HWA Blog - 14.6.24
We started this week with a morning dedicated to our Artsmark Journey. Students reflected on their success over the past academic year and why they are proud. They decorated trophies with words and pictures expressing this. Some also set their goals for the next year. The theme was 'Let's Celebrate!" and we definitely celebrated lots of successes and personal achievements.
Artsmark
This week was tough for our students sitting their GCSEs. On Monday, the year 11 students had two GCSEs Maths paper 3 and Creative iMedia, however, some had a third exam as they sat their GCSE Spanish writing exam too. They had a long, hard day but they did it! They also had Chemistry paper 2 on Tuesday and Physics paper 2 on Friday. Next week is the final week of the GCSE exams with AQA Food Preparation and Nutrition on Wednesday 19th June and then the majority of our students will be leaving Hollinwood Academy as their academic programmes of study will cease on Wednesday 19th June 2024. However, we will see some of the students on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th for their end of year residential trip to Alton Towers. A well-deserved reward after working so hard these past few months.
On Wednesday, myself and Mrs Needham had the privilege of attending the Evidence for Learning Conference at Nether Hey School in Leicester.
During the conference, our KS5 students on the Digi pathway at New Bridge College filmed the entire event, gaining invaluable work experience in the process. As a school, we are extremely proud of the professionalism they demonstrated throughout the event. Mr Bright, one of the New Bridge MAT executive advisors, introduced the team and outlined the services they can offer. We are confident that more schools and event holders will be reaching out for their services.
The event commenced with Alan Wood, the executive co-founder of Evidence for Learning, delivering the opening address. He articulated the three foundational principles that underpin Evidence for Learning:
- Create a rich, vivid and comprehensive picture of what learning looks like for each learner.
- Use that picture to inform practice, to support and enhance systems and processes of school development.
- Support and improve collaboration.
These foundational principles apply to us here at Hollinwood Academy. Since using Evidence for Learning, our approach to practice has undergone significant transformation as we tailor our curriculum and assessments to meet the diverse needs of every child and young person across different key stages and pathways.
Diane Rochford and Alistair Crawford facilitated an interesting discussion on defining learners and tailoring bespoke curriculums and assessments for schools.
A major highlight of the event was Professor Barry Carpenter's farewell keynote speech on "An Inquiry Approach to Neurodiversity and Complex Needs". As Professor Carpenter bids farewell to public speaking, we recognise the impact he has had on our professional practice and that of educators worldwide. We extend our best wishes to him for his retirement.
The conference offered a plethora of insights, including case studies presented by experts such as Martin Stanley from Tollgate Primary School, Vijita Patel from Swiss Cottage and James Waller from Sunningdale School. These case studies focused on supporting students in both specialist and mainstream settings.
I was also asked to support Vijita Patel in a discussion on our recent Ofsted inspection and the influence of Evidence for Learning had in many of our discussions with the lead inspector.
The conference equipped us with valuable insights and strategies that we are eager to implement at our school. We will be working closely with Evidence for Learning next academic year to enhance our professional practice and networking.
EFL
On Thursday, Miss Tootill's and Miss Matthew's class had a wonderful experience at Boundary Park during the 'Crucial Crew' visit. The morning was not only a success but also very engaging and meaningful for our children.
During the visit, our children had the opportunity to meet with key workers who provided valuable advice and education on safety measures, particularly as they prepare for their transition to Secondary school. It was heartening to see our children actively participating by asking insightful questions and sharing their own knowledge on how to stay safe.
Such experiences play a crucial role in enhancing our children’s understanding of safety protocols and emergency procedures. It is evident that the visit has empowered them with knowledge that will prove beneficial in various aspects of their lives.
As parents, your role in reinforcing these learnings at home is invaluable. I encourage you to take some time to discuss with your child the importance of staying safe, both indoors and outdoors, and to remind them of the key messages they have learned during the 'Crucial Crew' visit.
We are immensely proud of how our children conducted themselves during this educational outing, and we look forward to more enriching experiences in the future.
