6th October 2023
HEADLINES
By James Saunders
WHAT ARE CHILDREN LEARNING THIS TERM? CURRICULUM SUMMARIES It has been lovely to receive so many lovely comments from families about teaching and learning over these past few weeks. During our daily tour with families, parents have been really impressed with how our high expectations and in class support create a climate that enables children to feel safe and happy. We aim to create a climate that is fully inclusive and allows everyone to access learning free from disruption. Our small classes and positive behaviour contribute to this climate. Feedback from new and existing families has also supported this. It is nice to hear that learners are embracing the many extra curricular opportunities we offer. When we start each academic year, one of the top questions parents ask is “what are the learners learning?” and “how do we make them aware of what children are learning at school”. In response to this feedback we have developed a curriculum section on our website under the Learning Tab. You can access the page here: https://www. honywoodschool.com/curriculum Within this page we have provided links to an overview of what is being learnt in every subject in each cohort. The pages look like this:
Each subject provides you with an overview of this term’s topics, the key concepts and assessment points, as well as what forms of feedback and guidance
they will receive and the key vocabulary they will be learning. If you would like to know a bit more about what learners are learning this term then please use the links below or browse the curriculum area of the website. We hope that this will enable families to engage in conversations about the learning taking place in school and improve their awareness of what is being taught. Cohort 7 - Autumn Term Curriculum Cohort 8 - Autumn Term Curriculum Cohort 9 - Autumn Term Curriculum Cohort 10 - Autumn Term Curriculum Cohort 11 - Autumn Term Curriculum OPEN EVENING Last night was our Open Evening for current year six learners looking to join us in September 2024. On the back of two weeks of fully booked tours we have felt a real excitement about the prospect of these new learners joining us. The feedback I received last night was very complimentary and highlighted the impact of our focus on building relationships and getting to know the learners as an individual with individual needs. I made it clear to families that we are a small school and have no ambitions for expansion. 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. 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.