HWA Blog - 16.5.25
Hi everyone. I hope you have all had a good week and you are enjoying the lovely weather.
First and foremost, a HUGE well done to our year 6 children for completing their SATs this week. They have tried their best and we are very proud of them. Also, to our year 11 students, GCSE’s have started this week, and they sat their first Math’s exam yesterday.
Hazel Booth, one of our school governors visited school on Wednesday to wish are children and young people good luck. She was extremely impressed with the organisation of the exams and has sent the following message…
"On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting Hollinwood Academy to oversee the administration of the SATs and GCSEs exam papers. I met the lovely exams officer Janet Hogan, who was amazing and incredibly organised. I shadowed her as she visited classrooms, distributing exam papers and any required equipment. We then made our way to the sports hall for the GCSE Geography exam, which took me back in time! The invigilators were all well-prepared, and Janet was so efficient, giving clear instructions and answering any questions. It was a fantastic experience, seeing everything run so smoothly and most importantly seeing the children and young people prepared and ready to give it their best shot."
Good luck to year 11 next week as the exams continue with Physics, Chemistry and English.
On Thursday this week we celebrated ‘super learning day’ focusing on mental health awareness through the arts. Arts are embedded throughout our curriculum with a focus on enhancing wellbeing. This has been integral towards allowing children and young people to express themselves without judgement or fear, it is a way to channel emotions in a way that doesn’t always need words especially when our children and young people do not always have the words. Student voice is to have more opportunities to access activities from the arts and this is something we are looking at in the future.
SLD - 16.5.25
Let’s have a look at what’s been going on across school.
Starting with Miss Hulme’s class….
"What a great term we are having! The children have been so excited this term to dive into a whole lot of new learning!
Our topic in English this term is all about poetry. We had so much fun using Harry Potter to develop our descriptive writing last term, that we have continued using Harry Potter in our poetry! Our poem is based on ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ and the children have loved exploring this. As always, we have created our story map and different hand actions to help with our understanding of the poem. We have then explored different figures of speech such as the use of similes and metaphors within the text. The children have then created some of their own Harry Potter inspired similes and metaphors – how amazing! Next week, the children will be tasked with creating their own poems about defeating a monster.
In Maths we are learning about angles where the children have really enjoyed using a new piece of equipment – a protractor! As this topic is quite tricky, we had a go at using the protractor and learnt how to read it using the interactive whiteboard. After lots of practice and different activities to develop their understanding, the children have been able to explore several ways to use the protractor. We have looked at how many degrees an object can move, as well as the different degrees of different angles. The children have worked incredibly hard on this topic and can now estimate what they think the most appropriate angle will be.
In our science lessons this term, we have been exploring the reproductive system of mammals and plants. We have explored the key words of the male and female parts of a plant and have been able to label these which has helped with the understanding of how a plant reproduces. We have also discussed the differences between sexual and asexual reproduction in plants and identified which plants reproduce sexually or asexually. From this, we learnt the very interesting fact that a strawberry can reproduce both ways!
In History, we are focusing on Ancient Greece. We have explored the Greek Gods and Goddesses, where the children completed some fantastic independent research on their chosen Greek God or Goddess. We have also discussed the differences between some of the City States in Ancient Greece, with a particular focus on the two most powerful City States; Athens, and Sparta. Did you know that due to their education revolving around the military, Sparta was known as the protector of the Greek people? We have also started to explore different Greek Philosophers and their great impact into our knowledge and society today.
We have also been having so much fun in our other lessons too. In Music, we are learning the melody to ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ where the children have done exceptionally well with using GarageBand to play the beginning of this melody and adding some cool beats over the top of it!
In Art, we are exploring the drawing and painting technique of chiaroscuro which is from the Maya civilisation. The children have used different materials such as charcoal and watercolour to create their own Maya-inspired artwork and it is looking amazing!
To finish this week, yesterday we had our Super Learning Day where we looked at different famous artists and the children were tasked to create their very own piece of work inspired by one of the artists. The children created some truly wonderful pieces of work. What another amazing half term."
CHE (16.5.25)
And now to Mrs Potts' form…
"This week some of 10SPS sat their Maths GCSE, they all did extremely well and I am so proud of them. They have 2 more papers to go after the half term break.
