WOW, where has the first half term gone?!!

I would like to start this week by sharing with you the pupils who I’ve presented with a special Head Teacher’s certificate today:

• Max

• Grace

• Raihan

• Sameh

• Zak

• Charlie

• Aqsa

• Brodey

• Xander

• Alex

• Alivia

• Macauley

I am so proud of these pupils, well done to you all.

From one celebratory occasion to another – Hollinwood took part in its first ‘inter-MAT’ basketball tournament that Mr Heap and Mr Smith organised. Pupils from New Bridge, Spring Brook and Hollinwood all played and competed against each other. Obviously, our Key Stage 3 pupils were very excited when they heard about this as their PE curriculum this term has been participating in basketball. All of the Key Stage 3 pupils have been learning and developing a range of skills within basketball, as well as taking part in class competitive games and developing their confidence and communication skills. All the pupils have behaved brilliantly within lessons and it has been great to see all of them helping and encouraging each other throughout each lesson.

Mr Heap selected our first ever Hollinwood Academy basketball team and we were ready to showcase the skills that we have developed and practised over the last 8 weeks within PE. Ronnie, Cameron, Idrees, Sam, Bradley W, Bradley S, Charlie K and Taylor were selected based on their individual efforts and behaviour within PE this term. Unfortunately, Taylor received a sporting injury the day before so he was unable to participate but he passed on his support to the team.

All of the boys represented the school impeccably and it was great to see how well they worked together. They won every game within their group and made it through to the final. They played Spring Brook in the final and won a very close game 4-2. It was a pleasure to see how well they behaved both on and off the basketball court and even better to see their sportsmanship as they went to shake everyone’s hand after each game.

Cameron and Ronnie stated, ‘We weren’t overly excited before we got to the court, however, when we got there we were ready to play.’

Cameron said, ‘I wasn’t passionate about basketball but this has changed my perspective and I really enjoyed the day.’

Ronnie explained, ‘I found it challenging playing other teams rather than my own. I am really looking forward to future games and this is something I would like to do well in.’

Sam and Charlie told me together, ‘We really enjoyed being out of school and playing basketball with our friends. When we won the first game we was really excited, we won 7-0 to New Bridge. Mr Heap and our TAs were very encouraging throughout the game cheering us on. The second game was more challenging as we played Spring Brook, their team had good defence but we still won with 3-0. The following games weren’t as challenging as we won both of them and got into the final.

In the final we were scared because the scores were very close. We played Spring Brook again and won 2-1. Overall, it was very enjoyable and we had a nice day.’

Thanks to Mr Smith, Mr Heap and the PE team for organising what was a fantastic morning – we are looking forward to many more to come. I would like to say a big thank you to all of the staff that supported our pupils throughout the morning. It was great to see you motivate, encourage and even celebrate with our pupils!

WELL DONE HOLLINWOOD ACADEMY!!

Mrs Lomax and her class would like to share their learning with you this week..

Wow, what a start to the year! We have covered so much learning this half term with our topic A Moment in Time. We have been looking at the Romans and creating timelines including one for ourselves. We have also looked at the work of Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo as part of our Geography work on where the Romans came from and also as part of our Harvest celebrations. Giuseppe was famous for creating portraits out of fruit and vegetable and we had lots of fun creating our own fruit and vegetable portraits. This involved lots of teamwork cutting all the pictures of fruit and vegetable out ready for our work. We then had to do lots of careful listening to instructions and sharing of the pictures we had cut out followed by lots of gluing down. We are really proud of what we have achieved and I’m sure you will agree from the photographs Giuseppe would have been impressed!

We have also started a secret DT project that will take us till Christmas to complete! It involves lots of patience, perseverance and teamwork!

In Science we have been developing our scientific thinking by looking at different ways to classify animals. We have learnt about habitats, animal groups (mammals, reptiles etc.) and classifications such as carnivores and herbivores..

We have even used this in our English and created a food chain for the Gruffalo story!

We have also welcomed some new friends to class and we have really enjoyed getting to know each other and developing our social skills during choosing time..

During this time we have also been learning how to share and how to work together – with lots of successful completions of difficult jigsaws..

We have continued this work in our PSHE lessons and looked at recognising emotions in ourselves and others. We have also looked at when things go wrong and used role play and scenarios to learn about coping with different situations..

We have worked so hard! We are now looking forward to our half term break so that we are ready for our next topic – Active Earth!

Miss McMurray and her form would also like to show you what they have been studying…

Over the first part of the Autumn term, pupils in KS4NMY have been taking part in the Prince William Award programme. The Award aims to help young people build their character, resilience and confidence to empower them to ‘be their best self’. Pupils have really enjoyed participating in this programme and have gone out of their comfort zones, working together to overcome different barriers and obstacles. The class have been working exceptionally hard, both as individuals and as a class. Well done!

You can see their team work in action here..

[fvplayer src=”http://newbridgeschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/PWA.mp4″]

During Science over the past 8 weeks, pupils have all chosen a topic to research and plan a presentation to lesson to teach the class. Pupils have been working very hard to complete this and to build their confidence up to stand in front of their classmates to deliver their lesson. Pupils even created worksheets for the class to complete. Another massive well done to KS3NMY, it isn’t easy standing up in front of people and teach a lesson and they were all amazing!

