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We’re looking for Cleaners across XP Trust
We’re looking for a SEND Learning Coach at Green Top!
Find out more and apply here to #JoinOurCrew: https://xptrust.org/green-top-send-learning-coach/
RE- Chinese New Year Festival
We have had a wonderful time learning all about Chinese New Year. We have been exploring the traditions and celebrations linked to this special festival and discovering how it is celebrated around the world. The children enjoyed reading a story to learn about the animals in the Chinese Zodiac. As part of our creative activities, we made fantastic dragon masks and colourful lanterns. In PE, we took part in our very own dragon dance.
Celebrating Chinese New Year in Class 5
This week, we have been learning all about Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated. We found out that this year is the Year of the Horse and enjoyed learning about the animals in the Chinese zodiac. We also discovered which year we were born in, and lots of us were excited to find out we were born in the Year of the Pig or the Year of the Dog!
This morning, we tried something new by practising our handwriting in Mandarin. We had a go at writing Happy New Year and talked about how different the characters look compared to the letters we usually write. We also made beautiful Chinese lanterns using bright colours and patterns, which we were very proud of.
It has been a fun and interesting way to learn about another culture, and the classroom has been full of excitement as we celebrated Chinese New Year together. 🐎🏮
A Visit from the School Nursing Team
This morning, we were lucky to welcome the School Nursing Team into school for a special visit. They helped us learn all about what school nurses do and how they support children to stay healthy and well.
We spent time learning about our teeth, what their job is, and why they are so important. The children talked about how we can take the best care of our teeth, including brushing twice a day, choosing healthy foods, and visiting the dentist.
It was a really engaging session, with lots of great questions and thoughtful contributions from the children. A big thank you to the School Nursing Team for helping us learn how to look after our bodies and build healthy habits for the future. 🦷✨
Our Beautiful Work
This week we became explorers, artists, and writers! We studied famous landmarks such as Doncaster Minster and the Frenchgate Shopping Centre. We researched key facts and learned about their history, purpose, and importance to the local community. The children used this information to write some interesting facts, showing pride in their knowledge of Doncaster. We also became artists and carefully sketched landmarks using observation skills. After sketching, we used watercolours to bring our drawings to life.
Unlocking a Book’s Potential: How One Story Inspired a World of Learning
Our recent focus text, The Boy Who Sailed the World, has provided a wonderful springboard for creativity, language development and imagination in the classroom. By exploring the story together, the children were able to dive deeply into the language, themes and experiences within the book, turning one text into many rich learning opportunities. We began by unpicking the vocabulary from the story, helping the children to understand and use new and exciting words. This supported their comprehension and gave them confidence to talk about the story in their own words.
One moment that truly captured the children’s imaginations was the magical sunset described in the book. Inspired by this, we created our own sunsets through art. The children experimented with mixing colours, exploring how different shades blend and change. The results were truly beautiful, with each piece reflecting the children’s creativity and growing confidence as artists.
In our writing, we focused on the sentence: “The boat can sail.” The children used their phonics knowledge to segment each word and write the sentence independently. It was fantastic to see them applying their learning so carefully, and taking pride in forming their letters neatly and beautifully on the lines.
As the story continues, the boy stumbles upon an island home where he discovers new friends. This led perfectly into our Creative Chameleon Crew session, where the children used their imaginations to think about what they might find on their own island homes. Their ideas were imaginative and varied — from friendly animals and hidden treasures to colourful houses and exciting adventures.
This text has shown us just how powerful a single story can be. Through reading, art, writing, phonics and imaginative play, the children have developed a wide range of skills while staying fully engaged and inspired. We are so proud of their enthusiasm, creativity and the progress they are making every day.
Sharing our Stories: 06/02/2026
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.
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Share your stories with us!
Write to us at [email protected] – we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!
Building Number Sense Through Counting Collections
In our recent Counting Collections sessions, we’ve been focusing on the composition of numbers — understanding how numbers can be broken into parts and put back together. It has been fantastic to see the children applying this in their counting, often splitting their collections into two groups and recording their thinking with simple number sentences.
I have been especially impressed with their mathematical mark making. The children are confidently using numbers, symbols, and drawings to represent their ideas, showing a deepening understanding of how numbers work. We are very proud of the progress they are making and their growing confidence as young mathematicians.
Children’s Mental Health Week: This Is My Place
This week, we came together for a special community meeting to mark Children’s Mental Health Week, an annual awareness week launched by the children’s mental health charity Place2Be. Celebrated every February since 2015, the week exists to empower, equip and give a voice to all children and young people across the UK.
Children’s Mental Health Week 2026 takes place from 9–15 February, and this year’s theme is “This Is My Place.”
The theme highlights how important a sense of belonging is for our mental health and wellbeing. Feeling that we have a place — in our friendships, in school, and in our wider community — is a basic human need. When we talked about where our place is, many of us shared that it was our home, our school and our classrooms, and it was lovely to recognise that we have so many different places where we feel safe, valued and able to belong.
When children feel that they belong, it supports their emotional wellbeing, helps them to feel confident and valued, and empowers them to contribute positively to the world around them. To know our place and really feel part of our environment can have powerful and long-lasting impacts on our mental and physical health, education and relationships.
This year, Children’s Mental Health Week encourages peers, families, schools and communities to work together to create inclusive and nurturing environments, where every child can truly say, “This is my place.”
During our community meeting, we shared a story about a small yellow bird named Sunny, who was learning to sing. Sunny flew to the playground but felt too shy to join in when other birds were busy playing and laughing. Feeling small and unsure, Sunny sat quietly on a branch. A kind squirrel named Mira noticed Sunny sitting alone, came to sit alongside them, and gently listened to one small chirp. Mira invited Sunny to join others — a robin and a rabbit — and helped Sunny learn just one new note. The next day, Sunny sang a little louder, simply because someone had said hello.
The story gave us a powerful reminder of how small acts of kindness and inclusion can make a big difference.
We then spent time working in pairs, introducing ourselves to someone new and sharing our interests, as well as something we liked about each other. These moments of connection helped reinforce the message that everyone belongs and that our differences are something to celebrate.
To end our meeting, we sang “This Is Me” together — a beautiful and uplifting moment that perfectly captured the spirit of the week.
As a community, we also made a simple pledge. This week, everyone will try at least one of the following:
- Say hello to someone you don’t usually talk to
- Share a toy, crayon, or turn in a game
- Invite someone to join your group
We are proud of the way our children listened, reflected and supported one another. By making small, thoughtful choices each day, we can all help to create a place where everyone feels welcome, valued and able to say, “This is my place.” 💛
