Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

Rail Safety

Key Stage 2 met Chloe from Network Rail. She taught us lots of interesting facts such as the speed of a train being around 125 mph; the weight of a train (around 400 tonnes- the same as 80 adult elephants) and how these facts result in a train taking over a mile to come to stop. It is therefore very important that our children were taught how to be safe around a trainline by keeping off the tracks and behind the yellow line at stations, avoiding dawdling on crossings and always using "Stop, Look, Listen, Live." 

The Invisible string

Y3/4 Tag Rugby

Year 3/4 have been learning how to score a try in Tag Rugby. They have been practicing their defending skills and learning to work together as a team. 

KS2 Roman pot designs

LKS2 have been bringing their Roman pot ideas to life using papier mache around forms created from balloons and corrugated cardboard. It has not been an easy job and has needed some great teamwork, excellent listening and a quite a bit of perseverance! 

Year 2 - Childhood toys

UKS2 continued their learning about light in their science lessons week. Today, they learned about Isaac Newton, his discovery of the visible spectrum and how this helps us to see in colour. Here their spinners show us how the rainbow colours of the spectrum combine together to make white light. Follow this link to see a video of their spinners in action.

Year 2 History

In history this week Year 2 had so much fun exploring toys from the past! We enjoyed playing with spinners, toy cars, teddies, dolls, jumping jacks and tiddlywinks. Whilst we were playing lots of thoughtful questions were asked like 

‘Why is it not colourful?’, how old is it?’ and ‘who did it belong to?’ 

PE days!  Please come in correct kit with black / white trainers.

Year 6 Miss Thompson and Y5/6 Miss Kennedy - Monday, Wednesday

Y5 Ms Arkless - Monday, Friday

Y3/4 Miss McAlister - Monday, Thursday

Y3/4 Mrs Allsop / Mrs Wealands - Thursday, Friday

Y2 Miss Stronach / Miss Broadbent - Monday, Friday

Y1 Miss Davison / Miss Macdonald - Tuesday, Thursday

Reception class Mrs Round -  Tuesday

Skillsbuilder - building our skills for life

Skills builder at home

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

Our school designated safeguarding leads are Susie Drake, Tony Irvine, Michelle Brewster and Bethan Allsop