Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter






Welcome back!

The past two weeks have presented our families and staff team with new unprecedented challenges!  The flood which has affected almost half of our school building brought our start of term plans to an abrupt halt, requiring many families to make alternative childcare arrangements, whilst in school, we set up a operational base and our teams worked tirelessly to establishing a rapid flood recovery response, work through the scenarios to allow face to face teaching as soon as possible and establish an online school once again.  Shortly after we celebrated our essential services being re-established on Thursday afternoon, we were brought back to earth by the sad news that Her Majesty the Queen had died.  It has been quite a rollercoaster of emotions for us all, and we were so pleased that we could safely bring the children back into school, and back to the predictable rhythms of school life on Monday.

We have been really pleased at how well the children have settled back into school routines and have adjusted to using new spaces around the site.  It's remarkable how normal our new set up feels, with Year 5 and 6 rehomed once again in the hub whilst recovery work continues.  We are all grateful to have such an extensive school site, which has allowed us to provide the continuity the children need at this time.  

I'm pleased to share that the strip out and drying works, following the flood, have progressed at incredible speed and we are meeting with the construction team on Tuesday to plan the reinstall process.  We will keep you informed as areas of our school are able to be reopened again.  Unfortunately our school hall has sustained more damage than we had originally thought and can not be used for PE at the moment.  We are still able to use the dance / gym studio, however we do recommend that all children have a PE kit suitable for outdoors PE please. 

I'd like to thank our fantastic staff team for literally moving mountains (of resources and equipment) to allow our school to reopen to children so quickly after the flood. Thank you to our families for your patience and understanding as we have managed the recent challenges.

We look forward to a positive year ahead!  

Mrs S Drake

Remembering The Queen

In assembly this week, we reflected on the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and considered the qualities she demonstrated as she carried out her duties as a leader.  We discussed how great leaders:

We have chosen "leadership" as our Skillsbuilder skill of the half term, and children will be reflecting on how they can use and demonstrate these skills in the classroom and outside school.  

In their first duty as our Y6 school council members, Jessie and Jaxon visited the flowers in Haltwhistle Hospital grounds and laid a floral wreath to commemorate The Queen on behalf of our school community.  


New staff members

Welcome to Mrs Michelle Brewster who joins us as SENCo, and has already met many of the families of children with EHCP's.  Mrs Brewster is looking forward to meeting the families of children on the SEND register as the year progresses. Please do introduce yourself or ask for an appointment with Mrs Brewster if you have a SEND concern about your child.   

Mrs Sally Timms has joined us as our Year 5 teacher and Mrs Fiona Morris joins us as our full time nursery teacher.  

Mrs Karen Nicholson has also joined the team as a teaching assistant and will be delivering additional Maths interventions in KS1 and LKS2.  

Congratulations to Mrs Bethan Allsop, who has been awarded the role of Trust Lead for Computing.  Mrs Hawkin will be teaching the class on Friday to allow Mrs Allsop to carry out this important work across Wise Academies Trust.  

You may also meet Mr Tony Irvine, who is a senior leader at another Wise school and is helping Mrs Drake this term.  

School Uniform (new link)

Please note the change of web address for our school uniform supplier (this is the same supplier, they have reorganised their website).  Emblematic have advised us that all orders are processed daily and are dependant on stock availability from their suppliers.  Due to some supply issues, some orders may take longer than 28 days to deliver. They advise placing orders as early as possible for the new school year.  


Please could we also remind parents that leggings are not part of our school uniform (see below).  Leggings may be used as part of the PE uniform, but should not be used for daily wear in the classroom.  


We have also had several young children wearing earrings to school.  Children should not wear earrings to school as they present a risk of tearing at playtimes as well as PE.  Please could parents ensure earrings are removed before school.  

Uniform recycling needs 

We are short of:

for our uniform recycling.  If you any of these items, and they are suitable for recycling to another child, please could you bring these to the school office.  


Uniform recycling  requests

If you would like items of uniform from our recycling bank please use this form (follow link) to make a request.    

New footpath

We are really pleased with the improvements to the footpath and road markings, which will make our access safer for all.  We are waiting for the arrival of new safety railings and expect these will be installed over the next couple of weeks.  

Attendance Matters

As we continue to recover from the disruption to children’s education caused by the pandemic, it is now more important than ever that children’s attendance is good or better.  Every second in school counts, as missing school, whether by being late or taking unnecessary days off, creates more new learning gaps which need to be addressed.  The best way you can support your child to recover from the lost school time of recent years is to ensure they are in school and ready to learn every day. 

We want every child's attendance to be good or better.  This means 96%+.  End of week 1

Please check your child's attendance (see our app) against the class and national data.  School staff are able to offer support if your child's attendance is of concern.    

Please do not take your child out of school during term time as it disrupts your child’s learning and you risk financial penalties.   Any term time leave of absence must be applied for more than 2 weeks before the date of leave and can only be authorised by the Headteacher in the case of EXCEPTIONAL circumstances.  Please could we urge parents to book holidays during the 13 weeks of annual school holidays which are available each year.   

If leave has not been authorised and your child is out of school then you may receive a minimum fine of £60 per child, per parent.  If the time out of school makes your child’s attendance drop below 90% then they are known as persistently absent under the governments attendance definitions.  This means that you may face prosecution through the courts.  

Please help us to help your child catch up by ensuring they are in school and ready to learn every day.

Coming in September - Friends Resillience Programme

Calendar of Events - Please scroll to see all dates

Our Parent Calendar provides LIVE dates several months ahead.  This can be accessed on our school website and can be added to your phone calendar to you are always aware of forthcoming events.  

School Games Gold

Skills Builder Silver

Reading for Pleasure Award

STEM Ambassador School

Ruth Miskin Award

Our school designated safeguarding leads are Susie Drake, Tony Irvine, Michelle Brewster and Bethan Alsopp