HWA Blog - 14.11.25
What a dreadful day outside but inside Hollinwood Academy, the atmosphere has been anything but gloomy. We’ve had another excellent week of learning.
Mock exams have started this week, and so far, everything is running smoothly. Our Year 11 students are certainly feeling the pressure, but they’re rising to the challenge. It’s inspiring to see them embracing the support available and making full use of their access arrangements to help them succeed.
A huge thank you to Janet Hogan for the incredible work she has done in coordinating the exams. Her dedication ensures that every student receives the right support and the best possible conditions to perform at their very best.
To end the week on a high note, Friday was all about Children in Need. Our children and young people came together to celebrate this fantastic cause by wearing yellow and showing their support. It was wonderful to see the school community united for such an important charity, reminding us all of the power of kindness and giving.
Thank you to the student council team for coordinating this.
CIN - 14.11.25
Now let’s see what has been happening in the classrooms.
Starting with Miss Gittens class…
"The children have settled back into our second Autumn term in RGS class, and 2 weeks in we just couldn’t resist a bit of Christmas joy – the tree is up and we are counting down the days until Santa is coming to town.
Our Talk for Writing book this term is "One Snowy Night" by Nick Butterworth. It's a fun filled book that focuses on Percy the Park-keepers busy winter's night and how he helps his animal friends. Our writing focus is 'Setting.’ I will be teaching the children to consolidate their understanding of expanded noun phrases to engage the reader, and upgrade boring adjectives using synonyms. We will be using our senses to put ourselves into the story. For example, what could they see? what could they hear? We will also be using similes to develop our writing toolkit.
In Maths we’ve been recapping some basic times tables that will get progressively more challenging as the term goes on – but we are becoming experts in our 2s, 5s and 10s.
In Science, we have been learning about our Solar System and started to make some paper mâché planets – it’s been very messy but plenty of fun to be had. We’ve started to develop our understanding of the word “orbit” we know this means to “move around”. We are learning about why we have night and day and how our seasons change, too.
Geography is another fun topic for us, we’ve been learning about what a “biome” is and really trying to embed some key vocabulary and concepts using T4W – it’s been a great tool to support the children in their learning. So far, we know that there are 4 different layers of the Amazon Rainforest, their names and a little bit about each of them. We know what animals we might find in the different layers and that the air gets very hot and trapped until you get to the top.
In PSHRE, our topic is Health & Wellbeing - we will be looking at the different emotions and how our bodies feel when we experience them. We will be learning about the importance of sleep and relaxation, and the people who keep us healthy! We hope to apply this in the community as we start to visit new places for example, safe strangers can help us such as security guards and shop keepers if we get lost.
Of course, no week is complete without Music, Outdoor Ed, Forest School and PE. We have been practicing for our School Nativity and been for lots of woodland walks, this has tied nicely in with our Talk 4 Writing book and understanding different seasons as the weather transitions to winter.
It’s been great to see the children’s creativity flourish as they are settled and happy in our classroom. We also have our very own Super Mario and Luigi brothers.
RGS - 14.11.25
And now to Miss Hobson’s class...
"This week was the start of the mock exams for 10NHN in Maths and English, and I am extremely proud of the students for their resilience during such a challenging week. Their hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed. Transitioning from KS3 to KS4 is a significant step in the preparation for post 16 education/ employment and I believe the students grow more in confidence each day with the development of study skills, time management and independence.
Now, onto this week’s learning…
In RSE this week, we completed the RSE survey where students answered a series of questions intended to ensure wellbeing in school and to also gain their views on the curriculum. After this, we delved deeper into this terms topic on addressing extremism through looking at the value of diversity. Students debated on the topic of free speech and whether everyone should be entitled to it even if it upsets and excludes others- student contributions were excellent. Towards the end of the lesson, we began exploring key terms such as long term and short-term migrants and the difference between asylum seekers and refugees.
The first term back in Outdoor Education after the summer holidays involved lots of walking and exploring/learning. Students went to Saddleworth, Castleshaw, and Tandle Hill to talk about water safety and see the colours of autumn. Over the next few
weeks students will be visiting shops and using the different till points, manned and self-service to help them become familiar with everyday transactions and further improve their social skills.
In PE this term, students will be studying football. The class have been playing passing games initially and are currently looking at all the positions in football, towards the end of the term they will play a mini 6 a side game.
During Employability, students have been writing CVs after research into jobs and careers which they feel most interested in and suited too. They further identified their skills and qualities which best describe them and their strengths which they included in their document. The CVs will be redrafted as the students' progress through KS4 and be an invaluable tool for their futures!
Now for the core subjects…
In English, the classes have just completed their first piece of coursework which will go towards their final GCSE grade. They are currently using an anthology to pick out form and structure from poems and short stories.
Secondly, in Maths the class has been looking at solving Quadratic equations and expressions which the students have done remarkably well at in preparation for the Maths exams.