In Computing, the students have completed their coursework and have moved on to their new topic regarding graphic novels / comic books. They have begun creating mood boards using various images of covers, panels, and content pages.
In science, they have also started a new topic on pathological diseases, covering areas such as bacterial / viral disease and transmission. They also focused on how the human body defends against and destroys pathogens that make it in. They have also been looking at plant structure and functionality, as well as the energy transfers involved in biology.
In English, students have been finishing up on some coursework and assessments they have recently been undertaking, ranging from writing their own stories based on a concept (i.e. ‘The Door’) and writing a letter, persuading the reader to visit a place of their own choosing. They have also been reading texts and poems and trying to infer how the characters are feeling through language features.
For Duke of Edinburgh, the students have been continuing with their walks along various trails to prepare themselves for their longer expeditions taking place in the summer. Alongside this, they have also been going to various cycling tracks outside of school and have engaged really well. They have tried out a variety of different bikes, as well as more challenging tracks, with some including ramps.
In P.E, the students have been preparing for their lesson deliveries, where they’ll put their learning into practice and guide the rest of the class through their own P.E. Lessons that they have organised by themselves. They have also carried on with using the bikes, practicing their skills using them around a track.
The students who have taken food as an option have been making pastry and have made Choux pastry and rough puff pastry. They have also been making fresh pasta and have made a courgette lasagna and salmon ravioli and practicing these high skills in preparation for their GCSE's."
SPS (16.5.25)
Now to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Creative STARs...
Mrs Lerigo’s STAR of the week is Gabriel for answering questions with confidence and always with a huge smile on his face.
Mrs Lerigo’s HWA We are Passionate STAR Tommy for joining in dancing and showing excitement, joy and a passionate to have fun!
Mrs Sutcliffe’s STAR of the week is Teddy Mullins- for joining in with lots of our learning this week. We have loved seeing you back in school.
Mrs Sutcliffe’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Kian- for being passionate about testing ingredients for smoothie making!
Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the week is George for participating successfully in our class walks throughout the week.
Miss Quinn’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Ohud for good crayon control whilst creating a stylish pair of pyjamas inspired by our sensory story.
Mrs Boothroyd’s STAR of the week is Louie for his amazing recreating of Wassily Kandinsky artwork.
Miss Boothroyd’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Benji for having a super good week in school!
Miss Bailey’s STAR of the week is Maja - for being a kind friend and playing beautifully outside this week alongside her peers.
Miss Bailey’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Jack - for wonderful enthusiastic art work based on the work of Yayoi Kusama.
Miss Pietraszewska’s STAR of the week is Alfie for: Your dedication and hard work every day on improving your speech is truly inspiring. Keep shining — you're a superstar!
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the week is Simisola for: coping really well with a change to her timetable this week.
Mr Corrigan’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Mysha for: creating some wonderful artwork this week.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Mysha for: creating some wonderful artwork this week. Kai for: being proud of his friends
Miss Hulme STAR of the week is Isaam for his fantastic effort in beginning his own poem during English
Miss Hulmes HWA We are Passionate STAR is Shane for his fantastic art skills in multiple different lessons this week.
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the week is the whole class for being resilient during their SATs and dealing with change.
Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Jack for being passionate when supporting peers during unstructured times.
Miss Gittins’ STAR of the week goes to all students for working hard on their SAT’s
Miss Gittins’ HWA We are Passionate STAR is for all year 5 for coping with change and supporting their friends
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the week is Harry- for being a friend to everyone on the playground, thank you for always being kind to everyone.
Miss Oakley’s HWA We are Passionate STAR is Eliora- for being a poetry expert in English, well done for thinking 'outside the box'.
Miss Davies’s STAR of the week is Ethan for requesting the dark room to self-regulate and playing alongside his peers.
SOTW in Miss Matthews' Class this week is for the whole of 6HMS for dealing with the stress of the SATs - you should all be extremely proud of yourselves because we are!
Congratulations also to Oscar for becoming our newly appointed Eco Club representative.
STARs of the Week (16.5.25)
Well done to all!
I have a feeling we are in for some more sun this weekend so let’s make the most of it. My brother is 40 this weekend so he will be getting all the attention. Have a good one whatever you plan to do.
Miss Gordon
