Sharing our Stories: 01/03/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

Expedition Stories: LKS2 @ Plover

This week we’re proud to share the beautiful story LKS2s Expedition from last term ‘Coming to Doncaster: why then and why now?’. The incredible work from the students is on display outside the school for the community to see – make sure you go and check it out!

Being Human: Beautiful work in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead

This week beautiful work created by students at XP Gateshead was curated and unveiled at the QE Hospital!

What does it mean to be human?’

As part of their learning the students considered what makes a human both in a scientific way, through study of the gas exchange, circulatory and reproductive systems, and with regard to culture and religious beliefs when studying the Abrahamic faiths and the sanctity of human life. 

Students then began the analysis of the tone and structure of successful speeches, and used this learning to write persuasive speeches on the topic of organ donation. 

The theme of how humans and their societies and cultures grow and develop was then explored. Studying the development of humans from a single cell, through childhood, and puberty and onwards to adulthood. Adding to this theme we also considered our evolutionary past. 

Students also worked with an expert to explore innovations and advancements that are being made around the world to help and support the development of humans. Alongside this students met with experts in organ donation, Dharmic faiths and Humanist beliefs  in order to reflect upon who we want to be and how we can be the best version of ourselves. 

The students were then challenged to create artwork to promote organ donation, and reflect upon what it means to be Human. Students also gave a speech expressing what they think it means to be human to parents and experts. 

This work displayed at the QE hospital is the result of XPG’s community collaboration and celebrates what it means to be human and how together we are stronger.

The work has been well received already and Gateshead NHS have shared this post about working with the students at XPG!

XP on the TV!

We’re on TV next week!

XP Doncaster will be featured in a BBC Two documentary to be aired on the 7th March.

Multi award winning TV company Tern TV, spent several days filming with us last summer, with the presenter Darren McGarvey, who won the Orwell prize for his book ‘Poverty Safari’.

The filming was for the second of three documentaries, which in order focus on Justice, Education and Health, titled: Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In.

Claira Salter, our Principal of XP Doncaster said:

“We love to share what we do across the XP Trust, welcoming over a thousand visitors and delegates from all over the world in the last year alone. So, when we were approached by Tern TV to take part in the education documentary presented by Darren, it was a real opportunity to engage with an even wider audience here and for our students to participate in the process of interviewing and film making.”

“We are looking forward to seeing all three programmes and are delighted that the spotlight will also be on Doncaster and the communities and partners we are proud to work with.”

All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer now and the Education documentary will be broadcast on Thursday 7th March at 9pm on BBC Two. 

Top of the Blogs

Weekly update for parents @ XP Gateshead

Kindness changes everything @ Norton Infants

Family Learning Y3/4 @ Green Top

Fantastic artwork in Year 9 @ XP

Fieldwork Fun at Yorkshire Wildlife Park @ Plover

C26 Celebrations @ XP East

Science Experiment @ Carcroft School

Year 3 are Magnetic! @ Norton Juniors

We’re looking for an awesome Learning Coach at Plover School!

Find out more about the role and apply here to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 23/02/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

Expedition Stories: KS1 @ Plover

This week, beautiful work from KS1s Expedition ‘Ready Steady Grow’ has been curated in the school! Be sure to stop and take a look at their work on how to live a healthy lifestyle!

We are also really proud to share the story of KS1s last Expedition ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes’ – you can watch the full video here…

40th Anniversary of the Miner’s Strike – XP work in an exhibition!

A new exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the year long miners’ strike opens on the 2nd March at Doncaster Gallery, Library and Museum – DGLaM.

The first book published by XP students was ‘From the Ground Up – what does our community owe to the miners’. Sold in Waterstones, this praised and popular work went on to become one of their local history bestsellers.

Now the book will feature in this new exhibition as part of our local mining heritage alongside other created items and stories from Doncaster.

The exhibition will run until September.

Great teaching and learning at XP Doncaster

Here are some highlights from our spring term walkthroughs at XP Doncaster!

