HWA Blog - 19.12.25
Merry Christmas!
We have made it; we have reached the end of term. Merry Christmas to you all. This has been one of the most challenging terms, but we are still smiling.
From mock exams to nativities, and of course, the joy of Christmas Dinner Day, everyone has worked so hard and shown such resilience and dedication.
I always say it, and I’ll say it again: I am so proud of everyone. Thank you for your commitment, your energy, and your positivity. Together, we’ve made this term a success, and now it’s time to enjoy the festive season.
Farewell….
Miss Tootill
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Lucy Tootill for her support and dedication to Hollinwood Academy over the years. Lucy has been an integral part of our school community, and her commitment to our children and staff has made a lasting impact.
Lucy is now taking on an exciting new role as Assistant Head of School at Samuel Laycock, another school within our Multi-Academy Trust. While we will miss her greatly at Hollinwood, we are thrilled for her as she embarks on this next chapter.
On behalf of everyone at Hollinwood Academy, I want to wish Lucy the very best of luck in her new position. I am confident she will continue to shine and achieve great success in her new role.
Miss Hand
Thank you for your support over the years. Your dedication has made a lasting impact, and the students will truly miss your engaging Maths lessons. The Maths team will certainly feel your absence too.
We wish you every success in your next venture there’s no doubt you’ll achieve great things. Best wishes from all of us at Hollinwood Academy.
Staff Wellbeing Hamper
Congratulations to Ray and Zarah, who were nominated for their incredible hard work across the school.
Well done, thank you, and well deserved.
The polar express came to EYFS today.
Thank you for bringing The Polar Express to life for our EYFS class Miss Callan. Your creativity and enthusiasm made the experience magical. The children loved every moment, from boarding the train to enjoying the fun activities and games.
Christmas Dinner day…
It was so lovely to see the children and young people enjoying their festive meal laughing and joking as they pulled crackers and shared stories. Moments like these remind us of what school life is all about: community, joy, and togetherness.
Christmas Jumper day…
It’s always wonderful to see our children and young people embracing the Christmas spirit with their colourful jumpers. The creativity and joy on display brought so much warmth to the school, making this day a highlight of the festive season.
Christmas Dinner Day 2025
Christmas Markets…
This day never disappoints. The effort that goes into planning and organising our Christmas Market is huge. This is a Hollinwood Academy team effort, led brilliantly by our Student Council, another proud moment for us all.
The excitement on the children’s faces was priceless. Santa himself visited, bringing joy and presenting each child with a selection box. The stalls were packed with trinkets to buy and fun games to play, creating a festive buzz throughout the afternoon. The tombola was a huge hit as always, even I managed to win a prize.
It was a joyful afternoon filled with laughter, community spirit, and festive fun. Thank you to all staff for supporting this well-loved tradition and making it such a success.
Christmas Markets 2025
Miss Datta would like to say congratulations to Christopher Hurst…
Just wanted to share that Christopher Hurst (9SUA Inspire), got a Blue Peter award for his contribution in helping the community. He has done community work and showed us what a good citizen he is growing up to be. We are extremely proud of him.
New Mini Bus
Thank You & Well Done!
We are truly grateful for your incredible effort and dedication in supporting our last academic year’s fundraiser for our new minibus which we took delivery of in November. Your hard work, generosity, and determination have made a real difference, and we couldn’t be prouder of what you’ve helped school achieve. This new minibus will create so many opportunities for our amazing students and continue our goal of developing all students’ confidence and independence within their local communities.
Santa Stroll
All Primary and Secondary students took part in the Santa Stroll sponsored walk. It was great to see all of our amazing students accessing the walks within their local communities. All of the students behaved brilliantly, followed instructions consistently and positively represented Hollinwood Academy. Our Duke of Edinburgh bronze and silver groups walked an incredible 10 miles which saw them complete a challenging expedition from Saddleworth back to school. Well done team DofE for this amazing achievement. We would like to say a huge thanks for all of the donations so far which has helped school raise over £5000. Thank you once again for positively supporting our school fundraising campaign.
Santa Stroll
Let’s see what has been going on in the classrooms…
Miss McDonalds class.
"This term we explored the topic of ‘Awe and wonder’ focusing on curiosity, key words and sensory experiences through fun learning.
We started off with a bang with our first topic being fireworks and bonfires. The children enjoyed learning about different colours, shapes and sounds seen in a firework
display. We focused on the story ‘Bonfire night’ which allowed children to stimulate their senses by using props to create the sounds of fireworks, flames and crunch leaves.
For our second topic we rocked into space where we explored planets, stars and astronauts through practical activities, videos and stories. Children enjoyed the story ‘Whatever next’ a story about a bear who uses his imagination to travel to space. This topic encouraged children to communicate using Key words and sentences linked to the theme and it seem that astronaut and rocket where the top favourites.
Our third topic allowed us to land back to earth to appreciate the beautiful colours of the rainbow. This vibrant topic focused on sorting colours, rainbow art and exploration play using bright colours of a variety of objects. This topic really brought a sense of pride to our children’s work.
