Lead Learners Meet James Saunders Page 3

C7 Football Report Page 5

Issue 625 - 20th April 2018

www.honywoodschool.com | Tel : 01376 561231

The last year has been a real exercise in patience for me. If, a year ago, you asked me if I were a patient man I think I would have hesitated to answer with any degree of confidence. I can however confidently tell you that I have learnt a lot about myself over the last year and, although the wait may have at times felt to you like the school has been in a state of limbo, I definitely feel that in the long term our whole community will benefit from the extended transition period. I am certainly a lot more prepared for this job now than I was when I was appointed and can tell you with certainty that my ability to exercise patience has vastly improved.

I have arrived this week with, I hope, minimum fuss or fanfare. Business as usual was my plan so that our learners could continue with their learning uninterrupted. I have been touched by the warm welcome I have received from learners, staff, parents and the wider community; thank you to you all.

During this week I have continued to get out and about to see and talk to our learners in their classes. I have seen: engaging group work in English with learners developing their knowledge of Liverpool in the 1970s; stretch and challenge in Maths as learners deepened their understanding of mathematical concepts; active learning in Science with learners testing hypotheses, and focused revision in Media and Business using a range of personalised approaches. I have also enjoyed speaking to each cohort through an assembly; hopefully they will know a little more about me now. This week I have met cohorts 8, 9 and 10; I am looking forward to meeting Cohort 7 and 11 next week and judging the winner for our rescheduled World Book Day on Monday.

I would like to thank the Lead Learners, Connie Sarti (10HTr), Georgia Meyer-Hek (10OCi) and James Smith (10MRa) who interviewed me on Tuesday. They came up with some tricky questions and handled my curve balls and humour really well.

I am sure you have a range of unanswered questions about the direction of the school and any developments that I intend to implement. To that end I thought it would be useful to keep you updated on my plans over the next few weeks.

I am currently working with the leadership team to create the next phase of our school development plan. This will draw upon the feedback that you provided me with last term, as well as feedback from staff and learners. We will use this data to help identify our collective priorities and carve out the next stage in our vision. I shall use the iGazette to keep you updated on this process over the coming weeks.

Congratulations

To Olivia Street (9KCo). We received the following email from the director of a company Olivia has been working with:

Yesterday I had the pleasure working with Olivia Street, this is not a first, I often work with Olivia and whenever I do, I am always impressed, which is why she was a natural choice when I was selecting the team that would serve HRH Princess Anne, afternoon tea.

From the moment Olivia arrived till the moment she left, she was well presented, polite, quick thinking and when presented to HRH she curtsied like a pro.

We wanted to let you know what a star student she is and what an asset she is to your school, the influences you are bearing on the youngsters in terms of communication, respect and presentation is being used in her life outside of school. She was thorough and showed great common sense in terms of her work, asking for guidance when needed and giving advice when requested, she remained calm at all times and nothing phased her. These are qualities companies like myself are looking for in all employees. Well done to Olivia, she did everyone proud!

Respect codeIt looks like the weather is finally improving and I for one welcome a bit of sunshine. However, with sunny and warm weather it is very easy to slip into a more relaxed holiday mode. May I remind you to ensure that the respect code is adhered to regarding clothing and that learners should be dressed appropriately for school.

Headlines By James Saunders

Favourite tv show:Shows such as Spooks, Person

of Interest or Only Fools and Horses

Favourite film:Run Lola run or Pulp Fiction

Preferred newspaper:The GuardianThoughts on reality tv:Not keen!Worst thing you did as a child:

Dangled my younger sister over a pond by her

ankles….Are you a saver or a spender:

I’m both. I love to treat my family

What small things make your day better:A hug from my children

On Tuesday 17th April 2018 three of our Lead Learners were given an opportunity to interview our new Headteacher, James Saunders. During their time spent with Mr Saunders, they were excited to find out more about “the man behind the role” using some interesting questions!

Headlines By James Saunders

Lead Learners Interview with James Saunders

Favourite book:

Dialogues of Plato - Gorgias

Least favourite film:

Spawn

What would your last meal be:

A burger will all the trimmings

If there was a movie of your life, who would play

you:

Eddie Redmayne

Do you have any pets:

Unfortunately no longer, previously a cat. I

inherited it from my Grandfather. It was

originally a stray and was called Whitely

What is your favourite smell:

A racetrack! I love racing and the smell

of burnt petrol and burning rubber

evokes memories of time spent

racing.

