HWA Blog - 27.9.24
Lesson observations have continued this week and it has been amazing to see the children and young people engrossed in their learning. We have observed: English T4W primary, history primary, music secondary, English year 7, 9 and GCSE, Science primary, KS3 and GCSE, art year 8, maths primary and secondary, food technology KS3, PE year 7, outdoor education year 7 and primary reading. The key themes from the lesson observations this week are happy and engaged students, questions to help facilitate and extend learning, clear progression from lesson to lesson and the use of visuals and concrete materials to help support the understanding of new concepts. We have lots of lesson observations booked in for next week too and then it is teacher’s performance management meetings.
On Tuesday we welcomed parents into school for our MacMillan coffee afternoon. This was a great opportunity to network with other parents and meet your child’s class teacher. A very special mention to the KS4 students in Miss Rashid’s class who helped to serve the hot drinks and cut up all the cakes. It was huge success yet again and we managed to raise a total of £236 (£193 cash donations and £43.00 online) which will make an incredible difference to people living with cancer. It is estimated that there are around 3 million people living with cancer in the UK today and in 2023 Macmillan were able to reach a staggering 2.3 million people affected by cancer. Thank you for your support.
MacMillan Coffee Morning
We also welcomed our EBSNA team from Oldham's Education and Psychology service. They presented a workshop with a focus on anxiety. This is the first of many workshops we aim to provide for parents in the future.
Let’s see what some of the classes have been doing starting with Miss Tootill’s class…
"Welcome back! School has begun, time for work and lots of time for fun! We’ll smile brightly on our way; school has officially started because Class KS2LTO are here to stay!
What a crazy, busy and exciting start to our new academic year. We have already celebrated two birthdays and can’t wait to make so many memories this year. Since returning to school, we have shared our class and school rules within our PSHRE lessons and discussed what our KS2 expectations are.
In English we continue to use Talk for Writing to develop our English writing skills, this term our novel is ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Over the last 4 weeks, we have implemented the ‘imitation phase’ of learning our story map and producing short burst writing.
In Maths we have completed our first topic of place value and challenging ourselves with numbers to 10,000,000!
In our foundation subjects we are exploring Animal and Habitats in Science and travelling through the Viking era in History.
Miss Sutcliffe and I are eager to teach this year and to help our children grow in confidence, self-esteem and to prepare them ready for their next chapter. We can’t wait to share it all with you."
Mrs Tootill - 27.9.24
Now to Mrs Datta’s form…
"Year 7SUA have massively impressed us all with their maturity and resilience. They took to their new school as ducks take to water!
While settling down beautifully in Maths and English they have also shone through in the other subjects.
7SUA started off with some brilliant Spanish lessons. Miss Cowling couldn't stop smiling and talking about how fantastic the class has been. In food tech they have been learning knife skills and have successfully prepared yummy fruit salads.
In science they have already received their Bunsen Burner licence proving they can follow instructions and be safe. They have had massive fun playing basketball in PE, working on their motor skills. They have had some super fantastic lessons in EHCP exhibiting their social and team building skills.
We are all extremely proud of our wonderful year 7s."
Mrs Datta - 27.9.24
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Caring STARs...
Mrs Lerigo’s STAR of the week is Madilyn for coming into school and completing her work. Her maths work was exceptional this week!
Mrs Lerigo’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Sienna for caring for animals and saying hello to the fish every day. Sienna even cares for all the animals in the small world area!
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the week is Kai for giving himself extra challenges in Maths to complete, you are a mathematician!
Miss Oakley’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Eliora for always being a good friend outside and creating games for everyone to play.
Miss Bailey’s STAR of the week is Maja for amazing work using her fine motor skills sorting the Pom poms using tweezers.
Miss Bailey’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Ziyan for Accepting adult support to help him regulate and building relationships with new staff.
Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the week is Basil who has started to sign the days of the week independently after modelling.
Mrs Quinn’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Ohud who has been independently putting his own snack rubbish in the bin this week showing care for his environment.
Miss Pietraszewska’s STAR of the week is Harrison for following the rules and instructions when going swimming with his Mum. Well done Harrison!
Miss Pietraszewska’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Diana for caring for her friends and doing her best every day in every activity. Diana! You are a Superstar!
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the week is Louis for having a good week in afterschool club.
Mr Corrigan’s HWA We are Caring star is Simisola for being a caring passenger on the school bus.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Mysha, Faiha and Matthew. Well done!
Mrs Davies’ STAR of the week is Anna for using a 3-part sentence during communication.
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the week is Cole for trying in all his lessons and being a caring friend.
Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Brooke for being a caring friend.
Miss Gittins’ STAR of the week is Lewis for trying new foods at school
Miss Gittins’ HWA We are Caring STAR is Freya for sharing her resources in the classroom with friends.
Miss Matthew’s STAR of the week is Logan for trying his best in every lesson
Miss Matthew’s HWA We are Caring STAR is Xander for supporting his friend when they were upset this week.
STARS of the Week (27.9.24)
Scientists of the week is Kai from Mr Corrigan’s class.
Not only do I like to celebrate our children and young people but I think it is also really key to celebrate our staff too as they do an amazing job! All of the staff at Hollinwood Academy work tirelessly to create an engaging and nurturing environment for our children and young people. They put in long hours, not just in the classroom, but often in their own time, planning lessons, marking work and attending to the individual needs of every student. It can be quite a demanding job, and that’s why it’s crucial we show them how much we value their hard work and commitment. This week, we celebrated Miss Sharples for her enthusiasm, dedication and relentless passion she has for her role and the children and young people that she supports. Miss Sharples is part of our intervention team and she runs our boxing and physical interventions, Boot Camp and group interventions.
During her boxing and physical interventions, the students are taught self-confidence and self-regulation by using sensory circuit and exercise. The benefits of being healthy, regular exercise and how it affects mental health is also discussed. The students are taught combinations, improving concentration, discipline and coordination. Miss Sharples personally boxes and runs boxing classes outside of school, and has a passion for the sport, with a wealth of knowledge about the way it can improve our student's wellbeing.
Miss Sharples supports around 20 students in the mornings and afternoons at Boot Camp. She runs a set of physical activities, that are designed to alert, organise and calm the students, helping them to achieve the optimum level required for effective learning, whilst making it fun.
There are a number of group interventions that Miss Sharples runs, including Team Building Collaboration (fun team building games), Team Building Communication (discussions about social skills), Team Building Sports (playing and discussing how to participate in team sport) and Team Building Friendship (promoting and providing a space for new friendships to develop).
Thank you, Miss Sharples, for everything you do as I know the students love your sessions, the feedback from families is amazing and the impact is transformational.
Hopefully the sunshine will make an appearance before the dark nights start to descend. Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs Millard
