12th January 2024
HEADLINES
By James Saunders
QUALITY OF EDUCATION Welcome back to a new term and a new year. It feels as though every year we have a new challenge that tries to pull us away from our core purpose. After conquering the RAAC situation last term we look forward to a challenge/crisis free term (fingers crossed). I for one am glad to be able to devote more time and energy to our strategic plans rather than building plans. We enter the term with our efforts fully committed to what we value most - the quality of the education at Honywood. Our capital enhancing curriculum continues to underpin our vision and plans going forward and is just as much about developing what we teach our learners as it is, how we teach them. Building character and achieving success continue to be a part of what we do. Our aim is for learners to leave us happy as well as successful. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of our five capitals (Moral, Social, Cultural, Knowledge and Professional) and highlight our curriculum principles.
8. Be transparent and demonstrate progress 9. Allow learners to acquire and develop their knowledge, skills and attributes 10. Model success and aspire for excellence 11. Require learners to build and demonstrate a strong set of shared values 12. Enable learners to leave us resilient, confident and successful so they can embrace their future These curriculum principles can be mapped across our five capitals. It won’t surprise you to know that they are mostly concentrated in the development of knowledge capital. The thing that will make the most difference to success in this area is ensuring we have built a challenging and aspirational learning experience that progresses over the five years learners study with us. And the thing that ensures optimum execution of this curriculum content: great teaching and learning and great teachers. These are the things we will continue to develop into this year. With that in mind I would like to welcome two excellent teachers who have started with us this week. Mrs Mitchell has joined the Art department and Mrs Lever has joined the Geography team. Both of them bring a wealth of experience and expertise in their fields and have made a great start to teaching our learners. If you are unfamiliar with our five capitals here is a quick recap/summary of them:
HONYWOOD CURRICULUM PRINCIPLES Our capital enhancing curriculum should: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Foster a love for learning Be challenging, rigorous and personalised Offer breadth and depth of learning Be knowledge rich and culturally enhancing Recognise the importance of connecting with prior learning 6. Be rich in literacy, numeracy and oracy 7. Require learners to showcase their learning effectively
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Moral Capital: Day to day all learners and staff live through our core values and promote equity and well being. Social Capital: All learners leave Honywood fully prepared with the resilience, attributes and independence needed to embrace, and positively contribute to, society. Cultural Capital: Authentic learning is embedded in all aspects of the curriculum. Learners develop a rich vocabulary and contextual awareness through a culturally enriching curriculum.
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Knowledge Capital: Deep knowledge acquisition underpins all learning. Evidence-based evaluation and analysis of learning by teachers enables personalised learning design and drives continual improvement in the classroom through the sharing of best practice. Professional Capital: Leadership across the school is both learning and teacher centered and drives continual improvement through collaboration and the sharing of best practice.
I wish you all a lovely weekend
James Saunders
SAFEGUARDING AND SAFETY NOTICE We would like to bring to your attention a serious incident that occurred on the evening of Friday, January 5th. Honywood learners were unfortunately subjected to antisocial and violent behaviour at Witham train station. As a result, we suggest that you carefully consider the safety of your child when using public transport. The Police have been informed about this incident. They have observed a concerning trend where children are being physically coerced into making offensive statements against their will, which are then recorded and shared on social media platforms. To ensure the safety of your child, we suggest that you exercise caution when using the train - perhaps avoiding using Witham train station whenever possible. Additionally, it is advisable to discourage your child from travelling alone on this particular line. If circumstances require them to use this station/line, we strongly encourage them to travel in groups with their friends and to regularly communicate with you while they are out. By taking these precautions we hope we are able to protect our children from becoming embroiled in such distressing situations. GARY LYNES – HONYWOOD SCHOOL GOVERNOR It is with great sadness that I have to inform the school community that on December 30th 2023, Gary Lynes, Honywood Governor, passed away unexpectedly. After talking with Gary about becoming a Governor over several months, I was delighted when he joined the Governing Body. The care that Gary took over the decision to join was so typical of his attention to detail. He took on one of the most important Link Governor responsibilities and again made sure that he was fully prepared and able to contribute from the very first meeting.
Last term Gary spent a day in school meeting staff and learners and demonstrated his commitment to supporting the delivery of the best possible education to all our learners. Many Coggeshall youngsters in their twenties will have known Gary for the 15 years he gave to Scouting. Gary was a key member of the Coggeshall Scouting Leadership that organised both weekly meetings and winter and summer camps. Gary was the parent of three boys, Dan, Will and Adam, all of whom attended Honywood and have gone on to have successful careers following sixth form and university. A Coggeshall resident for over 25 years, many would have seen him walking his dog or commuting to London, where following a successful career in finance, he moved to use his skills working for Cancer Research in project delivery. Gary was a much loved and respected member of the community and will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Tim Styles Chair of Governing Body
Dates for the Diary Tues 16 Jan 2024
C7 & C8 Learning Reviews - 3.30 to 6.15
Thurs 18 Jan 2024
C7 & C8 Learning Reviews - 3.30 to 6.15
Tues 23 Jan 2024
Ski Trip Parent Meeting 6pm
Thurs 25 Jan 2024
C11 Parent Evening 3.30 - 6.30
Mon 5 & Tues 6 Feb
C11 LGL Photos
Wed 7 Feb
C11 Geography Trip
Fri 9 Feb
C10 Careers Visit