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This week we have continued to build on becoming familiar with our learning environment, working beautifully with other members of our crew, and treating our resources with respect. It has been lovely to see our crew being kind during choosing time.
We have been working on our pre-writing skills in Crew McGlone this week. We started by looking at how we need the correct posture when sitting at our tables to show we are ready to write before then moving on to look at using ‘pinch parrot’ to help us with the correct pencil grip. We talked about how when we are writing we start on the left and move to the right, starting at the top of the paper before moving our way down.
We used our new knowledge to have a go at tracing over lines and different patterns to practise these skills.
This week we have been trying to guess what our autumn expedition will be! We have had experts with old toys visiting our school, a play afternoon to showcase our favourite toys and a fieldwork trip to Cusworth Hall Museum. Here we are getting hooked on expeditionary learning! We would like to say a special thank you to our visitors and experts for all of your generosity this week. Also, a massive thank you to our volunteer helpers Mrs T and Blue for coming on our trip and Eila’s mum for your toy workshop at Cusworth Hall! We are so grateful for your acts of kindness in bringing this Hook Week alive.
Parents and carers – we want to hear from you
We are planning childcare needs across Doncaster to ensure we have enough provision for our families in the future.
We are interested in your childcare situation and what your future needs may be.
Please complete this survey and help us plan and support the childcare provision in Doncaster.
The survey closes on Monday 14th September 2026 at 09:00 a.m.
We would also very much appreciate your support in sharing the survey more widely through your communication methods/websites/social media etc
The survey will help us to understand the childcare needs across Doncaster moving forward and support the production of our Annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessment.
Thank you in advance
Why and How do we need this information and why is it so important?
Thanks for your continued support as always.
Regards
Childcare Sufficiency Team
Children, Young People and Families
City of Doncaster Council
In writing, the children have been learning all about The Gingerbread Man. Throughout the week, they have been busy making their own gingerbread men, creating a large gingerbread man and even making the fox!
Take a peep at what they have been up to this week and see all the wonderful learning they have been enjoying!
This week, Crew White put their place value knowledge to the test by playing the NRICH game Nasty or Nice.
Using dice, the children had to decide carefully where to place each digit to create the best possible number. Every roll brought a new decision: should they play nicely and help their partner, or be nasty and make their challenge much harder?
The competitive element brought plenty of excitement and motivation, but the real challenge was thinking strategically about the value of each digit. We then adapted the game by setting our own rules, exploring how small changes could make it fairer, trickier or even more tactical.
A brilliant session filled with mathematical thinking, discussion and just the right amount of friendly competition!
At XP, our first week back looks a little bit different. Across our Trust, students and staff have been working hard to build and reestablish the most important part of our culture – Crew.
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.
Focus and Deep Thinking in Year 8 this week @ XP
Hook week day two @ Norton Infants
Crew week = complete! @ Norton Juniors
G29 first week back! @ XP Gateshead
Write to us at [email protected] – we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!
A huge congratulations to Louie and Nandi, our newly appointed Change Makers in Crew Colclough! Every pupil did a fantastic job preparing and delivering their speeches, articulating with confidence why they would excel in the role. We are so proud of everyone’s hard work, and we can’t wait to see the positive impact Louie and Nandi will make. Well done!
Year 3 had an exciting day stepping back in time as we began our new World War Two topic!
Some of us got into the spirit of the day by dressing up, helping us imagine what life might have been like during the 1940s. We certainly looked the part!
We started our morning by watching the opening of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This helped us to understand what it might have felt like for children who were evacuated from their homes during the war. We then put ourselves in the shoes of an evacuee and wrote our own WW2 diary entries, imagining what it would have been like to leave our families and travel somewhere unfamiliar.
But our day wasn’t finished there! Suddenly, an air raid siren sounded, alerting us to danger. We had to think about how people would have felt hearing this sound during the war. We also had the chance to listen carefully to Morse code and work out the hidden messages being sent.
Then it was our turn to become secret codebreakers! We learned how messages could be communicated secretly and created our own secret messages for others to unpick.
It was a fantastic day of learning, imagining and investigating,and we can’t wait to find out more about World War Two as our expedition continues!
