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Announcing Our New Publication: ‘Celebrating Ten Years of Expeditions at XP’
A new publication, ‘Celebrating Ten Years of Learning Expeditions at XP’, written by our co-founder, Andy Sprakes, is now available. The book highlights an extensive and broad selection of the beautiful work created by our young people and staff from across our Trust. It is a profound and often moving reminder of the purpose, agency, and consequence of our work; illuminating the transformative power and far-reaching impact of Learning Expeditions.
In the next few weeks, the book will be made available to the general public and will retail at £20. However, to mark the publication of this much-anticipated book, it is being made available exclusively to staff across our Trust for a not-for-profit cost price of £5. In the spirit of Crew the proceeds will be donated to charity.
When staff fill in the google form and order the book at this price, they will be able to choose to donate to one of two local charities and one national charity that have supported and worked alongside us in the past.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to the exceptional staff across our Trust whose unwavering dedication, creativity, and passion made this publication, and the transformative work within it, possible.
This video was created to support the Core Practice on Passage Presentations and features actual presentations from students from XP Doncaster and XP Gateshead. A huge appreciation to all those students sharing their stories and allowing us to create this piece of work to help future Year 9s shape their own presentations.
What if teaching Maths could be about more than covering the curriculum? What if every young person could leave school believing that they really are a mathematician? At XP Gateshead, that’s the ambition.
Joining XP Trust means becoming part of a community that does things differently. We believe education is about more than passing exams.
If you want to teach in a school where your creativity is valued and your work makes a difference, XP Trust is the place for you.
At XP Trust, staff induction is an immersive dive into the heart of our pedagogy and practice. During the Staff Expedition Slice Induction over the course of 2026, colleagues from across our Trust have embarked on a condensed “Expedition Slice” entitled ‘Raiders and Invaders’ which was designed to answer the Guiding Question: “What is the legacy of the Vikings in York?”.
This beautiful book was designed by Grace Jones from our Trust Communications Crew
By taking on the role of learners as well as educators, staff engaged directly with the anatomy of a Learning Expedition and experienced and deconstructed the purpose of our Core Practices in relation to Expeditions and how imperative it is to consider them deeply when designing the curriculum.
The Expedition ‘slice’ launched with visits to XP Doncaster and Plover Primary, grounding participants in both school cultures and our shared Core Practices. Staff reflected on how Learning Expeditions function in both primary and secondary settings, capturing insights on anchor charts to guide their progress and understanding, build their background knowledge and to reinforce their learning.
We then travelled to York, debriefed our learning from the first day and readied ourselves to immerse ourselves into the Expedition. We did this through a ‘mystery piece’ to provoke and compel curiosity. After this, and just like the students we teach, our experience extended far beyond the classroom. We engaged in authentic fieldwork at the Jorvik Viking Centre and were absorbed by an expert-led session with Kevin Cockayne from The Dig museum, capturing critical evidence and widening our understanding of the historical impact of the Vikings settling in York.
“Immersion compels curiosity!”
Building on the fieldwork experience, in Case Study One, staff analysed historical sources, explored Viking expansion, and they considered the impact of the Danelaw. In Case Study Two, they tackled complex chemistry, exploring atomic structures, metallic bonding, and how Viking blacksmiths created steel alloys and corrosion-resistant metals. Learning was anchored by rigorous and challenging texts such as extracts from the ‘Prose Edda’ as well as specialised scientific research papers supported by clear rubrics to structure high level analytical writing.
As one member of our Staff Crew reflected:
“I struggled at first with the Science Case Study, this being totally out of my skill set. It made me realise how some of my children feel every day.”
Experiencing challenging material outside of personal comfort zones reminded staff of the cognitive struggles that our students face daily. It highlighted the critical need for scaffolding, expert guidance, and a supportive culture of Crew to ensure that we were all successful.
The culmination of this expedition slice provided clear proof of what happens when learners are empowered to produce authentic, high-quality work. Working in pairs, staff created entries for a publication entitled ‘The Jorvik Codex,’ extracts of which will be subsequently published in the upcoming XP Unpacked magazine to share with educators globally.
By connecting purposeful fieldwork, rigorous academic disciplines, and creative expression, staff experienced firsthand how an authentic audience and high expectations drive students to create truly beautiful work.
Another reflection from the book articulates the power of the work we do with candour:
“Creating something which you have a passion for makes it so much more powerful and stresses just how vital it is that we engage the students and spark that curiosity and desire to create.”
And I’m sure you’ll agree they have created beautiful work of their own that they should be proud of!!
Help the Next Generation to the Top of the Mountain!
You know firsthand that at XP, success isn’t just about reaching the summit yourself; it’s about making sure your whole Crew gets there with you.
We are currently looking for our alumni to come back and be that guiding hand for our current Year 11s by taking on the role of a D6 Learning Coach. As you know, D6 is our Saturday morning programme, running from 9:00am to 12:00pm, designed to empower students to lead their own learning. This is a unique chance to step up, show your compassion, and take the current generation to the next step.
Here is what the role involves:
The Mission: Explain to and coach students with the aim of improving academic understanding and performance.
The Approach: Facilitate and encourage students to work together and talk openly about their understanding to deepen or extend their knowledge in specific subject areas. You would support and challenge them to lead their own learning.
Your Expertise: We are looking for alumni with a strong grasp of English, Maths, and Science.
The Commitment: Three hours of work a week (9:00am to 12:00pm) for 20 weeks of the year, term time only. A full list of available dates will be provided, with sessions starting in early October.
The Reward: Earn £10 per hour (adjustable in accordance with minimum wage) while giving back to your community.
You won’t be climbing without ropes. We will provide a dedicated coaching session on how the role works so you feel fully equipped to support our young people. Ultimately, we’d like our students at XP to become leaders in their own learning and we’d like our new student coaches to become key in supporting this process.
This is an internal advert – currently only open to existing and former XP Doncaster students only.
What was the most impactful moment of support you received from your Crew during your own GCSEs, and how could you pass that exact feeling on to our current Year 11s?
An article has been published in the Doncaster Free Press about the beautiful board game created by KS1 students at Norton Infants. You can read the full article here.