Lastly, in science the classes have been learning all about energy and its many forms such as kinetic, potential, thermal chemical and electrical.
Finally, onto the options…
In IT Creative imedia students planned and created their own podcast. They were allowed to pick their topic, and they considered audience and platform. Their podcasts included carefully chosen music and sound effects and the students worked either individually or in small groups to compose scripts and record speech. They investigated which audio file format was most appropriate and edited and exported their sounds using industry-standard software called Adobe Audition.
Next in creative iMedia, they will start the year 10 coursework unit about visual identity, where they will design a logo and other graphic products for the set assignment, which is a scenario about a young children's theme park. They have begun to research suitable graphic products on websites such as Cbeebiesland, Pegga Pig World and Lancaster Farm Park. Alfie has discovered a resource about brand identity produced by the BBC and is planning to use this to inform his own planning - stunning research Alfie.
In GCSE Food Technology, students have been adapting recipes to make healthier meals which is helping in preparation for their life after HWA. Last term, the class butchered a whole chicken and then made several different meals from the pieces of chicken such as a curry and a chicken stir fry.
During photography this term, the year 10’s have been instructed to take photos of different classes to help update images on the school website. Keep an eye out for the new images!
Art has saw students working hard to create a piece inspired by their idols, students have worked on drawing skills, altering a surface, and cutting lino safely to make a print. Check out Isobel’s amazing piece of work from last term.
In Music, the class have been creating compositions on their chosen instrument, either guitar, piano, bass guitar or the drums- Daniel has been extremely focused during this lesson and demonstrated exceptional guitar skills, well done Daniel.
In Spanish, students have been learning to talk about healthy eating, showing off their linguistic skills.
GCSE Geography has been all about physical- looking at waterways, mountain streams to the estuary and how water forms ox bow lakes and creates rivers.
Finally, in Leadership the class have been learning about the dangers of smoking, drinking and taking drugs, safeguarding students for the future and an important cross over with RSE.
10 NHN have showed a remarkable amount of strength this term already which I have personally found inspiring, I look forward to seeing their continued progress socially, emotionally and academically as they continue to grow/flourish at Hollinwood Academy."
NHN - 14.11.25
And finally to Mr Heaps outdoor education...
"Within Outdoor Education this half term students have been shopping within their local communities. Students have enjoyed moving around Supermarkets and exploring items they are interested in. Students have also discussed the range of items within a supermarket such as clothing, toys, technology, household items and groceries as well as following lists and finding specific items in store. All of the students have coped well with the busy environment, considered members of the pubic and behaved brilliantly. All of the classes are looking forward to spending money in stores next week.
I am also excited to announce that our new school minibus will be arriving on 24th November, and I would again like to thank all of our school families and friends for their generous support in raising money for the bus. This week we have shared information about our upcoming whole school Santa Stroll to raise funds for a school sensory room. If you could help us to raise funds again for this much needed resource, we would be incredibly grateful."
BHP - 16.11.25
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Creative STARs
Mrs Davie’s STAR of the Week is Basil for correctly naming the shapes on our shape rocket.
Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's STAR of the Week is Finley for always being so enthusiastic and engaged in our maths lessons and always being a super tidier and a kind friend.
Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Elijah for being so brave yesterday when he had a tricky day.
Miss Boothroyd’s STAR of the Week is Romy for having a positive attitude towards learning.
Miss Boothroyd’s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Ethan- for doing some amazing phonics work.
Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s STAR of the Week is Haroon for having a wonderful, settled week and using kind hands and feet.
Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s inspiring star goes to Olivia for always making her friends smile.
Mrs Matthews’ STAR of the Week is Isaam for making lots of progress on his step targets.
Mrs Matthews’ We Are Inspiring STAR goes to Henry W and Ruby C for pushing themselves out of their comfort zones.
Miss Pietraszewska’ s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Benjamin for his first independent spelling of CVC words. You are a superstar, Benjamin.
Miss Pietraszewska’ s STAR of the Week goes to Elsie for her beautiful writing in English and for spelling her first words. Amazing work, Elsie.
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the Week is Kai for always going the extra mile with his work.
Miss Oakley’s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Harry for being independent this week, walking into school on his own and completing work on his own.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Teddy B for excellent engagement on the carpet this week.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Albi-Lee for some wonderful handwriting this week.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Hope for coping well with change.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Kian & William for being proud of their friends.
Miss Hulme’s STAR of the Week is Madilyn for always acknowledging her friends’ achievements in a positive and uplifting way.
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the Week goes to Lewis for his fantastic addition and subtraction skills in Maths.
Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Inspiring goes to Matthew for inspiring others to be kind.
Miss Gitten’s STAR of the Week goes to David for excellent artwork
Miss Gitten’s HWA We are Inspiring goes to Louis for sharing his drawings and initiating role play with another child in the classroom this week.
STARS of the Week (14.11.25)
Well done to everyone.
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Gordon.
