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!

Fieldwork fun at Yorkshire Wildlife Park…

Approximately 17,595 steps or 13.12km of walking should mean your child will sleep well tonight. What a wonderful (but tiring) day! The polar bears were so active and our workshop helped us to better understand how enormous these fabulous creatures are. The photos really don’t do the day justice – you need to see them to believe them!

Your behaviour around the park was was fabulous 4H and shout out to everyone in the red crews for excellent behaviour whilst we were on the coach! I am so proud of you all.

Special shout out to Caleb who spent the day making as many notes as he could about polar bears!

Mrs Haycock

#LovePlover

We are Scientists

4H have worked together to plan and carry out a fair test – helping them to find out which surface an object would move the furthest on. Different surfaces to test were considered and then voted for, promoting our use of British values. How to make sure we used the same force for every ‘push’ of the object was challenging, but with a little bit of extra advice from me, a sling shot was made to release our chosen object from. Careful measurements; releasing the cube from the top of it; and using the same people for the same role made sure that our test was fair. Well done everyone! Super Scientists in the making!

Mrs Haycock

#LovePlover

World Wildlife Day

Years 3 and 4 were lucky enough to join a live, online lesson yesterday to build our background knowledge of the world’s biomes. It was great to see how much our children have learnt about the Arctic during this expedition.

I wonder if your child can tell you something new that they learnt from this opportunity.

Mrs Haycock

#LovePlover

We are motivated!

Our crew challenge this week was to solve matchstick problems. I think it’s fair to say that Crew Haycock found this more challenging than some of the other tasks they have been set! The frustration that they displayed when I showed them how simple it was really was amusing to see from my point of view. However, I don’t think they appreciated how easily I solved them! Sorry guys, I pledge to be more supportive and less competitive in the future.

Keep grappling with our motivational challenges everyone!

Mrs Haycock

#LovePlover

We Are Storytellers

Over the past two days we have been working hard to re-tell the story of the Gingerbread Man, using masks. The children have become very good at remembering key phrases and leading their own learning to re-tell the story during provision.

Miss Wood

#LovePlover

F2 Pride of Plover

Lacey-Jayne and Emilia won Pride of Plover this week for kindness. They both spread kindness in F2 and look after people. They brighten up our days with their huge smiles!

A big thank you

Thank you to all those who have supported our fundraising this term. We have raised just over £700. We are going to buy books to create book baskets for places in the community, books for the children’s wards in the hospital and Kiddiewinks. We are also going to add to our reading for pleasure books that the children take home and all our EYFS children will have their own book.

If you know of a venue in the local area that would like a basket of books for children to read/share at the venue please let us know.

Mrs Price and the EYFS team

#LovePlover

Decorating biscuits

The children decorated the biscuits ready to take home. They were careful in how and where they put the icing. We hope they enjoyed eating them.

Mrs Price

#LovePlover

Excellent extended study!

So proud of all of these children, who in addition to booster sessions, are completing extended study at home. Their hard work outside of the classroom is definitely having a positive impact inside the classroom! Awesome examples of 4’s for getting smart!

-Miss Blackham

#LovePlover