C24 Engineers are hard at work!

By Mr A Jackson23rd June 2021

Earlier this year, the year 10 Engineering students were challenged to solve a problem which was affecting classrooms across the XP trust.  We currently have Apple TV boxes tucked behind screens in around 100 classrooms, and they need to be safely attached to a wall.  The Engineers began a process of designing and testing prototype Apple TV holders around 6 weeks ago.  They calculated the most efficient use of time and materials and last week were ready to put their theory into practice!  After some initial fails and a bit of critique, the students settled into their self chosen roles.  During this week’s session they refined the production line further, and they increased their production speed from 1 completed holder last time, to 15 in this session.  We’re hoping to ramp up production considerably and hit our target of 100 completed units by the end of the term.  The students are really motivated to be working on something that will have a positive impact on not just our school community here, but also across the trust.

X25 GCSE Spanish Immersion

By Mrs N Sprakes17th June 2021

This week students were quite curious about our mystery piece which started immersion…a silent video showing the beautiful and unusual interior of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. They then continued to create factual BBKs about the Basque Region of Spain, through text and video, eventually summising that our final topic is all about going to stay in that area, taking on a role as if they are on an exchange. Here are some of their BBKs.

 

Year 8 Skipper Spanish new protocol!

By Mrs N Sprakes10th June 2021

Year 8 have been working on a module all about clothes and fashion, with the guiding question ‘¿Está de moda estar de moda?’ Before the holidays they attempted a KWL protocol, looking at an extended text, working out what they already knew in Spanish, what they wanted to know, and what they learnt about the meaning of the word or phrases. Here are a few examples of the KWL’s produced.

   

A busy couple of weeks for crew Kahlo

By Miss Jones3rd May 2021

Well, it’s been a busy couple of weeks in crew. We have been working hard and cracking on.

This week, crew Kahlo has been looking at ‘British Values’ as part of our crew curriculum. We have been learning about how British Values teach us tolerance and respect for others.

We even made a display in our crew room.

We then moved onto looking at the difference between weather and climate. Pupils carried out research into causes of climate change.

I wanted to highlight this beautiful work by Bryan and Jessy. For our current Y8 expedition ‘Wherever I Lay my Hat’ where we have been looking at the artist Luke Dixon for inspiration. Pupils have practiced adding lines and patterns to simplified copies of his work and also using a viewfinder to zoom in on details. I don’t know about you, but I think Jessy’s pencil-tone portrait is absolutely amazing! I only asked for a line drawing – but she went for it! We didn’t want to add any lines (like Luke Dixon does) over this drawing – so we have photocopied her work and she is adding lines to a copy so she has not one but two beautiful pieces of work!

On Thursdays, crew Kahlo has started to think about the HoWLs grades that they would give themselves for that week in each subject area and crew. Pupils critiqued each other’s grades and commented on whether they agreed with them or not. This led to loads of discussion about what ‘work hard’ looks like and how they could try and improve their own ‘get smart’ in lessons. It has been really great to have Mr. Challen in crew with us as he has been able to comment on pupils’ work in their maths lessons.

A very productive couple of weeks crew! Keep up the good work.

X24 Beautiful Work – Spanish Product Term 3

By Mrs N Sprakes28th March 2021

Last term, XP School’s C24 GCSE Spanish students grappled to answer our Guiding Question: “¿Tecnología – somos sus servidores o sus maestros? (“Technology – are we its servants or its masters?”). Whilst some might have found it difficult to articulate a response in English, imagine doing so during lockdown and in a modern foreign language!

This formed part of an expedition culminating in a Final Product centred around the family, expressing their own and their family’s reading habits and preferences, and uses of social media at home. Students collaborated to create a challenging rubric designed to encourage extended responses – including making an argument in favour of digital books or paperbacks – that was then used as the framework for our Final Product…..a monologue spoken in Spanish with accompanying slide presentation that evidenced standards ranging from beginning to excellence across a range of learning targets, such as: “I can compare and contrast reading books digitally with paper-based formats, making an argument in favour of one of these”.

X24 Year 10 Spanish: sneak peak at product!

By Mrs N Sprakes17th February 2021

The Year 10 Spanish GCSE group have been working hard this term to create beautiful work for an authentic audience. The two X24 year groups are creating product for each other, describing themselves, their family, and what they like to do in their spare time. Some have taken on roles, and placed themselves in a fictional family, and some have described their real family. Watch out for the launch of this product the first week back after the holidays. For now, here’s a sneak peek, but only at the fictional families…