Haltwhistle Academy Newsletter

Thank you for supporting Crazy Hair Day in aid of Alopecia UK

Thank you to everyone who supported our fundraising event Alopecia UK, our raffle remains available until the end of November.  Tickets and donations can be made via parentpay, so please support this really worthy cause.  

 Children in Need Friday 17th November

This year, we’re supporting Children in Need by celebrating the power of positive relationships, and the ways in which really positive relationships can help us all to achieve well in life.   Children can come into school in something spotty if they would like to.  They can also wear Pudsey items, although there is no expectation for parents to buy these.  Voluntary contributions can be made via parent pay.  

Vegetables

This week children in nursery have been learning about vegetables that we harvest at the start of Autumn. We named the vegetables, talked about where they grow and what they look like. Then, we selected some vegetables for our soup - parsnips, carrots, potatoes, leeks and onion. We counted the vegetables before washing, peeling, chopping and cooking them. Everyone helped to chop the vegetables. Then we got to try the soup for snack. It was delicious! 

Pizza making @ Haltwhistle Methodist Church

Family Hub Courses for November

Author visit - welcome back Margi!

On Tuesday Margi Mcalister, our patron of reading came to share some of her favourite books with Key Stage 1. Margi likes to share a range of different books with us, she read Lubna and the pebble which led us to be able to talk about the sometimes difficult topic of refugees through the story. Margi had then brought one of her old favourites - Dogger. She was really impressed to hear this was one of our favourites in school and we were all able to enjoy this story together.  

 I believe in Unicorns @ Queens Hall, Hexham

What a fantastic experience Year 3/4 have had with a trip to the Queens Hall in Hexham to see the brilliant Danyah Miller. Her storytelling took us on a magical journey and the props were amazing with pop up houses and lights and all sorts of surprises hidden inside books. It was a fully interactive experience and the children loved it, the buzz on the bus back about all of their favourite bits was so lovely to hear. 

Y6 Magazine articles

Last year, our current Year Sixes were given the opportunity to create their own magazine articles based on a topic of their choosing, whilst being coached by our patron of reading, Margi Mcallister. Today, they were able to share their articles with Margi and the editor of "Northumbrian" magazine. 

Y3/4 Science

Y3/4 have been exploring conductors and insulators and how switches work. They have used their investigation skills to test their ideas. 

Non-Chronological Report Writing

Over the last couple of weeks, in our writing lessons we have been focusing on Non-Chronological Reports linked to a character from our core text - Cogheart. So this week, the children have used what they now know about this genre of writing and have applied this to show off everything they had learned in History about the Industrial Revolution. Everyone has been incredibly focused and eager to design and craft their own Non-Chronological Reports, some of the children have even said "I've really enjoyed this," "Please can we do more of our reports?" and "This is the best writing we've ever done." Everyone wanted to share their writing with friends, family and other staff in school - they are very proud of their finished Non-Chronological Reports, as they should be! We hope you'd agree, they are absolutely fantastic! 

Shadow length experiment

Year 6 experimented to discover how the distance from a light source affects the size of the shadow that an object casts. 

Social media reminder

From time to time we receive requests to support with children's social media use at home.  Please note the following age restrictions for social media use.  We recommend parents are included in any chat groups that include children so that you are able to supervise and monitor the content of your child's communication with their friends.  We recommend parents check Common Sense Media before installing a new app for their child.  This website allows parents to enter the age of their child and filter to find appropriate material.  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Their Ultimate Guide to Parental Controls explains the measures you can take as a parent to keep your child safe online.  

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

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, Bethan Allsop, Vicki Ridley, Robyn Brockman, Shirley Phillips

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