Headlines - 6June25 by Honywood School

HEADLINES 6th June 2025

By James Saunders

TRANSITIONS

Happy Friday! Well done on making it to the end of a busy first week back. We are full steam ahead toward the end of term but there is still much to achieve. It is vitally important that learners maintain high standards and positive engagement in their lessons. 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.

In a week and a half C11 will have completed a gruelling exam season and will then be heading off to the C11 Prom.

Prior to the C11 prom we have our intake days for current C6 learners. Currently we are set to have over 180 learners attending Honywood in September. We know that relationships and the individual learner are important units of currency here at Honywood and in the context of our intake they couldn’t be any more important. Our cohort will be coming from almost 40 different primary schools. Only a handful of them have more than two children and make up 60% of the cohort. Therefore, the other 40% is made up of over 30 schools. There are many children that are the only child 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.

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.

With C11 on the way out, C10 are now the leaders of the school. The week kicked off for them with Mock Interviews with a range of external employers. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the employers who all commented on how wonderful our learners are. I also spoke to a few learners after their interview. They had great feedback about the process and found it really helpful to them. I am sure this experience will help them as they enter adulthood and need to start attending interviews.

Having completed their recent mock exams, we look forward to our C10 parents evening on Wednesday 18th June. This is a crucial time for parents to understand the specific actions that our learners need to take to enable them to be successful. Previous parents evenings have been well attended and have produced a real sense of energy in the hall as our teachers engage with families and learners. Teachers love talking to parents about how learners are doing and how best to support them. I look forward to seeing C10 families in a few weeks time.

Have a lovely weekend.

PRIDE MONTH

James Saunders

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.

In 2021, Childline reported a 29% increase in the number of young people speaking about ‘coming out’ compared to the previous year.

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.

C8 REPORTS AND GUIDED CHOICES

Families will have received their reports this week which include the Guided Choices for their GCSE courses next year. If there are any queries, please contact Mrs Arthur in the school office.

Austin Holmes

Congratulations to Austin in C7, who completed an emergency first aid at work qualification during half term, scoring 100% on the exam! Well done Austin, an amazing achievement.

Emily Dearsley

During half term, Emily and family completed the 3 Peaks Challenge scaling Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scaffel Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales. Ben Nevis was the first and most difficult mountain as they climbed in freezing rain, high winds and poor visibility. It took a lot of grit and determination but Emily did it! Unfortunately, they didn’t have views at any of the summits but despite aching legs , the

other mountains were a lot more enjoyable to hike! Emily suggested raising money for the local church and while final figures are not yet in, they have raised over £1500 for St Mary’s Church Kelvedon!

Ben Irwin

During the holidays on Friday 30th May, Ben (C7) took part in the Colchester Junior Open which is a golf competition run by Essex Golf Union.

Ben won two awards:

1. 3rd overall in the Under 14’s category.

2. Nearest to pin on hole 4.

Ben played really well and received a golf voucher and golf balls as his prizes from Essex Golf Union. Well done Ben!

COHORT 7

Hedingham 0 Honywood 2 0 - 1 half time

Team: Erina McSweeney (Capt), Mia Overy, Emily Bloomfield, Lottie Ball, Sylvie Rassell, Hannah Cook, Daisy Rybakova, Evie Godfrey, Molly Breese, Ella Thorogood, Ava Courtier, Carla Summers and Sophia Cowling.

The team started well with Mia Overy and Ella Thorogood in attack putting the home defence under a lot of pressure. This pressure finally resulted in Ella scoring from a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area. Honywood continued to be on top of the game with Hannah Cook dominating the midfield. Hedingham started to get into the game but could not put the ball in the net with our captain Erina McSweeney in goal. Daisy Rybakova and Sylvie Rassell playing well in defence and preventing any attack by Hedingham.

The second half maintained the same pattern with Honywood making the most chances, with a great strike hitting the post with the Hedingham keeper beaten. The second goal came from a well taken free kick by Hannah which was flicked on by Sophia Cowling hitting the goalkeeper on the way into the roof of the net.

All the girls played really and did not let the weather conditions phase them. Well Done Girls

Mr Walters