I would like to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of all of our pupils at Hollinwood Academy. They have all settled extremely well into school routine, especially all the new pupils who have joined us this year. Over the term, every child has been working hard to achieve their full potential and in many cases pupils have made excellent progress, not just academically but also socially, emotionally and behaviourally.

What a busy last week we have had at Hollinwood Academy: Nativity, Christmas dinner, Christmas jumper day, Super Learning Day and a special visit from Father Christmas. I must admit, the Nativity is one of my favourite calendar events of the academic year. The pupils have worked so hard to not only learn 10 songs to sing but also sign too – amazing. The Nativity children looked wonderful in their costumes, Miss Shin’s dancers did a great routine and had lots of fun performing this and the choir were fantastic.

This is our biggest production yet and the children and their performances get better and better each year. I am so proud that every child gets the opportunity to join in with the Nativity and this would not be possible if it was not for the wonderful hard work, dedication and commitment shown by all the staff. I would personally like to thank both the pupils and staff for a fantastic show. Well done all and I can’t wait for next year’s now. One thing was evident to see on all the faces of the pupils during the performances – their smiles. If you would like to order a DVD of the performance, please contact reception.

Christmas dinner was another highlight of the week thanks to our wonderful team in the kitchen. It was delicious and the pupils looked fantastic in their festive jumpers..

For our Super Learning Day, the focus this year was ‘The Gift of Giving’. Let’s see what a number of our classes have been doing..

In Miss Parkinson’s class the children have thoroughly enjoyed our Super Learning Day themed ‘The Gift of Giving’. We talked about the importance of giving and then we made some chocolate truffles to give to someone else as a kind gesture. The children loved making the truffles and especially trying all the ingredients beforehand! This week we have also been making Christmas dinner placemats for our Christmas dinner. It was lovely to eat our Christmas dinner together as a class. The children have also enjoyed lots of Christmas themed learning and making calendars. We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

In Mrs Halkyard’s class we have written letters to family members to thank them for doing things for us that we appreciate after discussing the gift of giving and kind gestures. We discussed the things that people do without asking for anything in return..

In Mr Rawson’s Nurture Group our Super Learning Day started with Lucas giving out Christmas gifts to the class..

Finley brought in sausage rolls for everyone..

The class watched some clips about giving at Christmas and then wrote a letter to their parents to thank them for everything they have done for them and to tell them how much they love and appreciate them (especially at Christmas!)..

Then the class, armed with gifts of sweets and chocolates, went to Miss Halkyard’s class, Mr Heap’s class, Miss Parkinson’s class and Miss Shin’s class and delivered the gift of giving!

The children then found they were on the receiving end of the gifts when they had a visit from Father Christmas!

In Mr Heap’s class we enjoyed exploring the gift of giving and engaged in a range of activities. We played pass the parcel which developed our communication, listening and turn-taking skills and each person had the opportunity to open a layer of the parcel and found a special prize. We also followed verbal instructions to make a gift box which we decorated independently and then filled it with special items. Each pupil then decided to give their gift box to a friend and recorded their reasons why on Showbie using the iPad. We then explored and described how we felt when we received and gave our presents. It was lovely to see other pupils visiting our class and moving around school exchanging gifts throughout the school day. We finished our Super Learning Day with a special visit from Father Christmas who gave everyone a special gift. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my amazing pupils, support staff and families for all of their support and dedication and I wish you all a lovely Christmas..

The secondary classes all joined in Super Learning Day and the first floor was a hive of activity with gingerbread men, biscuits and cards shared with the school..

In Miss McMurray’s ICT  lessons the pupils made origami boxes with kind messages inside, then created a stop motion animation..

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Some classes have held parties but Lily, one of our secondary pupils, planned and helped organise her own pre-Christmas party. Here is Lily to explain…

Friday morning’s pre Christmas party celebration was a great success. I invited all my friends to celebrate the progress we have made this term, even some of the teachers came!

The highlight of the party was definitely seeing everyone having fun and tucking into all the tasty treats Miss Taylor provided. I was in charge of the music: first we played some Christmas songs then we played my favourite song “Crazy Frog’s Axel F” while all the teachers tucked into the snacks. We even got Christmas crackers off Miss Prescott after pulling them we all had a boogie, it was amazing!

As you have read, some classes were fortunate enough to get a very special visit and present from Father Christmas. The children loved seeing him!

I have also handed out a number of Head Teacher’s Awards to the following pupils who have really impressed staff this half term. Well done everyone and keep up the hard work..

Mrs Halkyard and Miss Peak will both be starting their maternity leave as we finish for the Christmas holidays. I am sure you will join us in wishing them both all the best in their exciting new roles, with Miss Peak becoming a mum for the first time and Mrs Halkyard welcoming her second child. We cannot wait to share their baby news once the little ones have safely arrived.

We successfully appointed Miss Rainford to take on Mrs Halkyard’s maternity cover. Miss Rainford has an extensive understanding of the Upper Key Stage 2 curriculum, 6 years’ experience of working in SEN settings and specialises in Autism and Mental Health. In January we also welcome Mrs Woodhead to our teaching team, who has over 13 years’ experience of working in mainstream and SEN provisions. For the last 11 years, she has worked within an SEN setting and has a wealth of knowledge to bring to Hollinwood Academy that will help to support and engage our pupils. We feel very fortunate that these two experienced members of staff will be joining our outstanding team.

This week Mr Corrigan would like to share his learning with you..

The children have had a very festive week and they really enjoyed their Christmas dinner. On Super Learning Day we looked at how Christmas is celebrated around the world. We made Reindeer cookies..

..cards..

..and Chinese Paper Chains..

In Maths this term we have been looking at money and multiplication using concrete manipulatives..

In Literacy we have been using guided reading..

We have been discussing, retelling and acting out Aesop’s Fables: The Boy Who Cried Wolf..

..The Tortoise and the Hare..

In History we looked at Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot..

In Dance we have combined our Light up your Life topic with Contemporary Dance..

In Geography we have been using both our senses and our road safety skills to study the school and its surroundings..

Mr Hartley would like to share with you what his form have been learning this week..

In PE the students have been working very hard in their circuit training. They have been practising different exercises on their different stations..

The pupils have helped to make the class more festive by making their own Christmas decorations to hang on the class tree. They have also had fun creating their own personalised calendars..

In Science the pupils have looked at the rock cycle and they have used their iPads to create a stop motion video showing how rock changes from igneous to sedimentary and metamorphic..

This term we have looked at the book The Twits. The pupils have enjoyed reading the story and have done very well in their reciprocal reading (we have a video of this that we will upload here in January). They have shown some excellent skills, acting as a teacher by creating their own questions, summarising the story, predicting what will happen next and clarifying the meaning of some of the most difficult words.

In Maths we have looked at division and the pupils have consolidated their learning by creating a game where they have challenged each other with division questions using the app ‘Tiny Tap’..

Congratulations to Idrees , Joshua, Luigi, Thomas, Fred, Oliver and Harry who have all successfully completed and passed their E-Safe Award!

Finally, I would like to thank all our children, young people, parents, carers, staff and governors for all your hard work and support this term. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break and I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. I look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 7th January 2019.

Laura

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