HEADLINES
By James SaundersWELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER GREAT TERM AS PART OF THE HONYWOOD FAMILY
I hope that, like me, you have all had a restful break and have entered the new year with a refreshed zest and enthusiasm. The autumn term is always the most gruelling and when schools around us started to finish for the holiday whilst we were still going I know that some of our learners were beginning to fade. It was certainly a busy termwe even packed in an Ofsted inspection.
Coming back to start the term with the Ofsted inspection behind us has made for a really positive start to the term. Most of you will be unaware of this, but we received the Ofsted call right at the end of term last year. Do you remember that day when temperatures were in the 40s and I had to close early for health and safety reasons as classrooms were reading in the mid 40s on the thermometer. Well yes - they wanted to visit then. Unfortunately there was only one more day left of the term and so there were not two full days for them to carry out the inspection so I was able to defer it. When you defer it they don’t specify when they will return. We expected them to come in at the start of term and have been counting down the days. I am looking forward to officially sharing the outcomes with you soon. I received a draft copy of our report for checking towards the end of the holidays and have approved the contents. It is now a case of waiting for it to go through the Ofsted system to receive the official publication.
Thank you to everyone that fed into the process and shared their feedback. Whilst it was all anonymous the lead inspector shared many lovely comments and feedback from the community and
our learners. I think the inspection managed to capture our culture and ethos well.
Thank you for supporting our learning review process last Friday and into this week. I received a lot of positive feedback from appreciative parents. We will also be piloting some more traditional parent’s evening events too in the coming term. This half term is going to speed by rather quickly. We already only have 4 weeks to go. If the autumn was about running the marathon, the spring term is about short sprints. With little time we have a lot to do. C11s are entering the final phase of their education before they begin their exams - in fact a few courses have already had some of their official assessments.
I had the privilege to listen to Mrs Bansropun talk about careers to C8 in assembly this week. The assembly was timed well to coincide with the beginning of guided choices. Some of us are certain about what we want to do in life whilst others have no clue - I was one of the no clue ones. However, the choices we make for GCSE’s can have an implication on the paths that we take post-16 and beyond. Luckily, for people like me - those who are unsure what they want to dowe structure our curriculum choices in such a way as to keep the programme of study broad and balanced. Our C8s will eventually get to choose the GCSE’s they wish to take across our core disciplines of liberal arts, creative arts and science and industry. This will ensure that they do not close any doors as they progress to post-16.
It has been great to start the term with some exciting enrichment as a group of C10 learners went off to Essex University for a Maths Day.
Looking ahead we have the Jack Petchey speak out challenge, the Brilliant Club launch at Queens College Cambridge, a trip to the museum of computing history, mental health champion training, world book day, Royal Opera House Dance Trip and Spring enrichment week . And there is even more taking place in the summer term.
Welcome back everyone. Let’s get stuck into another great term.
Have a great weekend
James Saunders
COGGESHALL SWANS
We were saddened to hear of the tragic death of the swans in Coggeshall, familiar and loved by the local community. We hope that the culprits are caught soon. We are however, very proud of a former learner Zachary Woods who has created two fabulous swans from wood which will be placed at the bridge on the river. These beautiful tokens are available for residents to leave messages. Well done Zachary for your kindness and sharing your skill with community.
FUTSAL TOURNAMENT
This week our C7s and C10s took part in the Futsal tournment against local schools in the area. The tournament was held at Notley High School. Our C10s got through to the final but sadly lost on penalties. Our C7s did not manage to win either of their games losing their first game by a slim 1-0 and their second game by 2-0. Both teams played some great football and were unlucky with the results not going their way.
Harry Irwin (7KHo/LMo) said that despite the losses they really enjoyed the experience and had great fun playing as a team.
