ETA is 18:30.
The countdown is on! In just two days, the XP Festival of Arts & Culture kicks off – and alongside the incredible music, dance, and creativity on show, you can enjoy some fantastic food from Relish!
You can check out their menu below – there’s something for everyone to fuel your festival day.
Just a heads-up: Relish is card payment only on the day!
🎵 Great food, great music, and a celebration of our amazing young people – it’s going to be a day to remember.
Tickets are free but essential – there’s still time get yours here: xptrust.org/festival
Hello
Thank you to all the parents, carers, and students who attended our recent Silver DofE Information Evening. It was fantastic to see so the interest and enthusiasm for the next exciting stage of the Duke of Edinburgh journey.
For those who were unable to attend, or would like a recap, we’ve attached the slides from the presentation below. These outline everything you need to know about how the Silver Award will run this year, including:
We’re really excited to be working with this year’s Silver participants and can already see how eager they are to take on the challenge. Expedition supervisors Emma Watson and Chris Morrison will be leading both the practice and qualifying expeditions and will be on hand to support throughout the process. Please see the links for information and forms of interest on the slides below.
We’re aware that there was some miscommunication regarding the letters that were recently sent home. Please accept our apologies for any confusion this may have caused. The attached slides should help clarify the key information, but if anything remains unclear, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I will also be avalibale tonight (Wed 9th July) to meet with anyone that requires more information till 4:30pm.
If your child had previously expressed interest but is no longer wishing to take part, please let me know as soon as possible by emailing ewatson@xpschool.org so we can update our records.
Thanks again for your continued support, we can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings for our amazing students.
DofE Crew
Hi all,
Just a quick message to keep you in the loop with the work going on behind the scenes!
As you can imagine, we’ve got quite the task ahead as we work to verify all the Bronze DofE Awards on the eDofE portal. Our incredible expedition supervisors are busy finalising individual reports for each student and passing them on to the award verifier. It’s a big job – but we’re on it!
Our goal is to have everything completed by the end of term. Once that’s done, we’ll be sharing details about a very special Celebration of Learning event and an official Award Ceremony, we’re currently looking at the last week of September for this. 🎉 Stay tuned for more info soon!
As ever, if you have any questions, please contact your child’s Crew Leader in the first instance.
Thank you so much for your continued support.
DofE Crew.
