This year a team from XP are running the Sheffield Half Marathon on the 23 March to raise funds for our upcoming Music and Arts Festival in July.
The event this year builds on the success of last year’s festival as we hope to expand the scope and range of participation for our students and the wider community.
To make this happen we need your support! If you could make a donation, however big or small, we can place music and the arts right at the heart of our mission to make ourselves, our community and our world a better place!
A small corner of the Frenchgate Shopping Centre is looking extra special at the moment, thanks to the curation of amazing artwork created by students across our Trust! This exciting exhibition umrellaed under the heading of ‘A Decade of Activism,’ is a snapshot of how the work of our children have been making a difference over the past ten years.
Stories that deserve to be shared
From protecting the planet to spreading kindness, these incredible displays nurtured from the students’ Expedition work show what really matters to young people. Each piece tells a powerful story about standing up for what’s right, helping others, and believing in a brighter future, which tie into our beliefs of community through activism, leadership and equity – sharing our stories as we go.
Whilst, also embracing our three rich curriculum seams Protecting Our Planet’, ‘Standing for Social Justice’ and ‘Cultivating Diversity & Belonging.’
Join us for a special evening as we welcome Jeff Robin to XP to celebrate the first year of Jeff Tech High. This event will showcase the journey of the XP staff who travelled to San Diego to work alongside Jeff on their ‘exemplars’ – an experience that has reshaped their practice and deepened their approach to Expeditionary Learning.
Through storytelling, reflections, and tangible examples of their work, the JTH Crew will share how Jeff’s expertise has influenced their thinking and teaching. The evening will conclude with a Q&A with Jeff, offering the chance to gain insight into his philosophy and approach to crafting meaningful, authentic learning experiences for students and staff alike.
📅 Date: 10th February 2025 🕒 Time: 3:45 PM 📍 Location: XP East School
Come and be part of the conversation as we explore creativity, craftsmanship, and the lasting impact of Jeff Tech High.
On Monday 27th January it was Holocaust Memorial Day.
This year it also marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia.
The theme vision for commemoration and remembrance events this year was ‘For a Better Future’.
A morning at our Mansion house of readings, pledges, stories, reflection and two minutes silence was attended by Mayor Ros Jones, Rabbi Yonosan Golomb and speakers and children from across Doncaster.
XP’s contribution was a postcard featuring a painting created as part of the ‘Are We Really Free to Choose’ expedition, which on the reverse side invited guests at the event to write down their reflections on the day.
80 trees were also planted across the Borough as part of the commemorations.
In the Autumn Term of 2024, I had the privilege and pleasure to work alongside Aime Shaw and her beautiful class at Green Top Primary School. The purpose of my visits were twofold: firstly, to highlight the outstanding work Aime does in terms of delivering learning expeditions with her pupils and secondly, to build my understanding of the level of work and expectations we have for our children in Key Stage One. The expedition was entitled ‘Rags to Riches’ and had the guiding question: ‘What lies within the castle walls?’ Pupils engaged with Case Studies involving Science, History, Design and Technology with English skills woven into the fabric of learning across the expedition.
Pupils ‘working hard’ at Green Top as part of their Learning Expedition, ‘Rags to Riches.’
From the very start of the expedition it was clear that integrity to our expeditionary learning model was very strong and purposeful. I witnessed pupils reflecting on their experience of Immersion (or ‘Hook Week’ as it is commonly known at Green Top); pupils engaging with an expert and then reviewing and reflecting on the experience; I saw and heard pupils considering the connections between Case Studies and thinking like historians, scientists and designers; I saw and heard reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar being smoothly and authentically embedded into our cross subject learning model; and most of all I saw and felt pupils ‘working hard’, ‘getting smart’ and ‘being kind.’
Pupils at Green Top engaging with an expert from Lincoln Castle
Amie is a skilful practitioner and she carefully crafts appropriate learning activities to both support and challenge learners. But above all, she has created a strong learning culture in her class and because of this her pupils flourish both as learners and as human beings. There is no doubt that when we get expeditions right the connectivity between powerful learning and a positive culture has a remarkable effect.
The list below is just some of the strengths I observed in sessions:
Numerous highly effective examples of teacher modelling to scaffold, support and challenge pupils
Recall strategies habitually used to return to, and embed, learning
Rich and frequent examples of the integration of literacy and writing opportunities that fuse ‘English’ work with learning expedition case studies. Clear and strong examples of cross disciplinary learning leading to increased understanding and quality of work
Diverse use of anchor charts to capture learning and to use as learning resources
Excellent use of an expert and the debriefing of this experience to build and embed learning
Relentless and explicit focus on character traits and HoWLs and their connection to learning and progress
Strong evidence of protocols and effective questioning strategies used to enhance discussion and checking for understanding
As a result of the above pupils made tremendous progress. Check out an example of some beautiful writing below:
Beautifully crafted writing on what you might find in a castle.
Pupils culminated the expedition by completing a beautiful notebook that showcased their learning. Above all, they were able to recall key learning from the expedition using connections across subjects to deepen their understanding.
The final product!!
In conclusion, I have to say that I loved my time spent at Green Top (I always do!) Class 8 are beautiful kids and they are realising that there is ‘more in them than they know’ because of the culture of Crew that pervades the school and the expert teaching of Aime.
I miss them already but can’t wait to return soon to see how far they have continued to develop when I visit next.
In the most recent episode of Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World, host Ryan Maxwell reflected on his visit to XP Trust last year and welcomed Gwyn and Andy, to discuss what makes XP so impactful.
The conversation dives into XP Trust’s core values of experiential learning, collaboration, and building strong relationships. Ryan shares how impressed he was during his visit, describing XP as a community where students and staff are empowered to thrive through a culture of trust, accountability, and growth.
Gwyn and Andy outline the intentionality behind XP’s approach, emphasising how fostering an environment that supports risk-taking and innovation has shaped both its schools and its people. They discuss how these values create a lasting impact, inspiring those who experience XP firsthand, like our friend Ryan. This episode offers an inspiring glimpse into what makes XP Trust exceptional. You can listen to the full conversation here.
