Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

Our NEW School Parent App

Online safety training for parents

Y3 investigating plants

Year 3 has been investigating what plants need to grow and what happens if you remove one element. We grew cress seeds without light/water/ soil/air/space to see what impact it would have on their ability to grow. We found out that the only one that didn't grow was the one without water, all of the rest grew but not as well as they could have if they had everything they needed.  

Bikeability

Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed taking part in bikeability with Tom and Caroline. They've worked really hard and really well in their teams over the last four days!  

Y3 Forest school

Year 3 and 4 were very lucky with a sunny afternoon in the forest. A treasure hunt for hidden letters for a seasonal phrase. We have worked together with one blindfolded and one guiding. Then we unleashed our creativity with some nature portraits. 

Easter Bingo!  

 Thank you to everyone who supported our Easter Bingo, we raised a fantastic £505!

This has been used to purchase a special summertime feature for our school field ... watch this space (and fingers crossed for some dry weather!)  

Y2 Following instructions

Year 2 followed instructions to make pop out Easter chicks last week. This week they have been busy writing their own instructions so that everyone else can make pop out Easter chicks too! Miss Stronach and Miss Broadbent have been impressed by the instructions and handwriting (lots of us write in beautiful joined up handwriting now) and we have also been developing our editing skills! 

Haltwhistle Family Hub - courses for Summer

Attendance Matters - important changes coming

The government have announced important changes to the school absence measures which schools are required to implement. We are sharing these with parents now as we do not want our families to receive fine as a result of these changes in the future:

• Absence fines charged to parents will rise from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days. 

• From the Autumn, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. Any second notice will automatically be charged at £160. 

• Schools will have to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions (half days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.  For example, four sessions in term time plus six instances of arriving late would count as 10 sessions. 

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

Please speak to a member of this team if you are concerned about the safety of a child.