Reading for pleasure…………..it’s library time!

10th August 2025Kelly Overson

Many of you will know that during 24/25 we dedicated our fundraising to supporting our plans of a reading for pleasure library.  

Well……… during the last three weeks Miss Knowles and Mrs Overson have been busy making these plans come together and our dream of having this library become a reality.

Here’s a few teaser photographs we have taken:

Can you guess what the theme is?

We will be hosting a special event as an official opening of our library during our reading week at the end of the autumn 1 term so watch out for this!

Reading is a big part of our culture and at Green Top we believe that a love of reading unlocks many opportunities!  With this in mind, who wants to take part in a summer reading challenge?  Take a look and take up this challenge just for fun! Miss Knowles and Mrs Overson are giving themselves until the end of September to achieve this…will you join them?

We can’t wait for you to see our new library! 

Miss Knowles and Mrs Overson

Goodbye Class 5 2025

19th July 2025Carly Schon

Well what can I say. Class 5, myself and Miss Cooper are going to miss you sooooo much. You have been so much fun. Your personalities have absolutely shone through all year. Even the children who began the year shy and quiet have absolutely bloomed! You have worked so hard and I can see that you are all ready to begin your next adventure in Year 2. I am so pleased I will still get to see you all again next year so I can follow your journeys. A huge thank you from me and Miss Cooper for being so awesome and keeping us entertained throughout the year. We have laughed so much and had endless amounts of cuddles! Enjoy your summer break – you have all earned it!

Before we sign off I would like to share the work the children have been doing over the past couple of days. We have two videos to share with you. The children have not seen these yet so I would appreciate it if you could let the children watch them. The first video are the speeches the children prepared as part of our Aspirations Week. I was so proud of them all for showing courage and all being willing to stand up in front of their classmates and delivered their speeches! They all showed perseverance even when it became hard. I wanted to create a video to show them off! The second video is a song we have been singing linked to Graduation. I thought it would be a nice idea for the children to act out the words to create this special Graduation Video. I’m sure the children will enjoy singing and dancing along to it!

Sharing our Stories: 18/07/2025

18th July 2025Geoff Hewitt

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

18th July 2025Andy Sprakes

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

Crew Schon Attendance

18th July 2025Carly Schon

I am absolutely bursting with pride at Crew Schon’s commitment towards their attendance this year. They have absolutely loved trying to win the Crew kitty money each week. Before Christmas we had no crew kitty money to spend at Mrs Fitz’s shop. We were the only crew in KS1 who had no crew kitty money. Since then the children have been very dedicated and motivated towards their attendance and we have absolutely smashed it. Mrs Fitz said she felt we were going for the school record for best attendance as she was handing out so much money to us! Our Key Stage attendance bear, Paddington, has practically lived in our crew room, especially during the Summer Term. Attendance is so important in school and I would like to thank the children and their families for ensuring children do not miss out on vital learning opportunities and experiences. I have had such a wonderful year with you all and I hope you love your attendance rewards, you thoroughly deserve them!

STEM Challenge with Miss Schon

18th July 2025Carly Schon

On Tuesday we had so much fun taking part in the STEM challenge. The children who came to work with me were absolutely amazing. Their behaviour was awesome and they were extremely committed to the task, I think they would have carried on building their bridges all day! They were brilliant at recognising any flaws in their design and making adaptions. I had a wonderful day spending time with them all and I loved observing new friendships forming. Here they are with their bridges!

Year 6 Leavers Party 2025

17th July 2025Jillian Jackson

Wow what an amazing day we have had celebrating our fabulous year 6 children. To finish off our week of treats and celebrations, we enjoyed a Hawaii themed party. A fantastic time was had by all – face paint, takeaway, ice cream, singing, a dance off, football and even a little singing from Mr Ambler! We had so much fun and never stopped smiling and laughing all evening. Check out the photos below – some people were a little camera shy and wouldn’t visit the photo booth so hopefully we managed to catch everyone at some point!