HWA Blog - 1.5.26
Hello and happy Friday.
Apologies for last week’s delay with the blog; we experienced a few technical difficulties which have hopefully now been fully resolved. Thank you, as always, for your patience and understanding.
It has been another busy and productive week at Hollinwood Academy. Across the school, staff and students have continued to show commitment, enthusiasm, and resilience, and it has been a pleasure to see so many examples of positive learning behaviours, teamwork, and determination in action. As always, I am incredibly proud of our whole school community and the way everyone pulls together to support one another.
I look forward to sharing some of this week’s key highlights below, celebrating our successes and giving you a flavour of the exciting learning and opportunities that have taken place. Thank you for your continued support, and I hope you enjoy reading this week’s update.
Sharing the highlights…
Farm trip
The farm trip was a huge success and thoroughly enjoyed by all the children. They showed wonderful enthusiasm throughout the day, engaging confidently with the animals and participating excitedly in the activities. The experience supported their learning beautifully, sparked many thoughtful conversations, and created lasting memories. The children returned to school tired but happy, full of stories and smiles.
Farm Trip
Year 9 Class visits
Year 9 have been one of our focuses this week, and we have really enjoyed visiting their lessons and seeing them in action across the school. During my visit to Mrs Duffy’s food technology lesson, the Year 9 class were working purposefully on making pastry. Students were confidently following recipes, carefully measuring ingredients and demonstrating good practical skills and kitchen routines.
The classroom had a calm, focused atmosphere, with students supporting one another and responding well to guidance. They were so engaged in their learning that they barely noticed my visit, which was a real credit to both the class and Mrs Duffy’s teaching.
Mr Purdey says…
"It has been another wonderful week of learning on display for our Year 9 classes. I have witnessed some skilled baking in food technology with some wonderful skills on display. Students were making a crumble jam tart and could explain the processes involved and also why certain things had not gone to plan. There was great teamwork, manners and engaged learning on show.
In music, the Year 9 students were engrossed on creating iconic introductions to songs. Hearing Basement Jaxx hooked my attention straight away and the students began to create their own introductions or recreate famous ones. They used Garageband software, guitars and keyboards to great effect.
During science lessons, students demonstrated strong engagement and positive attitudes to learning. In one lesson, students were studying osmosis and were actively involved in their learning, using White Rose Science resources effectively to support their understanding. They participated well in discussions and showed curiosity about the scientific concepts being explored. In another class, students were focused on embedding their chemistry knowledge through a fun activity linked to the periodic table, which encouraged recall and application of prior learning. In both lessons, students remained highly engaged, collaborated well when required, and demonstrated consistently strong behaviour for learning, creating purposeful and productive classroom environments."
Miss Bones says…
"I have also seen some excellent learning taking place in the Year 9 lessons. In 9DWY photography, students were using Photoshop to edit photographs they had taken the previous week. I observed some very impressive outcomes, with students confidently applying a range of editing tools and techniques to enhance their images. The quality of both the photographs and the digital editing demonstrated strong engagement, creativity, and developing technical skill."
Very impressive Year 9 - well done.
Our very own Miss Davies has done herself and Hollinwood Academy proud today.
Sophie kept us updated on her race…
"Just a quick update, as I know everyone is busy — but I’ve done it! I actually completed 22km instead of 21km after taking a wrong turn. I was aiming for 3 hours but finished the half marathon in an amazing 2 hours 41 minutes.
It was extremely hot and without doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I pushed through and crossed the finish line. I honestly can’t thank you enough for all the support, encouragement, and generous donations along the way it really meant so much."
Well done Sophie an amazing achievement.
Curriculum Excellence reviews
At the beginning of the week, I had the pleasure of meeting with our curriculum leads for a Curriculum Excellence Review. These were incredibly powerful and purposeful meetings, highlighting the commitment, expertise and passion of our staff. It was inspiring to hear the many positive reflections, as well as the thoughtful and ambitious next steps being planned to further enhance our curriculum offer.
Discussions spanned a wide range of subjects, including English, RSE, Music, Outdoor Education, PE and Careers, and clearly demonstrated a shared vision for providing rich, inclusive and high-quality learning experiences for all children and young people. The collaborative approach and focus on continual improvement were particularly encouraging.
I am really looking forward to the next round of meetings and continuing this important work together as we build on these strong foundations and drive curriculum excellence forward across the school.
Art exam
We have some outstanding artists at Hollinwood Academy. I was blown away by the creativity, diversity of ideas, and level of skill on show in the Art exam today.
Well done to our Art students for their hard work under exam conditions They absolutely deserve a huge pat on the back.
