HEADLINES 7th June 2024
ByJames Saunders
Happy Friday everyone! We return full steam ahead for the final part of the term. With one week down already the summer holiday is going to be upon us in no time. There is still much to achieve so it is vitally important that learners maintain the high standards and positive engagement in their lessons that they have demonstrated across the year. I have enjoyed welcoming in the warmer weather, however, I know that concentration can be difficult when temperatures rise, but collectively I know that we can work together to maintain our purposeful and productive atmosphere around school. This week we have communicated with learners that they may not wear blazers for the remainder of term.
FRESH EYES ON LEARNING
Wednesday was one of those days where I got to spend all my time in the classroom. As part of my job I am afforded the privilege of being able to see our learners in action on a regular basis and watch them respond to the input of our great teachers. Wednesday however, was slightly different. Normally I pop into lessons on my own as I am walking around school but on Wednesday I had a few visitors. One of the great things about working in a trust of schools is the ability to share ideas and collaborate with others and that was indeed what we did this week. We hosted our yearly trust review. This involves the headteacher and a senior leader from each of our partner schools, the head of our teaching school, the CEO of the trust and of course, our staff.
The day involved visiting lessons across the school (every subject and teacher was seen), talking to staff and talking to children. The day was a real success and provided us with the opportunity to get some external “fresh eyes” to look at the improvements we have made - the last time they visited was over a year ago before our Ofsted inspection. Teaching came out strong, however what sits beneath teaching is the culture of the school which was recognised as being excellent. Some of the great things that the team had
seen included the following:
• Extraordinary inclusive culture based on strong relationships and understanding individual children.
• Collective effort and a well led drive to improve attendance with creative strategies, which has clearly impacted on progress and well-being.
• Maintaining a positive outlook and strong progress through strong leadership at all levels inlight of the challenges faced.
• Improved communication between teachers and TA’s is having a positive impact in lessons.
A few of the team members had never been to Honywood before. The feedback they gave was lovely. They could not stress enough just how wonderful our learners are. I will feed back to you with more details once we have compiled the report. In the meantime I would like to leave you with a quote from our CEO, Caroline Derbyshire.
“Always a pleasure to spend time with the delightful learners and lovely staff at Honywood School. It is such a calm, kind and caring school. You would want your children and grandchildren to go there.”
There are just over three weeks to go until all of C11 will have completed a gruelling exam season. They will then have one final goodbye at the C11 prom. Prior to the C11 prom we have our intake days for current C6 learners. Currently we are set to have 200 learners attending Honywood in September. We have seen a lot of positive interest in the school recently and are proud to say that we will be well oversubscribed in September. Normally we would cap our numbers at 180, however, the Local Authority asked us to take a bulge year and agreed to fund this upfront. This came about due to the fact that we received so many first choice applications. We only agreed to this
bulge if they were able to fund us sufficiently to be able to maintain our family feel to the school. We are delighted that, with the backdrop of RAAC and the many challenges we have endured this year, families still have faith in what we do at Honywood - thank you!
We know that relationships and the individual learner are important units of currency here at Honywood and in the context of our new intake they couldn’t be any more important. Our cohorts come from 36 different primary schools. There are many children that are the only child or one of two coming from their school. With so many children in this position it is vital that we support them in their transition to feel a sense of belonging as quickly as possible. The great thing about this is that it helps us to create our wonderful family culture.
There are two main factors that contribute to a successful transition:
1. being academically and behaviorally involved in the school
2. feeling a sense of belonging in the school
Our intake days and the start of the autumn term are designed to achieve these aims. I look forward to sharing more about the upcoming cohort in the next few weeks - I can’t wait to meet them all.
Have a lovely weekend
James Saunders
Thank you to the following learners for supporting the Fresh Eyes Review:
Lavinia Ciobanu, Micah Melvin, Greta Zanatta, Charlie Engelbrecht, Thomas Glaser-Kokoszko, Rowan Glenister, Bethany Watson, Samuel Fairbairn, George Golbourn, Victoria Hristova , Charley Omondi, Freddie Brooks, Logan Evans, Faye Longstaff and Grace Williams.
Thank you to the following learners for their support with a recent consultation project with the Crown Estate. The learners were part of a panel looking at the needs of Kelvedon and Feering for future development of land owned by the Crown. The visitors commented on how engaged the learners were and their creative in interesting ideas.
Hayden Camamile-Wright, Harry Dilloway, Holly Cagney, Samuel Delamain, Noah Everitt, Isla Robinson, Annie Tosley, Greta Zanatta, Theo Avelino, Abigail Boughtwood, Avaline Zanatta, Seth Burke, John Cook, Jack Kennedy and Frances Rassell.
PRIDE MONTH
It’s Pride Month, which marks the celebration of and focus on LGBTQ+ communities. It is also an important time to shed light on the difficult everyday situations which many young people who are exploring their sexuality or who identify as LGBTQ+ find themselves in.
According to the NSPCC, children and young people in the LGBTQ+ community may ‘experience homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying or hate crime’. All children and young people have the right to be protected and kept safe from abuse and neglect. LGBTQ+ children and young people face the same risks as all children and young people, but they are at greater risk of some types of abuse. In addition, children and young people who are discovering their sexual identity may be more at risk of grooming, online abuse and being encouraged to take part in underage sexual exploration (Barnardo’s and Fox, 2016; McGeeney et al, 2017; Xu and Zheng, 2014).
Education is key. Understanding the context of their lives and lived experiences empowers us all with a greater level of understanding on how we can protect and support them. For some young people who identify as part of this community, there can be extra challenges to face, something that as parents, carers and school staff, we should all be aware of.
