Wow, we have had a busy week! Today I have sent out letters to all our families to let them know who their child’s new class teachers and teaching assistants will be in September. As I have said in my previous posts, we are still working through a list of staff that we need to appoint and by the end of next week we will have a new Humanities teacher and another Early Years teacher. Next Wednesday you are all invited into school to meet your child’s new classroom staff which I hope will help relieve any concerns you may have.

This week started with a lot of ice cream eating, as I can personally confirm! (I was asked if I would help drive a group to the Cheshire Ice Cream Farm – how could I refuse?) Let’s hear from Mr Heap about the trip…

This week Mr Heap and Mr Rawson’s classes had the opportunity to visit the Ice Cream Farm in Cheshire on their end of year class trip. All of the 14 pupils were very excited and couldn’t wait to experience the range of activities and, of course, eat some ice cream!! For some of our young people this was a huge change as it was the first time they had ever been on a school trip. We had a brilliant time playing in the arcades, outdoor playgrounds, mini golf, sand and water area as well as visiting the farm animals. All the pupils represented Hollinwood Academy brilliantly and were a credit to the school! Take a look at some of our wonderful pictures..

Miss Louden’s class have also been out on a school trip this week to Legoland at the Trafford Centre. As you can see, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves..

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure of observing many of the teachers at Hollinwood teach. This week I went in to see Miss Parkinson and I was blown away with the creativity she brought into a Maths lesson. Here’s what they were doing..

This week we have been looking at capacity. We did this by making potions! The children loved helping out Wizard William and Witch Winifred. We measured the capacity of different potion containers by reading the scales. In the afternoon we had a go at making our own potions. Some of the potions we made were ‘to make people rich’, ‘turn things into trains’ and ‘wish for teddies’ to name just a few. We left our potions in the cauldron overnight and when we returned in the morning our potions had disappeared! There was definitely some magic in the air, as surprises were left in the cauldron – our potions had worked..

Miss Shin, our new teacher who is now working with Mrs Halkyard’s class, wanted to share with you what the class have been up to in her first week..

Our topic this term is ‘Around the World’. This week we have been learning about North America and the children discovered an abandoned island on the coast of North America. We spent the week developing a new island. We discussed the rules and laws on our new island and how they compare to the rules at school. We understand why rules are important and why they should be followed. In Maths, we used co-ordinates to create our own maps and in Art we made our own flags..

In Science this week we had a (virtual) visit from David Attenborough, he had found a new species on our island! We created a new species which had adapted to its new habitat. Later in the week, we made mini versions of these creatures out of clay and painted them in bright colours – they looked weird and wonderful..

We also had an exciting afternoon on Tuesday when we visited a company who print 8 million newspapers per week!

The children have also been using their free time well. Ronnie and Aaron have created lots of things using electrical circuit equipment, including a fan and an aeroplane! They have shown super independent Science skills..

Our SEAL target was to find ways of dealing with feelings we may have when things change. The children discussed times when they had felt worried or scared due to a change in their lives and used Drama to show what to do and what not to do in such situations. All of the children have coped well with their change in teacher this week.
In our Spanish lesson, we were lucky enough to make paella! Some of the children were brave enough to try it, while others took it home. I am a little disappointed that I did not manage to go up to the cooking room and try some.

Over now to our Key Stage 3 and 4 Nurture Group where one of the successes for this year has been the interventions that have been run by Miss Knott. Here is a taste of what they have been up to..

We were a few members down in Lego Therapy this week as some pupils were busy rehearsing for the end of year production but Ollie and Charlie didn’t let that stop them from having one of their best sessions to date.

At the beginning of the session, the group checked their target sheets to remind themselves of what they are working towards. After roles had been designated, each pupil picked one of their targets to focus on for the session. It was Ollie’s turn to be the engineer this week. His role was to tell the supply supplier (me!) which bricks to pass to the builder. He then needed to tell the builder where to put the bricks. Charlie’s role as builder was to listen to the engineer and follow his instructions to build the model..

At the end of the session, they completed their self and peer evaluation sheets before sharing their thoughts with each other. Some other pupils have been developing their self-awareness during intervention this week. “Knowing myself” has been their topic. They have been thinking about their strengths and difficulties, special interests, people who are important to them, things that bother them, their sensory likes and dislikes and how they learn most effectively..

In the games workshop with Miss Gordon, Alex never fails to beat her in a game of chess..

Miss Gordon is extremely competitive and eager to win, however this interferes with her focus. According to Alex ‘Miss Gordon focuses more on the attack than she does her defence and consequently she loses the game..’

Our SEAL Superstars and our Stars of the Week are:

• Mrs Dunsdon’s class:
  Star of the Week: Amario for fantastic work in PE..

SEAL Superstar: George for managing his feelings when things have changed..

• Mr Corrigan’s class:
  Star of the Week: Essah for outstanding independence with his scissors this week..

SEAL Superstar: Zachary for showing great maturity when sharing the bikes at playtime..

• Mrs Lomax’s class:
  Star of the Week: Nimra for some fantastic Science work
  SEAL Superstar: Joshua for being able to talk about changes old and new..

• Miss Louden’s class:
  Star of the Week: Alivia for talking with confidence
  SEAL Superstar: Justin for sharing his ideas about what to put in the time capsule
• Miss Parkinson’s class:
  Star of the Week: Lana for great effort in reading this week
  SEAL Superstar: Summer for trying really hard to control her emotions and follow instructions
• Mr Heap’s class:
  Star of the Week: Thomas for his fantastic work and behaviour
• Miss Shin’s class:
  Star of the Week: Alex for fantastic reading during the guided reading session
  SEAL Superstar: the whole class for making Miss Shin feel so welcome and looking after her in her first week at Hollinwood – well done to you all!
• Mr Rawson’s class:
  Star of the Week: Jake for a great effort this week and making the right choices and Lucas for a great effort in all subjects
  SEAL Superstar: Tobias, Daley, Lucas and Bradley for writing about dealing with feelings when things change

Well done, everyone!

If you have not yet had chance to fill in our quick parent questionnaire, we’d be very grateful if you could click on the link here to let us know how we’re doing.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening,

Jaina

Click here for this week’s news from Graham

You can find all our previous blog entries here