Y11 ‘Learn2Earn’ Revision Rewards Launch!

13th January 2022Melissa Cocliff

Yesterday, we launched our Learn2Earn Revision Rewards scheme to Y11 as a way of recognising the hard work and commitment of those students who are attending our lunchtime and after-school GCSE revision sessions (and perhaps encourage some of our other students to attend, too!)

So, what is Learn2Earn?

  • A rewards ‘loyalty’ scheme for revision – the more sessions students attend, the more points they earn! 
  • After 5 sessions, students receive a small ‘reward’…
  • After 10 sessions, students receive a medium ‘reward’…

All completed cards will be entered into a ‘big CREW reward’ prize draw – so the more crew participate in sessions, the more chance their crew have of winning the ‘bigger prize’ at the end of Y11!

Y11 students working hard in one of our lunchtime History revisions sessions.

Here is our current revision timetable. Please note this is currently under review and we’ll be adding more sessions soon:

Don’t forget that Y11 – and Y10 – students can also attend D6 on a Saturday morning, from 9am – 12:30pm, which is back up and running this weekend (15th January). D6 provides students with a relaxed and informal study space working alongside our expert Student Coaches. We are expecting these to get busier as GCSEs get closer (16th May – 24th June.)

We look forward to seeing lots of students there!!!

X24 History, getting started with revision!

By B Batty17th September 2021

Students this week have been given their own copy of the revision guide for our History exam board OCR B SHP History. All students should have named their copy so that if they are misplaced they can be returned. Students are encouraged to annotate and highlight the guide as they carry out their revision.

The revision guide has a number of different topics, however, students will need to focus on the following sections for revision:

  • The Elizabethans 
  • The People’s Heath 
  • Living under Nazi Rule 

The locations of these topics can be found in the contents page. We would recommend in general students start by revising The People’s Health as well as focusing on page 88 in order to prepare for the upcoming assessment in lessons. 

If any student has been absent when these revision guides were handed out, they can see myself or Mrs Hannam directly and we will make sure they get their copy.

 

A further revision guide focusing on the Viking Expansion will be issued to students in the coming weeks.

 

 

New College Taster Day Monday 27th September

By K Burns10th September 2021

Today again Scott Faulkner from New College delivered a presentation to our year 10&11 cohort.  I can now confirm that there is an opportunity for all our C24 & C25 students from both schools to attend the NCD taster day on the 27th September.
Could all students complete the form below for the taster day at New College on Monday 27th September. They need to choose 3 options and then a 4th standby. This information needs to be completed by Monday and prospectuses have been shared. The links to the college for both taster day  options and the online prospectus are below.
Please encourage your students to choose sessions they think they will enjoy or are intrigued by rather than in friendship groups, this is an important opportunity to try out before they enrol. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me. Crew Leaders will also be able to support and advise.
On the day we will be picked up by a coach at XP schools and taken to New College, we need to ensure all students leave from XP. Lunch is provided by college which I am excited about. They will attend 3 sessions and return to school by the usual finish time. 

X24 & E24 College taster day postponed

By K Burns29th June 2021

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control Doncaster College have taken the difficult decision to postpone XP & XP East’s taster day until the next academic year. This delay is due to an increase in Covid cases and acting on Local authority guidance. I know the students were looking forward to this opportunity however their safety is our first priority.

As Careers Lead for both schools I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff for their support and assure parents/carers that these opportunities and more are planned for  2021/22 as they head into year 11. We are working with local Further education providers and  businesses to create meaningful insights into their options for the next steps on their academic journey.

X24 (Y10) Fieldwork Thursday 1st July (warning – it’s an early start!)

By Melissa Cocliff25th June 2021

We are super excited to be taking C24 out on fieldwork on Thursday, 1st July.

We have arranged to take the whole of Y10 to Shrewsbury Prison, to support our final expedition of the year: Karma Police – have we got justice right?

Shrewsbury Prison was decommissioned in 2013 and now provides an “interactive prison experience” for visitors. It was also recently used as the location for BBC’s drama ‘Time’, which gave a harrowing picture of prison life.

We’re not giving too much away about the activities we’ve got planned for students, but we promise not to leave any of them locked in the cells 😉

We are booked in at the prison at 9.30am meaning that we do have to set off between 6.45am-7am at the latest.  If this is a problem for anyone, please let your Crew Leader know as soon as possible.

We will be leaving the prison at approx 1pm, so hope to be back at school between 3.30-4pm, traffic dependant. We will update socials on the day.

Please make sure students wear comfortable clothes and take a jacket as it can become cold in the prison and sensible shoes. Students will also need a packed lunch and sufficient water for the day. Please don’t pack any products containing nuts in packed lunches as we are a nut-free school!  If your child is in receipt of free school meals, a packed lunch will be provided for them.

X24/Y10 Mock Exams

By XP School11th April 2021

Year 10 will begin their first set of GCSE mock exams from the week commencing 10th of May over the following two weeks. This first round of mocks will be over two weeks to all the students’ time between exams to ease students back into the formal examination process, but it also helps us to maintain our current CV-19 adjustments in school. 

