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Issue 611 - 15th December 2017

School of Rock Page 4

German Christmas Market Page 8

C8 Paperchain Competition Page 8

Coggeshall Old People’s Welfare Christmas Lunch Page 6

www.honywoodschool.com | Tel : 01376 561231

Headlines

By Simon Mason

School of Rock Those of you fortunate enough to see our school show this year, were once again entertained by our learners to the very highest standard. Every year that we put on shows, I try to reflect as to whether we are maintaining or improving previous standards and over the years I’ve seen some truly wonderful performances. Last night I watched a show that was the equal of any I have seen here.

The professionalism of the cast; their enthusiasm and energy; the way they tackled a complex and demanding script and score were inspirational and showed me yet again why teaching is the very best profession, giving me the privilege of witnessing such astonishingly good learning in action.

So how is it that every year our youngsters are able to put on such a great show for our community?

It starts with practice. The young people performing this week began their preparation for this show back in April. Since then, they have shown the dedication to keep learning their lines, developing their singing voices, practising and coordinating their movement and improving their interpretation of the script and their creation of the characters, so that by Wednesday morning, when the show premiered, they were not only word perfect, their performance flowed as though they had become the characters they were depicting ensuring they not only told the story beautifully but engaged the audience fully in the performance.

This practice, of course, for many learners began years ago. What came across again in this show was a grasp of the skills needed to perform that these young people have crafted over several years.

The confidence they showed has come from their reflections on past performance work and their willingness to keep constructing better technique, better interpretation and better ways of engaging their audience. I first watched many of the youngsters who were performing last night three or four years ago and to see how they have refined their skills through their dedication to keep getting better was incredibly rewarding as this is the mind-set we try to encourage in every learner in every situation – you

have to believe you can get better, but you also have to keep trying, not letting set-backs undermine your confidence, but being willing to learn from them. Every performer I saw this week showed that mind-set, producing some of the finest individual performances I’ve seen on the Honywood stage in the fifteen years I’ve been watching.

As well as magnificent individual performances we also saw exceptional collaboration between the cast. Everyone on the stage this week was a star. You could feel the desire in every performer to see their fellow cast members shine and that collective spirit was communicated incredibly effectively to the audience who became involved in the production through the amazing spirit our performers created.

If you wanted to see what our school is all about, it was on show, on our stage this week. I could not be more proud of every youngster that took part and that includes all of those youngsters and former Honywood learners who supported in the background as part of the technical team and those that participated as musicians. The relationships we work so hard to achieve, based on high expectations, trust and respect underpinned the success of this show. They facilitated the risks learners were willing to take, encouraged every one of our learners to dig deep for the team and rewarded our youngsters with the most incredible feeling of collective success that I know will stay with them long into the future and will carry them forward to even greater success in their learning well beyond their learning as performers.

For those of you who did not get involved, challenge yourself to be in our next production. For those who don’t see that this is a place where they can succeed, come to see the extraordinary things our performers do achieve and be inspired by them. There is not a young person learning at our school who cannot get better through more dedicated practise, whether that is in Drama, Dance, Music, Maths, English, History, Science, Geography or any other subject we learn about at school. Every one of our learners could not only be better at their subjects but could grow their confidence, their craftsmanship, their curiosity and their capability through trying harder to collaborate in their learning – the sum of the individual contributions you bring to each learning experience can always be greater than you initially believed it could be through the connections you

can make when you invest deeply in effective learning relationships; something our performers managed magnificently, but something in which we all believe at Honywood and can be captured more frequently by more learners if we set out more determinedly to achieve this.

With two terms still ahead of us this year and with so many exciting learning opportunities still to come, challenge yourself to raise your standards to the level we saw the young people achieve at our show – if you do, your year will end on a high, your summer break will begin with your pride in yourself at a new peak and you’ll start next September as an even more confident learner with even more to achieve as a result.

Supporting our Community There are undoubtedly some positives about living near to the school, most notably, of course, if you have youngsters of your own attending here, but also if you work here or make use of the facilities through our letting programme. However, there are many people who live locally who do not gain any personal benefit from the school and from time to time feel that the school makes a negative impact on their lives through the additional traffic generated at the beginning and end of each day as families come to collect their youngsters.

The County Council’s decision to pay for far fewer families to have free transport to school has added to the volume of traffic circulating near to the school at set down and pick up times during the day; this can cause real problems for local residents.

Can I ask, therefore that everyone using local roads to transport youngsters to and from school is very thoughtful about how they use the local roads and especially thoughtful about where they park. You may know that you are only going to block someone’s drive for ten minutes, but if they need to use their drive in those ten minutes, why should they have to be inconvenienced?

