Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

Nursery artist - Stephen Brown

Stephen Brown is our focus artist this half term in Early Years.  We took inspiration from his very colorful animal paintings to create our own artwork outside.  We had great fun using chalk on log slices to create our amazing colourful lion heads. 

This week Year 3/4 have been working hard learning how to stay safe and who to ask for help in an emergency. We have looked at risks and hazards and talked about the best way to keep ourselves safe or how to reduce the risks. It might be crossing the road using a crossing or wearing a helmet whilst riding our bikes. We played a game to learn how to recognise risks and hazards.  

Keeping safe in Y4

Enjoying outdoors

Looking for signs of summer and enjoying wide open spaces with friends. We found tiny wildflowers, heard beautiful bird songs and felt the warm sun on our cheeks. We had great fun practicing our blowing techniques with dandelion seed heads and enjoyed lots of "Ready, Steady, Go!" games.   

Planning beans in Year 1

Year 1 made the most of the lovely weather at the start of the week.  We are learning all about plants and trees in science this half term. We have explored the life cycle of a plant, and carried out the first step of the life cycle by planting our own runner bean seeds!

They had such a lovely time and made very good gardeners as well as scientists.

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.