At XP, we truly get to experience and learn the strength of community, both in times of celebration and challenge. And right now this means more than ever before.
Recently, a fellow former student who was part of the very first cohort at XP. School, as well as mine and Miss Scott’s best friend since childhood, has been diagnosed with lymphoma – a type of cancer.
It is a tough reality to face but we knew we wanted to do something to support and bring awareness!
Together, we have launched a fundraiser to raise money for the fight against cancer!
We are taking part in two different fundraising events for two charities. The first is the Bridges of London 2025 walk, run by the incredible Lymphoma Action charity where we will journey 7 miles across London to raise money. The second event is the Pretty Muddy 5k that is organised by the Cancer Research Race for Life team.
By doing these events we hope to raise money for these amazing charities in the hopes that we can support so many people, including our best friend.
The following links offer an abundance of great information on both charities and how your donations can help: Lymphoma Action and Cancer Research UK
We’re inviting our wider school community – staff, students, parents, and alumni – to get involved. Whether that means donating, sharing the fundraiser, or simply spreading awareness, every small act of support and kindness matters.
Already we have raised £2.5k, halfway to our current £5k goal! We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve already received, and we know that this school community, past and present, has a huge heart.
At XP Gateshead, we believe that every child can achieve extraordinary things — and every adult in the building plays a part in making that happen.
We’re looking for a Learning Coach who is passionate about helping young people thrive. Someone who brings positivity and the belief that relationships are the foundation of great learning.
If you want to make a real difference, work in a strong and supportive team, and be part of a school that values kindness, collaboration and creativity — this is the role for you.
We’re looking for two incredible Learning Coaches to join the team at Green Top School!
This is an opportunity to be part of a school where relationships come first, learning is purposeful, and every child is known, supported, and challenged.
You’ll work side by side with teachers to help deliver beautiful, meaningful learning experiences as part of our expeditionary learning curriculum. From Early Years to Key Stage 2, you’ll support children to grow academically, socially and emotionally – helping them become thoughtful, capable, and kind individuals.
Find out more about the roles here: xptrust.org/vacancies
What does it really mean to be part of XP? Don’t take it from us – hear it from the students themselves.
If you’re a teacher who believes in creativity, challenge and doing work that matters, this is the role for you. We’re open to applications across a range of subjects – find out more here
It was an honour to spend time with Year 9 students at XP Gateshead as they held their second annual public health conference with a focus on the dangers of smoking and vaping on Friday. The conference was the culminating event to the learning expedition entitled, ‘You Give Me Fever’ where students had engaged in a thematic study of health, considering how approaches to, and learning about health has changed over time from the Medieval Period to the modern day. Students were challenged to answer the guiding question,
“How can we continue to make progress in public health?”
In order to do this students focused on factors which can affect our health, such as wealth, poverty, science and technology and the role of the government. Combining what they studied in history and science this helped us to complete a human geography study of our local area. Students had investigated the difference in life expectancy in the local area by studying deprivation and its contribution to risk factors. Case studies blended English, History, Geography and Science to give the students a breadth of knowledge and understanding about key health issues, in particular smoking and vaping.
Student key note speakers eloquently outlined the causes and long term effects of smoking on health and related social issues. They articulated the desperate link between smoking and deprivation and presented some chilling and compelling research about the impact of smoking on reducing life expectancy and increasing the chances of life threatening diseases like cancer, respiratory illnesses and strokes.
XPG Year 9 students lead an expert question and answer session about the risks of smoking and what we need to do to address this public health issue.
After this thought provoking start, students conducted a question and answer session with local experts from local government and community health services. Questions ranged from:
Should smoking be banned?
Does social media contribute to participation and smoking?
Have public health changes made a difference to health in our community of Gateshead?
What is the local council doing to address deprivation in our community?
Exchanges were frank, honest and solution driven. XP Gateshead students showing, yet again, that they are actively leading positive social change in their community.
The next phase of the Presentation of Learning involved all students hosting a stall where they articulated the report they had written that linked to their learning in the expedition. Reports were wide ranging, informative and extremely well written. Titles included:
The Impact of Smoking on Respiratory Health
The Tobacco Industry Playbook
Is Smoking a Choice? The Link Between Poverty and Smoking
The market place underway
The Health Reports ready for presentation and discussion
XPG Public Health Conference 2025
As students presented their reports, invited guests were asked to consider a range of proposals such as, ‘Are smoking reforms having a positive impact on our communities?’ and to vote using a QR code. We were then invited back into the conference hall and students reflected on the answers given by the community.
The wide range of expert reports produced by Year 9 students at XPG
Students ended the conference with a call for the community, local authority and health professionals to collaborate more effectively to reduce the negative impact that smoking still has on the health and well being of the wider community in Gateshead.
After the conference I caught up with Georgia and Scarlet who spoke to about the importance of the work they had undertaken. I asked them why it was important to hold a Health Conference.
Georgia and Scarlet shared their thoughts with me about the importance of their work
Georgia commented:
“We showed the dangers and the impact of smoking and what it can do to yourself but also the people around you.”