Can I, therefore, ask everyone to consider our neighbours and be especially thoughtful as we progress through the winter so that our neighbours do not have any negative experiences associated with living near to the school.

Christmas Lunch Can I remind everyone that on 18th December, for Cohorts 7 and 8 and 19th December for the rest of the school, our catering team have prepared a special Christmas lunch. Any learner who has not booked their lunch will need to bring a packed lunch or buy their lunch at break-time on these two days as the only service at lunchtime will be for those learners

taking Christmas lunch. Learners who would like to get further into the Christmas Spirit may wear their own special Christmas Jumper on the day of their Christmas Lunch (i.e. learners in Cohorts 7 and 8 on 18th and the rest of the school on 19th).

Staff News I am delighted to inform our community that Alice Martin has returned to work this week after a period of compassionate leave to address a family matter.

We have begun moving the leadership of Cohort 10 back to her this week and this will continue in the final days of this term prior to her taking sole leadership again of the Cohort in the New Year. Can I take this opportunity of thanking, on behalf of our whole community, Harriet Barber who has been fantastic in her contribution to the Cohort during Ms Martin’s absence.

Congratulations To Eloise Dockerty (11AMi) and James Parkinson (11AMi) who have been chosen to attend the international Scout Jamboree 2019 in North America, a wonderful opportunity for them both.

To Thomas Award (11CHo), Mia Carter-Joy (9JWi), Kaitlyn Hickford (9JWi), Beth Jarrad (10KHo), Oliver Jordan (11SAr), Poppy Lord (9LBr), Jake Mead (9KCo), Tommy Mardle (7AWe) and Freddie Machin (9KCo) for their fantastic performance in the Junior Kelvedon Players production of ‘A Christmas Carol’.

To Luke Evans (8AIs), Noah Morley (8KAr), Emily Pyatt (8KAr), Hannah Read (8KAr), Eloise Rigby (8HGi) and Sam Trevains (8CRs) who entered (and won) an Institution of Engineering and Technology competition held at Tabor Academy this week. The competition requires learners to research, design and make prototype solutions to genuinely tough engineering problems. Our team were given a brief to design an attraction for Thorpe Park and had to construct a prototype component. They had to designate roles, plan their design, create an annotated technical drawing and then build their model to include an electrical component. They had to budget for and purchase materials and finally present their ideas to the other groups and to the judge. The judge particularly commended our learners’ ability to explain, in their presentation, how they had arrived at their decisions throughout the task; their ability to reflect on their own contributions and where the team needed to make changes to improve the design was especially noteworthy. Well done to them all!

School of Rock Wow! What an incredible show. The learners had been working extremely hard since Easter to bring you what was a fantastic show.

This year’s production has created a fantastic opportunity for communication, team work and dedication. This year the Primary and KS3 Honywood Dance group were involved, performing the supporting dance act.

There were many rehearsals, lots of time spent on the creation of the amazing set and support given to the cast in order to help them bring the music, dance and drama alive. We not only had current learners in the cast and band, but behind the scenes and supporting with sound and lights, we are also lucky enough to have former learners that continue to come back and support year after year.

This show is once again the amazing product of what hours and hours of hard work, determination, reflection, refinement and passion our learners show at Honywood.

Thanks must go to all involved, as without everyone’s help the show wouldn’t have been what it was. We are so grateful for everyone’s time and energy.

We must thank all the learners that were on stage, as without their commitment, dedication and enthusiasm the show would not have been such a success.

Learners’ Quotes: I think the performance was really really good. I loved the songs the music and the characters they were all very good at their part.

Vinnie May 7DPe While watching the school of rock I saw all of the cast getting involved and they we all enjoying themselves it was really good to watch.

Charlotte Baker 7AGi The play was fantastic! Made me feel really hype and the singing was great! I loved the set, music and how the learners were using the instruments as well. The singing was awesome and skilled plus the lines were detailed. The lights really set the scene at the end when they performed the band.

Hannah Edwards 7JLa I thought it was excellent, it looked really planned through not rushed. It also had been practised a lot as it showed when it came to performance time. I loved the head teacher when she was singing it was really nice. There was loads of humour in it. Also it would be family suitable. If I was to give it a star rating out of 10 I would give it a 10. Because it was amazing and I really loved watching and all the actors did a great performance for us and I am sure the people who are going to watch will love it as much as I did. Thank you Makala Dunne 7MHa I think the show was fabulous! It was so energetic and it really made you feel like the story was actually happening to someone! It was amazing thank you!

Sarah Elizabeth Evans 7RPh Amazing, the best play I’ve ever seen.

