HWA Blog - 12.9.25

What a fabulous first full week back. We have welcomed new children, young people and staff, and they are already feeling at home and happy to have joined Hollinwood Academy.

I have continued my visits to classrooms throughout the week, and I have observed focused and engaging learning environments across primary and secondary. The children and young people have been eager to show off their creations and ideas from EYFS to KS4.

Let’s have a look at what has been happening in EYFS and our year 7 inspire class.

Starting with Miss Emma and Miss Callan’s class…

"This week we have had lots of fun, experienced Attention Autism (which each and every one of the children enjoyed), explored the outdoors, painted our self-portraits, hunted for birds when we had outdoor classroom time, enjoyed number splatting and we have written some numerals in foam too. The children have loved learning our new classroom songs and have started to sing along and join in with the actions, which has been a joy to see.

Miss Emma, Miss Callan, Miss Amina, Miss Stacey and Miss Valerie are extremely proud, and we are so excited for the weeks and months to come.

We are so lucky to be able to work with these little ones and watch them progress towards their goals. What a wonderful start to, what is going to be, an amazing year."

ELO/ CSF - 12.9.25

And now to Miss Young’s class

"After a six-week holiday, it has been busy in our classroom, but all the students are doing really well and settling back in despite being in a new environment. They are slowly embracing the changes and adjusting wonderfully, making our learning atmosphere very tranquil and productive. We have really appreciated their enthusiasm and willingness to jump back into learning.

Every morning in our classroom, we use the Action for Happiness calendar to guide our day. This calendar helps us focus on different activities that make us feel happier. Each day, we try things like taking care of ourselves, forgiving others, bouncing back from hard times, appreciating the little things in life, and staying active. These activities encourage us to connect with our friends, spread kindness, and find new paths forward with positivity. It’s a great reminder to focus on what really matters and to keep happiness and kindness at the heart of everything we do.

We also start our day with a well-being check-in, where we talk about how we are feeling and if we are ready to learn. If someone is struggling, our caring staff are always there to help them manage their emotions or find solutions to feel better.

This half term, we have begun our 'Talk for Writing' programme, and we are excited to focus on the suspenseful story of Hansel and Gretel. The children really enjoy getting involved and doing actions that relate to the story. In Maths, we’ve been learning about sequences and understanding term-to-term rules. During our ICT lessons, we discussed our school rules for using iPads and devices, and practiced logging in and synching our email accounts so they are ready to use.

We certainly kept ourselves busy and we really are looking forward to the learning journey across Year 7."

OYG (12.9.25)

Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Creative STARs

Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's STAR of the Week is Adam for a brilliant start to the school year.

Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's HWA We Are Caring goes to Ezra for super interactions, speaking and singing.

Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the Week is William for his fantastic engagement during our Attention Autism sessions. From the very first moment, he was fully immersed, watching and joining in with enthusiasm, and even attempting to take on the role of the teacher!

Mrs Quinn’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Olly for demonstrating kindness and collaboration during our curiosity session. When a friend showed interest in the toy house, Olly generously offered to share it.

Miss Boothroyd’s STAR of the Week is Isla for her amazing English work.

Miss Boothroyd’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Louie for taking care of our equipment inside and outside of the classroom.

Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Olivia – for being a caring friend.

Mrs Matthews’ STAR of the Week is Ruby for her excellent attitude to learning and for doing everything asked of her to the best of her ability.

Mrs Matthews’ HWA We Are Caring goes to Loki for entertaining the smaller children in the playground at break times.

Miss Gittens’ STAR of the week is Faiha for excellent English work.

Miss Gittens’ HWA We Are Caring goes to Kai for showing patience with others.

Mrs Bailey’s STAR of the Week is Riley for copying the actions to our sensory story and for working hard on his writing too.

Mrs Bailey’s HWA We Are Caring goes to George for helping his friend use the sensory equipment and waiting his turn.

Miss Pietraszewska’ s STAR of the Week goes to the whole group for an amazing start to Year 1 and 2. Well done, everyone.

Miss Oakley’s STAR of the Week is Winter for being brave and coming into school with a big smile on her face. Her confidence is flourishing, and it was wonderful to see.

Miss Oakley’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Harry Jones for always being positive, calm and an amazing role model to all his friends in class.

Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Albi-Lee for some wonderful independent work. Mr Corrigan’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Teddy for a great attitude to work.

Mr Corrigan’s WOW moment goes to Jack for being proud of his friends.

Miss Hulme’s STAR of the Week is Gabriel for having a wonderful first week back in school and settling into his new class.

Miss Hulme’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Madilyn for beautiful sharing with her friends.

Miss Tootill’s STAR of the Week goes to Derry for demonstrating maturity.

Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Caring goes to Ace for showing a positive, caring attitude in PE.

Miss Davies’ STAR of the Week is Oliver for his development in understanding and accepting a preferred activity has finished.