Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

Haltwhistle Academy FC!

The Year 5 and 6 Boys played in a school tournament at Haraby in Carlisle. Playing against some really strong opposition the boys progressed through their group and got to the quarter-finals! They did themselves and our school community proud! A special mention to Ken Williamson (Haltwhistle Jubilee Football Club) who volunteered and assisted our team to the tournament. Well done lads!

Euro 2024 Kick Off!

Thank you for all of your donations to support sport in school. The children looked great in their football strips and had fun time learning about different countries competiting in the event. They then all took part in a football shootout to show their skills and try and score a goal. Everyone cheered each other on and showed fantastic resilience and teamwork. 

Carnival Club

A big thank you to our year three and four volunteers who came and helped with more carnival float decorations this week. We enjoyed lots of chat, glitter, paint and laughter. Our year one and two children get their turn next week to add to our amazing float. 

We hope you have been thinking about your carnival day costumes. Haltwhistle Carnival is a fantastic community event a great day when our whole school community comes together to design, create, and parade our float through the town. If you would like to join us in the procession on Sunday 14th July please call at the school office and add your name to the list.

Forest school findings!

Ivy class thoroughly enjoyed getting out in the sunshine and exploring our Forest school area. They were searching for living things in their natural habitats - one child even found a newt hidden under a log! 

On Thursday Year 2 took their Science learning into our forest schoo. We discussed all of the places within the larger woodland habitat that there would be microhabitats and then looked for minibeasts in all of these places! We all worked really hard with excellent team work finding and identifying minibeasts while making sure we respected the homes of all of the creatures we found.   

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.