Thomas Last 7DPe I really really enjoyed it. I will definitely now try to be involved in all the shows.

Jake Ring 7RPh

Invited to 10 Downing Street "On the 7th of December my sister and I were invited to accompany the Essex based Charity 'Wipe Away Those Tears' to 10 Downing Street to witness the turning on of the Christmas lights.

'Wipe Away Those Tears' chose our family as they have had a lot to do with my sister, Lily. They helped fund a heart monitor as well as most recently a wheel chair. It was a fantastic afternoon. We arrived at Downing Street, went in for photos outside the door of number 10, then we were led inside. In side we were given drink and food, meet Blue Peter presenters and met the other people who were invited. Back outside we were given hymn sheets, so that we could sing along with the choir, hot chocolate and then we watched as Teresa May turned on her Christmas tree lights. It was an experience that I will remember for ever." Ellie Houghton Cohort 8

Coggeshall Old People’s Welfare Christmas Lunch

Well done to our fantastic team of Cohort 10 learners who supported the Coggeshall Old People’s Welfare Christmas lunch on Monday 11th December in the village. Braving snowy weather, eight youngsters joined the celebrations by serving Christmas dinner to members of our community. Well done to Will Brassington, Maryann Cooke, Mallory Jones, Louie Kendle, Georgia Meyer-Hek, James Raine, Jimmy Rogers and Molly-Ann Watts for being excellent ambassadors for our school.

Subject Teams on Twitter

Follow our Subject Teams on Twitter to see learning in action

German Christmas Market

In Cohort 8 German lessons this week, learners were asked to create a German Market. Their challenge was to create a menu in German, a phrase book of key words for visitors and to research and create a typical market stall for a German market. It was fantastic to see the work that had gone into their stalls and it was a wonderful Christmas atmosphere as they used their German language skills. Well done Cohort 8!

Cohort 9 & 10 Textiles Showcase

This term Cohort 9 and 10 Textile learners have embarked on a journey to creating their own cooperative business "Buttoned Up". They have creatively been designing their own fabrics and making products with them, producing some fantastic results. They have made shopper bags, purses, cushions and decorations, each using their own designs and stamps.

On Thursday 14th December we saw the learners showcasing their first stage on the venture to parents/carers and the local community. The event was a brilliant success and showed the learners work in fun and original ways. Feedback was really positive and the learners managed to raise ÂŁ230 for their next venture of "Project Runway".

Well done Cohort 9 and 10 Textile learners!

Ms Brown

C8 Paperchain Competition

On Thursday cohort 8 took part in an inter-learning group competition that was specially designed to challenge their collaborative and creative skills as well as their ability to work under demanding time pressure in a very competitive environment. The 'Great Paper Chain Challenge' proved to be a great success with each learning group responding magnificently to producing the longest paper chain that they could in 15 minutes. In what proved to be a incredibly close competition 8KAr emerged as the eventual winners with their chain measured at over twice the length of the sports hall! In second place by only a few links were 8AIs with 8HGi taking the award for the most decorative chain.

Congratulations to all those involved with a special mention for the Learning Group Leaders who added an additional competitive edge to proceedings.

Mr Hall

IET Faraday Challenge Noah Morley 8KAR, Emily Pyatt 8KAR, Sam Trevains 8CRS, Luke Evans 8AIS, Hannah Read 8KAR and Eloise Rigby 8HGI represented Honywood at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Faraday Challenge held at Maltings Academy on Wednesday 13th December.

The Team were given a brief to design an attraction for Thorpe Park and had to construct a prototype component. They had to designate roles, plan their design, create an annotated technical drawing and then build their model to include an electrical component. They had to budget and purchase materials and finally present their ideas to the other groups and to the Judge.

There were five teams altogether from different schools and every team worked hard to complete the task. Some of the models were amazingly good but our team not only excelled with their model but they were particularly commended by the Judge for their ability to explain in their presentation how they arrived at their decisions throughout the task; their ability to reflect on their own contributions and where the Team needed to make changes to improve the design. They were incredible! Honywood can be proud of all of them and they can be proud of themselves. They each won a ÂŁ10.00 Amazon voucher and we now have a well-earned Trophy for the Honywood Trophy Cabinet. What a great day!

Mrs Wiggins

Cohort 7 Showcasing On Wednesday 13th of December Cohort 7 and the Art department invited families and staff to celebrate their Georgia O'keeffe inspired art work.

Cohort 7 have been busy developing their understanding of the colour wheel, colour mixing and blending. They have been learning about primary and secondary colours as well as Tones, Shades and Tints.

