HWA Blog - 14.3.25
This week, our year 8 students arrived in Paris and eagerly awaited their three-day, fun packed, Disneyland adventure to begin. With not much room left for the general public our Hollinwood Academy students took over flight 2105 and prepared for take-off, while our plane spotters Mrs Watson and Mrs Heyes waved them off from the ground.
The students had a fabulous time, and we will be sharing more photos and details of the trip in our Spring newsletter.
This week I have had the pleasure of working alongside the teachers and teaching assistants in class. Under the direction of the class teacher, I have been supporting children in their lessons. This has been so much fun; it was wonderful to see the children flourish. The teachers and teaching assistants are fully committed to providing creative and inspiring learning opportunities that the children find interesting and engage in with enthusiasm. A love for learning was observed and experienced by all. Thank you to all staff who have welcomed me into your classroom. I am looking forward to joining more lessons next week.
Our GCSE photography class were tutored by some visiting Destiny students from New Bridge College. Former students Max and Gianfranco came to do a workshop and showed our year 10 students how to take photographs using different shutter speeds. They worked together to change shutter speeds on our cameras to create photographs showing blurring where they created movement. The students used this to shoot and edit photographs of moving people and vehicles.
Congratulations to Thomas Pollitt for outstanding progress in photography.
Now let’s go to Mr Corrigan’s class to see what they have been up to this week…
Maths
"Our maths focus this half term is position & direction. This week we have been using a compass to understand turns.
English
Our Talk for writing model text this half term is The Runaway Pea. We have used our art skills as a hook to introduce the book, and actions to retell the story.
Phonics
Our story this half term is The king of the birds. This week we have been learning to ‘Hold a sentence’ in our heads before writing it.
Science
Our science topic this half term is electricity. This week we have been making and drawing circuits.
Design and Technology
Our focus this half term is structures. We have begun exploring this topic by following steps to build a windmill.
Geography
The question we have been asking ourselves this half term is... Where does our food come from? To help us answer this we have started by exploring food miles.
ICT
Our topic this half term is programming. This week we have been exploring programming in games using Rodocodo - Code Hour.
PSHRE
Our focus this half term is citizenship. This week we have been learning about the importance of rules and the consequences of breaking or not following rules."
MCN - 14.3.25
And now to Mr Gold's form…
"It has been another exciting week for 7PGD. As part of their ECHP lessons they have been learning new skills and working as a team to help look after their local environment. As part of this they have started to take care of the planters at the front of the school. So far, they have been doing some weeding and will then be researching suitable plants to grow and then doing some planting.
It has also been science week and the theme this year is sustainability. As part of this the class decided that they would like to make some bird feeders from recyclable materials. They have been very creative and have made a variety of designs that the birds will hopefully appreciate.
As well as this the class has also been working hard in all their lessons and enjoying a variety of activities. In PE they have had lots of fun playing dodge ball, they have made some delicious scones in Food Tec and in art they have been working on a Manchester Bee project."
PGD - 14.3.25
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Creative STARs...
Mrs Lerigo’s STAR of the week is Sienna for: amazing engagement during our communication lesson creating a sentence to get a desired item.
Mrs Lerigo’s HWA We are Creative STAR is Korey for: completing his map and adding and creating more features to make it interesting.
Mrs Sutcliffe’s STAR of the week is Teddy B for communicating his needs to staff effectively.
Miss Sutcliffe’s HWA We are Creative STAR is Jack for showing creativity in the science week art challenge.
Miss Bailey’s STAR of the week is Oliver - for a really good week, interacting well with others and sharing some lovely communication with adults.
Miss Bailey’s HWA We are Creative Star is Silva - For fantastic work creating her cut and stick giraffe and working hard on her communication with others.
Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the week is is Roma for responding to encouragement to play outdoors and embracing the benefits of nature and physical activity.
Mrs Quinn’s creative star is George for being a friend and joining in with outdoor play at afterschool club.
Miss Pietraszewska’s STAR of the week is Harrison, for working independently in English, creating his own sentences, and writing them down.
Miss Pietraszewska’s HWA We are Creative STAR is Roman, for being very engaged in our School Science Art Recycling competition.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the week is Matthew for: answering questions and linking them to previous learning.
Mr Corrigan’s HWA We are Creative star is Faiha for: being very brave at swimming.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Kai & Lewis for: being proud of their friends
Miss Hulme STAR of the week is Ace for settling into his new maths class and doing amazing work.
Miss Hulmes creative star is Isaam Haider for creating 'Aquascapes', which is an amazing installation art design using his class chair in our art lesson.
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the week is Jack for displaying leadership skills whilst working as a class to create our science project.
Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Creative STAR is Cole for a fantastic effort in PE.
Miss Gittins’ STAR of the week is Oscar for excellent contributions in English.
Miss Gittins’ HWA We are Creative STAR is Brooke for using powerful adjectives to create a magical creature in English.
Miss Matthew’s STAR of the week is Alice for her innovative ideas within our shared write in English.
Miss Matthew’s HWA star is Oscar for his ‘Kitty Canoe’ creation for our recycling competition.
STARS of the Week (14.3.25)
British science week.
Our Eco Art Challenge for British Science Week is in full swing! Students have already submitted amazing recycled-material artworks, showcasing teamwork, creativity, and eco-awareness.
This challenge highlights the importance of recycling while encouraging students to work together and turn waste into something beautiful. We can’t wait to see the remaining entries and announce the winners from primary and secondary.
I am very much looking forward to seeing the remaining entries and announcing the winners next week.
Have lovely weekend everyone.
Miss Gordon
