X28 Ethics have been keeping their Friday 5 sessions filled with energy and motivation! This new routine is already becoming a highlight of the week.
Each session, they tackle a 15-mark exam question together, planning, debating, and refining their responses as a team. Students earn points for hitting exam criteria, building strong arguments, and challenging powerful ideas, all while learning from each other and preparing to write their answers in full.
It’s been brilliant to see their confidence, critical thinking, and exam readiness grow week by week!
Year 11 must be feeling poetry fatigue at this point in the term. They have ploughed through seven weeks of finishing the poetry anthology and still have another week to go.
They are approaching every session with a positive mental attitude and are working hard to ensure they have plenty of detailed annotations to revise from. The quality of your work and the effort you are putting into session is fantastic and shows how much you care about your GCSEs.
Well done!
Keep up this fantastic work guys. I know it is a slog but it will be worth it I promise!
We had a great time last week – setting ourselves up for our final school year together! It was really good to spend time out in nature, settling back into crew and doing some really purposeful work around revision and looking to the future.
As our wonderful C28’s progress through their final year in school, there are a number of ways you can support their learning from home.
As such, we would like to invite all Y11 parents and students to our Y11 GCSE Information Evening at XP East on Wednesday, 10th September from 5-6pm.
This evening will focus on providing information about exam layout/content, alongside information and guidance around the revision/work required for each exam and component. This was a really useful evening last year to ensure parents know how to best support our wonderful Y11s throughout their GCSEs. Subject leads and some teachers will also be around if you have any questions.
We look forward to seeing you here!
[we are also aware that some students will be out completing their expedition for Silver DofE – parents/caregivers should still attend the GCSE evening].
Crew Darling and X28 started the year off reconnecting, getting outside and embracing a hike together!
A few hours well spent walking around Langsett Reservoir in the Peaks, and capturing the views with some photography challenges! The walk has definitely started us on the right path for the rest of year 11!
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: Comparing Energy Sources – UK vs India
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: The UK’s Renewable Energy Success
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: CO₂ Emissions by Country
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
Group 4: Global Temperatures on the Rise
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. 🌍📊
On our first day back (Tuesday 26 August), Year 11 students will be completing a hike around Langsett Reservoir. An information letter, kit list, and consent form has been sent to parents separately by email. Please return the consent form by Friday 11 July.
XP students should be at school by 8:15 on Tuesday 26 August for an 8:30 a.m. departure. Students will return to school by 2:30.
XPE students should be at school for the normal time, with a departure of 9:00 a.m. and returning to school by 3:00 p.m.
All students will need a packed lunch. If your child is in receipt of free school meals, a lunch will be provided for them.
What an incredible day filled to the brim with Shakespeare for the X28 students.
On Tuesday the 1st of July we travelled to Bradford for a day dedicated to the Bard. The students took part in four workshops delivered in one of Bradford’s iconic theatres. The sessions looked at rhyme and meter in Shakespeare, ten things we didn’t know about Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s heroes and villains and ended with a fantastic session with Testament, the rapper!
The whole staff team who went with the students were blown away by their impeccable behaviour and willingness to get involved in the sessions. They were a credit to both the school and their families.
The day provided some excellent ideas for GCSE and beyond.
This week, X28 took on the big question: ‘Does the soul exist?‘ After exploring philosophical, religious, and scientific views, students in X28 Ethics prepared and delivered powerful debates, showcasing critical thinking, teamwork, and real passion for their given argument!
The debates were thoughtful, respectful, and often fiery! Students presented clear arguments, challenged one another with sharp rebuttals, and reflected deeply on what it means to exist and a be a good human.
MASSIVE SHOUTOUT TO OUR VOTED MVPS; ANNA AND TYLER!
This is a reminder that pupils in Year Ten will be out on fieldwork next week as part of their English studies. X28 will be out on Tuesday 1st July and E28 will be out on Thursday 3rd July.
Here is a link to the Festival’s website. Letters about this were available in paper copy at the Teacher Student Led Conference and copies were emailed to all parents on the 6th June so you should already have all of the details.
We will travel by coach, departing shortly after morning registration is taken at 8.30am and hope to be back at school for 3.15pm but this is traffic dependent.
Pupils will need their usual school supplies plus a packed lunch with water as there is nowhere to buy food there. We have ordered a school packed lunch for those in receipt of free school meals.