Top of the Blogs

Crew Frank Activism @ XP Gateshead

Around the World in one lesson @ Norton Infants

Our Train Expert @ Green Top

Self Portraits in Crew CMO/MCO @ XP

‘Motivate Me’ Crew Challenges @ Plover

C27 Work Experience Launch @ XP East

What is a network? @ Carcroft School

Supportive learning @ Norton Juniors

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 09/02/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

XPG Studios

Have you seen this awesome Instagram page, created to showcase the beautiful work from the 150 (and counting!) artists at XP Gateshead? You can see everything they’ve done and follow them here.

Here are some examples recent work they’ve produced…

Beautiful Curation: Plover School

This week, beautiful work from LKS2’s last Expedition ‘Coming to Doncaster – Why then, why now?’ has been curated outside the school! Be sure to stop and take a look at their work on migration, Roman history and sharing stories!

Beautiful Work in the Community: Earth Emergency

In Autumn 2023, Green Top School’s UKS2 children undertook a learning expedition called Earth Emergency. The guiding question was: How can we help our planet survive? Their beautiful artwork is on display on a shopfront on Fieldside in Thorne.

Top of the Blogs

Beautiful work from Arlo and Daniel @ XP Gateshead

Exploring and Embedding Goldilocks and the three bears @ Norton Infants

Safer Internet Day @ Green Top

Crew RPU/ABT getting SLC ready @ XP

We Can Collaborate! @ Plover

Crew Rashford sharing the love @ XP East

Fun in the snow @ Carcroft School

Ponder, Persevere, Practice but never Procrastinate @ Norton Juniors

We’re looking for great teachers at XP Gateshead!

The next 65 seconds could change your life…

If you are a teacher looking for a model of schooling that dares to break the mould, then this might just be for you. There is now the opportunity of a lifetime to teach at the newest of our extraordinary schools, XP Gateshead.

Find out more and apply here to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 02/02/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

XP Doncaster: XP Outdoors Reflections

At the end of last year, we asked students in C29 to reflect on the learning that took place outside the classroom and how this has helped them to build Crew.

Beautiful Curation: Carcroft School

Look at this collection of recent work which is now on display in the corridors of Carcroft School. Be sure to stop and admire students beautiful work from across phases and Expeditions!

Top of the Blogs

Beautiful Work from Harris @ XP Gateshead

Animal Habitat Research @ Norton Infants

Y6 Athletics Champs! @ Green Top

E28 Crew Ardern DofE Charity Work @ XP

Little Twitchers! @ Plover

Crew Malala Achievements @ XP East

Recycle Walk @ Carcroft School

Setting Description Artwork @ Norton Juniors

We’re looking for Cleaners at XP Doncaster!

Find out more here and apply to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 26/01/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

XP Festival of Learning 2024

The Staff Day in January saw the launch of our proposed teaching and learning model as part of our Festival of Learning. The event took place at XP Doncaster and was attended by staff from across all schools in the Trust. All staff had the opportunity to explore the model in more depth as well as attending other workshops on different parts of the model.

This is part of the Trust’s commitment to ensure that we expose more students to more impactful teaching more of the time.

Beautiful Curation: A Christmas Carol

There is now an awesome display at XP to celebrate the Christmas Carol Study Guide – the beautiful work of last year’s Year 11s. Be sure to go and admire their hard work on display!

Top of the Blogs

Thoughtful Thursday @ Norton Infants

Year 5 Photography Club @ Green Top

X28 Crew Lovelace Beautiful Work @ XP

Bobby’s awesome home learning @ Plover

C27 Community Meeting @ XP East

Exploring Carnivores, Herbivores and Omnivores @ Carcroft School

Our Learning Journey – Hook Week @ Norton Juniors

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 22/01/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

XP Festival of Learning

On Friday, staff across our Trust gathered to launch the first phase of our exciting new Teaching and Learning model, with a focus on our culture of Crew, underpinning principles, deliberate & intentional teaching/learning behaviours at its heart…

Staff from our secondaries and primaries grappled with this exciting new model and took part in a wide range of workshops to develop teaching and learning at XP.