And Scarlet built on this:
“Raising awareness and making sure people know the risks of smoking and if we are to continue to make progress as a society we need to address problems such as smoking.”
In conclusion, it was a privilege to be invited to an event that confirmed how our curriculum empowers and enables students to make a positive change in their communities. The level of understanding, confidence and quality of work was, quite simply, breathtaking. I made a pledge that the reports now need to be available for a wider audience to access and read. Our civic leaders and politicians must support and realise this important work and I know XPG students will not stop demanding this until they do!
Working with our partners and friends the Wood Foundation on implementing and embedding Crew
It was a great pleasure and privilege to work alongside our partners the Wood Foundation in April this year as forty two visitors from schools across the North East of Scotland descended on XP to learn more about why and how we Crew and experience first hand what Crew looks like, feels like and sounds like. Colleagues from Scotland explored Crew at XP through the lens of a learning expedition, ultimately reflecting on and answering the guiding question,
‘How can we implement Crew in our schools to further build a positive culture?’
After checking in as bespoke Crews with fellow Crew Leads, Kerry Poncia and Laura Parsons (my Crew was named Dalglish!!) delegates experienced ‘immersion’ activities around the concept and practice of Crew:
These included:
visiting a live Crew session to activate their thinking and
debriefing their experience to consolidate their learning
Debriefing the experience of Crew
We then moved into a Case Study entitled, ‘Building Crew’ and colleagues worked with experts and on purposeful activities to further strengthen their background knowledge of Crew at XP. The expert sessions were led predominantly by students and included an ambassador tour, the purpose of Crew from a student perspective and a service learning activity.
Martha and Seb sharing their expert analysis of the purpose and meaning of Crew to Wood Foundation delegates
The afternoon session of a packed first day saw Gwyn apHarri, co-founder and CEO of XP Trust, working with delegates on the leadership of Crew. Gwyn encouraged our partners to reflect on some of the lessons we have learned in developing and embedding Crew leadership:
“If we are to teach crew, we must be crew – we must commit time to unpacking what crew is ourselves.”
Gwyn apHarri
To finish the first day we continued our learning expedition by heading out into Doncaster on fieldwork. Colleagues were challenged with finding where our student work lives in the city centre of Doncaster and consider how this linked to our culture of Crew.
Here is a visual record of what they found:
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At the end of a long but rewarding day we met up at the Wool market for much needed refreshment and an opportunity to reflect on our learning.
The following day began with a debrief of our fieldwork activities. Our partners reflected on how they were blown away by the authenticity and impact of student work in our community and how this develops a deep sense of civic duty, community and compassion. All in tune with ‘building’ a culture of Crew.
After the debrief, we moved onto Case Study Two of our expedition which was called, ‘Being Crew.’ Starting the day with a Community Meeting, our visitors were able to experience students at XP East ‘being Crew’ as they made apologies, appreciations and stands, showing how this structure is culturally wrapped around our Character Traits and Habits of Work and Learning. Some of our Scottish Crew showed courage and compassion by stepping up and appreciating the staff and students at XP East for sharing their knowledge and expertise of Crew and how they would honour this work by using what they’d learned in their own settings north of the border.
Our friends from the north attend and contribute to a Community Meeting
The final session consisted of colleagues working in their school groups to reflect on what they’d learned about ‘building’ and ‘being’ Crew and how they could apply this knowledge and understanding to developing Crew in their own context.
What began to emerge was the importance of Staff Crew as a starting point for conceptual understanding and the strength of shared experiences and shared language to embed Crew and that:
“Through doing this, we build a common language and our language IS our culture.”
Colleagues from each school worked on a collaborative document reflecting on the following prompts:
What have you learned about Crew?
On reflection where are you with ‘being’ Crew in your setting?
What values has the Crew expedition reinforced in your current work?
What will you do to develop Crew further in your school?
How can you articulate this as a pledge(s)?
Each school then culminated the expedition, just like our students do, by delivering a Presentation of Learning where they shared their work and pledges publicly in front of an authentic audience. You can see some of the reflections below:
We pledge to …
These reflections will now be repurposed into a beautiful product that will be shared across all the schools and act as a reminder of the pledges they have made, creating accountability by making the work public.
In conclusion, it was reinvigorating to welcome back our friends from the North East of Scotland. It always reminds us of the power of Crew and what we need to do to continue to embed and sustain a positive culture across our Trust. Thank you to the Wood Foundation for continuing to work in partnership with us and thank you to Claira, staff and students at XP Doncaster who made this experience so fulfilling and affirming.
Just like at EL, at XP this isn’t a one-off event – it’s the work we do every day. But this week gives us a moment to pause, reflect, and share the incredible ways our students have stepped up.
In the last year, they have:
Hosted tea parties to tackle loneliness
Campaigned for safer streets around their schools
Created environmental art with purpose
Challenged inequality through powerful public products
Brought communities together
…and that’s just the beginning.
You can read all about their beautiful, purposeful work here:
