Unlock your child’s musical potential at XP School!

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At XP School, we believe music has the power to inspire and shape young minds. Each year, we offer a unique opportunity for children with a natural flair for music to gain a place in Year 7 through our dedicated Musical Aptitude route. 

Whether your child already sings or plays an instrument, or simply has a keen ear for rhythm, melody, and pitch, this pathway recognises raw musical potential. 

With access to expert tuition, vibrant performance opportunities, and a culture that celebrates creativity, XP School is the perfect stage for your child to flourish musically and academically. Click here to see highlights from our recent annual XP Festival of Arts and Culture

Apply now, and don’t miss this chance to join a learning community where talent is nurtured and passion takes centre stage! Find out more about this here: https://xptrust.info/XPMA

Applying for a place at XP – Fair Banding Assessment

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To ensure a balanced intake of students across all ability levels, all applicants to an XP secondary school must sit a Fair Banding Assessment. 

This multiple-choice test focuses on non-verbal reasoning and helps us place students into one of five ability bands. There is no pass or fail, and results are used solely to support a broad and representative admissions process.

Completing the assessment is a key part of the application and must be done to be considered for a place. 

Please ensure your child is registered by 31st October 2026 and prepared to attend the assessment on 21st November 2026.

Find out more here – https://xptrust.info/XPTFBA

WOW WOW WOW – What a week for Y11!!!!

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Year 11 have been absolutely INCREDIBLE this week. From 100% attendance (earning some money in the crew funds!) to 0 conducts and lots of praise points… the focus, collaboration, and general attitude from the whole of Y11 this week has been outstanding!

Take a look at some highlights below – including 0 conduct points from Crew Caldwell – a huge improvement from the end of Year 10!!

Also – the BIGGEST shout out to Lewis – Student of the week this week!!!! Keep it up, Crew Caldwell!!!

Teamwork in Netball

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Year 7 XP students showed excellent teamwork skills this week. Students circled up and worked as a crew to figure out what their strengths and areas for improvements were. What a fantastic start to PE.

Sharing our Stories: 11/09/2026

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Beautiful work this week

Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust!

To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.

Top of the Blogs

Arts and craft club @ Green Top

EYFS Sponsored Bear Walk @ Plover

Could You Be a Change Maker? @ Carcroft School

Inside the Code @ XP

]Celebrating Crew @ Norton Infants

Digital Leading Experts @ Norton Juniors

G29 @ XP Gateshead

Fossils, Discovery, and Coastal Exploration @ XP East

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 comms@xptrust.org –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

🌟 Crew ABT – 100% Attendance! 🌟

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What a fantastic week for Crew ABT! 🎉

We are incredibly proud to celebrate 100% attendance this week. Every member of Crew ABT has shown commitment, resilience and a fantastic attitude by being in school every day and ready to learn.

This is a brilliant achievement and shows the strength of our Crew when we work together, support each other and take responsibility.

A huge well done to everyone in Crew ABT – keep it going! 💪🔥

100% attendance. 100% commitment. 100% Crew ABT! 🏆

Silver DofE Update

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Good morning from slightly warmer and sunny Silkstone.

Slower start this morning, some tired feet and extra tired faces today.

Day 3 is upon us, they have all shown true grit and determination and as they embark on the last leg they will no doubt dig that bit more to get through.

We will keep you posted on our arrival time home

Silver DofE update

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Just a little update!


We’ve arrived at the campsite and now setting up tents. It’s a little drizzly but in good spirits… we think they will be in asleep early tonight!

Photo is the last leg before they arrived at the campsite!

FLU Programme

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The Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humberside NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) School Immunisations Team will be carrying out their FLU programme on the following 2 dates:

FLU main session: 02nd November 2026. FLU catch-up session: 24th November 2026

ADOLESCENT Programme 2027

Year 8 HPV Session : 23rd February 2027

Year 9. SLB/MENINGITIS Session: 05th May 2027

Catch-up for all years: 29th June 2027

Emails have been sent to parents/carers for the FLU programme from RDASH. Please respond whether you consent or do not consent to the FLU programme for your child. Adolescent programme consent or non-consent emails will follow after the FLU programme.

Inside the Code: A Look Back at Our Bletchley Park Fieldwork

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Looking back through last year’s fieldwork, our visit to Bletchley Park remains a firm favourite. There’s something special about swapping a regular classroom for the birthplace of modern computing and stepping onto the exact grounds where Alan Turing and thousands of unsung codebreakers quietly changed the course of history.

It didn’t take long for our students to get stuck into the atmosphere of the place. Walking through the iconic wooden Huts and standing in front of an actual Enigma machine put math, history, and secret intelligence into a whole new light. The real test came during the interactive cipher workshops. Watching our students huddle together over complex logic puzzles, discussing endless possibilities, and piecing together clues really captured the spirit of the place. Codebreaking, as it turns out, requires a massive dose of patience, a fair bit of trial and error, and plenty of teamwork.

To celebrate the fieldwork and look back on how much ground we covered, we’ve put together a short video packed with photos from throughout the day.

From unravelling WWII secrets to testing our own problem-solving skills, it was a day of fieldwork that stayed with everyone long after we loaded back onto the bus. Take a minute to give the video a watch and relive a few of the best moments from an incredible day out!