The guiding question for Crew this week was: “How can I use the rest of my time at XP to become the best version of myself?”

To help answer this question, students have engaged in a range of activities designed to support their wellbeing, personal development and preparation for their final year at XP. These included a wellbeing walk around Langsett Reservoir, preparing and gathering information for their Yearbook, taking part in a carousel exploring different revision techniques and finally presenting their learning and experiences from the week to students in the community meeting.

Each activity gave students the opportunity to reflect on where they are now, think about where they want to go next and consider how they can make the most of their remaining time at XP. It has been a positive start to what promises to be an important year of growth, challenge and achievement for Crew Nightingale.

This week, Crew Parton took part in an important and practical first aid training session.

The crew learned how to respond calmly and confidently in an emergency, developing essential skills that could one day help them support someone in need. From learning how to assess a situation to understanding what to do when someone is injured or unwell, students were encouraged to take responsibility and look out for others.

The session was a fantastic opportunity to develop our compassion. First aid isn’t just about knowing what to do, it’s about having the confidence to step forward and help someone when they need it most.

Crew Parton showed maturity, teamwork and a willingness to learn throughout the session. We are proud of the way they embraced the challenge and developed skills that could make a real difference in the future.

What a week it’s been! 🚀

Monday saw us head to Langsett Reservoir with our crew phase for a 3-mile walk. The weather was lovely, and we finished the day with a well-earned ice cream!

On Tuesday, we had a RDASH nurse session on substance misuse and sexual health, took our yearbook photos, and got stuck into some crew games. We also had chance to decorate our new crew board!

Wednesday was all about learning and looking ahead. We had English and History revision sessions with Miss Buckley and Mrs Elliot, before creating road map posters showing how we want our year ahead to look.

Then on Thursday, we walked to Lakeside, played football and grabbed some breakfast. Then, we completed our Crew Year Planner, adding important dates and events, followed by a quiz, more crew games and some PoL practice for Community Meeting tomorrow.

It’s been a great week of learning, teamwork, and having fun together – go Crew! 🙌

Miss Warwick

What a fantastic first week for Crew Parton! Named after the inspirational Dolly Parton, our crew aims to embody the qualities she is famous for — kindness, compassion, generosity and making a positive difference to others.

We started the week by rebooting our crew, reconnecting with each other and building positive relationships for the year ahead. We then put our teamwork to the test by creating scarecrows for our community allotments, demonstrating creativity, craftsmanship and quality while working together as a team.

Our biggest challenge was completing the Monsal Trail. Throughout the walk, we supported and encouraged one another, showing compassion, kindness, respect and integrity. When things became challenging, we kept going together and made sure nobody was left behind.

As Dolly Parton herself has shown through her life and charitable work, you don’t have to do something enormous to make a difference. Sometimes, small acts of kindness, a helping hand or simply being there for someone can have the biggest impact.

That is the spirit of Crew Parton — and we can’t wait to see where the year takes us!

We have all successfully returned from overnight expedition!

Lots of tired but very proud Year 7 students this morning and afternoon as they made their way back to the centre to Degunge their belongings and prepare for their next activity.

It was beautiful to hear how students demonstrated character traits throughout the day yesterday to support one another to step out of their comfort zone and into the stretch zone. Students were faced with physical and emotional challenges which see them return pleased with their achievements and ready to conquer the next challenge!

This afternoon groups have headed out for another activity and will return to site once again this evening to prepare for their Crew presentations tomorrow.

We anticipate to be leaving the Outward Bound Centre at 12:30pm tomorrow (28th August) and will update on our return time through the blog and Facebook. Please keep an eye out! Parents should collect their child from the area in which the coaches were parked upon departure, collect their belongings and sign out with their Crew leader.

These very exhausted faces will be glad for their own beds… but prepare… we’ve had lots of conversation’s about the food were most looking forward to returning to!

Crew Sinfield have had a fantastic start to year 10!!

Our guiding question for the week was ‘How can we ensure that our future selves will thank us for the next two years?’ We have participated in activities where we have had to show resilience and also work together! We also took the positivity to the town centre giving our appreciation to the volunteers in town and gained our crew mascot ‘Pebble the owl’ who is going to help us be wise for the next couple of years!

Crew have also spent the week preparing for mock interviews creating CVs, covering letters and completing tasks. Crew showed great courage and there was some brilliant feedback from the interviews.

Fantastic work crew- Can’t wait to see all your hard work this year!

Mrs Burnitt