Last week Nursery and EYFS celebrated a Christian tradition, Harvest Festival by being thankful for the food we eat, grown by farmers from all around the world. Nursery children were excited to join in a whole school assembly hosted by an expert visitor, our local pastor and volunteer/coordinator at Askern Food Bank, Mr West. Some of our children were even brave enough to stand at the front of the assembly and participate in the activities!
In Nursery we explored a little further about what Harvest actually is, by watching a short video about the celebration. The children learned that Harvest is when crops and vegetables are collected and sold to supermarkets. They also learned that a christian tradition is to gather food and donate it to others that maybe in need, through their local church. This fits in perfectly with our case study, “How do people show they care?” We were very grateful to all of our families who donated food, as the children collected the food and have made care packages to send to the local food bank with Mr West.
Another part of our beautiful work last week was also to create a “Corn Dolly”.
The children learned that the Corn Dollies are made from the strands of corn left over in the fields after the Farmers have collected their corn with their combine harvesters. They are made into dollies and then taken to the local church to wish farmers good luck for the year ahead’s crop! Just look at how amazing our corn dollies are!
As always there’s been so many moments of children working hard, getting smart and being kind. Here’s our stars from this week receiving their certificates and prizes…
Celebrating XP Doncaster’s Duke of Edinburgh 2024 Expedition
Check out these beautiful highlights from C28s DofE Expedition last academic year! They had an awesome POL to celebrate their success this week.
Working with the National Gallery
On Monday, our dedicated Art Staff at XP Doncaster had the incredible opportunity to attend an enriching workshop organised in collaboration with The National Gallery, made possible through the support of Right Up Our Street. This was part of a larger initiative, as The National Gallery prepares for their upcoming visit to Doncaster on 19th October, which is an exciting stop on their nationwide Art Road Trip. In the lead-up to this highly anticipated visit, the Gallery has been offering a series of free CPD sessions aimed specifically at art teachers. These sessions are designed to enhance teaching practices, and we were fortunate enough that our staff could participate in one of these invaluable opportunities.
“It was really amazing to work with the National Gallery on the Staff Day at XP. They will be coming in to launch the Articulation prize for XP C28 students. Staff had the opportunity to take part in the workshop as a sneak peek before the kids get a chance!”
Kat Taylor – Art @ XP Doncaster
The focus of the workshop was particularly inspiring, centring on the importance of art commentary and how educators can empower students to express their own unique interpretations of artworks. It delved deeply into the ways students can be encouraged to find and use their own voices, providing them with the tools to articulate personal responses to visual art. The session explored various strategies for prompting thoughtful engagement with art, ensuring that students feel confident in offering their perspectives, regardless of the artwork’s complexity or the student’s prior experience. By fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment, the workshop aimed to inspire both teachers and students to approach art not just as observers but as active commentators, enriching their understanding and appreciation of visual culture. This experience was invaluable for our staff, equipping them with fresh insights and methods that will undoubtedly benefit our students in the classroom.
Building Crew at Green Top
On our most recent Staff Day, Green Top School staff completed an awesome scavenger hunt around Snaith! Crews had to complete various challenges throughout the day and they built Crew and formed stronger relationships as a result! Go #CrewGreenTop!
Wood Foundation Visitors!
We love welcoming visitors from all over the world to our Trust and this week it was a delight to work with our friends from the Wood Foundation with teachers from more than a dozen schools in Aberdeenshire. Our work with the Wood Foundation and the many schools they support, began in 2019 and has enabled us to share our story and how we work. We also travelled to Aberdeen this year to deliver CPD – including how we crew!
This week the focus was on creating and delivering expeditions and our visitors created some amazing food from our Plover Pantry recipe leaflets; originally created by the students. Part of this expedition was designed to bring the leaflets to life with a step by step video and photography guide.
The children in class 1 have been getting creative with fruit and vegetables this week. We have been learning all about the Harvest Festival and have been thinking about where our food comes from. We then created a piece of art work using a selection of fruit and vegetables. Take a look at our impressive creations…
We have also been thinking of everything we have and what we are thankful for. The children warmed my heart with the things they said.
Last week Nursery were focusing on a text called “Kindess Makes Us Strong” by Sophie Beer as part of our continuing case study “What do stories tell us about being kind?”. Our Kindess Elves brought Nursery another present… but this time it wasn’t the story book! They brought “Kindness Juice” for us all to share! As we read through the story, we realised that “Kindness is a refreshing drink”. We all enjoyed our “fruity” juice together and were very thankful to the elves.
Nursery looked back over our mind maps and thought about what we have learned about ways in which we could be kind. We made our own Kindness Signs which shared our thoughts. Aren’t they beautiful…
We also had lots of fun creating friendship bracelets out of pipe cleaners and beads. We worked hard threading the beads on to the pipe cleaners, counting out up to 10 beads as we threaded them on. We were very kind and gave our bracelets to our friends or took them home for someone special. I wonder if you received one?
We really do have kind hands and hearts! Well Done Nursery.
Children in Reception have really enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Bog Baby’. They have been making links to being kind and have noticed all of the kind actions of characters in the story. The story inspired them to draw pictures and make some amazing clay models.
This year, we were lucky enough to have new Year 7s from both XPD and XPG working closely together at the Ullswater and Howtown Outward Bound centres. As a result, we were able to capture these wonderful highlights of both sets of students building Crew and expressing what it means to be Crew at the end of their week in their first ever presentation of learning.
Beautiful Curation across the XP Trust
More beautiful work has been made public this week – in both Plover and Carcroft School. Look at these awesome selections from final products, now curated for all to see!
XP Trust Crew Away Day @ YWP
Our Heads, Admin, Facilities and Comms Crews came together to further develop positive relationships and build Crew at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. They spent the day exploring Case Studies to improve communication and conceptual understanding around day-to-day crucial aspects of what we do at XP Trust.
The day was extremely positive and productive – thank you to YWP for your hospitality!
Today we held our weekly meeting. It was a pleasure to be part of such a lovely celebration of our HoWL’s superstars. Some great examples of working hard, being kind and getting smart in our Early Years. Well done everyone!
Yesterday Class Six took over Conisbrough Castle. We hopped off the coach and straight into our “History Of The Castle” workshop where we learned all about Lord Hamlin and Lady Isabelle.
After lunch we headed into the grounds of the castle and explored where the prison, hall and kitchen would have been before heading up the tower. We climbed lots of stairs, exploring both Lord Hamlin and Lady Isabelle’s rooms on the way up to the top of the tower, looking over the village of Conisbrough!
