HWA Blog - 17.5.24
I can’t believe we only have one week left until we finish for May half term. The weeks have gone so fast and this week in particular as our KS4 students continued their GCSE exams. The students have sat: English Literature iGCSE, History Paper 1, Maths Paper 1 and Chemistry Paper 1. There were some tough papers and questions but our students have worked through their exams and worked incredibly hard. Our staff have fully supported our students to make sure their access arrangements are in place to best support them. Next week, we have more GCSE exams and I know our students will be revising hard and will do their best.
Also, well done and congratulations to our Year 6 children for all their hard work this week as they completed their SATs papers. Despite a tricky start to the week with the reading paper, the children have shown great determination and really given their all to each test. We are really proud in the manner with which they have approached this week. Year 6, we are very proud of you! Well done!
This week, Thursday saw us take part in Super Learning Day! The theme this time revolved around careers, budgeting and money which saw our primary and secondary classes get involved in a range of activities.
EYFS and KS1 in primary engaged in some active role play, where tills were used as cash registers to mimic shops and the purchasing/ exchange process. Classes introduced the idea of physical money through making coins and looked at what each one was worth. Different notes were also touched on such as £10 and £20. Pupils designed what their ideal note would look like and looked at what money could be used to buy.
KS2 and KS3 students explored different resources that revolved around giving change back from a note and what coins you might need to buy certain everyday items which teaches valuable life skills. Looking at £1, 50p, 10p and so on. Role play was again, introduced to mimic interaction.
KS4 looked at finance and budging in more detail. A range of resources were used such as ‘calculating change’ worksheets to aid understanding of everyday transactions in a mathematical way.
Mrs Duffy’s form did an amazing practical activity which saw them make pizza in the food tech room. A plan was made for each pizza with details of the type of ingredients and the cost of each one in compassion to pricier options. After they completed the plan, they made the pizzas, and this visual representation was a huge success with year 8!
Super Learning Day (17.5.24)
Let’s see what some of the classes have been doing starting with Miss Hulme’s class…
"In English this half term we have been looking at the story Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The story is all about how our own actions can impact ourselves and the people around us. The children have enjoyed reading through the story and creating ideas of positive behaviours and kind gestures we can do to fill our buckets. We have also been thinking about how our actions affect other people and if we are unkind then we are being bucket dippers.
This week, we have been focusing on instruction writing, we made our own jam sandwiches and the children sequenced the instructions that they had written. Each child had two slices of bread, a knife, butter and jam; we then buttered one side of the bread and put jam on the other side, once we had put them together we cut the sandwich in half. The children did an amazing job of this and made me very proud. The teachers were impressed as everyone tried the jam, even if they thought they didn’t like it!
In our science lessons we have been looking at Habitats; the children have created some brilliant classification keys for plants and animals using lots of accurate scientific vocabulary that we have learnt. We have found lots of fun facts about where plants and animals live and why. It has also been interesting learning about vertebrates and invertebrates - did you know there are more living animals without spines? We were shocked to find that there are about 1.3 million species without spines and that is only the ones that have been discovered!!
This week, we have enjoyed Super Learning Day where the focus was money. We looked at the value of different coins and notes, then we practised making different values using these. We also pushed ourselves and practised giving change, this was quite tricky but we all did a superb job and tried really hard! We then designed our own coins and there were lots of creative designs.
Overall, the children in CHE class have made phenomenal progress socially, emotionally and academically and each day we are blown away by how amazing they are. As we approach the holidays, we look forward to seeing how much more the children thrive in our last half term of this school year."
CHE (17.5.24)
Now to Miss Young’s form…
"This week in our science lessons, we focused on defining and naming the substances formed when metals and non-metals react with oxygen. We also stated what was formed when metals reacted with acids and compared the reactions of different metals with dilute acids. We identified the products of the reaction of calcium with water and compared the reactions of different metals with water. Our last lesson in REACTIONS was about identifying and explaining what was meant by a displacement and a thermite reaction and ordering certain substances from the most reactive to the least reactive.
In our Geography lessons we started by looking at various pictures and identifying the top 10 tourist destinations in the world. We then discussed what attracts tourists to different destinations and recognised that human and physical attractions influence tourism. We then decided to focus and do research on Athens and Benidorm to identify the features of both places that attract tourists the most.
In our English lessons, we continued to work on our reading comprehension skills based on a few chapters from the C.S. Lewis’ book ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. The students also learnt the meaning of old-fashioned vocabulary, such as oilskins, gum boots, stratagems, pedlars and festoons and phrases like ‘merely a trifle’ or time out of mind whilst reading the text.
In Maths, we concluded our topic in addition and subtraction of fractions. Some students enjoyed using fraction tiles to support their working out of equivalent fractions. We then started our new topic of constructing, measuring, and using geometric notation. Our first few lessons were about measuring line segments and converting millimetres, centimetres, and metres. We also related the concept of fractions as turns and made a start in recognising right, acute, and obtuse angles.
In our History lesson this week, our class examined the Catholic Reign of Mary I. We learnt basic facts about this female ruler and used these facts as well as sources to give reasons for and against Mary deserving the nickname Bloody Mary. We also discussed the relationship and marriage between Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain. We became accustomed with the meaning of the following key terms: heresy, heretic, burn at the stake and deterrent.
