5th November 2021
HEADLINES
By James Saunders
WELCOME BACK Welcome back to the second half of the autumn term. In no time at all Christmas will be upon us. But in the meantime we have another six weeks of focused learning to get through. Our first week has been a busy one. C11s have wrapped up their mock assessments; our primary clubs have continued, the community immunisation team have visited to administer vaccines for those that had consented and the leadership team along with colleagues from the SEND team have spent the week visiting classrooms. I have enjoyed visiting lessons myself and have really enjoyed seeing what learners have accomplished over the first term. A highlight for me was hearing from a C8 learner about what he had been doing in Science. The thing that stood out was how articulate he was when explaining what he had learnt. He used his book to guide me through his explanations and I got a real sense of the journey he had been on over the past seven weeks. Learning is not always visible in the moment, it is the product of time and it was clear in the moment I had this week that over time this C8 learner had made excellent progress. As I just mentioned, we hosted the community immunisation team this week. I have previously shared my thoughts and feelings towards this and made it clear that medical expertise is not something I am blessed with and you deserve so much more than me taking my cue from Facebook or any other social media. With disinformation and polarised views everywhere it is hard to know what to do. Which is why we all have to step up and make our own decisions and do what is right for us. 2022 ENTRY We have now passed the deadline for parents to choose their next secondary school. I am really pleased to see that so many parents have demonstrated the faith and trust they have in the quality of education we offer at Honywood by choosing it for their children. Our aim will always be to maintain our personalised approach and our relationship model by treating each learner like an individual, by getting to know them, by supporting and coaching them on an individual level, by understanding who they are - their strengths and areas to improve, by providing them with support when they need it, and most importantly by helping them run their own race; not for the system, not for others but for themselves, so that they achieve their own personal
best. We are looking forward to beginning to plan to welcome our next cohort. THERE IS NO PLANET B A big thank you to the Geography team who have been incorporating the COP26 Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow into learning sessions. Today the whole of C7 took part in a live lesson from COP26 in the main hall and next week our KS3 and C9 Geographers will be learning about the event in their Geography lessons. Learners will be asked to make a pledge about their own habits that could lead to a better future for our climate. These pledges will be displayed in the Humanities Corridor on our new There’s No Planet B display board. We have been invited to enter an inter school competition producing some art work on the theme of Climate Change, we will launch this with the learners and administer the entries. COP26 in itself is interesting as nations have been trying to tackle our changing climate for decades, this is the 26th time they have met together to discuss our plans and actions since signing the Climate Change Treaty in 1994. How do learners feel about this? Why do they think leaders / adults seem so disinterested in our changing climate? If you want to know more here are some useful links: COP26: What is the Glasgow climate conference and why is it important? COP26: What is it and why is it happening in Glasgow in 2021? - CBBC Newsround Climate change: What is it and why is everyone talking about it? - CBBC Newsround 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis The COP26 Climate Summit | Start Here | Climate Helping kids deal with climate anxiety MetLink Today at COP26... daily video bulletins for schools