Headlines By James Saunders 25th January 2019
Right now however, we are putting some energy into the immediate - C11.
A Brilliant start to the Brilliant Club
I would like to congratulate our C9 and C10 Brilliant Club Scholars who, this week, had their first seminar with their PhD tutor from Cambridge University. I had the pleasure of talking to their tutor, Jen prior to the seminar. She specialises in Children’s literature and will be sharing her expertise with our learners over the next few weeks as she guides them through the process of conducting academic research. She took me through the course guide that she had produced - it will clearly challenge the thinking of our learners and will set them up with the high level skills needed to apply to the top universities in the country. I am looking forward to sharing the outcomes of this project with you later this term. Balancing short term and long term goals
Recently I have been sharing some of the changes that are on the horizon for the next academic year. These are part of our overall school develop plan objectives. Often when talking to families about these changes I have a long term vision in mind. When these families are approaching the end of their time with Honywood it can often be difficult to see the immediate impact. Juggling short and long term aims is never an easy process. On the one hand, we have collectively built a vision that will take us forward as an organisation over the long term. On the other, there is an expectation that we have a positive impact on our results this summer so that our current learners in C11 have the best chance possible. We have already implemented many changes with the aim of providing children with an increased diet of challenge and learning in order to improve their outcomes. It feels that our model and vision is very definitely the right thing to be doing feedback at a national level has also suggested so. Just last week I had an email from a colleague who is meeting with the DfE and wants our capitals framework to be a part of that meeting. However, we have to temper our long term vision with reality: the need to make a demonstrable impact in the short term namely, with C11. You see our vision is not a quick fix and cannot be implemented overnight. Whilst our changes are taking effect it is clear that those who will benefit the most are the ones lower down the school, however, we must balance that with support for C11. You can’t run a school on intervention strategies alone. Well you could, but I don’t think it would be a very good one.
Over the coming weeks we will be implementing a number of initiatives designed to support our C11 learners to achieve their full potential. Teams have reviewed the data from the mock exams and will be identifying target groups and individuals. We will be taking a considered approach in directing certain learners to additional sessions after school to focus on the key learning that they require to achieve. We will be writing to families shortly to share our additional C11 offerings. It is a short half term and believe it or not we are already passing the halfway point; just three weeks to go. Before we know it we will have finished the term and for C11 will begin the exam season. I would like to encourage not only C11 learners but all learners to make the most of this short term. We have begun to roll out our weekly Google Classroom digest. Please use this as an opportunity to engage in conversation about what your child has been learning each week. And do provide us with feedback on how we can improve this form of communication. I wish you all a great weekend. Thanks To: Rafe Donnelly, Dominic Larner, Mia Stimson, Lizzie Grinter for meeting our visitors from Sweden this week and to Layla Al-Riyami, Crystal Ardron, Charlotte Baker, Ebony Blowers, Corey Bowers, Charles Calisin for leading tours with them. To: Layla Al-riyami 8RPH, Crystal Ardron 8MHA, Charlotte Baker 8AGI, Ebony Blowers 8AGI, Corey Bowers 8CTH, Charles Calisin 8CPE, Gabriella Caprioli-blake 8JLA, Beth Chapman 8AGI, Isabel Corbett 8CTH, Zoe Dines 8MHA, Grace Divine 8AGI, Makala Dunne 8MHA, Rose Forster 8JLA, Nick Gillard 8AWE, Xanthe Goodman 8JLA, Amelia Greenaway 8CPE, Charlie Jones 8JLA, Thomas Last 8CPE, Thomas Mardle 8AWE, Nicholas Mckeown 8AGI, Maddison North 8JLA, Jake Ring 8RPH, Nathan Spraget 8JLA, Kye Stedman 8AGI, Marcia Swain 8CPE, Rosie Waine 8CTH, Max Welton 8JLA, Evie-Rose Williamson 8MHa and new Lead Learners Faris Bilbeisi, Hannah Byrne, Caitlyn Ellis, Alice Forster, Katie Gurbutt, Holly King, Fraser Mclauchlan, Harry Ratcliffe, Jess Rudling, Kate Southgate for all of their support with tours and oragnisation for visitors from Norway this week.
Absence reporting for learners: With winter colds and sickness doing the rounds at the moment, just a reminder about absence reporting to our school: Learner Absence To report an absence : Call: 01376 - 561 231 - option 1 OR Email: attendance@honywoodschool.com If a learner is unwell during the school day. They should report to the Medical Room and staff will make contact with parent/carer. Medication such as paracetamol or ibuprofen is not kept by the school. Should a learner require medication this should be provided by the parent and will be safely stored in the Medical Room for use by the learner. If a learner has diarrhoea or vomiting they should stay away from school for 2 days after their symptoms have gone.
Dates for the diary W/c 28th January
C11 Mock MFL Speaking C11 Learning Group photos in LS3
Saturday 2nd February
German Exchange depart
Sunday 10th February
Feel Good Fayre
Thursday 7th February
C7 Disco
Wednesday 13th February
C10 MADE training School Production Night 1 — Bugsy Malone!
Thursday 14th February
School Production Night 2 — Bugsy Malone!
Monday 18th February to Friday 22nd February
Half term break
Wednesday 27th February
C11 Dance Show
Thursday 28th February
C11 Whole cohort photo
Tuesday 5th March
C9 DTP and Meningitis vaccinations
Thursday 7th March
World Book Day and Dress Down Day
Wednesday 13th March
C8 Guided Choices evening 6:00pm
Thursday 14th March
Primary Learning Day (Year 5 Expressive Arts)
For further information on illness please refer to the NHS guidelines 'Is my child too ill for school?' The link has been included below. https://www.nhs.uk/…/health…/is-my-child-too-ill-forschool/
Thankyou to our Cohort 8 Duty Receptionists
Ryan Mortier Teigan Scott Marcia Swain Harlie Turp Lienke Viljoen Henry Whistler Kieran Wilding Isabel Willis Josh Rush Vinnie May
IS Club runs on the following days in CS2: Monday & Tuesday 3:20—4:30pm Wednesday 3:00pm—4:00pm
Tickets on sale now £6.00/£4./50 Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th February
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Parents’ Time Members of the Leadership Team will be available to see parents without appointment: Monday
7:15am—8:00am
Wednesday
3.00pm—3.45pm
Friday
7.15am—8.00am
Tours for current and prospective parents are available on Wednesdays , 9:15am—10:15am.