Celebrating a year filled with stars!

In our final community meeting all the children in class 1 and 2 were announced as our stars! We have had the most incredible year watching them grow and flourish. We know they will continue to shine bright in year one! Well done to each and everyone one of you, you should all be very proud of your achievements this year!

Sharing our Stories: 18/07/2025

Beautiful Work This Week

Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust from the last two weeks of term! It’s been filled with all kinds of wonderful things from all of our schools. To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.

Top of the Blogs

Why the Arts Matter at XP – Our Festival Highlights @ XP Trust

Year 6 leavers party 2025 @ Green Top

EYFS Sports Day @ Plover

Prom 2025 @ Carcroft School

At the Coalface: POL @ Norton Juniors

Climate Change Through Data @ XP

Crew Rosa Parks @ XP East

G29 What a Wonderful World POL @ XP Gateshead

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

From all of us here at XP – have a great summer break! We’ll be back in the new term with more beautiful work to share!

Why the Arts Matter at XP – Our Festival Highlights

At XP, we believe education should help young people discover who they are, what they stand for, and how they can make a difference. The arts are at the heart of this.

Through music, dance, drama, and visual art, our students learn to collaborate, express themselves, and craft work of real depth and beauty. These aren’t “extras” to the curriculum – they are essential experiences that develop the character traits we value above anything else: courage, craftsmanship, respect, and compassion.

Last Friday, we celebrated these values at our second XP Festival of Arts & Culture – a day filled with music, dance, and art from across all the schools in our Trust. Every primary school showcased their dancing skills in collaboration with Phoenix Dance Company, alongside cheerleaders and singers from across the Trust.

The afternoon culminated in a show-stopping parade led by the New York Brass Band, bringing everyone together for an unforgettable rendition of Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration”. The evening carried the energy forward with live music from XP Doncaster and XP Gateshead students, alongside local bands and professional artists.

Our students were phenomenal – both on stage and in the audience – showing once again the power of Crew in action.

A huge thank you goes to the XP Doncaster and Plover staff who stewarded and supported the event. It was a powerful example of what’s possible when we create spaces for young people to thrive.

Here’s to next year!!!

In Crew,

Andy Sprakes

Once upon a time Class 1 went to the woods…

Last week the children in class 1 went to Austerfield Study Centre, it was the perfect way to end our final expedition, titled ‘Once Upon a Time’. The children were very excited on the coach!

Once we arrived we made our very own fairies and took them into the woods. We made little fairy houses and the children worked creatively! The children enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Little Red Riding Hood’ and we even got to reenact it ourselves in the woods!

We all enjoyed our lunch…

We had some hot and tired faces on the way home but we were all smiling after such a lovely day!

The children represented Norton Infant School beautifully during our visit, and we were extremely proud of how well they listened and worked collaboratively on all the tasks. What a lovely way to end our year 🙂

Sharing our Stories: 04/07/2025

Beautiful Work This Week

Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust from this week. To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.

Top of the Blogs

XP FESTIVAL TICKETS @ XP Trust

Key Stage 1 Dance Workshop @ Green Top

Year 3/4 Rounders @ Plover

Experience Day @ Carcroft School

A visit from Donny Dog and Doncaster Rovers @ Norton Juniors

Year 8 Rounders @ XP

E28 Shine at Bradford Literary Festival @ XP East

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Marvellous Mathematicians in Class 1!

I have been truly blown away by the mathematical skills the children are using in our counting collections sessions. They are not only recording using pictures but have started to use symbols and numerals to represent the quantity of objects. Take a look at them in action and the amazing recordings they are producing …

Working together as artists

In Class Three we have been studying and taking inspiration from the American artist Deborah Shapiro. She uses newspapers and magazines to create wildlife collage artwork. It was so much fun spotting the hidden words and images within the artwork during our gallery walk in the classroom.

We worked together to create our class collage.

We are incredibly proud of our beautiful work!