Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

First School site update!!

We are absolutely delighted to share that the old First Academy site, including the old bungalow and field have now transferred back to Northumberland County Council.  The transfer process has been very slow, but we'd like to thank our colleagues at WISE Academies Head Office for their support and hard work to secure this result.  All enquiries about the site should now be directed to Northumberland County Council.  We hope the site will quickly be repurposed, used to benefit our local community groups and once again become an asset for Haltwhistle. 

Nursery Park trip

Nursery enjoyed a trip to Comb Hill park this week. Everyone had a great time using the play equipment and playing group games. We also practised our road safety skills. Thank you to the parent helpers and families who came to join us. 

Water colour paintings

LKS2 are really enjoying exploring watercolour paint techniques. They have looked at the work of JWM Turner for inspiration, and have experimented creating shades and tints to recapture the mood and atmosphere of his paintings.  Coincidentally, there is a fabulous sounding exhibition currently on at the Laing art gallery in Newcastle featuring Turner's paintings until 7th September.

Rounders

Year 3/4 have been dodging the showers to complete their rounders unit in PE. We have learnt what skills we need to bat, using our hand eye coordination and looking to aim our hits to an area free of fielders. When bowling we have improved our skills by varying our aim and strength of throw to ensure the ball lands where we want it to be. We have also improved our throwing and catching skills ensuring the ball gets back  to the bowler quickly. 

Y2 computing

Year 2 have been enjoying using the app Scratch Jr in their computing lessons this term. This week they had to design a quiz based on the question ‘who lives here?’  Working together they had to choose their backgrounds, characters and decide on the blocks to create their algorithm. Next week they will be creating their own question for their quiz. We can’t wait to see what they think of.  

Nursery homegrown potatoes!

A big thank you to Mrs Beverley for cooking our very own home grown potatoes and serving them with a delicious chicken dinner on Wednesday. Some of us were so excited, we had eaten them before the gravy was served! We worked together to harvest our potatoes on Monday, then we needed to give them a good wash before they were cooked. We love growing and eating our own food.  

Safety Works visit

Year 6 had a very informative visit to Safety Works in Newcastle on Tuesday. The children spent time learning about how to stay safe in and around the community. This was linked to their PSHE topic 'Keeping Safe' and explored areas linked closely to risk factors in our area and how to make good choices when out and about. Fantastic discussions Year 6! 

Programming in Y5

Ivy class have been so excited for this computing lesson, asking several times a day, every day, for the last week to see when they would be doing it! They have been developing their knowledge of selection and learning how conditions can be used in programs. They have designed and planned out questions, represented algorithms and constructed their own programs in Scratch to create a quiz. They then got the chance to share their quizzes with the rest of the class! 

Y2 Maths

Year 2 have been exploring position and direction in maths this week. One of our lessons focused on describing turns and we looked at full turn, half turn, quarter turn and three quarter turn as well as clockwise and anticlockwise. We practiced these turns with our bodies and then we practiced with objects.  

Metamorphosis in Y5

Online support for parents of Y6 children

Carnival Float - 2024 Olympics theme

Our NEW School Parent App

Haltwhistle Family Hub - courses for Summer

Attendance Matters - important changes coming

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.    In line with our attendance policy, we are required to refer all qualifying absences due to holidays during term time to the Education Welfare Officer at Northumberland County Council.  

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.

Before and After School club bookings

Calendar of Events - Please scroll to see all dates

If reading this on your phone, please turn your phone sideways to be able to scroll through our planned dates.  You can also add our calendar to your own phone calendar to be sure you don't miss a date.  

Our school designated safeguarding leads are Susie Drake, Alex Wood, Vicki Ridley, Shirley Phillips

Everyone is responsible for safeguarding children.  Please speak to a member of this team if you are concerned about the safety of a child.