On Thursday 28th March it was ‘Wear a hat’ day, which is Brain Tumour Research’s annual fundraising event to bring hope to brain tumour patients and their families. This charity is very close to our hearts, having supported children and families in the past and currently who are directly affected by this terrible disease. Every March, as Brain Tumour Awareness month comes to an end, people wear their favourite hat at work, at school, in fact anywhere they go, to support this vital charity and help find a cure. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. Yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
We are grateful to all of our children and families who were able to support this fantastic cause and we are delighted to let you know that we managed to raise £293.00!!
The total raised by Wear A Hat Day 2024 so far is more than £100,000 and still climbing.
Y3 celebrated their amazing learning throughout the spring term by each planting a tree around the perimeter of the school field. We reflected on our guiding question “How can we protect our wonderful world?” and presented our learning to parents. We are very lucky that Murphy’s group donated enough trees that every child could plant their own with their own customised wooden tag.
Thank you so much to everybody that came and celebrated the children’s awesome work with us.
Quite literally. What an amazing end to our spring term where both y3 and 4 have planted over 120 trees as part of our expedition – There is no Planet B. During the celebration of learning, we shared our stories about all we had learnt and then talked about the urgency needed to combat climate change. The crescendo of our celebration resulted in a ‘mass planting’ session where, with our community out in full force, we planted the remaining 62 trees around our school perimeter. It has been a quite remarkable expedition – beginning with a litter pick and ending with the children’s work being displayed to the community in order to raise awareness of how pollution and waste can impact on the environment.
As always, we are indebted to a great number of people and services that have supported and driven our expedition. However, special praise is reserved for Murphy’s Group who kindly donated over 100 trees so that each and every child in LKS2 could plant a sapling themselves and know that their learning is steeped in both legacy and life.
Finally, we must finish with a nod to the amazing children across our phase. Throughout this expedition, they have been at their brilliant best and continue to remind us all that although there is much to be frustrated about in the world that we live in, with such impressive, intuitive and inspirational young people having an impact on the planet – our future is indeed bright.
Last week was Sign Language week in the UK – so all the students at Green Top have made this video, singing and signing the song ‘True Colours’ as part of the celebration!
‘If We Plant Trees…’ – Legacy @ NJS
As part of their awesome POLs this week, every single Year 3 and 4 child has planted a tree at Norton Junior School, with support from Murphy’s and their Roots Programme.
They also celebrated their product from last term (more on this next time!) and unveiled their awesome digital artwork, made from images of recycling – this will be on display in school after the Easter break!
Plover’s Eco Garden!
KS1 at Plover have just finished their Expedition ‘The Blue Planet’. Their final product has provided a lasting legacy for the community – a lovely eco garden that will develop across future Expeditions to provide a range of habitats and food sources for a variety of insects, birds and mammals.
Students dedicated the trees to community heroes who have helped to improve the lives of people across Intake and Doncaster at their POL yesterday – including Mrs Ogle and Dame Rosie Winterton!
Highlights from KS1 and LKS2’s COL @ Green Top
On Friday, KS1 and LKS2 at Green Top celebrated their learning for their two Expeditions – ‘The Blue Planet’ and ‘There Is No Planet B’
The celebration included an interactive art gallery, a visit from Reptile Rendezvous and showcasing awesome family learning.
On Thursday 21st March, a team of twenty-one dancers took part in the annual Campsmount Come Dancing competition. After four months of weekly practice, their collective efforts and commitment culminated in a captivatingly dramatic performance in front of four judges and a raucous crowd of local parents and carers.
With strong competition from other local junior teams in Askern Spa, Barnburgh and Kirk Smeaton, The Norton Junior School dance team captured their audience with a energetic and emotive performance, based on the French Revolution, with accompanying music from Les Miserables. Just when staff and parents could not have been more proud, the team secured a perfect score of 40/40 and came first place in the competition. Spectacular effort! 🪩
As part of their Expedition ‘Once Upon a Time’, students in EYFS at Plover have raised money to provide boxes of books to local community organisations, including Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospital Trust. They posted this update on their social media this week from their Children’s Ward, thanking students for their generous donation.
Genius of Steam and Speed
Across the Trust we have always researched and celebrated Doncaster’s railway story through expeditions. Lots of our students’ work is already out there in the community – including railway stations and parks. Our latest book, Rail City, is also on sale in Waterstones and the Danum Gallery, Library and Museum.
On the 23rd April a remarkable new exhibition – Gresley: Genius of Steam and Speed – will open at DGLaM, featuring artifacts, letters and stories about the man who engineered the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard in Doncaster.
Students from the Trust will be co-creating an audio guide which will be accessible through an app for the exhibition. We will also be helping to create rail related resources for the summer holiday programme of children’s events at DGLaM.
As part of their Expedition ‘Once Upon a Time’ Green Top have had some beautiful displays created for their reading areas in Nursery and Reception!
Staff Days across the XP Trust
All our staff were getting their heads together and planning for next term’s Expeditions last Friday and Monday – lots of exciting learning and products are on the horizon for students in term 3!
As with all of our Expeditions, students will work within one of our three curriculum seams and staff will do the project first! If it’s good enough for our kids, it’s good enough for us!
Passage Presentations at XP Gateshead
This week, G28 were the first year at XPG to complete their ‘Passage’ – these are presentations to a panel where they reflect on their learning journey, discuss examples of their work, and talk about how they are prepared for next steps in learning and GCSEs.
The quality of the “passage” presentations @xpgateshead as year 9 pupils discuss their learning journey and character growth in front of an invited panel has been outstanding – a real privilege to be part of this process @XPtrust pic.twitter.com/iscK4W8SMS
All year 9 pupils @xpgateshead @XPtrust take part in passage presentations – these are presentations to a panel where they reflect on their learning journey, discuss examples of their work, and talk about how they are prepared for next steps in learning and GCSEs pic.twitter.com/fE6NcEoXg4
XP School Trust Ltd is seeking an experienced firm to supply external audit services to our Trust.
Please see our Invitation to Tender letter below. If you would be interested in providing this service to our Trust please return your tender to Cat Blair, CFO ([email protected]) no later than 5pm on Tuesday 30th April 2024.
Yesterday, Year 4 had the fantastic opportunity to venture up to Campsmount to take part in an afternoon of scentific discovery! We made sandtimers, pendulums and exploded some balloons with oranges! The children had a brilliant time!
