HWA Blog - 17.1.25
This week I have had several important meetings starting with the central team on Tuesday, Oldham Secondary Head’s Thursday morning and today I was invited to attend The Trust meeting that involves all the secondary schools in Rochdale. Within all of these meetings, I left with a sense of achievement and drive on many different levels and I am excited about the next few months as we move forward at Hollinwood Academy and work closely with both Oldham and Rochdale LAs.
What has been lovely this week, is seeing all the children and young people engaging in their learning this week when I was back onsite.
Let’s see what some of the classes have been doing starting with Miss Hulme’s class…
"Our topic this term is the Tudors, and we are focusing on one of the most significant figures of that era: Henry VIII. In English, we are looking at non-fiction writing and have been exploring a diary entry from Henry VIII himself. As always, we have created a story map together which is helping the children to understand the style and structure of diary writing. Moving forward, the children will write their own diary entry, recounting information from the perspective of someone living during the Tudor period.
In History, we are continuing our learning of Henry VIII. The children were horrified to learn he had six wives throughout his life but were interested to discover he became King at just 18 after his brother passed away. This led to some discussions about leadership, what it means to rule, and the responsibilities Henry would have had at such a young age. We have also examined various sources related to Henry’s reign, particularly his portraits, to interpret his character. As part of this activity, the children were tasked with determining whether they believe Henry was a fair ruler or a tyrant, using the evidence gathered. This sparked some interesting debates in class, and I was impressed to hear all the different perspectives the children have of him.
Furthermore, in Maths our focus has been on multiplication and division, and this week, we delved into multiplying two-digit numbers by two-digit numbers. At first, this concept was very challenging as it requires breaking down the process into a few steps. However, with lots of practice and different activities the children are now beginning to understand, and we have now moved on to multiplying two-digit numbers by three-digit numbers!
In Science, our topic is ‘properties of materials’ and we have been investigating various characteristics of different items. So far, we have examined whether materials are magnetic and classified them as opaque, translucent, or transparent and tested their hardness. This week, we have shifted our focus to electrical conductivity. The children had a fantastic time building their own circuits using a variety of materials to determine which one’s act as conductors and which act as insulators. Moving forward, we have some more exciting experiments planned! Next week, we will be carrying out an insulating heat experiment which I’m sure will be very fun.
We have also been up to a lot more fun in our other subjects. In Music, the children have been learning the South African ‘Shosholoza’. They are not only learning the song's lyrics but also exploring how to play various notes on GarageBand. In Design and Technology, we are currently working on a project that we are all very excited about, designing our own stuffed toys! So far, we have gone through the planning stages and created our templates. Next week, we will begin stitching and stuffing our toys. I can't wait to see their imaginative ideas come to life!"
CHE (17.1.25)
Now to Mrs Pott’s form…
"Year 10SPS have returned from the Christmas break refreshed and ready to go with their usual enthusiasm.
In Duke of Edinburgh, students are being challenged further with their walks, they have been traversing a variety of route ranging from climbing muddy hills to walking along busy roads. They have been learning how to remain safe in these different environments in preparation for when they complete their expeditions in the future.
In Maths, the class have been learning how to solve simultaneous equations along with column vectors. Students have also recently completed their entry level 2 and 3 papers.
In English, the class have been writing about the different language and structural features as part of their coursework questions. They are currently reading an extract from Chinese Cinderella, as well as an extract from the original Woman in Black.
In Computing, the class have been working on the coursework element of their qualification, they have a client brief around marketing a box of chocolate for a set audience.
For options, the classes split, options include Food, Music, PE, Art and Photography. We have some incredibly creative students at HWA whether that is creating their own project in art using different types of resources or photographing the local area. The photography students have also become the school official photographer at events like Christmas dinner the Christmas fair.
As well as the practical element of food which all the students enjoy there is an element of theory work that has to be completed, recently the students have been investigating enzymic browning with apples. To prevent this happening the sliced apple has to be placed in cold water. Some of the creation that have come out of the food lessons include Christmas cake, chicken marinade, cheese & onion pie with apple and chicken curry.
Our linguists are progressing, recently they have been learning how to form sentences about what they like and dislike.
In science, students have been learning about blood circulation, as well as the anatomy of the heart, and how it functions to properly circulate blood around the body. At the end of this topic, our students engaged in a practical lesson where they were able to dissect a heart and put their learning into practice by identifying the different components they could see. "
SPS - 17.1.25
Now to Miss Nuttall’s form…
"This week, 11NNL have been continuing to practice for their upcoming exams, looking at their speaking exam in Spanish. The student's chose to talk about past holidays they have been on, and places they would like to visit in the future, with some very interesting trips planned!
Bobby also completed his Food practical mock, where he made a fillet of fish with avocado, Spaghetti Bolognese and apple pie! Mrs Millard was lucky enough to taste test Bobby’s work and she was very impressed with the flavours and different textures of the food. Well done, Bobby!
In science, we have also been looking at different kinds of fuel and how effective they are. The class enjoyed doing a practical to test their hypothesises and analysed their results against their predictions."
NNL (17.1.25)
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Innovative STARs…
Mrs Lerigo’s STAR of the week is Benji for overwriting letters and just being generally amazing with his engagement in lessons.
Mrs Lerigo’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Tommy for creating a junk model dinosaur.
Mrs Sutcliffe’s STAR of the week is Teddy for always being a kind friend to everyone.
Miss Sutcliffe’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Kian for innovation with his history writing this week.
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the week is Eliora for excellent participation all week, putting up her hand and helping others in their learning.
Miss Oakley’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Abdul for designing a fantastic rocket for baby bear to take to the moon.
Miss Bailey’s STAR of the week is Noel for following instructions well and fabulous engagement in class activities.
Miss Bailey’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Jack for fantastic work in communication, creating ‘foam worms’ independently and for doing his best to wait for his turn.
Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the week is Euan for fantastic engagement this week in his English lessons.
Mrs Quinn’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Roma for responding well to her new 1:1 sessions with Kessie this week.
Miss Pietraszewska’s STAR of the week is Harrison for joining a yoga activity and having so much fun with his friends!
Miss Pietraszewska’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Teddy for making a hot air balloon and coming up with the idea to put a cow toy in the basket!
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the week is Stanley for fantastic communication this week.
Mr Corrigan’s HWA We are Innovative star is Faiha for some wonderful independent work this week.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Simisola and Matthew. Well done!
Miss Hulme’s STAR of the week is Loki for practicing his spellings all week and achieving 10/10 in his test!
Miss Hulme’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Jaxon for creating an amazing yet complicated design for his stuffed toy in our D&T lessons.
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the week is Brooke for having an excellent History lesson.
Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Cole for his fantastic engagement in History, for answering questions and showing great knowledge on Henry 8th.
Miss Gittins’ STAR of the week is Freya for excellent reading in phonics
Miss Gittins’ HWA We are Innovative STAR is Caitlin for accepting adult help when she felt worried.
Miss Matthew’s STAR of the week is Alice for settling in to our class so well and for trying her best in Maths and English.
Miss Matthew’s HWA We are Innovative STAR is Bobby for problem solving and explaining mathematical concepts to his peers!
STARS of the Week (17.1.25)
Scientists of the week is George from Mrs Quinn’s class.
I’m glad the colder weather has disappeared as I’m looking forward to watching Lilly play her football match on Saturday (not so much standing outside) and Isla play her netball match on Sunday (thankfully inside). I hope you have a lovely weekend too.
Mrs Millard