More on this next week…

Carcroft School: How Could We Help Our Planet Survive?

In Autumn 2023, Years 5 and 6 completed an expedition looking at the impact we are having on the planet and what we could do to make a difference now and for future generations. They held their presentation of learning last week!

Their final product for this expedition was a picture frame made from sustainably-sourced materials. Students then chose their favourite piece of writing from across the expedition to publish in the frame alongside (or behind) a simple piece of artwork reflecting elements of our learning. Beautiful work!

Top of the Blogs

Delicious Recycling @ Norton Infants

Crew Oldridge’s Experiments @ Green Top

Weekly update for families @ XP Gateshead

XP Outdoors – Mindfulness Walk @ XP

Future Architects? @ Plover

Life Skills in LOOL @ XP East

Crew Challenge @ Carcroft School

Problem Solving – Square Numbers @ Norton Juniors

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 12/01/2024

Beautiful Work This Week

Another brick in the wall: Beautiful Work from XP Gateshead

In Autumn 2023, students in Year 9 studied a joint HUMAN and STEAM expedition called ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ where students had to answer the guiding question: ‘How are structures important in helping us to explain our world?’ 

For the final product, students used plaster to create sculptures in the brutalist aesthetic. The Presentation of Learning (PoL) was an unveiling of an installation to the community and dedicated to the people of Gateshead, who have suffered due to the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis; both examples of failings of societal structures. Experts, including architects from SOS-UK and Ryder Architecture, whom the students had worked alongside throughout the learning expedition, came along to speak at the PoL at the Farrell Centre, Newcastle University.

The work will be on display there for the foreseeable future!

We Are Artists at Plover

Mel from the XP Trust Comms Crew visited Plover as an Expert Artist – showing Year 5 how to draw trains and teach them about perspective and the vanishing point. The children enjoyed seeing her amazing drawings and made a great start on having a go at their own drawings.

Carcroft’s Fabulous Foyer!

Whilst making an impromptu visit to Carcroft Primary in December, we noticed this! We simply had to get the phone out and take some photos of the wonderful displays on show in the Carcroft foyer area. The array of work exhibited was interesting, engaging and of high quality; and was curated impeccably by the staff – beautiful work!

Top of the Blogs

Who’s hiding in the pages of this book? @ Norton Infants

Crew Jackson – Science Investigations @ Green Top

Weekly update for families @ XP Gateshead

Crew Pasteur @ XP

Working Hard @ Plover

C30 – HSBC Money Management @ XP East

Amazing Fieldwork at YWP! @ Carcroft School

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 22/12/2023

Beautiful Work This Week

Lungs of the World: Beautiful Work from Norton Juniors

In Autumn 2023, Year 5 and 6 across the trust embarked on an expedition with the guiding question: Why should we help our planet survive?

As part of the Expedition, students created their own soft toys based on a chosen animal from the Amazon rainforest – learning about why it is endangered and what we can do to protect the species. The students used ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ as a model text. The pupils wrote their own version of the story through rainforest animals’ eyes for younger children in the form of a book and shared them with Year 2 pupils (along with the soft toys) with the purpose of teaching them about deforestation and its impact.

G30’s first POL at St Mary’s Church, Heworth

In the Autumn term of 2023 students at XP Gateshead studied an expedition called ‘From the ground up’ with the guiding question “What do the communities of the North-East of England owe to the miners?”. They presented their learning from this Expedition on Monday at St Mary’s church – sharing their story and performing the songs they have written to tell the stories of the mining community.

These songs will be recorded in New Year and a CD will be produced!

As part of the presentation, students unveiled a board full of their beautiful work – including narrative accounts, diary entries and artwork relating to the Felling Pit disaster.

The chosen venue for the presentation was also historically significant. Not only is St Mary’s the site of a memorial to the disaster and those who lost their lives, but it is also the final resting place of Thomas Hepburn – the famous miner, Trade Union leader and advocate of better working conditions for miners. The building that XP Gateshead is now based in was once named after him.

