Headlines - 10 February 2023

10th February 2023

HEADLINES

By Mrs Bansropun

HOW OFTEN ARE YOU ENCOURAGED TO ‘THINK HARD’?

‘Thinking hard’ is something that we all need to feel comfortable experiencing because this is where the most impactful and long-lasting learning takes place. But how often do our children avoid really engaging their brains until they ache? How often do they experience a problem and vow to solve it? Whether that be a maths equation they are completing for Independent Study, a level they just can’t pass on their Xbox game, or getting the proportions of a portrait they are drawing correct? My view is that many avoid it whenever and wherever they can - they give up, or look for the easy route.

The cognitive scientist, Daniel Willingham, stated that ‘memory is the residue of thought’, and if we are not providing and encouraging opportunities for hard thinking, we are preventing learners from remembering all that is necessary, for passing exams, yes, but for life beyond Honywood too.

MOVING FROM ‘GOOD TO GREAT’.

As you would have seen from our recent Ofsted report, we are a ‘good school’ and the education we offer is ‘broad’, ‘ambitious’ and supportive of all needs. Learners are ‘polite and respectful’ and teachers have ‘high expectations of behaviour’. Now that we have solidified the foundations of a ‘good school’, we are now on the trajectory to becoming ‘great’, and that involves raising expectations of the quality and quantity of thinking and learning that takes place in the classroom - and beyond. But how will we go about this?

One mission we are set upon achieving is encouraging learners to develop a love for reading. As you have read from Mr Smith’s headlines entry earlier this year, the benefits of reading go beyond just exam success and future earning potential, we know that it is incredibly important for sustaining good mental health too. But reading also educates us about the world, and

encourages us to think more deeply about our function and place in the world.

Another focus is the acquisition of language. Alex Quiggley (a big-wig in the world of education) mentions in a blog post about thinking hard that ‘We [teachers] can help by using classroom strategies that explicitly teach vocabulary acquisition. We can teach, model and encourage word learning strategies, identifying root words and exploring the fascinating etymology of words, telling the stories of our rich linguistic history. We can also explicitly teach an effective and realistic use of a dictionary, a thesaurus, and other useful research tools. By modelling the reading of books with unfamiliar and complex vocabulary, alongside developing an explicit ‘academic vocabulary’ for each of our subject domains, we can help scaffold our Learners’ hard thinking. Ultimately, we cannot teach every word in the dictionary, but we can teach our learners the skill of interpreting new vocabulary more successfully.’ Perhaps this process of modelling ‘thinking hard’ and avoiding the easy route when faced with a difficult problem could be something that you could emulate at home too?

In a world where the answer or the solution is a Google search away, it is essential that we highlight the importance of taking the path less often travelled - the tricky route, the brain-achy route, so that should our children be faced with a problem Google can’t solve, they are equipped with the skill set and resilience to tackle the obstacle head-on.

Have a restful half term break.

Mrs Bansropun

C7 LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Hedingham 1 Honywood 3

This week C7 travelled to Hedingham School to play their first league game. The first half was an even contest with the defence of Beazley, Preston, Spragg and Hopkins only allowing a few long range shots at goal from the Hedingham attack. As the first half progressed the Honywood midfield of Moxham, Pyne and Jacobs slowly took control but were unable to capitalise on their possession. The half time score remained at 0-0.

In the second half, Honywood took the lead from an opportunist goal by Luc Sykes who quickly added another following an excellent run and cross by Henry Beazley. Hedingham responded by making it 2-1 from a long range shot giving the keeper no chance to save. Both Honywood keepers Irwin and Devine made some good saves after some pressure by the home team attack, but it was Honywood who scored the final goal when Hadley Perkins scored in the bottom corner after good work from player of the match Luc Sykes.

Well done! This was a good all-round performance in your first league match.

Mr Walters

DANCE SHOW

A fantastic evening last night as we saw our Honywood learners perform in the Dance Show. From C7 to C11 we saw a range of styles, from GCSE work to acro and musical theatre. Well done to everyone who took part and thanks to our dedicated Expressive Arts’ team.

WORLD BOOK DAY 2023

This year World Book Day falls on Thursday 2nd March, this year we intend to celebrate it like never before! Here is a list of various activities taking part in the lead up to and on the day:

A short story competition:

Dressing up

On Thursday 2nd March , we ask that all learners come in fancy dress for world book day. Anyone that chooses to dress up will automatically win 3 Achievement Points, they will also be entered into the ‘Best Dressed’ competition that will take place during Lunchtime. As a bonus, we encourage everyone to take part, there’s no cost to dress up but you still have the chance of winning a prize! For the cohort with the most learners in fancy dress, you will win time off timetable on Friday the 3rd March learning session 4 and 5 in the main hall to watch a film based on a book. This will be for all learners in the cohort that wins who came in fancy dress. You will get to vote on what film you watch, and popcorn will be provided!

Open to all, you will need to write a short story (up to 500 words) on a topic of your choice It will need to be handed in by Tuesday 28th February ready for us to decide the winner. First place will receive 12 achievement points second place 10 achievement points and third place 8 achievement points

School wide quiz!

Get your game faces on, during LS5 you and your form take on the rest of the school in Honywood’s ‘Greatest Ever World Book Day Quiz On Fiction’. It’s not as boring as it sounds!

Finlay Newton - Lead Learner