To end the term, we explored and enjoyed the magical time of year we know as Christmas. Children took part in the festivities through crafts, music and stories. We had a visit from Santa bear and Santa himself. We went on a Santa stroll and enjoyed the Christmas fairs. Our highlight of this term must be our Christmas pre-nativity video where recorded all engaged classes enjoying a Christmas breakfast, meeting Santa and engaging in Christmas activities link to learning.
The ‘Awe and Wonder’ topic has been a wonderful teaching allowing children to grow curiosity really bringing a wow factor to learning. Enjoyment of learning has increased through the term as children engaged in a variety of activities designed to spark enjoyment and excitement. Children have developed confidence, independence and communication skills and we are very proud of everything they have achieved.
Miss McDonald and the team would like to wish everyone a joyous, fun and restful break and we look forward to seeing in the new year."
JQN - 19.12.25
Miss Lerigo and Miss Sutcliffe’s class
"Reception class has had a great start to their journey at Hollinwood Academy. We have seen the children developing and growing into more confident little people who thrive from routine, predictability and the security within an environment which allows them to flourish and learn! We have had so much fun, and this half term have loved collaboratively working as a whole school towards the goal of performing the Christmas Nativity. The students did an amazing job; I am incredibly proud.
This past two weeks have been filled with learning about Christmas, Christmas phonics, playing bingo, playing together and learning from each other.
I cannot wait to see what the new year brings, and I am excited to start our new topic 'Tale as old as Time.’
Have a great Christmas everyone and have a peaceful New Year."
Miss Daniels' class
"11 ADS Festive Flavours and Sweet Treats – A Delicious Christmas topic in Food Tech!
Bread Creations
We started with a topic all about bread – learning the science behind dough, kneading techniques, and baking perfection. The highlight? Our students made Christmas Tree Bread, beautifully shaped and decorated to bring festive cheer to the classroom. The results were stunning and smelled amazing.
Donut Delights
This week, we turned up the sweetness with donuts! Students not only mastered the frying and baking process but also decorated their donuts with incredible designs. From colorful sprinkles to creative patterns, each donut was a work of art (and tasted just as good as it looked).
Celebrating Our Star Bakers
Sophia, your attention to detail and creativity in decorating was outstanding. Ibraheem, fantastic teamwork and precision, your bread looked amazing. Bryon, you brought so much enthusiasm to the kitchen, and your donuts were a hit. Leo, brilliant focus and skill, your festive bread was picture-perfect. Lucas, incredible imagination and flair, your decorations blew us away.
We are so proud of how everyone embraced these challenges and produced such delicious results. This term has been full of flavor, fun, and festive spirit. Well done, everyone."
ADS - 19.12.25
Now for our Headteacher award...
Congratulations to all the children and young people who have received the Headteacher’s Award. Your hard work and dedication throughout the term have been recognised and celebrated. Well done I hope you are proud of your achievements.
Headteacher's Award
And finally to our amazing SUPER STARs and HWA We are Creative STARs
Mrs Quinn’s and Miss McDonald’s STAR of the week is Freddie – For making a brilliant come back into school and settling back in well. Well done, Freddie.
Mrs Quinn’s and Miss McDonald’s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Will - For Independence, enthusiasm, and willingness to explore a range of Christmas activities. Well done.
Mrs Bailey’s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Cody - For initiating spontaneous interactions with adults in class and using verbal language to draw their attention to his sentence strip.
Mrs Bailey’s STAR of the Week is George - For outstanding engagement in classroom activities this week - we are so proud of you!
Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's STAR of the Week is Harris for always showing such a positive attitude to his learning and being an absolute joy to teach
Miss Boothroyd’s STAR of the Week is Romy for having a fantastic half term.
Miss Boothroyd’s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Albie for helping his friend at dinner time.
Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s STAR of the Week is Roman Jenkinson for doing really well with managing his emotions and asking for support when needed, he has had a lovely happy week at school. Well done Roman.
Mrs Matthews’ STAR of the Week is Toby M for offering support to his friends in class in SPaG.
Mrs Matthews’ We Are Inspiring STAR goes to Ruby for offering support to her friends in English.
Miss Pietraszewska’ s STAR of the Week goes to every student in my class for ‘an amazing first term this academic year! It’s been a very busy and fun-filled season, and you’ve already made incredible progress. Well done.
Miss Oakley’s STAR of the Week is Libby for being a mathematician all half term and constantly wanting to challenge herself and gain more knowledge.
Miss Oakley’s HWA We Are Inspiring goes to Lyla for trying hard to ignore situations that may upset her and accepting adult support when offered.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Jack for coping really well with the Christmas party games today.
Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is William for working really hard on his writing this week.
Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Everyone for a wonderful term!
Miss Tootill’s STAR of the Week goes to Cleo for inspiring others to be brave
Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Inspiring goes to Matthew for working hard in science
Mrs Boylan’s STAR of the Week goes to David for being brave and going down the slide for the first time in soft play.
Mrs Boylan’s STAR of the Week goes to Louis for excellent Maths work this week
Miss Davies’s STAR of the Week is Maleek for fantastic listening this week.
STARS of the Week (19.12.25)
Well done to everyone.
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year. Here’s to an exciting term ahead in 2026.
Miss Gordon and the SLT at Hollinwood Academy
