Headlines By James Saunders 1st March 2019
Why are arts and culture so important in education?
Off the back of the successful Got to Dance show this week and the Bugsy Malone production a couple of weeks ago, I would like to highlight the importance of providing young people with enrichment opportunities to complement their academic programmes. The beaming smiles from our learners at the end of this week’s show demonstrated to me the power of focusing on both success and happiness. As I have said in the past I believe that a well rounded education must include opportunities to develop cultural and social capital. Both these things were in abundance on Wednesday night at the Dance show. I would like to thank those of you that attended. Next week I have been invited to contribute to a Chartered College of Teaching roundtable discussion on ‘Why are arts and culture so important in education?’ I shall be citing the wonderful things our learners do and how they develop their character as a result. The staff at Honywood have been working hard over the course of the year to design enrichment opportunities for all our cohorts of learners. Coming up this month is one of our enrichment weeks. These are designed to replace what was formally called quintet week. Each cohort will have an enrichment opportunity within this week which will be followed up in learning session three time. C7 will have the question ‘Can we prevent an ecological apocalypse?’. They will be visiting either Walton-on-the-Naze or Marks Hall estate. C8 have the title ‘A violent or beautiful earth?’. They will be visiting the Science Museum and Natural History Museum in London. C9’s are also off to London to learn about how our country is governed. Their visit includes the Royal Courts of Justice, The British Museum, The British Board of Film Classification, The Bank of England and Westminster. C10 will be in school following a series of challenges with the theme of Wellbeing. These challenges include an Escape Room to test their problem solving skills, Karate and First Aid, and will be run by a range of visitors. Finally, C11 have the theme of ‘How can you establish a successful future?’. In the short term - What experiences, challenges, support or guidance would help them prepare for their GCSE exams and the transition into life immediately after leaving Honywood? In the medium term What experiences, challenges, support or guidance do these young adults need and would benefit from in order to face the demands of being 16 - 18? In the long term - What experiences, challenges, support or guidance would help our learners positively embrace the world we live in during their lives?
Over the whole week they will have a series of drop-in workshops with guest speakers. Visitors include: The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry, an MP, The Army, Colchester Institute, LGBT awareness, HeadroomWellbeing, a Historian, a DJ and a Finance CEO.
Our staff have worked hard to organise these opportunities and I hope that our learners embrace the chance to develop their own cultural and social capital. Enrichment comes in many forms at Honywood. Recently I spoke about the amazing work our learners are doing as part of the Brilliant Club. This week I would also like to draw your attention to another enrichment opportunity available to our learners - the Wings of Hope Achievement Award, a social enterprise programme where UK students develop key transferable skills through running fundraising projects and events in order to help provide free education for children in India and Malawi. Hannah Byrne, Hollie Oldroyd-Seaman and Olivia Rowley have set up a team at Honywood to support this cause and would love you to get involved. They have the chance of being selected for the WOHAA Semi finals at the Houses of Parliament. Did you know that for every £150 they raise they can sponsor a child in Malawi for a year. If you want to know more please visit this link to their fundraising page https://www.thewingsofhope.org/ fundraisers/team-hhob-are-fundraising-for-the-wings-ofhope On behalf of Hollie, Hannah, Olivia, thank you for your support. Focused Study area During the half term break we have repurposed FS20 as a silent study room to support learners with exam preparations and additional study. I have been in there a few times this week and have been really impressed with the current work ethic from all learners in there Thanks To: Phoebe Meyer-Hek 7CGa, Evie Storey Smith 7NVa, Millie Smith 7KCw, Harrison Campe 8RFl, Taylor Hughes 8RFl, Leo Mills 8RFl, Ethan Skubich 8RFl, Eloise Rigby 9HGi, Cara Taylor 9LBo, Lucy Tupper 9LBo, Toby Hughes 10SLo, Tom Humphries 10AMc, Louis Morton 10SLo, Emma Boland 11CFR, Megan Evans 11KHo, Annabel Hughes 11HTr and Tilly Rose Wilkin 11MRa, all of whom supported the Family Kids and Youth, and NSPCC research this week.