During Art, pupils in KS4NMY have been participating in Inktober. Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month..

Inktober was started in 2009 as a challenge to improve inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. Although pupils have not drawn every day, they have enjoyed the opportunity to create their own small scale Art projects. Pupils are encouraged to continue with Inktober over half term if they wish..

In Drama KS4NMY have been introduced to the Arts Award, a range of unique qualifications that enable young people to grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through taking challenges in an art form – from fashion to digital art, pottery to poetry. Pupils will be starting after half term and are very excited (so is Miss Rudge!)

This week KS3ZRE took a trip to the Apple store in the Trafford Centre to take part on a workshop about iMovie with Miss McMurray..

Pupils were shown how to use the app ‘iMovie’ then were given the opportunity to use their skills to create movie trailers.  Pupils were able to film around the shop floor using the computers and iPads on show as props.  The pupils created amazing trailers and were very well behaved – a credit to the school.  After their trip to the Apple store, pupils walked to the food court and rewarded themselves with either a McDonalds or a KFC!

You may remember that last week Mrs Dunsdon told us how the Reception children had been doing lots of work about theirr families. Jacob and Xander were our Stars of the Week for being able to talk about members of their families and now you can see for yourselves just how well they did..

[fvplayer src=”http://newbridgeschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Jacob.mp4″ liststyle=”prevnext” playlist=”http://newbridgeschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Xander.mp4″]

Mr Rawson’s class have been working hard on their Halloween pumpkins and would like to wish you a very..

Olivia has also been busy ‘channelling her inner Blue Peter’ as you can see..

[fvplayer src=”http://newbridgeschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Olivia1.mp4″]

The class had a lovely time helping Finley celebrate his 10th birthday last week..

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new Teaching Assistant to Hollinwood Academy. Miss Jones is in Miss Shin’s class and, as you can see, she has settled really well into the class and the pupils have welcomed her to Hollinwood Academy..

Our SEAL Superstars and our Stars of the Week are:

• Mrs Dunsdon’s class:
  Star of the Week: Victory for having improved behaviour and a positive attitude to learning all week..

SEAL Superstar: Caitlin for being able to request a spoon to eat her dinner..

• Miss Grimsley’s class:
  Star of the Week: Ijaaz for doing some amazing work in phonics..

SEAL Superstar: Jason for accepting praise and being proud of himself when he completed his work..

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• Mr Wood’s class:
  Star of the Week: Connor for his brilliant work on re-telling and sequencing the story of Little Red Riding Hood..

SEAL Superstar: Jacob for being able to say sorry when he has done something wrong..

• Mr Corrigan’s class:
  Star of the Week: Lucas for being kind to a new friend and having a fantastic week..

SEAL Superstar: Marcus for asking for time out when needed and making positive choices in the sensory room..

• Mrs Lomax’s class:
  Star of the Week: Mariam for doing some excellent work during choosing time doing jigsaws and helping others to learn how to do the jigsaws..

SEAL Superstar: Maisha for giving lovely compliments to her friends and staff..

• Miss Parkinson’s class:
  Star of the Week: Ivy for trying really hard in English this week writing an acrostic poem..

SEAL Superstar: Nathan for being able to give lots of compliments to his friends and teachers..

• Mr Heap’s class:
  Star of the Week:  James for a fantastic week at school
  SEAL Superstar: Olivia for talking about her feelings..

Our new ‘Marvellous Meerkat’ is James. 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: Lana for improved behaviour
  SEAL Superstar: Nathan for giving compliments to others
• Mrs Halkyard’s class:
  Star of the Week: Aaron for having a fantastic week, excellent behaviour and great helping
  SEAL Superstar: Aaron again for being complimentary towards others and always wanting to help

I have saved the best until last. Luke in Mrs Halkyard’s class is one ambitious and courageous 9 year old boy. On the 2nd November Luke is climbing Mount Snowdon with Mrs Dunsdon and Miss Woodhead to raise money for Hollinwood Academy! Here is Luke’s story, as told by his Mum..

‘Luke was diagnosed with Autism when he was 3 years old and has attended Hollinwood Academy Autism School since he was 6 years old. The School has been fantastic for Luke and we cannot thank them enough for the support they give to Luke as well as our family.

Luke has always struggled with low self-esteem, gives in far too easily and when faced with a challenge he avoids it in case he fails. Walking up Mount Snowdon is going to be a huge challenge for him but he is determined to reach the summit.’

Not only have people been generously donating, but Gemma (Luke’s Mum) has amended the target total three times. It started at £200 and that was achieved within hours. The target was moved to £400 and again reached so Luke is now aiming for a massive £1000!!! Hollinwood Academy is so proud of you Luke and we cannot thank you, your family, Mrs Dunsdon, Miss Woodhead and all the amazing people who have already donated enough. If you would like to donate, please click here. I am sure Luke, Mrs Dunsdon and Miss Woodhead will share their experiences in our blog as we return after the holiday.

What a truly, amazing first half term we have had at Hollinwood Academy. I hope you all have a restful holiday, stay safe and are ready for the next half term and the glittery lead up to Christmas.

Laura

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