Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

It's been great to welcome so many parents into school this week.  We had a great turn out to the Friends Resilience coffee morning, thank you everyone who attended.  Parents also asked for workshops to provide sleep advice and managing behaviour at home.  We will arrange these and let you know the date asap.

Thanks also to everyone who supported the football tournament with Shaftoe school.  It was fantastic to have so many children playing and enjoying football together on our new pitch.  Thanks to Mr Hutton (what a star he is) for arranging the practices and event for everyone to enjoy.  

We also offered an online safety evening on Thursday.  If you missed this and would like further information, please speak to Mrs Allsop. 

Anti bullying week

Children in Need

Our whole school, from early years through to Year 6 really enjoyed celebrating children in need today. In Early Years, the children made lots of spotty Pudsey pictures and talked about why it is important to think of others and work together. The children took part in the BBC Moodbusters activities and had special Pudsey biscuits at lunchtime .   

Kicking off the World Cup!

Across school we celebrated the start of the World Cup with football skills on the yard and a World Cup Countries quiz, allowing us to learn a little more about the countries participating in the event.  We will be selecting 2 children from each class to represent our school at the Wise Academies World Cup Final, held at the Beacon of Light on Thursday 24th November.  The children will be chosen for their effort and participation during our launch activities today.  Children attending the event will have the opportunity to take part in a football skills session run by The Foundation of Light team.  

Reception - Forest school

As part of our forest schools session Bramble class made bird feeders for our forest, we are hoping to attract and watch some birds during the day. 

Year 2 Geography

To end our local area study in Geography Year 2 were challenged to think of ways to change and improve Haltwhistle. The children had some fantastic ideas such as more bins, more signs to remind me people to keep it tidy, brighter colours, more flowers and footpaths. Using some of these ideas they then had to redesign the Main Street.  We had some very bright and colourful designs!  

Skills builder at home

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%+

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.

Holiday Dates for 23-24

Before and After School club bookings

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