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.
Last week I visited some Year 11 sessions, and enjoyed every minute. In PE, students were practising their basketball skills, including shooting, during a game. They showed energy and confidence in this.
Later that day, I saw true craftsmanship and quality in Science sessions. Students were challenged to think and speak like Scientists, using accurate scientific language.
The craftsmanship, quality and respect for work and learning was also obvious in student folders. Have a look at Lola’s fantastic start to Year 11!
Last week, students from all year groups joined Jackie from Relish to check in about our lunchtime options. Bailey, Skye, Milo, Harley, Toby, Veya and Kayden all enjoyed sharing their favourite food, and what they would like to see on the menu in future.
Students will be able to participate in a Design a Dish competition later this term, and the successful students will have their very own dish named after them for a day! More information to come through Crew Leaders.
Crew Rock are an outstanding group of young people. Since starting at XP East in Year 7, they have shown how amazing they are. Year on year, week on week they have lead on praises, and on attendance. This week, crew rock have gone even further, they have not only been in the lead across their year group on praises, but they have also managed to receive zero conducts.
I cannot understate how immensely proud I am of all of you, you are truly wonderful students and I look forward to seeing just how much you can all achieve.
Announcing Our New Publication: ‘Celebrating Ten Years of Expeditions at XP’
A new publication, ‘Celebrating Ten Years of Learning Expeditions at XP’, written by our co-founder, Andy Sprakes, is now available. The book highlights an extensive and broad selection of the beautiful work created by our young people and staff from across our Trust. It is a profound and often moving reminder of the purpose, agency, and consequence of our work; illuminating the transformative power and far-reaching impact of Learning Expeditions.
In the next few weeks, the book will be made available to the general public and will retail at £20. However, to mark the publication of this much-anticipated book, it is being made available exclusively to staff across our Trust for a not-for-profit cost price of £5. In the spirit of Crew the proceeds will be donated to charity.
When staff fill in the google form and order the book at this price, they will be able to choose to donate to one of two local charities and one national charity that have supported and worked alongside us in the past.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to the exceptional staff across our Trust whose unwavering dedication, creativity, and passion made this publication, and the transformative work within it, possible.
This week, every Year 8 student worked alongside expert artist Michelle Clarke-Stables as part of their Being Human expedition.
Michelle introduced students to the art of willow weaving, inspiring them to create hearts, spheres, circles and nests in response to the guiding question: What does it mean to be human?
With imagination, patience and teamwork, students brought their individual creations together, carefully entwining them to form one magnificent heart sculpture. Each piece is unique, yet together they create something greater, a powerful symbol of connection, collaboration and belonging.
The finished sculpture celebrates the creativity of every student and demonstrates the strength of our community when we work together. It is a beautiful and lasting reminder that everyone has an important part to play.
A huge thank you to Michelle for sharing her expertise, nurturing our students’ creativity and helping them create such a meaningful legacy.
This week’s Thoughtful Thursday gave Crew Brunel the opportunity to pause, reflect and think carefully about how we have started our Year 10 journey.
As we begin preparing for our GCSEs, developing good habits, taking ownership of our learning and understanding our strengths and areas for improvement are becoming increasingly important. Our session focused on exactly that – taking responsibility for where we are now and thinking about where we want to go next.
We began with our first round of HoWL reflections. Students self-assessed their progress across each of our three HoWLs: Work Hard, Get Smart and Be Kind. They used the HoWL rubric to RAG-rate themselves and awarded themselves a grade for each area. Once completed, students calculated their overall HoWL average, giving them a clear picture of their current strengths and areas for development as they settle into Key Stage 4.
The important part came next – setting SMART targets. With GCSE preparation now underway, students identified specific areas they wanted to improve and thought about practical steps they could take to develop their learning habits and make progress.
We then switched things around and moved on to peer assessment. Students assessed each other’s HoWLs based on what they have seen from their peers in sessions so far. They followed the same process of RAG-rating, grading and calculating an average, before finishing by setting a target for someone in their class. This encouraged students to consider how their actions and attitudes are seen by others, while also thinking about how they can support their peers to improve.
To finish the session, we looked back at our praises and conducts from the week and completed our SOS analysis. We celebrated the successes shown on our Crew leaderboard, recognised individual achievements and reflected on some of the conducts that had been recorded. Students were encouraged to think about what had gone well, what we wondered about and what we could do differently moving forward.
Finally, we selected two students to set pledges for next term, giving them a clear personal focus to work on and develop as we continue through Year 10.
Roan – ” I pledge to complete all of my extended study tasks to the best of my ability and make sure they are submitted on time to help improve my Get Smart HoWL from a 2.5 to a 3. “
Brooke – ” I pledge to arrive on time every day this term, helping me improve my Work Hard HoWL from a 3 to a 3.5. “
A really thoughtful and purposeful session from Crew Brunel. As we take our first steps into KS4 and GCSE preparation, it was great to see students reflecting honestly, taking ownership of their progress and thinking about the small changes they can make now to help them succeed in the future.