Sir Tim Brighouse

We were deeply saddened across the XP Trust to hear about the death of Sir Tim Brighouse on 15th December. 

Sir Tim was considered to be one of the most important voices and thinkers in education, and a great champion of state schools.

We were very fortunate to be able to welcome him to XP on a couple of occasions and to hear him speak about our school with warmth and encouragement.

He has left a legacy of equity and advocacy for education for all and we are very proud that he is part of our story.

Top of the Blogs

Rail City Launch @ Doncaster Free Press

Enjoying Christmas Lunch in our festive clothes! @ Norton Infants

Crew Spetch Christmas Fun @ Green Top

Weekly update for families @ XP Gateshead

There’s s’more from XP Outdoors @ XP

Christmas Party @ Plover

Primary School Christmas Musical @ Norton Juniors

E28 Crew Malala Roundup @ XP East

Festive Fun @ Carcroft School

We’ve got Vacancies at XP Trust!

Visit xptrust.org/vacancies to find out more and apply to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Merry Christmas

Sharing our Stories: 15/12/2023

Beautiful Work This Week

Book launch on track!

Our latest Trust publication ‘Rail City’ was launched at the amazing Doncaster Gallery, Library and museum – DGLaM.

The book, an updated and lavishly illustrated compendium of all the work created by students across the Trust, over the last five years, captures our city’s rail heritage – and future.  

It is also timely as 2023 is the Flying Scotsman’s Centenary year, the iconic steam engine built here in Doncaster.

Our thanks go to the team at DGLaM and the city council who have facilitated the launch and supported our work across the Trust. 

‘Rail City’  will be on sale in DGLaM, the TIC and Waterstones in the Frenchgate Centre. The perfect present for anyone who loves rail, trains and local history. (You can also purchase the book from our online shop!)

Welcome Back!

We continue to welcome delegates from all over the world. Last week our friends and partners from the Wood Foundation in Scotland joined us once again with 25 teachers from schools in the Aberdeen area.

Over two days they looked at Crew, expeditions and the bigger picture of what we do and how we do it.

They even enjoyed a tour of our students’ work in the heart of Doncaster.

Last but not least as you can see from the photograph with their Crew they also joined in with our charity Christmas Jumper day! 

A day of music for XP Doncaster Year 7!

Dave Evans ran a series of awesome workshops for our Year 7 students with professional musicians! Our students improvised, created digital beats, sang and played the drums!

Merry Xmas from Crew Da Vinci!

UKS2 Presentation of Learning – Earth Emergency

XP Trust Primary Dodgeball Tournament

Top of the Blogs

Making Someone Smile at Christmas @ Norton Infants

A Spanish Extravaganza! @ XP Trust

Year 3/4 Presentation of Learning @ Green Top

Jujitsu Success @ XP Gateshead

Crew Pasteur Working Hard @ XP

Our Christmas Fayre @ Plover

Bazaar Bonanza at NJS @ Norton Juniors

Our Christmas themed day was a big success @ XP East

Book Talk @ Carcroft School

We’ve got Vacancies at XP Trust!

Visit xptrust.org/vacancies to find out more and apply to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Sharing our Stories: 08/12/2023

Beautiful Work This Week

Green Top EYFS: Exploring our World – beautiful curated work in our community!

Activism at XP Gateshead

Carcroft KS1 Santa Dash!

Green Top UKS2 ‘Earth Emergency’ Presentation of Learning

Top of the Blogs

Class 8 Christmas Jumper Day @ Green Top

Crew Stanton Christmas Movie Night @ XP Gateshead

Festive Friday @ XP

Community Clubs @ Plover

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas @ Norton Juniors

Working Hard in Human! @ XP East

Christmas Dinner @ Carcroft School

Our week in Class 1 so far @ Norton Infants

We’ve got Vacancies at XP Trust!

Visit xptrust.org/vacancies to find out more and apply to #JoinOurCrew

Share your stories with us!

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 [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!