At XP East, we believe that creativity is a powerful tool for learning, expression, and personal growth. Our Visual Arts Aptitude route offers a unique opportunity for Year 7 students with a natural flair for creativity to gain a place at a school where the arts are truly valued.
This pathway is open to all children, no prior art training or experience required, just a passion for drawing, designing, and thinking creatively.
Through an inspiring curriculum, expert support, and dynamic extra-curricular opportunities, students will develop their talents across a range of visual art disciplines. If your child loves to create, imagine, and explore the world through art, this is the perfect chance to help them shine. Click here to see highlights from our recent annual XP Festival of Arts and Culture
Apply now and let their creativity take centre stage! Find out more about this here: https://xptrust.info/XPEVA
To ensure a balanced intake of students across all ability levels, all applicants to an XP secondary school must sit a Fair Banding Assessment.
This multiple-choice test focuses on non-verbal reasoning and helps us place students into one of five ability bands. There is no pass or fail, and results are used solely to support a broad and representative admissions process.
Completing the assessment is a key part of the application and must be done to be considered for a place.
Please ensure your child is registered by 31st October 2025 and prepared to attend the assessment on 22nd November 2025.
Looking back through last year’s fieldwork, our visit to Bletchley Park remains a firm favourite. There’s something special about swapping a regular classroom for the birthplace of modern computing and stepping onto the exact grounds where Alan Turing and thousands of unsung codebreakers quietly changed the course of history.
It didn’t take long for our students to get stuck into the atmosphere of the place. Walking through the iconic wooden Huts and standing in front of an actual Enigma machine put math, history, and secret intelligence into a whole new light. The real test came during the interactive cipher workshops. Watching our students huddle together over complex logic puzzles, discussing endless possibilities, and piecing together clues really captured the spirit of the place. Codebreaking, as it turns out, requires a massive dose of patience, a fair bit of trial and error, and plenty of teamwork.
To celebrate the fieldwork and look back on how much ground we covered, we’ve put together a short video packed with photos from throughout the day.
From unravelling WWII secrets to testing our own problem-solving skills, it was a day of fieldwork that stayed with everyone long after we loaded back onto the bus. Take a minute to give the video a watch and relive a few of the best moments from an incredible day out!
Last Thursday marked an exciting milestone for E32 as they officially launched the immersion phase for our upcoming expedition. Trading the classroom for the chalk-lined coastline of Danes Dyke, the trip set the stage for a day filled with hands-on discovery, scientific curiosity, and outdoor exploration. Students were tasked with scouring the shoreline for open fossils embedded in the cliffs, observing signs of active marine life, and examining the vast array of shells washed ashore by the tide.
Throughout the day, E32 consistently demonstrated our core character traits of compassion and respect for the natural world. Mindful of their footprint on the delicate coastal ecosystem, everyone embraced Leave No Trace principles. They handled their surroundings with care, ensured marine habitats remained undisturbed, and left the shoreline just as pristine as they found it. Their environmental stewardship showed a mature understanding that true scientific inquiry goes hand in hand with protecting the places we study.
That same dedication extended to the craftsmanship they brought to their scientific observations. Rather than rushing through the beach search, students applied remarkable focus, patience, and attention to detail. They carefully examined the subtle textures of ancient rock layers, closely inspected coastal erosion patterns, and handled every natural find with precision and curiosity.
The absolute highlight of the afternoon came when that patient searching paid off—several students managed to find real fossils embedded directly in the chalk rocks! Holding pieces of ancient history brought the day’s learning to life in a memorable way. With their impressive environmental mindfulness, keen scientific eye, and high standards of conduct, E32 has set a fantastic foundation for the rest of this expedition. A huge well done to all our explorers!
Today provided a fantastic showcase of the focused, high-quality interactions happening across our school. During session 5, myself and a visiting colleague from Meridian Trust conducted a walkthrough and were impressed to see such a great start to students’ work across all the classrooms we visited.