Let’s see what some of the classes have been doing starting with Mrs Quinn’s class…
"In Mrs Quinn’s class this half term, our topic is ‘Commotion in the Ocean’ and in English we have been listening to the song 'There's a hole in the bottom of the sea' and the story ‘Hooray for Fish’ by Lucy Cousins over the past fortnight. The plot of our story follows a little fish as he searches for his mum whilst meeting all his fishy friends along the way. The story is a splishy-sploshy riot of colour and rhyme based under the sea. Little fish paddles along on a mesmerising underwater tour of friends who are happy, gripy, spotty, stripy, hairy, scary, curly wurly and twisty twirly. The children have been using Talk for Writing to begin to sequence the beginning, middle and end of the story and they have explored a variety of sea creatures whilst being exposed to sensory experiences using bubbles, scarves, slime, seaweed and even bath bombs. Some of the children have even managed to have a go at tasting some seaweed on Thursday too!
In phonics our letter sound this week has been ‘f’ which was really handy with our story being about a little fish! As well as singing and mark-making the pupils have had a go at various activities including imaginary fishing, pretending to ‘feed the frog’ various insects and making paper-plate foxes.
In maths we have been exploring mass and capacity and this week we been measuring and comparing various capacities e.g. full, half full, nearly empty etc. The children have enjoyed exploring these concepts using different materials e.g. coloured water and rice as they transfer using different tools such as pipettes, syringes, and sponges. Kai particularly enjoyed filling up different containers to certain levels as we shouted ‘Stop’ when he reached the measured line and William really liked transferring the coloured water using the sponges. Riley became a master at using the pipettes!
On Monday during our topic time in the afternoon the children took a keen interest in creating their own fish using finger paints during art and in PE the pupils have been practising using our new bikes with Mr Leeson. During our music lessons the children have been exploring various instruments with Mr Challinor and they have had a go at following some directed actions during the lesson time. During Outdoor Education this week the children visited a supermarket and purchased the rice that we needed for our maths lesson as well as some snack treats of course! Kai chose some salted caramel club biscuits, Riley some chocolate flavoured party rings and William chose a Kinder Surprise Egg. All in all, it’s been another very exciting fun-filled week! Next week we will be moving on to our new story ‘Clumsy Crab’ by Ruth Galloway in English and in maths we will be looking at exploring and comparing different lengths. We are really looking forward to spending some time with some of our new students next Friday during their first transition session."
JQN - 14.6.24
Now to Mrs Bottery’s form…
"This week, during form time, 7HBY have been reading Harry Potter, working on Bedrock, creating a booklet about flags and enjoying playing UNO and other games together.
During RSHE we have been looking at what an Economy is and why and how changes in the Economy affect us.
In Science this week have been learning about all the different types of forces and how gravity changes depending on which planet we are on. We designed a poster to show what we had learnt.
In Maths this week we have done our end of block assessment and started our new topic on angles. We are learning about different types of angles; these include angles on a full and half turn.
In ICT we are continuing our work on Digital graphics, using Serif to edit images in lots of different ways.
In English we are beginning to look at and analyse some small passages from Shakespeare texts. This week we have been looking at Macbeth.
In Outdoor Ed in recent weeks, HBY have been visiting various shops. We visited Smyths and sports direct this week.
In art we are learning how to make cubes from two types of wire so we can decorate them and make them into chandeliers.
In History we are continuing our Tudors topic learning about Elizabeth I. We played a game to see if we would be able to be one of the Queens advisors – those who gave bad advice would lose their heads!"
Now to Miss Daniels’ form…
"This week has been a brilliant week for 10 ADS. As they get closer to ending the summer term they are getting ready to transition into year 11 and be the oldest year group in the school, which we think they will be ready for!
10 ADS has highlighted the importance this week of many things, including celebrating success in super learning day, and the importance of men’s mental health month. The class has expressed the importance for men to speak up and we could not be prouder about what they have shared.
Over the last couple of weeks 10 ADS have been edging towards completing their bronze award for Duke of Edinburgh. They are excited for their stay over at Castleshaw and the tasks they are going to complete whilst they are there. They enjoyed looking around and seeing where they are going to be staying during their Outdoor Education lesson.
Over the last few weeks in science, our students have been learning about energy and energy transfers. They have been doing experiments and testing different types of metals which the students enjoyed as they could see visually what they have learnt. They have all tried really hard during their science and have kept going even when they have found somethings difficult, we could not be prouder!
