Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter
Eco-Council meet with NCC Sustainability team
This week, two of our Year 5 Eco-Councillors, went to the Northumberland Council Sustainability meeting with other schools in the region. They confidently shared Haltwhistles' innovative programme of sustainability and together they came up with one big idea to develop for the future : using water butts to recyle our rainwater! Great work Eco-councillors! Updates to follow.....
Reception - Chinese New Year
This week Bramble class have been learning about Chinese New Year. We have looked at how Chinese New Year is celebrated and discussed which year we were all born in. Most of our class were born in the year of the dog or the rooster.
Craft Club
In the Craft club this week we were making peacocks. The children had fun deciding on how to place the feather tails. Some went for a pattern, others deciding on a random placement of their colours. The end result either way was fabulous. Next week we are going to do some crafts around the Chinese New Year
Y1 Science
As part of their learning about winter Year 1 explored how a polar bear is adapted to keep warm in cold weather. We tested how our hands felt in ice water, then with gloves on and finally with a layer of fat between us and the ice. We realised that both the fat and the fur was needed to help keep them warm.
We Can Cook Club
Our KS1 cooking club got off to a great start this week when we made cherry shortbread. All of the children really enjoyed taking part. Alongside reading the recipe and weighing the ingredients we learnt some new skills of rubbing in the fat and rolling and cutting the biscuits. The children were all very proud of their biscuits and were so enthusiastic about the new things they had learnt with one child saying as he left 'that was the best ever, I'm going to show my Mam how to make them!'.
KS1 Design Technology
KS1’s Design Technology focus this half term is wheel and axles. We have got off to a great start by building a model vehicle chassis so that we understand the importance of wheels, axles and axle holders to make a moving vehicle. We have started designing our own vehicles and will be applying this new knowledge as we build them.
UKS2 Art
Upper KS2 have enjoyed exploring photo montage in art. They have learnt about surrealism and then compared the work of two photo montage artists, Hannah Hoch and Maria Rivens, before creating their own surreal photo montage artworks. Our imaginations have been able to run wild!
Showtime club and Board games club
We had such a positive response from the children who were able to perform on our fantastic stage last year that we've asked Miss Hannah to run a singing and dancing club after school on Friday. Children attending this club will have the opportunity to perform to the school at the end of term.
We have also made a change to the Thursday clubs due to low interest in Comic Club. This will now become board games club with Mr Hutton.
We launched our Essential Skill for the half term with an assembly about "Staying Positive". Mrs Drake shared her childhood dream and all the children helped her to stay positive whilst she tried hard to master the missing skills! We thought about how staying positive and being determined to put in the practice were essential to making progress, and our Headteacher awards this week will all be geared towards celebrating the children who have stayed positive in the face of challenge this week.
Skills builder at home
Coffee morning and behaviour discussion
Thank you to the parents who joined us for coffee and a chat about managing behaviour with Mr Irvine. It was great to also welcome Joanne Linitin and Jen Moore from the Family Hub, who were able to discuss the support available for families at the centre.
A copy of the schools Behaviour Policy can be found here and parents are welcome to speak to Mr Irvine about any questions they may have.
Our next coffee morning will be Friday 10th February.
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
Please note the school holiday and term time dates for the academic year 23-23.
There are 13 weeks of school holidays. Please ensure family holidays are taken during this time.
Before and After School club bookings
Please click here to book a place in breakfast club. Please note that bookings must be made at least 48 hours in advance to ensure we have adequate staffing available. Please speak to a member of our office team if you need to make a short notice booking 01434 320467.
Please click here to book a place in after school care. Please note that bookings must be made at least 48 hours in advance to ensure we have adequate staffing available. Please speak to a member of our office team if you need to make a short notice booking 01434 320467.
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 Allsop