Learners started with paint to explore what happens when two colours are mixed together and they spent time practicing their control of the media and equally importantly a paint brush!

Learners were then able to apply the knowledge of blending and colour mixing to their flower chalk drawings where they focused on drawing exactly what they could see from photographs. By blending chalks together they were able to create lots of different Tones needed to make their flowers look as realistic as possible.

Everyone who visited the exhibition commented on how high the standard of drawing was! The flowers have really brightened up the studio space! Thank you to everyone who has visited so far and well done to cohort 7 for their fantastic efforts and enthusiasm towards their artwork!

Primary Challenge

Our Primary Challenges finished on Wednesday 13th December for this term. It has been wonderful to see the youngsters learning new skills and engaging in subject learning that they may not normally have the opportunity to do. Yesterday, in Japanese club, the youngsters finished the term off by having a go at creating Sushi! They watched a video and talked about the type of fillings that you can use in Sushi rolls and created their own.

Watch out for the letters that will be sent to primaries in the new year with the Primary offer for the Spring term!

C9 & 10 Food Technology Showcase

As part of the busy evening on Thursday 14th December the C10 GCSE learners in Food Preparation and Nutrition designed a menu to make and serve at a Winter Wonderland Tea Party.

The menu included: · Homemade baguette bruschetta topped with caramelised red onion, feta and pomegranate · Spinach and egg wrap rolls coated in a homemade mayonnaise · Cream cheese and smoked salmon with horseradish and pea shoots on a beetroot flatbread · Star shaped shortbread dipped in salted dark chocolate with a pistachio dusting · Mini cheese cake rounds · Showstopper ginger naked cake with frosted winter berries The learners did themselves proud planning, practicing and executing the testing treats for the evening, where members of the public came to eat, listen to Christmas songs and spend time relaxing with friends.

Well done to Isabel Baker, Lewis Britten, Matthew Cornell, Rafe Donnelly, Mia Morgan, Daisy Moulson and Brandii Whymark. Extra thanks to Millie Callaghan for taking extra time and thought to perfecting the evening’s show stopper cake; Robyn Collison for supporting the evening despite feeling under the weather; and Bethany Toulson and Natasha Stevens for their outstanding culinary skills on the day and supporting the evening and really pulling out all the stops!

Miss Lockett

Week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Due to Christmas Christmas early finish Lunch Lunch only break Pre Ordered Pre Ordered services available

Courtyard Cafe

o

Menu subject to change

Sandwiches

Sandwiches

My Learning Choices Enterprise & Solutions MLCs this week are available to C7 and C8 learners that would like some extra help and advice on how best to upload and organise their recent investigations onto their My Learning Journey page. Extra guidance will also be available on ‘how to write a meaningful reflection’ and ‘how to develop my craftsmanship’.

Business Studies MLCs this week will be focused on revising the C10 ‘Influences on a Business’ end of unit assessment. Going over aspects of the course that learners are unsure of, creating useful and lasting revision resources and practising applying their knowledge across the various forms of GCSE questions, will all be available. ‘How to answer a 9 mark question’ will be a key focus across the next two weeks.

Important Dates 18th Dec - Christmas Lunch C7 & C8 19th Dec - Christmas Lunch C9, C10 & C11 20th Dec - End of Term Variety Show 20th Dec - Early Finish for Christmas Holidays 3rd Jan - 2018 Back to School Week B 5th Jan - Cohort 11 Mock Results Day 9th Jan - Ambassador Assembly Launch 18th Jan - Celebration of Learning Evening 22nd Jan - Deadline for Ambassador Applications 25th Jan - C7 MLA Evening for Families 29th Jan -2nd Feb Quintet Week

Duke of Edinburgh

On Saturday 22nd December our Cohort 10 Duke of Edinburgh group took part in their practise walk. Fortunately the weather was beautiful - cold, bright and crisp.

MFL Are you going abroad over the Christmas holidays and want to practise your language skills before you travel? Are you intrigued about how other countries celebrate Christmas? Have you learnt something this half term that you want to recap? Then why not book an MFL MLC this week?

English How is your learning progressing in English so far this year?

Take some time to review your learning: What have your most recent learning points been?

What is it that you can do to improve?

What’s holding you back from achieving your learning point?

Are you getting the same errors highlighted in your work again and again?

Don’t hesitate to book an MLC session today to ensure you move forward with your English learning.

Well Done to our Cohort 8 Duty Receptionists Paul Dance James Deakin Sommer Dowsett Kirsty Farrell Luke Ferguson

Family Learning Team

email FLT@honywoodschool.com If your youngster is absent please email attendance@honywoodschool.com