Wow, what a very long and busy half term! Since we started back in September we have welcomed 11 new pupils to Hollinwood Academy – I’m not quite sure where we are putting them all to be honest!

Over the last 8 weeks our pupils have settled back into school life and continued their learning journey. This week I have asked Miss Daniels who teaches our oldest pupils Science to tell us what her class have been up to..

Hi everyone, I am the new Science teacher at Hollinwood Academy and I have just been asked to write the blog for this week. As I was thinking what I was going to write about and looking back over this half term my first thought was, ‘Wow, how the time has flown by, have I really been at Hollinwood Academy for 8 weeks??’ It has been such a fabulous first half term, mainly because Mr Valentine, my form KS4ADS, and all the pupils and staff have made me feel part of the Hollinwood family already. I feel like I have known them all forever!!! (In a good way, of course!! LOL!!!!)
Also, I want to say that Mr Valentine and I are really proud of our form KS4ADS; they have made some fantastic progress since summertime. Mr Valentine who has been the form teaching assistant for a long time has told me that all of them have really grown up this half term. Well done!

This week KS4ADS have been sorting out the displays in their form room – they realised that I needed some help!! However, it is a real shame because they do not like their photos taken (I managed to sneak through a few of Nathan though!) because they showed real teamwork in how they worked together to get things sorted..

Maisy organised the Science display and put the finishing touches to the digestive system display that Year 10 had put together..

Eric was very handy eventually, despite a slight mishap he managed to get the better of the staple remover to help get the boards ready!!!! Nathan who is our form’s artistic display manager put together the form notice board and the ‘British Values’ display board that the form have been working on in PHSE..

I just wanted to say a HUGE ‘Thank you’ to all of the pupils in my form and Mr Valentine for helping me to settle in. They are truly fantastic, they do not realise how talented and special they are. I am so proud of them all. Happy Halloween Holidays!

PS One last thing I just wanted to share are some fab phots of Miss Gordon’s Nurture Group who have been consistently working well in Science this half term, especially Grace and Alex (they are shining stars!!!). I am also really pleased at how Lewis has settled into the group this week. Well done!!!!

In Maths this week the pupils have been showing their creative skills and using origami to create some fabulous displays with rotational and line symmetry. Here are just some of their creations..

Class KS3Mat1 made these beautiful sun catchers using their newly found origami skills..

They have looked at creating their own Cardoids by using multiples of 2 and were fascinated how these lines can create an optical illusion of curved lines by using only straight lines..

Well done, boys! Miss Rudge’s lovely English class have been busy this week writing letters to another English class…in Dubai! Miss O’Neill is a good friend of Miss Rudge and teaches English over in the UAE. Our pupils have been learning all about the culture of Dubai and have asked Miss O’Neill’s class lots of very interesting questions about their beautiful country. We have also shared lots of wonderful facts about our country and our British Values…including how we enjoy our cups of tea (with a biscuit of course) and what a proper Sunday roast consists of..

The letters are making their way over to Dubai as we speak via Mr Smith and Mr Wood who are on their way to enjoy a well earned break over there! We are really looking forward to receiving our replies!

Our SEAL Superstars and our Stars of the Week are:

• Mrs Dunsdon’s class:
  Star of the Week: Victory for excellent phonics work and choice making..

SEAL Superstar: Ollie for being able to show his pleasure when receiving praise..

• Miss Grimsley’s class:
  Star of the Week: Myla for having a fantastic week and doing some painting in numeracy and literacy
  SEAL Superstar: Mia for clapping along with her teachers when her friends have done something good..

• Mrs Lomax’s class:
  Star of the Week: Marco for doing some fantastic shape work
  SEAL Superstar: Amario for being kind and helpful at playtime and looking after his friends..

• Mr Corrigan’s class:
  Star of the Week: Thomas for being a great friend this week and interacting with his friends sensibly..

SEAL Superstar: Ivy for being kind, sensible and a fantastic example to the younger children in her sensory group..

• Miss Louden’s class:
  Star of the Week: Lewis for his amazing work in ICT
  SEAL Superstar: Olivia for being very kind to everyone in class
• Miss Parkinson’s class:
  Star of the Week: Maia for fantastic behaviour and effort in lessons all half term
• Mr Heap’s class:
  Star of the Week: Liam for a fantastic transition and settling well in school
  SEAL Superstar: Darnell who has been making the right choices when things have gone wrong – he has started to come to the teacher for support
• Miss Shin’s class:
  Star of the Week: Finlay for always being kind, caring and hard-working and Reece for working hard every day
  SEAL Superstar: Kia for giving lots of compliments to her friends and teachers

Well done, everyone! After our half term holiday, we have lots of fun things planned in the lead up to Christmas. Mrs Dunsdon is already busy working on the Nativity which has been a triumph over the last two years – we expect nothing less this time! We also have a large group from Key Stage 3 who will be taking part in the Christmas Showcase at New Bridge School. An important date for your diary before that is our first parents’ evening of the year on Tuesday 28th November when we are looking forward to showing you the work your child has done and the progress they have made this term.

I hope you all have a lovely break before we welcome the children back on Monday 6th November,

Jaina

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