Year 7 have kicked off exploring their first case study, Raiders and Rulers! This has taken them back to 1066, a year that changed the course of British history.
In English, they’ve been exploring the themes of love and conflict in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, discovering how Shakespeare’s ideas still connect with us today. Alongside this, in History students have been debating who had the strongest claim to the throne: Harold, William, Hardrada, or Edgar.
We are super impressed with the HOWLS being displayed in Year 7. Take a look at some of their beautiful work below!
This week, Year 8 students at XP were given an exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in their new expedition with a visit from professional artist Michelle Clarke Stables (MC Stables).
Michelle worked with all Year 8 groups, bringing energy, expertise, and a fresh perspective on what it means to live and work as an artist. She inspired students by sharing her personal journey and creative story, showing that art is not just about making something beautiful—it’s about expressing the human experience.
One of the highlights of the day was when Michelle introduced her original artwork and a powerful sculpture titled Entrapment. This piece explores themes of fear, anxiety, and the barriers we sometimes create for ourselves, sparking deep conversations among students about how art can communicate emotion and connect with audiences in powerful ways.
Students also had the rare chance to closely examine Michelle’s original pieces. This hands-on immersion gave them valuable insight into materials, processes, and the layered thinking that goes into creating professional artwork.
The workshops challenged Year 8 to explore expressive mark-making, colour, and words in new ways—laying a strong foundation for their expedition learning. By experiencing art firsthand, students began to see how creativity can give voice to complex ideas, emotions, and stories.
Michelle’s visit has raised the profile of Art across the school, showing students that the subject is not only about developing skills, but also about asking questions, telling stories, and making meaning. She has kindly donated, on loan, some of her pieces to be exhibited within the XP and XPE community which will enrich the arts experience for the whole school; its staff, students, parents and our visitors.
The buzz in classrooms following her sessions has been undeniable, and it’s clear her visit will leave a lasting impression on our budding artists.
“Michelle inspired our artwork in class. I enjoyed that we were able to express ourselves freely through the marks we made. I think it’s good to have authentic artwork around the school. I added XPs Character traits to my own work.” – Jensen E31
What a wonderful start to the year with C31. I’m looking forward to seeing how their work progresses!
This week marked an exciting milestone for Year 7 at XP: their very first immersion week in lessons and the launch of their expedition,This Land is Your Land. The guiding question is, “What’s the story of our community?”
Students have worked as historians, piecing together evidence and time-travelling through four key periods of history:
Medieval
Early Modern
Industrial
Modern
Each lesson gave them a snapshot of how people lived, worked, and shaped the world around them. Together, they began to see how the past connects to the story of our community today.
Immersion also included fieldwork to Murton Park, where students stepped into the past to experience Viking history first-hand. Immersion week has given Year 7 a strong start: asking questions, working as a crew, and beginning to think like historians. We’re excited to see where their expedition journey takes them next.
See photos from the week below! Some scary Vikings in XP Year 7!
This week, we had the fantastic opportunity to welcome Phoenix Dance Theatre back into school to work with some of our students — and what a brilliant start it was!
We kicked off the session by getting to know each other and meeting our inspiring instructor, Emma, who brought great energy and expertise to the room. From there, we moved onto contemporary dance technique, focusing on fluidity and using our whole bodies to express movement.
The students then explored their creativity through collaborative tasks, experimenting with intricate shapes and physical storytelling with their peers. We wrapped up by reflecting on the idea of community — sharing thoughts on what it means to us to be a part of a community and how we might bring this theme to life through movement.
We’re already excited for our next session, where we’ll begin shaping our final performance piece for the XP Arts Festival in July. Watch this space — something special is in the making!
This week C27 were able to tour the historic plantworks site in Hexthorpe, Donaster. Here they took a tour of the Wabtec facility from the HVAC testing shop to the erecting house which was home to the legendary Flying Scotsman. The students were able to take in the history of the location as they were escorted around the 22 acre site seeing where it reached to at the height of production, spanning a staggering 90 acres. The site has been an integral part of our community for more than 170 years employing thousands of local people who worked numerous jobs from labourers to master craftspeople. The plant was also an integral part of the war effort with Doncaster women becoming ‘Munitionettes’, working long hours in dangerous conditions.
With the future of the site being discussed this may well be the last cohort from XP Trust to visit such an important part of Doncasters heritage. With this area of Hexthorpe being home to such historic achievements and listed buildings it really was a privilege to be welcomed into this local slice of industry.
Take a look into X31 Skipper’s classroom, where they have been working hard crafting and practicing their fluency skills in English!
Students have embraced the challenge of building their fluency and comprehension skills through one of our anchor text stories, ‘A Storm in a Teashop‘, focusing on the events during the First World War. It was a brilliant display of reading, with each student nailing key pauses, skilful dramatisation, and the use of clauses and tone pitch. Their interpretations not only shed light on stories of the First World War, but also showed courage and compassion for one another.
Take a look at the attached video to see the magic of X31 Skipper in action!
Over the last half term we began a project focused on the documentary ‘Blackfish’ about the plight of orcas at Seaworld.
After completing our research and extending our comprehension skills last half term, this half term we are starting to apply this to our GCSE Component 2 English Language Transactional Writing tasks.
Today in LOOL students started to plan a persuasive e-mail which we will be sending to the governor of Orlando, Florida explaining why we feel orcas and other sea animals should no longer be held at Seaworld.
The focus and engagement of all the students involved has been superb and I am very excited to see what they produce.
This week, we had the privilege of hosting the Conversation Club at our school, where we learned about the challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers. It was eye-opening to discover that they receive just £50 a week to cover essentials like food, clothing, and hygiene products.
One of the significant expenses they encounter is transportation, which can cost up to £5 a day. This is a considerable amount given their limited budget. However, we realised that having a bike could eliminate this expense entirely, providing them with free and reliable transportation.
To help make a difference, we are organising a bike drive. We are reaching out to our community for donations of any old bikes that you no longer need. Bikes in any condition (unless completely broken) can be incredibly valuable. At XP we pride ourselves on our curriculum themes and our outward facing work, and this is opportunity for our Crew to participate in both!
You can drop off your bike donations at XP/E, and we will ensure they reach the Conversation Club, who will distribute them to those in need. Your generous contributions will be greatly appreciated by the refugees and asylum seekers and will help ease their daily struggles.
I was excited to join my Crew last week for their practice walk (from a distance) for their Bronze DofE award. Crew Darling displayed great teamwork, support and compassion for one another on a hot, humid and challenging day. They even tried their hand at some sheep herding! Take a look at the fantastic day that was had, especially impressed with their cooking skills!
