HEADLINES
By James Saunders
CULTURAL CAPITAL
As I have said in the past, I believe that a wellrounded education must include opportunities to develop cultural and social capital - it’s no accident that these two things are really important to us.
Coming up later this term we have our enrichment week. It is a time when all our teachers get the opportunity to see another side of learners by accompanying them on a trip.
“Each child has a spark inside him or her. It is the responsibility of the people and institutions around each child to find what would ignite that spark” Howard Gardner.
The words of Howard Gardner chime very well with the theme of enrichment. I often mention that the real impact of the pandemic in schools and wider society was the decimation of cultural and social capital building experiences. The aim of our upcoming enrichment programme is to create opportunities for our learners to develop their cultural and social capital and enhance their sense of belonging to our community.
I recently read that cultural capital can be likened to a kind of currency or credit score. If you have a good credit score you can access more things. Our approach to the development of cultural capital is just like this. We believe that developing this in our learners will place them at an advantage in the future and will support them in their personal development and to access their learning on a deeper level.
I have often thought that the only difference between state and private schools is the advantage they provide regarding the development of cultural and social capital - the connections, the
opportunities and the ‘old boys networks’. I firmly believe that everyone should be entitled to those same opportunities.
We have already been able to run so many successful enrichment activities this year such as: C7 Mersea Day; C11 Careers Fair; C10 Warship Visit; Thorpe Park Trip; BBC Bitesize presentation; C7 Disco; Twickenham Rugby Trip; Macbeth Trip; Democracy Day; Winter Concert; Community Christmas Lunch; Disneyland Trip; Ski Trip; Apprenticeship Fair; C7 Smashed Theatre; Dance Show; Faraday Challenge; World Book Day; C8 Creative Careers at the Mercury Theatre; C11 London Scavenger Hunt; and this week the C10 Geography Field studies trip.
All of these activities have taken a lot of extra discretionary effort on the part of our amazing staff. For that, please join me in thanking them all. Looking ahead we still have a packed out calendar of amazing enrichment opportunities taking place over the rest of year. I am personally looking forward to joining C7 in Caythorpe in the summer.
The last half of the term learners will have the opportunity to take part in the following:
C10 Mock Interviews; Grange Barn Drama Play; London Musical Theatre Orchestra Workshop; Belgium Trip; C10 Colchester Institute Taster; Braintree Dance Festival; Minecraft Trip; District Athletics; C9 DofE Expedition; C10 Work Experience; C6 Intake Days; Summer Concert; Post16 Evening; German Exchange Visit; Sports Day; C7 Residential to Caythorpe; Berlin Trip; Paris Trip; C8 and C9 enrichment week; Emmanuel College Visit; Pride Fete; and finally, we end the year with our 60 Years of Honywood sponsored community walk.
Whilst for our outgoing C11s the focus has been
firmly on GCSE’s, Honywood is about so much more. Our legacy, and the legacy of every learner, should live on through the opportunities that their education prepares them for. This is why we think that cultural capital is really important at Honywood. I will end with the words of Michael Gove.
“The accumulation of cultural capital – the acquisition of knowledge – is the key to social mobility.” Michael Gove.
I wish you all a lovely weekend.
James Saunders
Lucy Mckean
Lucy completed the nuclear race today in 2hours 10 minutes, a 4k 20 obstacle race with lots and lots of mud.
Lucy did amazingly well and has raised an amazing £1,380 for Cicra.
Tommy Richmond
Congratulations to Tommy Richmond of 10CGA/ LMo who, on 11th May competed in the Under 15's Colchester Open Cup Final with his football team of 10 years, Stanway Villa Reds. They battled so hard for a 3-1 win against a team they had lost 6-1 to only the previous week. To lift their heads against that defeat and come back at them and achieve the win was a fantastic watch. Well done!
COHORT 7 TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Freddie Bacon, Josh Gallagher, Dom Powell and Finley Doughton qualified to reach the final four. In the semi-finals, Dom Powell won a very close game against Finley Doughton by 2 sets to 1 with the final set being 11- 9. The other semi-final proved to be an even closer contest with Freddie beating Finley 14 -12 in the deciding set.
In the final, both players showed great hand to eye coordination, quick reflexes and played some excellent rallies, but Freddie was the more consistent player and won 2 sets to 0.
Well done to all who took part in the tournament. Mr Walters
New School Day Timings from September 2025
The October half-term break for the academic year 2025-2026 will take place from Monday 20th October to Friday 31st October 2025 (inclusive).
As part of the Essex Year of Opportunity and to mark the end of Essex Symphony Orchestra’s 75th Anniversary, the orchestra are inviting young people and their families to attend their next concert free of charge.
The orchestra are presenting a concert of Mendelsohn Hebrides Overture, Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Beethoven Symphony No 6 Pastoral on June 21st at 7.30pm at Christ Church in Chelmsford. The soloist, Anna Hashimoto, is one of the UK's leading clarinettists who has performed and recorded to great acclaim worldwide. Anna will also give a relaxed and accessible pre-concert talk from 6.15pm before the performance.
FREE tickets for students AND their parents or teachers need to be claimed in advance by going to https://www.ticketsource. co.uk/booking/t-gakqrvq and selecting the ticket category ECC Guest and enter the password ESO75.