Wow moment
Eliora came to visit me this week, proudly eager to share the fantastic work she has been completing in class. She spoke with great confidence about her learning, and it was clear just how much effort she had put into it.
Eliora worked exceptionally hard on her writing task, preparing a talk for writing with real care and determination. This dedication was beautifully reflected in the final outcome a fabulous poem about kindness. Her poem demonstrated thoughtful ideas, creativity, and a strong understanding of how powerful words can be.
Eliora should be incredibly proud of herself. Her enthusiasm for learning and commitment to producing high-quality work really stood out, and it was a pleasure to see her so engaged and motivated. Both the class team and I were so impressed.
On behalf of the Hollinwood team, we would like to wish Miss Daniels a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming her back to school soon. Victoria has designed a beautiful card for her, which we feel perfectly captures Miss Daniels’ spirit.
Let’s see what has been happening in the classroom.
In Mrs Mayer’s class…
"This term we have been working towards choosing our GCSE options, with members of the form all but finalising their choices for the next two academic years.
During ICT, students have been familiarising themselves with photography and learning new editing skills using photoshop, whilst further developing their knowledge of David Hockney during art. Students have been creating their own work in the style of Hockney by combining numerous images from different sources.
In Outdoor Education we enjoyed cycling in Wythenshawe Park and we look forward to using the bikes more over the coming half term. It felt great to get our bodies moving in a different way, we even got a sunny day!
In form time, we have been promoting more social and wellbeing activities, including construction-based games, model painting and even a new pool table, which has increased social time in the morning. Moving forward, we are looking forward to doing more social and group-based activities as we move further into the summer term.
It’s been a productive month in science as well, with students engaging in more practical based activities as we explore the science behind plant-based cells.
All in all, it’s been another productive month for our form, and we are looking forward to seeing them progress into the final stages of another year at Hollinwood Academy."
9HMA
In Mrs Daniel’s class this week…
"This week, our class has completed a range of revision sessions in lessons to prepare for their upcoming GCSE exams. In science, students took part in an experiment led by Mrs Lineker, who demonstrated the amylase and starch reaction using iodine to support preparation for six-mark exam questions.
In food preparation, students used a wide variety of ingredients and techniques to complete their practical work. Lucas and Sophia have been working extremely hard on their GCSE art practical, showing great resilience by remaining in the art room throughout the week. Meanwhile, Leo, Byron and Ibraaheem concentrated on their photography exam.
Despite being without their form tutor, the class has remained calm, focused, and committed to their learning throughout the week. Miss Daniels will be very proud. We wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her soon."
ADS
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Passionate STARs
Mrs Quinn’s and Miss McDonald’s STAR of the week is Codey for using verbal communication in our functional skills activity - Washing hands. Well-done Cody.
Mrs Quinn’s and Miss McDonald’s HWA We Are Passionate goes to Roma for: Producing wonderful work in our Talk for writing lesson. Well-done Roma.
Mrs Bailey’s STAR of the Week is George - For a fantastic week, following instructions and engaging well in class activities.
Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's STAR of the Week is Finley for amazing reading this week and always being so helpful at tidy up time!
Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's HWA We Are Passionate goes to Leo for a wonderful first full week in Reception.
Miss Boothroyd’s STAR of the Week is Ethan for his fantastic English work this week! Well done Ethan we are super proud.
Miss Boothroyd’s HWA We Are Passionate goes to Romy for looking after her friends and helping them when they need it.
Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s STAR of the Week is Roman for his independence with his personal care targets.
Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s passionate star goes to Diana for being passionate when it comes to helping her friends.
Miss Pietraszewska’ s HWA We Are Passionate goes to Maximus, for engaging beautifully in the sensory circuit, waiting patiently for his turn, using each piece of equipment with a big smile, and returning to wait again in the line.
Amazing job, Maximus — well done!
Miss Pietraszewska’ s STAR of the Week goes to Ivy, for beautifully sharing a ball with a younger child from another year group. What a wonderful way to be, Ivy!
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Hope for having a wonderful week, with some brilliant independent work.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Jack for coping really well with stressful situations this week.
Mr Corrigan Congratulates Albi-Lee for being proud of his friends.
Miss Hulme’s STAR of the Week is Ariella for creating some fabulous sentences in English.
Miss Hulme’s HWA We are Passionate goes to Korey for overcoming his fear of heights by going to a higher level in soft play.
Mrs Boylan’s STAR of the Week goes to Everyone is our star of the week for excellent behaviour and a wonderful day at the farm today!
Miss Davies’s STAR of the Week is Maleek for being super engaged in his learning this week even with changes in his timetable. Well done Maleek we are all so proud.
STARS of the Week (1.5.26)
Well done to everyone.
Have a lovely long weekend.
Miss Gordon