 

The following exams will be taken by students in X24/Y10:

AQA citizenship (Cit students only)

AQA Spanish Writing (GCSE Spanish students only) 

AQA Spanish Speaking (GCSE Spanish students only) 

OCR B SHP History The People’s Health / Living under Nazi Rule 

AQA Geography Paper 2 (Common Mission students only) 

Eduqas English Language Component 1

Eduqas English Language Component 2

Eduqas English Literature XP made paper from a combination of Comp1 and 2 

AQA Business Paper 1 (Common Mission students only)

AQA Maths Paper 1 Non Calculator

AQA Maths Paper 2 Calculator

AQA Science Paper 1 – Communicable and non Communicable diseases

AQA Science Paper 2 – Mag/electro mag/Hydrocarbons/alternative sources energy

 

All exams will take place during a normal school day, and will take place in the sports hall with appropriate CV-19 safety adjustments in school.

X24 Art: Beautiful Work

By Mr A Jackson15th January 2021

Year 10 started this expedition with an immersion task practising their skills on digital design apps.  Students worked on a range of devices and using different apps which allowed them to edit and filter images that they’d chosen.  We grappled with the apps and started off by creating a horror film poster.

We also looked at the principles of good design, and then started to create our own posters for the fictional movie – Emerald Bay.  Miss Taylor and Mr. Jackson were really pleased with the work that everyone managed to produce – especially considering the wide range of skills and experience that the classes started out with.  Well done year 10!

Crew Webb beautiful work with their DofE First Aid Skills

By B Batty23rd November 2020

Crew Webb HOWLing on Flexible Friday

Crew Webb showed their habits of work and learning during our Duke of Edinburgh session this week by working on their outdoor first aid skills. Students worked in teams to examine case studies of outdoor scenarios that they might face in future Duke of Edinburgh expeditions once Covid restrictions change. Once Crew Webb worked through the case studies, they prepared presentations demonstrating the steps they would take to provide first aid in each case. Great teamwork and beautiful work on a Friday afternoon!

 

Crew Webb’s academic success

By B Batty25th September 2020

With the new term and expedition now well under way our check in today was focused on sharing a piece of work from the last few weeks that we were pleased with or proud of.

It was great to see examples from Art, English and Spanish as well as History.

Here are Crew Webb’s choices:

Charlie shared his 3D mask making designs. He has used both his Ipad and more traditional techniques when developing his Steam Punk creation.

Tristan,  Loris,  Kyra, Sam and Eleanor shared their History assessment on living conditions in the Medieval Period.

Amber also picked her Medieval living conditions assessment but also some of her Spanish work that she had drafted and improved. It’s great to see Crew Webb getting smart through revision and redrafting.

Here is Lara’s beautifully annotated version of the poem Living Space 

Tom and Kyle choose their work from 2D and 3D art. Here is Tom’s view finder study and Kyle’s steam punk helmet on Boba Fett! Beautiful work boys!

Y10 & 11: We Are Crew!

By Mr M Voltaire24th September 2020

It’s been the most unusual starts to a year that we’ve ever had here at XP as it has been for most school across the country. But during this time of change and uncertainty, there has been one thing if which I am absolutely certain; the commitment and work ethic of students in our phase, Years 10 and 11. Walking around the school during Crew time I see the same thing everyday; our young people sitting in their circle speaking with compassion, maturity and usually with smiling faces. It’s been a big adjustment for some of us returning to school after such a ling break from routine. Some of us have struggled to slip straight back into the daily routine which has left some feeling tired, but still I’m delighted to see just how well our students are working. In lessons, I have seen students in years 10 and 11 working with focus, purpose and downright graft! Our ‘Crew Dashboards’ where we log all of the positive things we see are bursting at the seems with positive comments from out teachers and learning coaches which is wonderful to see. Here are a few excerpts:

 

X24:

–Admiral have been on fire since they returned to School. It’s a pleasure to be in their sessions.

-Kyra and Alfie: PERFECT translation of a text, wow, well done.

-Max W: Max worked really well in Citizenship an History, completing work both in a group, shoulder buddies and independently. Well done Max.

-Jayden, JD, Ricki, Max, Jaggy: Brilliant team effort on their work around ACC plot. Worked together well as a team and proved me and RJO wrong!

-Sam and Milo: Students supporting each other in difficult tasks, well done! Wonderful to see!

 

X23:

-Charlotte: Absolutely fantastic work , attitude and student. Keep going.

-Abi: Brilliant attitude to come back with stronger than ever.

-Mills: Know you’re finding it tough but you’re awesome and a role model to others.

-Tyler and Levi: Working incredibly hard in session, with a positive attitude. Grappling with tricky concepts. Really pleased.

-Isaac: Issac was great in art, head down and on task throughout. I’ve been impressed the last few sessions how Issac has joined a smaller group with myself, found images, shared and expressed, constructively his thoughts.

-Liam: Brilliant effort. This is reflected in your grade, well deserved

-Jac, Alex, Jon: Brilliant work in history today. Detailed answers and very involved – absolutely on fire!!!

There are hundreds more!

 

What has been even more pleasing this term is the way that our young people seem to be looking out for watch other and supporting each other in their own unique way. I’m seeing people take the time to check in with others and see how they are doing, hearing people speaking up and reaching out and feeling great about the way that our young people see us all as in this together. Our community meeting in X24 was a wonderful thing to see today as every single student wrote a personal positive message of support to their peers in X23. It made me unbelievably proud to see the maturity and compassion being shown to other students in the school have a lot on their plate and a lot on their mind. X24 are shaping up to be a fine set of young adults and I look forward to seeing them develop throughout the rest of the year!