During our RSE we focused on terms relating to resilience and our emotions. We played a game where students had to roll the dice and use the key to find out what they had to do with the emotion they landed on. Either they had to tell everybody about a time they felt this emotion, act it out or draw an emoji which expressed this emotion.
In our Targeted Support lessons, we focused on improving our fine motor skills like letter formation, guided reading and accessed Spelling Shed app which makes links between sounds and written symbols as well as using morphology to help spell through meaning."
OYG (17.5.24)
Now to Miss Hobson’s form…
"It is my pleasure to be writing the last ever blog post for 11NHN and what a week it’s been. The exams are well and truly under way with students sitting papers in History, Mathematics and Chemistry. Understandably, nerves are high but the copious hours of revision and preparation the students have carried out in prior months has more than equipped them with the knowledge for success. Let’s wish them the best of luck for the upcoming weeks!
This week, everyone has really pulled together/ supported each other with positive affirmations and working closely through revision. To remember the students, the form and I have planted a tree which will be marked with a plague. We view the tree as an extended metaphor as like the tree; the students roots are firmly planted in Hollinwood Academy, providing them with strong foundations, allowing them to continue to grow and flourish in the outside world. Here are some final words from each student:
Cameron - “Don’t think just do.”
Alfie- “Failure is not an option.”
Sam- “Thank you Mr Howles for making school bearable.”
Joe- “Learn from the mistakes of others, before you learn from your own.”
Rachel- “Thank you to me for making it through.”
Evan- “Crystals reveal their hidden structure when broken. What will you reveal to the world?”
Lucas- “Thank you to everyone.”
Nina- “Thank you Miss Cohen for your support.”
NHN (17.5.24)
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA Passionate STARs...
Mrs Lerigo’s STAR of the week is Teddy for brilliant speaking about out Pirate topic and letting us know how much he has listened.
Mrs Lerigo’s HWA Passionate STAR is Teddy for showing compassion to his friends when they are in upset and trying to comfort them in the way Teddy knows best… through hugging!!!
Miss Bramley’s STAR of the week is Harry for super effort this week especially in English .
Miss Bramley’s HWA Passionate STAR is Eliora for being a passionate member of our class especially with her story writing.
Miss Pietraszewska’s STAR of the week is Roma for engaging in our balance bike sessions and following safety rules! Well done!
Miss Pietraszewska’s HWA Passionate STAR is Teddy for having an amazing week! Engaging in every lesson, reading, counting, smiling, and being friendly. Great job Teddy!
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the week is Silva for gesturing to staff what items she would like.
Miss Oakley’s HWA Passionate STAR is Basil for excellent work on TD snapcore to request items for Mr Potato Head.
Miss Bailey’s STAR of the week is Cody for initiating interaction with adults and requesting lots of new things.
Miss Bailey’s HWA Passionate STAR is Jack for participating in lots of our activities this week with enthusiasm and playing well alongside his friends.
Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the week is William for great communication with Jayne during his after school club sessions.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the week is Lewis for showing confidence with telling the time in maths.
Mr Corrigan’s HWA Passionate star is Maya for great listening and creative thinking on the carpet this week.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Louis and Simisola. Well done!
Miss Boothroyd and Miss McDonald’s STAR of the week is Loki for making the right choices and managing his emotions when feeling upset or angry.
Miss Boothroyd and Miss McDonald’s HWA Passionate STAR is Jack for being passionate and creative when designing and making things in class.
Miss Boothroyd and Miss McDonald’s Dojo winner is Logan. Well done!
Miss Hulme’s STAR of the week is Alice has been a lovely addition to our class, she has been kind, caring and helpful to her new friends and the teachers. Well done Alice!
Miss Hulme’s HWA Passionate STAR is Freya has been contributing good ideas in our lessons and trying really hard with her writing. Well done Freya.
Mrs Davies’ STAR of the week is Arissa for independently taking herself over to complete tasks with only verbal prompts and enjoying new stimulus within the tuff trays.
Mrs Davies’ HWA Passionate STAR is Anna for being very caring towards her friends and staff and showing she misses her friend by asking ‘who’ at their visual picture whilst they are on holiday.
Miss Gittins’ STAR of the week is Lewis for being resilient in a week full of change.
Miss Gittins’ HWA Passionate STAR is Hadley for persevering with and completing tasks she has found difficult this week.
Miss Matthew’s STAR of the week is Eli for always his hand up to answer questions.
Miss Matthew’s HWA Passionate STAR is Lucas for sharing his toys with other friends during playtime.
Miss Tootill’s STARs of the week are The Whole Class for adapting well to changes and working hard using SATs week.
Miss Tootill’s HWA Passionate STAR is Zack for showing great work ethic and passion towards his work.
Well done to our secondary stars as well!
STARS of the Week (17.5.24)
The scientist of the week is Ziyan from Miss Oakley’s class.
We finish for the May half term next Friday 24th May and school reopens on Monday 3rd June 2024.
I have had a busy weekend of netball and football tournaments. I hope you have all had a lovely weekend too.
Mrs Millard