Alex G has expressed the excitement for the Euros and has written the following, which we hope you will all enjoy reading. .."
The Euros is a competitive football championship between all European football clubs and the best team in the countries gets to compete in the Euros.
The Euros was formed in 1958 which was 66 years ago, there are currently 24 teams playing in the Euros cup and the numbers will only dwindle with the coming matches, the first match of the cup will be Germany vs Scotland in Munich Allianz Arena.
The last euros was secured by Italy as they beat England in the finals, many of the England fans had gotten tattoos or bet money that England would win.
For our class, we have chosen to participate in a sweep stake so we can all take part and have fun during the euros. Each person had an opportunity to randomly choose 2 countries. Here below is the teams chosen by each person from the sweepstake!
Miss Callaghan: Albania and Denmark
Alex G: Austria and Ukraine
Liam M: Belgium and Georgia
Mrs Daniel’s: Croatia and the Netherlands
Ms Ali: Czechia and Italy
Riley H: England and Portugal
Liam B: France and Spain
Tyler LP: Germany and Türkiye
Alex F: Hungary and Serbia
Ms Hobson: Poland and Slovenia
Joshua R: Scotland and Switzerland
ADS - 14.6.24
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We Trust STARs...
Mrs Lerigo’s STAR of the week is Jack for amazing behaviour and coping well with change.
Mrs Lerigo’s HWA We Trust STAR is Teddy for wearing his glasses this week instead of his ear defenders and trusting himself not to be as reliant on them.
Miss Pietraszewska’s STAR of the week is Alfie for having a great first week back at school! Well done Alfie.
Miss Pietraszewska’s HWA We Trust STAR is Teddy for kindly playing with his friends. Well done Teddy!
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the week is Basil for great work in PE and being safe whilst cycling.
Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the week is Riley for responding well to creative tasks.
Mrs Quinn’s HWA We Trust star is Olly for putting his trust in familiar adults and accepting reassurance.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the week is Maya for coping really well with a change in the timetable today.
Mr Corrigan’s HWA We Trust star is Stanley for outstanding writing in English and Phonics this week.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Maya and Simisola. Well done!
Miss Boothroyd and Miss McDonald’s STAR of the week is Xander for always trying his best during lessons.
Miss Boothroyd and Miss McDonald’s HWA We Trust STAR is David for helping his peers inside and outside of the classroom this week. David has supported students who have been upset at playtime and also helped staff at breaktimes.
Miss Boothroyd and Miss McDonald’s Dojo winner is Loki. Well done!
Miss Hulme’s STAR of the week is George for having a fabulous week and trying his best to make the right choices.
Mrs Davies’ STAR of the week is Daniel for being patient with his friends.
Miss Gittins’ STAR of the week is Lewis for trying his best and contributing in Geography lessons.
Miss Gittins’ HWA We Trust STAR is Caitlin for keeping herself safe at school.
Miss Gittins’ super spellers are Lewis, Hadley, Joshua, Caitlin, Nabiha and Zakariya.
Miss Matthew’s STAR of the week is George for sharing some great ideas and information about fossils in science!
Miss Matthew’s STAR is Ebon for helping tidy up the classroom without me asking!
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the week is Connor for having a positive week.
Miss Tootill’s HWA We Trust STAR is Millie for sharing emotions with trusted adults.
STARS of the Week (14.6.24)
Scientists of the week is Shayan from Miss Davies’ class 😊
Well done to our secondary Hollinwood Academy STARs this week:
Secondary Stars of the Week (14.6.24)
Currently, we are working hard to plan the next academic year ahead, we have the new year 7 meeting with families on Monday 17th June and we are looking forward to welcoming families into Hollinwood Academy as we know how daunting this transition from primary school to secondary school can be. At this meeting, families will get to meet key staff, learn more about the curriculum and secondary life here at Hollinwood Academy. If you cannot make this meeting, please do not worry as we will send the information home to families.
I would like to finish my blog by wishing all families and staff a wonderful Eid Mubarak. I hope your celebrations over the weekend and Monday are full of joy and happiness with your families. I can’t wait to hear about these on Tuesday.
Mrs Millard
