Welcome to another blog. This week we hosted another very successful open morning for prospective parents of primary and secondary pupils. It was lovely to meet so many people and talk about the fantastic work that the staff do on a daily basis for all our young people at Hollinwood.

Miss Gordon’s secondary Nurture Group would like to share some of their work with you..

This week our Nurture Group have been learning all about the human reproductive system in Science. Working together closely, the class recreated a large scale model of the male and female cells that combine to create human life..

For their project work, the Nurture Group have been researching everything from labradoodles to the Syrian civil war and much more..

..while our future scientist Alex has been whizzing his way through the ‘Go Science’ book, filling us all with interesting facts!

Kian and Grace shared a Lego therapy lesson, strengthening each other’s social skills and guiding each other to create a masterpiece..

Mr Heap’s class have been very busy too..

We have all had a very busy and super week in Mr Heap’s class. We started our week with a lovely walk around Alexandra Park where we focused on looking after our community. We talked about littering and discussed how it can affect animals living in the park.

Within English we have been developing our communication skills, improving our story telling language and enhancing our imagination through ‘Talk-for-writing’. I am very pleased with the pupils’ progress and their abilities to learn and recall key events within our Captain Plank story. This week the pupils have been recalling the story independently and within groups and it’s been great to see this enhance their confidence and self-esteem. As well as this, we have also been creating some amazing story maps!

Within Science we have been discovering magnetism and sorted materials into magnetic and non-magnetic. We have been using scientific vocabulary such as attract and repel. We have carried out a range of experiments such as using magnets in water which has provided opportunities for the class to predict what they think might happen and record their results in different ways. All of the class have been able to describe a magnet in different ways and have enjoyed exploring them..

Some of our class together with other pupils from Hollinwood Academy had the opportunity to attend Ability Wheelz at Alexandra Park this week. This was very exciting for the pupils as it was the first time that Hollinwood Academy had attended the programme so we set out to make a great impression..

The Ability Wheelz initiative ensures that all adults and young people are able to engage in a quality cycling activity. We were able to explore specially adapted cycles, it was both physically and mentally stimulating and above all fun for everyone involved. The pupils had a great time and were able to cycle around the park independently. Their behaviour was fantastic and they represented the school brilliantly..

As you can see, the staff enjoyed it too!

Our Year 8 and Year 9 pupils were offered the opportunity to attend ‘Changing Horizons’ at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham last term – if you missed the blog that week, please click here to see some wonderful pictures of what our young people got up to on the day. The event was aimed at raising the career aspirations of young people and inspiring them by:

• encouraging them out of their comfort zone to consider what is out there and giving them the tools to find out how to achieve it
• opening their minds to the possibility of work or further learning and encouraging them to think about their own future
• showing them wider networks and allowing them to consider other careers that they may believe are out of their reach

Mrs Potts and Miss McMurray took their form groups to this event with the support of Miss Szabo and Miss Clancy and the pupils really enjoyed the activities organised for them. The day was really successful and our young people have now been thanked for their participation and contribution. Well done to everyone involved!

You may also remember hearing about Thomas who is the youngest pupil ever to have completed ALL the tasks on HegartyMaths..

Last week Thomas was delighted to receive a very appropriate prize from Mr Hegarty himself..

An amazing achievement, well done Thomas!

Let’s have a look at who our SEAL Superstars and our Stars of the Week are:

• Mrs Dunsdon’s class:
  Star of the Week: Jake for fantastic money work – counting in 10s and 1s/ being amazingly brave and swimming in the big pool all by himself / using fantastic language to explain..

SEAL Superstar: Lenni for being able to show he is upset if he can’t find one of his special toys

• Miss Grimsley’s class:
  Star of the Week: Fatima for doing some fantastic work in Maths learning about under and over
  SEAL Superstar: Daniel for being able to lead an adult to the place where I lost my ball in the playground..

• Mrs Lomax’s class:
  Star of the Week: Marco for fantastic work in Geography, including creating a map complete with symbols and a key..

SEAL Superstar: Edward for showing kindness by thinking about his friends who have been off school poorly this week..

• Mr Corrigan’s class:
  Star of the Week: Bronson for making a fantastic effort with his feelings and talking when he feels upset..

SEAL Superstar: Harrison for helping a friend without being asked..

• Miss Louden’s class:
  Star of the Week: Jenna for her excellent effort in Maths
  SEAL Superstar: Olivia for playing and sharing with her friends
• Miss Parkinson’s class:
  Star of the Week: Thomas for an excellent written piece in English
  SEAL Superstar: Eden for being a fantastic friend
• Mr Heap’s class:
  Star of the Week: Liam for being mature and accepting and coping with change
  SEAL Superstar: James for talking about people that he cares about in school
  Our new ‘Marvellous Meerkat’ is Liam. We hope you and Meerkat have a fantastic weekend and we can’t wait to hear about your marvellous adventures!
• Miss Shin’s class:
  Star of the Week: Luca and Nathan for writing fantastic diary entries this week
  SEAL Superstar: Alfie for asking for help when he was feeling upset

Well done, everyone and congratulations too to all this week’s Homework Stars..

I gave a special Head Teacher’s Award to Jake in Reception who has worked hard to overcome his fears and got himself into the big swimming pool on Thursday! Well done to Jake, a great achievement..

I hope you all have a great weekend,

Jaina

Click here for this week’s news from Graham

You can find all our previous blog entries here