HEADLINES
By James Saunders
MAKING SCHOOL UNMISSABLE
Some weeks I sit down to write Headlines and the words come slowly. Not this week. This week there is much to talk about, and all of it points in the same direction.
Let me start in Belgium. A group of our young people spent last week walking the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. It is a trip we treasure, but this year it gave us something none of us could have planned. Quite by chance, our learners came upon the rehearsal for a military burial — and were given the privilege of standing and watching as preparations were made to lay six soldiers of the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment to rest at Tyne Cot, one hundred and two years after they fell together. One of those men, Private Horace Cook, was from Essex. A local man. Almost a neighbour.
I have spoken to staff and learners who were there, and the same phrase keeps coming back to me: they will never forget it. There was no worksheet that morning. No exam question, no mark scheme, no revision guide. And yet I would wager that those learners learned more about service, sacrifice, history and their own place in it than a term of lessons could ever teach. They stood in a quiet corner of a foreign field and something settled in them for life. That is enrichment. It cannot be examined or downloaded. And I believe every single one of our children deserves it.
Which brings me to the bigger story, and the reason this week feels like a turning point.
Regular readers will know I talk often about our five capitals — moral, social, cultural, knowledge and professional. They are not a slogan. They are my honest answer to the question, “what is a worldclass education actually for?” My answer has never
been “exams alone”. A great education is, in equal measure, about personal development, fulfilment and happiness — about the cultural and social capital that opens doors and shapes a life.
Last week I read a newly published book called “making school unmissable”. The idea is simple, and the evidence behind it is strong: children attend, thrive and flourish when school is somewhere they genuinely want to be. Not somewhere they are merely required to be. So I have been asking myself an honest question about every single day here — would a child be sorry to miss this? And where the answer isn’t yet a confident “yes”, we must set about changing it.
Part of that is a deliberate commitment to adventure — to making sure there is always something on our horizon worth turning up for. A trip, a performance, a competition, a project, a moment like Tyne Cot. And I am pleased to tell you this is not just our instinct; it is now the national direction too. The Government has confirmed that enrichment — sport, the arts, the outdoors, civic life and life skills — is to become an entitlement for every child in every school. We are not scrambling to catch up with that. We are, I’m proud to say, already ahead of it.
But I won’t pretend to you that ambition is enough on its own. There is one barrier, and it is the same one every year: money. The truth is that school budgets simply do not stretch to the universal offer I dream of — one where these life-changing experiences belong to every child, regardless of what their family can afford. When a trip depends on what’s in a parent’s pocket, enrichment quietly becomes another way the world divides the lucky from the rest. I have watched that dream drift further out of reach for eight years as Covid and the cost of living has impacted us all. I don’t want to watch it drift any longer.
A dream worth sharing — and an invitation
So let’s do something new, and bold, and genuinely hopeful. Let’s establish a community-led charitable foundation — owned not by the school, but by our community — whose purpose is to fund a universal enrichment entitlement for every Honywood child. Imagine it: an entire year group climbing a mountain, sleeping under the stars, sailing down the river Seine, sitting in a seat of government, watching a play in a theatre, learning to save a life. Not for the privileged few. For all of them. As a right.
Last night we held our very first gathering of parents and community members willing to help build this. I want to thank everyone who came along for a cup of tea and a chat— it takes a certain kind of person to give up an evening for a dream that doesn’t yet exist, and I was moved by the warmth in that room. I sold the meeting as the first episode of The Apprentice - where we form as a team and identify everyone’s roles. Unlike the Apprentice, this group were not there for stardom; they simply want to make a difference.
This is only the beginning, and there is room for many more hands. If you have skills in bid-writing, law, finance, fundraising, communications or simply organising — or if you just believe, as I do, that these experiences should belong to every child — then I would love to hear from you. There is no commitment in saying hello. Drop me a line, no strings attached, at jsaunders@honywoodschool.com.
In Tyne Cot on Tuesday I stood with half of cohort 8. Just imagine being part of sending an entire cohort or even a school to stand where history happened. You could help make that real.
I came into this teaching because I believe that success should never be decided by the lottery of birth. Everything we are building at Honywood — the relentless focus on belonging, on success, on giving every child a reason to walk through our gates each morning — comes back to that one conviction. A school worth not missing. An education that builds character as much as it builds grades. And an entitlement, for every child, to the experiences that change a life.
Dreamers never stop dreaming. But the best dreams are the ones we build together. Thank you, as always, for being part of ours.
Have a great weekend.
SUMMER UNIFORM
With the warmer weather approaching, we are temporarily adapting our dress code to ensure both learners and staff remain comfortable during the school day. This is something that we routinely consider at this point in the academic year.
