HWA Blog - 3.10.25

I can’t believe it’s Friday already — what a busy and inspiring week it’s been at Hollinwood Academy.

Lesson observations have continued across the school, and I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a range of sessions including Maths, Attention Autism, Phonics, English, and Geography. I have continued to be impressed by the quality of teaching and learning taking place in every classroom.

What stood out most was the incredible engagement from our children and young people. Their enthusiasm, curiosity, and love for learning were evident in all lessons. It’s a real testament to the dedication and creativity of our staff, who continue to create inclusive, stimulating environments where every learner can thrive.

Thank you to everyone for your hard work this week — your commitment makes a real difference.

In the inspire pathway, Mrs Smith’s class have been enjoying exploring their new reading area this week in our classroom. Students have chosen a book to read during form time, and this has led to great class discussion about which books we love to read, and who are our favourite authors. Our favourites include dystopian novels (Mrs Smith), books about our favourite computer games, exploring other cultures and David Walliams.

JSH - 3.10.25

I would like to say a special thanks to Phil our security guard for always keeping us safe. Thank you, Phil, for doing a great job.

Now let’s see what has been happening in the classrooms.

Starting with Miss Natalia’s class…

"Our First Weeks back at School…

We have had such a wonderful start to the school year. The children have settled in beautifully, showing lots of enthusiasm and independence as they explore new routines and activities.

In Maths, we have been busy spotting patterns and sorting, which the children have really enjoyed. In English, we are continuing our work with the book Monkey Puzzle, using Talk for Writing and colourful semantics to bring the story to life. Since we all love books about animals, this has been a real favourite.

In PSHRE, we’ve been learning about different emotions and how to talk about our feelings. Phonics has been very exciting too, as we explore sounds and begin working on our very first CVC words.

Every day we practise handwriting, with lots of fine motor activities to strengthen our pencil grip and help us become confident writers.

It has been an amazing start, and we are so proud of how well the class is engaging and growing already. We are really looking forward to discovering new stories, exploring numbers further, and enjoying all the exciting learning adventures ahead this term."

NPA - 3.10.25

And now to Mr Gold ’s class.

"8PGD have had a great start to their year 8 journey. They have all engaged well in their lessons and had fun learning and building on all they learned in year 7 as well as building on the friendships they have made within the form and throughout the wider school community.

In science they have completed a topic on energy and learned how electricity is generated, how energy is transferred from one form to another and how to calculate how much energy different appliances use and cost to run. They have just started a biology topic on breathing and digestion. This week they were learning how the lungs worked and enjoyed building model lungs to help their understanding.

In music they have been creating the chord and base for a dance track as always having great fun while they learn.

In food tech the students have had so much fun making mug chocolate cakes and learning how to use the microwave safely.

They have also been working hard in maths and English. In maths they have been learning to identify and use formula and in English they have been using their imaginations to write a spooky story ready for Halloween."

PGD - 3.10.25

And finally, to Miss Moss’s in the wellbeing hub...

"On Tuesday morning, we attended the parents and college event in the sports hall arranged by Mrs Jones. Carlo took some fantastic photographs for his portfolio and class staff are proud of him for accessing the space so confidently.

This week we have welcomed Miss Hand back to the hubs and the class have been finishing off their unit with revision and their end of block tests in Maths.

In English we have been continuing with our coursework, a special mention to Leo who has completed some of his work at home, and to Hayden for progressing well this week.

In Science we have been learning about reflex/ involuntary actions. The students have set up an experiment to test our reaction speeds to catch a ruler. They have all worked well together and recorded and evaluated their results. The staff enjoyed getting involved too.

In targeted support we have been using the Pol-Ed scheme to learn and understand about mitigating factors. We have had some lively class discussions as we acted as ‘the judge’ and decided on the consequence in some fictional scenarios. We have also discussed the impact of being respectful to the police.

In outdoor education we stayed on site and played various sports outside. I was impressed to see hub members joining in with unfamiliar students from year 10, engaging and building friendships.

Finally, a big thank you to Mrs Harrington for all her hard work with the hubs and across school. We all wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming you back to HWA in the future."

Wellbeing Hub - 3.10.25

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

Hayden has worked extremely hard in his English lessons this week. He has been utilising his access arrangements which has enabled him to engage with his coursework positively, keep it up!

Miss Rashid

Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's STAR of the Week is Alfie Robinson for following our daily routine so well this week and showing so much excitement and engagement in his learning too.

Mrs Lerigo’s and Mrs Sutcliffe's HWA We Are Caring goes to Ezra for fantastic behaviour at group times this week.

Mrs Quinn’s STAR of the Week is William for caring for our class by enthusiastically tidying resources. Well done, William.

Miss Boothroyd’s STAR of the Week is Ethan for becoming more confident and independent with his schoolwork.

Miss Boothroyd’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Romy for always checking her friends are ok.

Mrs McDonalds’ and Mrs Bramley’s STAR of the Week is Abdul for settling back in well after his 4-week break.

Mrs Matthews’ STAR of the Week is Shane for his excellent attitude to learning and all-round friendly and positive nature.

Mrs Matthews’ STAR of the Week is Henry M for offering some suggestions to peers as to how to work out an answer.

Mrs Bailey’s STAR of the Week is Jack - For wonderful engagement in Sensory Story lessons and making connections between different items when adding the ducks to the frog pond. Well Done Jack.

Mrs Bailey’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Cody - For fantastic engagement in communication this week, working hard to make requests with an adult using TD Snap.

Miss Pietraszewska’ s HWA We Are Caring goes to Nevaeh for doing amazingly well with your phonics and knowing all your letter sounds. Well done, Nevaeh.

Miss Pietraszewska’ s STAR of the Week goes to Elsie for always brightening our days with your beautiful singing and dancing. Keep shining, Elsie – we love seeing your talents grow.

Mr Corrigan’s STAR of the Week is Jack

For: showing great confidence and independence with his work this week.

Mr Corrigan’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Albi-Lee

For: being a caring friend this week.

Mr Corrigan’s WOW moments go to Teddy B and Teddy W

For: being a proud of their friends.

Miss Hulme’s STAR of the Week is Madilyn for trying super hard with her handwriting and letter formations all week.

Miss Hulme’s HWA We Are Caring goes to Tommy for always being so helpful and volunteering himself for class jobs.

Miss Tootill’s STAR of the Week goes to Maya for always being caring towards her peers

Miss Tootill’s HWA We are Caring goes to Jared for settling in his new class ad having a positive start.

Miss Davies’ STAR of the Week is Silva for excellent engagement in tray tasks this week.