It was a privilege to step into E33 Explorer with Miss Johnson, E32 Explorer with Miss Barton, E31 Explorer with Miss Buckley, and E31 Pioneer with Miss Wilkinson. We also had the opportunity to spend time with the E30 Ethics group and the E29 Science groups. Across the board, students demonstrated a genuinely great attitude to learning.
One of the most impressive takeaways from the walkthrough was the confident academic language on display. Students are consistently using and applying tier 3 subject-specific vocabulary, confidently using complex terms into their contributions during lessons and in their books.
While the standard was high everywhere, there were a few particular highlights from the session. In E33 Explorer, students were deeply and enthusiastically engaged with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Meanwhile, our Y11 students were seen rising to the occasion, responding brilliantly to high challenge and direct questioning specifically tailored to hone their exam technique.
To help us maintain this excellent momentum, we ask parents and carers to support us with our daily equipment checks. Please ensure your child arrives at school with their iPad and a suitable reading book. Having these essential items ready every day ensures their access to learning is fully supported and allows them to make the most of every lesson.
What a whirlwind first two weeks it has been for Crew Dufton! As we step into our final year, the energy, maturity, and genuine care everyone has shown has been incredible.
Here is a quick look at what we’ve been up to:
Crew Week: We kicked off the year balancing mind and body, from our stunning walk at Langsett to team games and diving straight into building strong, active revision habits.
Speaking & Listening Ambition: In Week 2, the crew took on their official GCSE Speaking & Listening prep within English lessons. I have been completely blown away by the ambitious, thoughtful topics everyone chose to tackle. The confidence on display is inspiring!
Mondays for Crew, Fridays for Reflection: This morning, after a legendary game of our current favourite, Empires, we decided as a crew to restructure our weekly routine so it works best for us:
Mondays: All about checking in, bonding, and playing games to start the week with a smile.
Mid-Week: Academic Crew sessions, self-led revision, and focused Extended Study.
Fridays: Deliberately pausing to “check out,” celebrate our wins, and reflect on the positives before the weekend.
The vibe in the room is unmatched right now. Let’s keep this momentum going, Dufton! 🚀
Crew Spencer have made a fantastic start to Year 11 and are settling back into school really well. We’ve enjoyed a walk to Langsett, explored revision techniques to help us succeed in our GCSEs, and got back into the spirit of Crew.
Students produced some fantastic work creating mind maps about how they are going to be successful in Year 11. It has been a brilliant start, and I’m really looking forward to the year ahead!
Today’s immersion lesson with Mr Heslop offered a fantastic look into how mathematical concepts come alive when connected to real-world applications. Students confidently tackled standard form, mastering how to convert, calculate, and manipulate extremely large and small numbers.
What made today’s session particularly impactful was its intentional link to the upcoming science curriculum. By contextualising standard form through Tier 3 scientific vocabulary— prefixes like nano-, milli-, mega-, —students weren’t just practicing abstract math. They were laying the foundational skills needed to measure everything from interstellar distances to cellular structures which will support them with their science learning this term too!
In E31, in both Explorer and Pioneer the learning behaviours on display were exceptional. Students grappled with both fluency and complex reasoning. The classroom culture was defined by resilience, curiosity, and working hard.
Engagement across the room was beautiful, with every student actively contributing and taking ownership of their progress. Mr Booth, supported with targeted intervention and patience enabling students who found the concepts challenging to build confidence and achieve those crucial “I’ve got it” moments.
Well done to Mr Heslop, Mr Booth, and the fantastic students in E32 for such great lessons!
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.
From today, Y11’s Learn 2 Earn rewards scheme is back!
Students have the opportunity to collect stamps on ‘loyalty cards’ for outstanding contributions in Learning labs and at D6 [when it’s up and running] – this year, staff are able to award stamps to class superstars – if students are going above and beyond to contribute in sessions/work hard, staff will award extra stamps!
When their cards are complete (after 10 sessions), students need to hand them back in; there’ll be a half termly draw for a gift card for those attending the most sessions!
Please encourage students to get these filled in to claim those prizes (take a look at a small selection below!)
