A huge congratulations to Hana in F2BP and Alicja in F2M for both settling into school so well this week. Both have been kind to all their new friends, getting smart and working hard for their new class teachers! Alicja has persevered to ride a bike and Hana has shown great counting skills.
We introduced British Values in our first community crew and discussed how we are going to be active when coming to school. #LovePlover
After a busy week of preparation, 2P finally enjoyed our Royal Ball. An honorary King and Queen was chosen at different points in the event and they had to decide which group had amused them the most! The children did some Knight training and learnt to Joust, followed by some Jester training learning to juggle. Later, we learnt to do a short Royal Ball dance and finally did some soldier fitness with some skipping. The Kings and Queens were most amused!
#LovePlover
This morning/afternoon we have had a crew party to celebrate settling into nursery and completing our first week. Myself and Mrs Melady are very proud of the progress you have all made so far, keep it up superstars.
#LovePlover
This week, 2P have hooked into our new Expedition; Rags to Riches: What lies within the Castle walls?
Dragons started our week and we went on a dragon hunt. We used our adjectives to make a simple poem. We have studied shields, their emblems and the designs you might find on a banner. We then made our own shields with personal designs that said something about us. Our class banner also represented everyone in the class.
#LovePlover
Friends of Sandall Park kindly donated water bottles, towels and shower puffs to the Plover Pantry. Our children enjoyed displaying and offering these to our very grateful families. #LovePlover
At XP Trust we always use our first week back to establish and reaffirm our culture of Crew. This year has been another resounding success as young people across our schools have considered deeply the purpose of Crew through a range of opportunities and experiences and how Crew develops character and service so that they can help themselves, others and the wider community to be compassionate and successful.
At Carcroft we saw students engaging fully in a community meeting reflecting on their habits of work and learning and expressing what working hard, getting smart and being kind looks like every day at school. Students at Norton Infants Y5 visited local Care Homes delivering glasses cases they had made as well as treats! At Plover students were working alongside the RSPCA to capture and tell the stories of abandoned pets and, alongside drawing beautiful pictures of the animals, helping to find them homes as well as creating stunning murals in a street art style to promote the importance and legacy of Crew.
Students at Green Top took part in a fundraising Colour Run which was quite frankly spectacular whilst also creating kindness key rings that they gifted to members of the community! At XPG, Year 8 showed their qualities as leaders of their own learning by planning, organising and leading Year 7 activities including creating resources and fieldwork opportunities for their peers. Finally at XPD, students carried out acts of random kindness at the Lake side and welcomed past students who came back to school to talk about how Crew and their time at XP shaped the beautiful people they are today.
It was striking to hear a member of staff at Carcroft say, ‘I’ve been teaching for over twenty years and this is the best start back I’ve ever experienced.’ – I think that says it all!
In addition, our new Year 7’s from XP Doncaster and XP Gateshead spent their first days of secondary school building Crew together in the Lake District with Outward Bound. This is something we have been proud to do with our students for ten years now and it was inspiring to see students cultivating resilience, compassion and teamwork – especially through some very adverse weather! We are looking forward to seeing Crews grow together over the coming years…
Our Chief Academic Officer, Andy Sprakes was the keynote speaker at Spaghetti Bridge’s ‘BridgeFest’ earlier this week. He shared beautiful work and stories from our students at XP as part of their inspiring itinerary celebrating the last year. We are proud to be a part of their story and a key influence on the work that they do.
Alfie Lockey was part of the X22 cohort at XP and left two years ago to study for his A Levels at New College. His results of 3 A*s and and A, helped secure him a place at one of the oldest and renowned universities in the world – Christ Church College, Oxford. Alfie will be studying biology; a lifelong love and something that during his time at XP was actively encouraged and supported.
He created an allotment at school, had an opportunity to take part in an online conference organised by the Edge Foundation, which addressed climate change. That day Alfie spoke alongside the co-creator of the Eden Project in Cornwall, Sir Tim Smit KBE. An office at XP also became the perfect place for Alfie to experiment with growing a variety of plants for several years; bringing a touch of hot house greenery to XP!
CAO of the XP Trust, Andy Sprakes commented:
“Alfie is one of our many alumni who are already making a positive difference to the world. We’re always thrilled to hear about how our students are progressing and where they are now – they will always be part of our Crew.”
In Summer 2024, XP and XP East’s Year 8 students embarked on Learning Expedition called ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’, where they aimed to answer the guiding question: ‘Is migration worth the risk?’.
In Art, they looked at the work of artists who used imagery of birds to represent migration. Leonardo da Vinci studied anatomy and used that to design flying machines. The students took his ideas and constructed their own three dimensional bird designs. They then made large scale sculptures of the birds that you can see on display, here. Before culminating in the display, the sculptures were paraded at this summer’s inaugural XP Festival of Arts & Culture.
Find out more here to apply now and #JoinOurCrew
Mustafa is trying really hard to settle into his new school and is impressing Mr Meade and Miss Carter so much every day, with how much more he is able to understand and follow. Keep it up Mustafa – well done! #LovePlover
In crew yesterday we discussed which behaviours we want to see in our class and school. Then which behaviours are unacceptable and we DON’T want to see in our class or school. We have put it on our crew wall to remind us!
We have been using our cutting and sticking skills to make cards for our new crew friends too.
#LovePlover
What a fantastic day we had experiencing what it might have been like for children during World War 2. From evacuation to recycling scrap; school lessons to air raids, we had a great taste of life in the forties and will be able to use the experience throughout this expedition.
Mrs Graves
#LovePlover