From Monday 15th June onwards, learners will have the option to choose between one of two uniform routes. Please note that these options cannot be mixed and matched; learners must strictly follow either Option 1 or Option 2 in its entirety. Please note also, this will be in place for the remainder of the Summer term only and we will revert to usual dress code expectations at the start of the new term in September.
Option 1: Standard School Uniform (Modified)
• Blazers: Wearing a blazer is optional (as per our usual relaxation of this expectation for the final half term of the academic year)
• Shirts & Ties: Light blue or white school shirts must be worn with the school tie. Shirts must remain tucked in, and top buttons must be done up.
• Bottoms: Appropriate tailored trousers or tailored shorts must be worn in line with our regular dress code. If a learner chooses to wear a skirt, it must be the branded school skirt worn with black opaque tights.
• Footwear: Regular school footwear applies.
Option 2: Full School PE Kit
• Required Items: The complete, branded Honywood PE kit must be worn. No branded sports t-shirts or alternative sports shorts are permitted.
• Layering & Outerwear: Hoodies, sweatshirts, tracksuits, and joggers are not allowed. If learners wish to wear leggings, they must wear their branded school PE shorts over the top. Leggings worn on their own are not permitted. Leggings must be solid black or navy blue in colour without any significant sports logo/ branding.
• Footwear: Appropriate trainers, as currently worn for PE lessons.
James Saunders
Expectations: Just as with our regular dress code, the rolling up of PE shorts to make them excessively short
is not acceptable. If a learner rolls up their shorts, they will receive 2 strikes on their conduct card. A second offense will result in the immediate loss of their privilege to wear PE kit for the remainder of the term, and they will be required to return to standard school uniform (option 1).
Important Daily Reminders
• Conduct Cards: Conduct cards remain the absolute responsibility of the learner. If your child chooses to wear their PE kit, please remind them at home to transfer their conduct card from their blazer/trouser pockets into their school bag or pencil case. As a reminder, if a learner cannot produce their conduct card when requested by a member of staff, it results in an automatic 2-hour after-school consequence.
• Water Bottles: Learners must bring a full water bottle to school each day. They should use break and lunchtimes to refill them at the water stations. To protect learning time, learners will not be permitted to leave classrooms during lessons to refill bottles.
• Sun Cream: We strongly advise that learners apply suncream before coming to school, particularly as they will be exposed to the sun on the school field during break and lunchtimes.
Another victory for the C7 Coggeshall Town FC boys last weekend. This time it was the “Play on the Pitch” tournament at Portman Road, the home of Ipswich Town FC. A massive well done to Max Lesiak, James Casey, Ozzy Bishop, Jax Sears, Seb Robinson and Fin Weavers.
The boys played 5 matches in all. They won all three group games which saw them qualify for the semi final and advance through to the final. The boys won the tournament by scoring a total of 10 goals and conceding zero. Well deserved Champions!
Albert Ward in 7SPl had his hair cut during half-term. He has donated it to the Little Princess Trust and set up a just giving page for the trust. He has so far raised over £1000.
The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or to other conditions. The charity is also one of the largest funders of childhood cancer research in the UK.
The Little Princess Trust relies solely on the generosity of its wonderful supporters who help the charity give Hair and Hope to so many children and young people with cancer each year.
If you wish to support Albert and the charity here is the link: Albert’s fundraiser for Little Princess Trust
The Earls Colne Millennium Green Trust has been collaborating with local organisations and the Essex Youth Service to explore how they can better engage with and support local young people. Currently, there are no social groups or activities tailored for youth in Earls Colne - and they want to change that. To build something meaningful, they need to hear directly from the young people themselves. We would be incredibly grateful if Honywood learners living in or around Earls Colne could help shape these new plans. The Earls Colne Millennium Green Trust have created a brief, completely anonymous online survey for learners aged 11 to 19. Whether it is a new social club, sports activity, or creative space, they want to know what you would actually be interested in:
Click here to complete the Google Form
Learners, Parents/Carers and the local community are also welcome to get in touch via ecmg.secretary@gmail. com if they would like to discuss ideas further.
7th May to 19th June
8th to 19th June
Wed 10th June
Wed 17th June
Dates for the Diary
C11 GCSE Exams continue
C7 Walk to St Peter’s Church
Braxted Park careers trip
C10 parents’ evening
Wed 17th June District Sports
Tues 23rd June
Wed 24th June
Wed 24th June
25th and 26th June
Fri 26th June
C7 Caythorpe Meeting for learners and parents - 6pm
C10 Paris Meeting for learners and parents - 6pm
C10 Berlin Meeting for learners and parents - 7pm
C6 Intake days
C11 Prom
Mon 29th June Summer Arts Evening - 6pm