We are delighted to invite families and our wider school community to the Year 8 XP Presentation of Learning, taking place on Tuesday 14th April from 4:30pm to 5:30pm.
This event is an opportunity for students to showcase their learning from their most recent expedition, We Are the Power. Throughout the expedition, students have explored important ideas about influence, leadership, responsibility, and the ways power can shape societies and communities.
During the Presentation of Learning, students will share the high-quality work they have produced, reflect on their learning journey, and demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have developed.
They will also be responding to the expedition’s guiding question:
What is power?
We look forward to welcoming parents, carers, and guests to celebrate the hard work, creativity, and achievements of our Year 8 students.
C32, Year 7’s final expedition of the year launches this week- we will be revealing the Title and Guiding Question by the end of Immersion!
During this expedition, our geography content is focusing on river characteristics from source to mouth, river processes, formation of landforms as well as the cause, impacts and responses of flooding and open water. As part of this, we are applying the theory of river processes and characteristics to the field. Our maths content will require us to calculate speed, distance and time.
On Thursday 16th April, students will visit Endcliffe park in Sheffield. They will work together to collect data regarding the width, depth, velocity and load of rivers. We will also be capturing the beauty of a river by completing artwork. This data collection will allow us to accept or reject our hypothesis.
In order to attend the fieldwork, students must have the consent form completed. You can do this using the link here. Please email Miss Johnson or your child’s Crew Leader if there are any issues with this- njohnson@xpschool.org
Students will need to arrive at school no later than 8.00am so that the register and kit check can be completed before leaving school.
It is also essential that all students bring all of the kit on the KIT LIST so that they are fully prepared for the fieldwork; this includes a packed lunch and water to drink. Students who receive free school meals will be provided with a lunch.
Students will need to ensure they have suitable walking boots/trainers as well as wellies or a pair of trainers they can get wet – we’ll be going in the river to collect the data! If there are any problems in getting the appropriate kit before this, please email your child’s Crew Leader.
Students will be returning to school by the end of the school day (traffic dependent). We will keep you updated via the blog and social media pages.
This week has been a busy and reflective one as we wrapped up the term and prepared for a well-earned break.
We started on Monday by getting ourselves organised and back on track. Crew members spent time catching up on Sparx tasks, Tassomai, and updating their DofE skills logs. It was also a chance to check in with one another and make sure everyone felt supported heading into the final days of term. In addition, students took some time to give staff their apology postcards, each including a personal pledge for how they will improve moving forward — an important step in taking responsibility and rebuilding positive relationships. As part of our DofE volunteering skills, we also took on the task of sorting through lost property. We carefully organised items and created a blog post to share key information with the wider school community, helping reunite belongings with their owners — an impactful way to give back and support others.
Tuesday brought a slight change to our usual routine. We swapped our normal Tuesday activity and instead focused on our Wise Wednesday topic. Everyone engaged well, taking thoughtful notes and contributing to discussions.
On Wednesday, we joined the rest of C30 for our community meeting. This was an important moment to reflect as a year group. We celebrated successes and recognised positive achievements across the cohort. However, we also looked closely at areas for improvement. Attendance was a key focus, with Crew Brunel currently sitting lowest in the year group — something we are determined to improve next term. We also reviewed praises and conducts data, and again, it highlighted that we have work to do, as Brunel has received the highest number of conduct points so far this term. While this was a challenging conversation, it was an important one, and we are committed to making positive changes moving forward.
Thursday gave us the opportunity to dig deeper into this data within our own crew. We spent time unpicking praises and conduct points to better understand patterns and identify how we can improve as individuals and as a crew. We also had another opportunity to catch up on Sparx tasks, ensuring everyone is as prepared as possible going into the break.
Friday was Crew Day — a fantastic way to end the term. We began with a whole-school community meeting where achievements from across all year groups were celebrated. A highlight for Crew Brunel was recognising our Crew Champion for the term: Roan, for his fantastic improvement in attendance. A huge well done to him — an achievement to be proud of!
After this, we split into year groups for our Crew Day activities. Year 9 focused on their DofE volunteering skills, with each crew taking on a task to give back to the XP community. Crew Brunel were on portfolio duty, and we took real pride in the job. We carefully organised folders and book boxes, ensuring everything was sorted into the correct crews. We then tackled loose papers, organising them into year groups and placing them alongside the appropriate folders. Finally, we cleared away waste paper and made sure everything was recycled properly. It was a great example of teamwork and responsibility in action.
Lunchtime brought a fun and memorable moment with the “sponge the teacher” event, organised by Year 11 to raise money for their prom. It was a brilliant way to bring everyone together and end the term on a high note.
To finish the day, we degunged our crew room, leaving it clean, organised, and ready for next term — a fresh start for everyone.
Now it’s time for the Easter holidays. Two weeks to rest, recharge, and enjoy time with family and friends. Have a fantastic break, and I look forward to seeing everyone back, refreshed and ready to improve!
As our exam season approaches at XP Doncaster, we are looking for people interested in working as invigilators during this important time. At XP, we believe in ‘beautiful work’ – work that shows craftsmanship and integrity – and exams are a crucial part of this. Our students have worked hard over many years to reach this point, and we are seeking calm, supportive adults who can help create the conditions for them to demonstrate their very best. If you would like to play a part in this moment for our young people, we would love to hear from you via our expression of interest form.
As we come to the end of the second term, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate what has truly been an outstanding term for Crew MNO.
It has been a term filled with growth, positivity, and amazing achievements, and I could not be prouder of every single person.
Every member of our crew has consistently demonstrated our XP character traits throughout the term. Whether showing respect to others, working with compassion, demonstrating courage in their learning, or striving for excellence in all they do, the students have embodied these values in a way that has made our classroom a supportive and inspiring environment.
Every single member of crew has shown strong organisation, resilience when facing challenges, and a real commitment to improving their work. Their focus in lessons, willingness to contribute, and determination to do their best have all played a huge role in their success this term.
It has been a pleasure to watch everyones confidence grow and to see them develop not only academically, but also as thoughtful, responsible, and motivated young people.
Throughout the term we have had many laughs and enjoyed every minute, even when times have been hard.
I am so proud of how we have come together as a crew, and I can’t wait to see how we develop next term!
Well done to the Year 8 and 9 netball team who travelled to Hall Cross this week. It was a tough match and an unlucky loss. It has been a brilliant netball season this year. Well done to all the students who have played in the netball team this year. It was been fantastic to see so many amazing games.
Look out for the new timetable when we return after Easter holidays for our new enrichment programme.
This week’s lost property has now been sorted, recorded, and is ready for collection.
If you’ve recently misplaced any clothing, footwear, or personal belongings, please visit XP office to see if your items have been handed in.
We will hold all found items until the end of next week. After this period, any unclaimed belongings will be donated to charity so they can be put to good use.
If you believe you may have lost something, we encourage you to come and check as soon as you can.
This week staff took a groups of students to compete in South Yorkshire Panathlon at the EIS in Sheffield and we WON. It was an incredible event and was fab to see all the students getting involved in a variety of events. Well done to all the student that took part.
We have also launched the Ski Trip 2027 today in Community meeting. If students would like a letter please collect from XP East reception.
Next week in PE W/C23rd March
Monday- Year 8 and 9 netball fixture away at Hall Cross lower school, pick up at Hall Cross lower school at 4.45.
Wednesday – Boys football practice 3.30-4.30
Thursday – Cheerleading practice will run until 5pm
