2nd October 2026
HEADLINES
By James Saunders
OPEN EVENING Yesterday was our Open Evening for current year six learners looking to join us in September 2027. On the back of several weeks of fully booked tours we have felt a real excitement about the prospect of these new learners joining us. The feedback I have been receiving has been very complimentary and highlighted the impact of our focus on building relationships, getting to know the learners as individuals with individual needs and making school an unmissable experience. I made it clear to families that we are a small family school and have no ambitions for expansion - some people asked me if our new school was to enable expansion. The answer is a resounding no. This is because our culture and ethos comes first. We don’t aspire to build a megalopolis where learners get lost in the crowd. We do not want our learners to become a number - they have a name and are all unique.
Families embraced our traditional approach to standards and our high expectations which were very visible in the conduct of our thoroughly nice children who all acted as superb ambassadors for the school. If you attended the evening I hope you were able to gain a feel for the culture and ethos at Honywood. As always, I recommend visiting our school to get an authentic view on what it feels like to be a Honywood learner. I would like to thank Jude and Freya who both spoke to families last night. Between them they represented the start and the end of the Honywood journey. Both of them did a superb job and were a tough act to follow. We are already beginning to receive provisional numbers. Due to high demand we will continue to
support visits over the next two weeks. If anyone would like to book onto a tour please contact the school office. I wish you all a lovely weekend.
James Saunders
‘Children are 20% of the population but 100% of our future’. The words of Tony Blair from 2007 recycled as the title of a recent tweet I came across got me thinking. Now I don’t usually like to wish my life away or think too much about getting older but a recent birthday got me thinking about my (still a way off) retirement. This statement prompted me to reflect about why schools are so important to the future of our society – to our future. Society is somewhat fragile at the moment and if its ills are going to get better the responsibility lies firmly with the next generation – our children. Underneath this tweet was another, from Ofsted. It was about British Values. Ofsted are interested in how well we are positively preparing our learners for life in modern Britain. Democracy, law, liberty, respect and tolerance are included in the list. I don’t think any of us would disagree with these. For me, British Values boils down to two things: altruistically caring and respecting for each other regardless of any differences, and a good cup of tea. However you interpret British Values, our commonality is that they will shape our future. The values we impart to our children will impact the way the country is governed and the laws that operate as well as the healthcare and services that we will
engage with. Every interaction we have with a child can either have a positive or negative effect on the values they take with them into that society. They may not thank us right now but if we have done our job well, rest assured they will thank us in the future by shaping the world we live in for the better. They will take care of the next generation; they will keep us safe; they will take care of our health; they will entertain us; they will set our laws; they will feed us and they will lead us. We know it takes a village to raise a child which puts the responsibility on us all to ensure that the 20% are equipped with the right values to secure our future. Skills can come and go but living through a set of values such as trust, respect, equity and excellence will last a lifetime. Every time we interact with a child we are shaping so much more than their ability to pass an exam we are shaping their values and their ability to navigate life making the right decisions. In the words of Disney: ‘It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are’ Where do British Values appear in the Honywood Curriculum? At Honywood School we are committed to preparing every learner for life in modern Britain. Alongside our own school values, we actively promote the four fundamental British values identified by the Department for Education: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. These values are built up over time, not covered in a single lesson. Learners are introduced to British values in Year 7 PSHE, build on this with a dedicated session on tolerance and mutual respect in Year 8 PSHE, study a full module on British culture and values in Year 9 Core Philosophy, Religion and Citizenship (PRC), and connect these values to realworld safeguarding contexts, including extremism, in Year 10 PSHE. Democracy In Year 9 Core PRC, learners study the UK’s political system, including the main political parties and
the political spectrum, the roles of the House of Commons and House of Lords, and the Nolan Principles of public life. They consider what it means for everyone to have a vote and a say in how the country is run, and where that principle came from. This gets put into practice in Year 10 ‘Democracy Day’. The Rule of Law In Year 9 Core PRC, learners examine the historical roots of the Rule of Law, including Magna Carta (1215) and the English Civil War, before debating the motion ‘The Rule of Law is an essential part of British society’ from historical, sociological, ethical, religious and cultural perspectives, using our Oracy Framework to structure their arguments. This builds directly into their later study of law and crime, deepening their understanding of the UK justice system. Individual Liberty In Year 9 Core PRC, alongside our wider PSHE/ RSE curriculum and pastoral support, learners are introduced to individual liberty - the principle that, provided they are not harming others or breaking the law, people are free to make their own choices about self-expression and belief. Mutual Respect and Tolerance Respect is one of our core school values. Learners are introduced to British values, including mutual respect and tolerance, in Year 7 PSHE, and revisit this directly in a dedicated Year 8 PSHE session on tolerance and mutual respect. In Year 9 Core PRC, they go on to explore the diversity of modern Britain, including the impact of the British Empire and Commonwealth migration, among them the Windrush generation, on British food, sport, music and religion, and debate the question ‘Is Britain a Christian country?’, examining the history of the Church of England alongside the range of faiths practised in the UK today. This builds on the six major world religions studied earlier in our Philosophy, Religion and Citizenship curriculum. Bringing it to life At the end of the Year 9 British Culture module, learners choose an aspect of British culture or values they have studied and create their own resource to explain it to someone else, a leaflet, a speech, a poster or a short video, and their understanding is checked through assessment. Keeping learners safe Promoting British values is closely linked to our
duty under the Prevent strategy to protect learners from radicalisation and extremism. Learners study extremism directly as part of our Year 10 PSHE programme, and our wider approach is set out in our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and our Prevent Safeguarding Appendix, both available on our School Policies page.
A great start to the Cohort 7 football team, beating Ramsey academy 14-0. The quality and class of the team did not take long to settle in to the game. The build up and clinical finishing took them very quickly into a unassailable lead. All players showed a high level of skill with some excellent phases of play working the ball from the back resulting in chances and goals being scored. The whole team contributed to this well deserved victory.
Last weekend Phoebe in C10 took on the challenge of a hyrox style competition called 'we are flat out' in London. She partnered up with ex learner Emma Jullien and together they completed the challenge in under 56 minutes. They had to run 500m between each workout station which involved 1.2km ski erg, 100 10kg weighted squats, 2.5km bike, 50 Burpees, 1.2km row, 200m 16kg X2 farmers carry, 100m 10kg weighted lunges and 100 kg weighted chest to overhead raises. (They beat their mum's by 45 secs). She was then invited to DJ for 3 hours to keep the athletes motivated. Amazing determination, stamina, strength and perseverance.
Starting Monday 21st September - our Lead and Deputy Lead Learners will be available every lunchtime to support C7 with any IS they would like support with. No booking, just turn up!
Dates for the Diary Mon 21 Sept - Fri 9 Oct
C6 Tours
Wed 7 Oct
C7 Road Safety Performance
Wed 14 and Thurs 15 Oct
C11 Mock GCSE PE Practicals
Thurs 15 Oct
C7 Halloween Disco - 6pm - 7.30pm
Fri 16 Oct
C8 HPV vaccinations
Fri 16 Oct
Break up for half term
Mon 2 Nov
All learners return to school
Thurs 5 Nov
Flu Vaccinations
Thurs 12 Nov
C9 Parents Evening - 15.30 - 18.30