Favourite tv show:Shows such as Spooks, Person

of Interest or Only Fools and Horses

Favourite film:Run Lola run or Pulp Fiction

Preferred newspaper:The GuardianThoughts on reality tv:Not keen!Worst thing you did as a child:

Dangled my younger sister over a pond by her

ankles….Are you a saver or a spender:

I’m both. I love to treat my family

What small things make your day better:A hug from my children

Quotes from our Lead Learners:

“Chatting with Mr Saunders was a really lovely experience and it was lovely to get to know our new Headteacher. It was really interesting to find out new things about him and who he was before he became a Headteacher.” Connie Sarti

“It was wonderful opportunity to get to know our new Headteacher and a great insight into his life before Honywood.” Georgia Meyer-Hek

“I found it very interesting yet insightful experience which I thought was very relaxed.” James Smith

Favourite quote:“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Oscar WildeIf you were an animal, what would you be:A chimp

If you were on a desert island, what three things would you take:A Machete, a crate of paper and a box of pencils…The machete to build anything I need and the paper and pencils to document it!If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be:Daydreamer, curious and fast.

Is it a glass half full or a glass half empty:Half full!

Favourite song/artist:Al Green – “Let’s stay together” favourite song. The Prodigy as one of my favourite artistsDo you have any hobbies:Mountain biking and running

What do you like to do in your spare time:Spend time with my familyWhat skill would you like to master:Yoga – it looks so calm and zen.

What’s your favourite drink:Tea (controversially - milk in first then water!)What are three interesting facts about you:I used to race karts and then worked up to a formula ford one seater.Once worked on a farm changing the glasses on pheasants…Once met Matthew Perry – Chandler from Friends!

What would be your ideal way

to spend your weekend:

Time with my family, maybe a city

break or time in London visiting a

museum or dining out.

What are you interested in that most people

haven’t heard of:

Acousmatic music – music that focuses on the

sound not the context.

What is the most interesting place you’ve been:

On a visit to China, my wife and I came across a temple,

the colours, sounds and atmosphere have remained

with me. We were met by two young Chinese girls

who offered to show us around the temple for

no other reason than to develop their English.

Wonderful memories of a moment in time.

If you could live anywhere in the world

where would you live:

A small unpopulated Greek island

would be wonderful

Team: Harry Arkle, Alex Barnyard, Louis Byrnes, Harrison Cross, Josh Farrow, Brodie Henrici Fernandes, Luke Holland, Taylor Hughes, James Risson, Ethan Skubich, Hadley Quattrici, Alfie Spurgeon and Kieran Wilding.

Ramsey 2 Honywood 3

In a close and exciting game, Honywood took the lead through a well taken free kick from captain Ethan Skubich. Both sides had a number of chances to score with Kieran Wilding and Alex Banyard coming close to adding another goal for Honywood before Ramsey eventually equalised with half time approaching. During the second half, Honywood began

creating more opportunities and after an exciting run, James Risson capped an excellent performance by beating two defenders and scoring from 20 yards. Both sides then strived to get ahead with some excellent play and Ramsey scored the equaliser late in the game. Honywood really had to dig deep to get the winner and it came with just minutes to spare when Alex Banyard hit the back of the net from a well taken corner by Brodie Henrici Fernandez. Everyone in the team contributed to the win but it was Alfie Spurgeon who produced a man of the match performance.

This was an excellent all round effort by the Cohort 7 team as Ramsey were a well organised competitive opposition. Well done lads and good luck in the final.

Favourite quote:“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Oscar WildeIf you were an animal, what would you be:A chimp

If you were on a desert island, what three things would you take:A Machete, a crate of paper and a box of pencils…The machete to build anything I need and the paper and pencils to document it!If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be:Daydreamer, curious and fast.

Is it a glass half full or a glass half empty:Half full!

What would be your ideal way

to spend your weekend:

Time with my family, maybe a city

break or time in London visiting a

museum or dining out.

What are you interested in that most people

haven’t heard of:

Acousmatic music – music that focuses on the

sound not the context.

What is the most interesting place you’ve been:

On a visit to China, my wife and I came across a temple,

the colours, sounds and atmosphere have remained

with me. We were met by two young Chinese girls

who offered to show us around the temple for

no other reason than to develop their English.

Wonderful memories of a moment in time.

If you could live anywhere in the world

where would you live:

A small unpopulated Greek island

would be wonderful

The weather has been so nice this week that I wanted to get the learners outside in the sun during LS3. The theme was finding 'beauty in the school grounds' and 7RFl had a learning group photo competition. The learners explored the grounds during LS3 and took pictures of things that interested them.

First place to Olivia Mckenzie Second place to Sophie Morris Third place to Charlie Lunn

Well done guys with your photos being selected by the judges for composition, colour arrangement and reflecting the theme of beauty in the school grounds.

Mr FlandersLearning Group Leader

7RFl Photo Competition

C7 Football Report

Charlotte PerellaEnglish Subject Team

Welcome New Staff

Jessica DysonSEND/MLH Team

Sophie DicksonSEND/HLH Team

During the second week of the Easter holidays the Family Learning Team ran an Easter activity week for our C7 and C8 learners.It was four days of fun morning activities followed by outings in the afternoons. The learners learnt what geocaching is and had the opportunity to give it a go. They managed to find four caches in Coggesahll and were keen to look for more.