How to support a child or young person in the LGBTQ+ community?
Create a safe environment in which children and young people feel they can talk about their gender or sexual identity. Never force the conversation!
Affirm the conversation: Always thank your young person for talking with you, opening up and being honest. This may also be a good opportunity to remind them how much you love them.
Active listening: Take the time to stop, listen and acknowledge what they are trying to tell you. Acknowledge you won’t always get it right. We all make mistakes, when we do it’s important to own it and apologise; It’s okay – we all make them! For example, if you accidently use the wrong word or phrase, don’t panic. Correct yourself and apologise. This can help your young person understand that you are listening and trying to support them.
Find age-appropriate resources. The danger of leaving young people to find their own resources is that they may encounter harmful or age-inappropriate content online, sometimes of a sexual nature.
Trusted Adults – Talk to your young person about who their team of trusted adults are and who they can talk to, if they don’t feel comfortable talking to you.
Don’t make assumptions. Young people may not disclose mental health issues, bullying or abuse in fear that their sexual or gender identity will be blamed.
Seek out support for yourself! It’s okay if you need extra support as a parent or carer. There are multiple online and in person resources, including organisations specifically for parents and carers of LGBTQ+ people. We have outlined some of these in the Signposting and Further Resources section below.
Whilst children and young people of the LGBTQ+ Community may face different adversities, it is possible to help mitigate these by providing support and understanding. Research has shown that acceptance and support from peers and family help provide protective factors against depression, drug misuse and self-harm amongst the LGBTQ+ youth. Support, such as family affirmation, can have incredibly positive effects on self-esteem, general wellness, and acts as a ‘buffer’ against poor mental health.
The importance of representation cannot be understated. 52% of LGBTQ+ pupils reported that seeing other members of the LGBTQ+ community around their school makes the most positive difference in their daily lives.
Well done Theo!
Theo has just returned from a half term spent in Oxfordshire completing his work experience placement with the Williams F1 team. Theo applied for the opportunity back in February and was selected from a pool of nearly 3000 applicants to gain his placement.
After signing an NDA, Theo was able to spend time accessing all areas of the factory, including the heritage collection of F1 cars driven by drivers such as Mansell, Hill and Senna. He had an opportunity to work in the wind tunnel and model shop where new components are tested, as well as the main race control room. He learnt about all aspects of the F1 business and met people from all across the organisation. He even turned his hand to sim racing
too, qualifying in pole for all of his races. A great work experience opportunity and a valuable on-the-job learning experience.
Well done to Estelle!
Over half term, Estelle received her cap for representing Essex Schools FA 10 times. The u14s have been a strong team this season, unbeaten in their group and reaching the final of the South East Schools FA cup. Essex dominated the final, but were cruelly denied the win when Kent scored twice in the last few minutes. Estelle captained the team in their last match of the season, a victory over the national independent schools FA team.
Well done 8VHi!
Just before half term, 8VHi (Miss Ginn’s Learning group) decided to fundraise for cancer research. As you are aware, Miss Ginn is currently undergoing treatment and her Learning Group wanted to show their support by fundraising. Mrs Hill supported them in making pin badges, selling sweets and pink ribbons for classrooms doors, all to show support for Cancer Research. They managed to raise a fabulous £400! Well done to everyone in 8VHi (HGi).
Kelvedon and Feering Rugby club run Touch Rugby every Wednesday from 7:00 at Rye Mill lane in Kelvedon.
This is open to everyone and is a non-contact, mixed gender format that promises serious fun and a top workout.
If you are 16+ join us on Wednesdays to become part of the community or please do get in contact with Mr Briggs for more information.
Dates for the Diary Tues 11 June C7 Caythorpe Meeting for families 6.30pm Tues 18 June C10 Parents Evening Wed 19 June District Sports Wed 19 June C10 Civic Theatre Gotta Dance Thurs 27 June Intake Day 1 and Parents’ Evening Fri 28 June Intake Day 2 Fri 28 June C11 Prom Mon 1 July to Fri 5 July Enrichment Week Have fun chats with children Volunteer Summer Reading Challenge 2024! Boost your CV Help your local community Talk about books Apply online at libraries essex gov uk Open to ages 14+ Closing Date 23 June
Roadshows
Join us...
Wednesday 26 June
The Old School House, Takeley
Thursday 27 June 2024
Queens Hall, Halstead
Tuesday 2 July 2024
Princes Theatre, Clacton
Thursday 4 July 2024
Smallgains Hall, Canvey Isand
The Essex Local Offer Roadshows are back!
The QR code will take you to the Local Offer website where there is a list of all the services and organisations that will be at each event.
A r e y o u a p a r e n t / c a r e r o f a y o u n g p e r s o n w i t h s p e c i a l e d u c a t i o n a l n e e d s a n d d i s a b i l i t i e s ( S E N D ) a n d w a n t t o k n o w w h a t s u p p o r t i s a v a i l a b l e i n y o u r a r e a ? C o m e a l o n g t o o n e o f o u r E s s e x L o c a l O f f e r R o a d s h o w s
M e e t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m a c r o s s e d u c a t i o n , h e a l t h a n d s o c i a l c a r e a s w e l l a s l o c a l s u p p o r t g r o u p s . E s s e x L o c a l O f f e r
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I n P a r t n e r s h i p w i t h
N o n e e d t o b o o k , j u s t d r o p i n ! S c a n t h e Q R c o d e t o f i n d o u t m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o r g o t o w w w . s e n d . e s s e x . g o v . u k V i s i t o u r w e b s i t e f o r f u r t h e r d e t a i l s