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
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.
Lunch breaks aren’t just for eating. They are a breather—a chance to pause, recharge, and navigate the social side of school. That is where our lunchtime EMBRACE provision comes in, bringing together a small, close-knit group of students each week.
The core philosophy sits right in the name: Encourage More, Be Resilient, And Consider Everyone. Plain and simple. Because our group is small and intimate, students have a quiet, safe setting to build confidence, practice active listening, and master the art of being a supportive classmate away from the busyness of the wider school day.
Today was all about setting the tone for the term. We started with individual EMBRACE Pledges, giving everyone a moment to reflect on their personal goals. Some pledged to make space for quieter voices during group tasks. Others wanted to focus on staying patient when things get tricky, or simply offering a kind word to someone having an off day. Small goals, big impact.
Then came the main event: Jenga. But with a twist.
Instead of every person for themselves, the group worked as one unit. The goal was straightforward—keep the tower standing for as long as humanly possible, together.
In such a small setting, the supportive atmosphere was palpable. You could hear quiet whispers of advice, collective gasps as the wooden blocks wobbled, and steadying words of encouragement before every move. “Take your time.” “You’ve got this.” “Try the left side.” When the stack finally crashed to the floor, nobody groaned. There were no sore losers. Just laughter, high-fives, and a small team immediately pulling together to rebuild.
It was resilience in action. Watching our students turn a simple game into a lesson in empathy proves just how ready they are to lift each other up. We can’t wait to see those pledges unfold in the weeks ahead.
Sometimes, as a Crew Leader, it’s the little things that make me smile.
On Friday, Crew White were VERY excited because, as Year 11s, they now get to sit at the top of the stairs during community meetings.
To anyone else, that might sound like a fairly insignificant seating arrangement.
To them? This is HUGE.
Since Year 7, they’ve looked up at that spot and watched the older students sit there. And now, finally, they’re the cream of the crop!
It reminded me of that same excitement from primary school when you finally reached Year 6 and got promoted from the floor to a bench at the back of the hall. Because apparently, nothing says “you’ve made it” quite like an upgraded seating position!
They may be the big kids of the school now, but thankfully they’re not too big to share my caterpillar birthday cake in Crew this morning!
And that’s what I love about being a Crew Leader. It’s not always the big achievements that matter most. Sometimes it’s the pride, the laughter, the cake and those little moments that remind you just how far they’ve come.
Today Year 8 Pioneer visited the Ceder Care home in Doncaster to meet the residents there. Their goal is to listen, connect and gather beautiful words and stories that will make up their micrography portrait.
“It was really nice speaking to John and learning about his life. He told us about his good and bad memories. His most important thing in his life was his mum but he sadly lost his wife. His favourite memory was spending time as child playing outside with his friends in the fields. John, said you can have good and bad moments in life but to surround yourself with good people and remember to make good memories” Will in Year8.
”Yvonne was really nice to speak to. She loved dancing when she was younger. She told me she has a son which is the best thing that ever happened to her. I loved listening to her and the stories she had” Eifa in Year 8.
The students acquitted themselves fantastically well and really engaged with the residents.
Community meetings at XP and XP East serve as a crucial anchor of our community for embedding our school culture. They bring all of our students and staff together to tend to our crew identity, align on shared expectations, celebrate achievement, and reflect on collective growth. Rather than acting as passive assemblies, community meetings embody the core principle that everyone is part of a crew, fostering belonging and mutual accountability across our schools. Our community meeting on Friday highlighted some of these core practices through some magical moments:
We always start by reinforcing shared norms around our school spaces, reminding our student to respect outdoor boundaries.
We celebrated student achievements in the arts, recognising Year 7 for a strong start in Art and highlighting Year 10 students as Artists of the Week for their outstanding effort.
We praised Students of the Week across year groups for earning top praise points and celebrated some great attendance for this week through additions to their Crew Kitty.
We shared updates on how Crew Kitty can be earned through additional contributions, such as blogging photographs of learning activities or reaching the top of the leaderboard in the Sparx and Tassomai challenges. This initiative reinforces that every student can contribute to their crew’s collective reward, which can be spent on shared experiences like crew breakfasts or end-of-term activities.
We hand the catch box to our students for the majority of our community meeting ensuring that these meeting are guided by student voice through Appreciations, Apologies, and Stands:
We reinforced character traits through some powerful stands and lots of appreciations.
By gathering regularly to celebrate success, reset expectations, and speak honestly with one another, our community meetings continue to strengthen our culture of crew.
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!!!
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.
