Another eventful week here at Hollinwood Academy which has unfortunately ended with a closure day due to electricity failure in the building. Thankfully this was not related to any fault in school but was a problem in the area. We had hoped to manage without electricity but I’m afraid that when we found that the pump serving water throughout the building wasn’t working we felt it necessary to send pupils home. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience to families.

I haven’t been able to gather Star of the Week Awards or give out Head Teacher Awards today but I would like to take the opportunity to inform parents of some achievements of staff which have been celebrated this week:

• Mrs Dunsdon had her final teaching observation from Manchester Metropolitan University on Thursday. She came out with flying colours, with assessments of ‘outstanding in all areas’. This means that she has successfully completed the course and gained her QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). Well done, Sarah!
• Miss Parkinson has been out to her final session of training as part of her NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) year. She has successfully completed the course and similarly achieved a number of outstanding lesson observations.
• Mr Corrigan is due to complete his NQT year training next week.

I am sure you will share my appreciation that the staff team at Hollinwood Academy are outstanding and it is wonderful that this is recognised and shared beyond the school. In fact, the University assessors have already asked Sarah for permission to share her planning with next year’s cohort of students. They also praised our pupils and were extremely impressed with their progress.

This week has seen a number of new pupils coming into school for transition visits. These have been extremely successful so far. It’s really hit home that we are getting so close to the end of our first academic year and staff are preparing for their next groups and classes ready for September. We are welcoming existing families and new families into school next Tuesday (21st June) from 4pm until 5pm for a Transition Evening which will provide families with the opportunity to meet the class team for their child for the next academic year.

My selection of photos this week for my blog include a focus on Mrs Lomax’ hard-working class. This week they have been studying different groups of animals and I have been extremely impressed with their use of all the correct terminology – herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, mammal, reptile etc. Many of the class are budding scientists and here you can see James taking a real biological interest in mini-beasts, getting close up in his investigations..

The class have been busy learning about animals. Here you can see them working on arts and crafts activities creating animal masks. They have been practising using art techniques, here using collage and exploring different materials..

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Although the weather hasn’t been quite so sunny this week we have managed a good deal of outdoor activities. Mrs Lomax is a great collector of interesting materials and resources which can form the basis of exciting den-making. Here you can see the pupils working together to build colourful dens..

As part of the animal project, the pupils have been working in dance and movement lessons finding ways to re-create the movements and sounds of different animals..

And finally in music, the class have begun learning to play the ukele with Mr Bloska. I very much look forward to the next school performance as we have so many talented musicians and dancers..

And so, after the drama of floods and electricity failures, I hope that we can get through the next few weeks without further unexpected disruption to learning!

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Sarah

Click here to read this week’s news from Graham