On Wednesday they went to the discovery centre in Braintree and took part in a pond dipping activity. They found lots of interesting creatures and everyone managed to stay relatively dry!

Thursday saw the learners travelling to the beach at Mersea. We were looking for some large flat stones to join in with the secret stone challenge online.

On Friday the learners all chose different designs and painted their stones, they have taken them home to find a good hiding spot for them. They then baked either cookies or cupcakes and spent the afternoon taking part in highly energetic games such as human hungry hippo's. All the learners displayed exemplary behaviour and seemed to have a fantastic time.

Easter Activity Week

Cohort 11's challenged themselves to find a healthy balance between work and rest during the Easter Holidays as they prepared for their exams. To help the cohort with their studies, numerous members of staff gave up their holiday time to offer revision and support sessions. Over 22 revision sessions were run by members of staff, with 150 of the 200 learners attending multiple sessions over the two weeks.

"I found the Easter support sessions really helpful. It was great being able to get directed support for my subjects that I need to work on." Holly Copping

"I found the revision sessions tremendously helpful and greatly appreciate all the support from my teachers who gave up their holiday to help me and my peers" Harry Critchley

C11 Easter Revision

The fourth Feel Good Fair opened it’s doors on Sunday with the kind support as ever from the Scout Group. As readers of the iGazette will now realise, the Fair has a focus on community, local small business, and ethical sustainable living. The added bonus from all of this positivity is that money is raised through Spirit of Honywood to provide better learning opportunities for the learners at Honywood.

We had a wonderful selection of traders. We had a Chimney Cake Company, Vegan Chocolate and fudge, zero waste purchases, Leons incredible foraged foods to name but a few highlights, and a teaching room with a focus of Make Do And Mend.

Sally Ure kindly helped people learn sewing machine skills and clothing repair, Chris from Repair, Reuse, Recycle was on hand for maintenance and support, and the wonderful Watts family as ever showed their support in kind-living by offering bike maintenance, with Emmelene on the welcome desk.

This month we raised a little less for the school with lower footfall. The total raised however was still £206 with all of that going back into the school.

Next month’s focus is Give And Take. If you have loved items at home that you feel could go to a better home, please bring them along. You can exchange for items you may feel would be better suited to yourselves.

The time for the event is changing to 11am-3pm. Mays event will be May 13th. We will also have live music, a pop-up bar for the sunshine and a focus on communities such as Freecycle. Find our wonderful write-up in this months Essex Life Magazine!

Please support this next event. There is so much positivity surrounding the day and it is design to be inclusive for all, regardless of your views on eco-living.

I would also be interested in hearing from any parents who would like to have a direct influence on this event in forming a Feel Good Collective. If you are at all interested, please drop me an email at essexgreenmarket@honywoodschool.com

Stacey Lockett

Feel Good Fair

Cohort 9 learners who opted to go on this trip were rewarded with an action packed day! They had the opportunity to investigate a theft crime scene where they learnt the importance of such things as dental impressions, finger prints, DNA, phone history, shoe marks and lots more. Learners had a go at finger printing and matching footprints. They also discovered lots of interesting facts:

• Doctors have to certify death and the only time a policeman can do this without a doctor is when the body is decapitated

• Dental impressions are not as good as finger prints and DNA because teeth marks change over time• Lip prints are unique• It only takes an average of 7 minutes before a fly lands on a dead body and lays eggs• Not only is a shoe print useful but the top of the shoe can be identified using CCTV cameras• Every time a new trainer is made, a pattern is sent to the Police for their records – NIKE makes the most

trainers and has 2000 on the database!• Most TV programmes are factually incorrect when it comes to crime scenes but the most accurate

programme is ‘The Wire’

Next we all went into the Lecture Hall for a Show “Cracking the Code: The Genetics of Superheroes” where we drew comparisons between superheroes and humans and looked at mutant genes. From 24,000 genes everyone is born with about 200+ mutations, most of which are harmless. We share 98% of our gene pool with chimpanzees and 50% with a banana! Did you know there is a Supergoat which makes silk milk?

We had a quick half hour lunch and then on to the next workshop: Mini-medics. Here everyone had the opportunity to try out lots of equipment such as glasses which simulate macular degeneration or specs which simulate sight when drunk! Used a syringe to take (fake) blood from a model; tested lung capacity; blood pressure; simulated keyhole surgery; joint replacements; using equipment to see into the back of the eye and much much more. It was great! There are so many different careers related to medicine e.g. Biochemist, Medical Engineering, Physiology, Medical Physics

Finally off to the market place to talk to employers about different STEM careers and have a go at some of the activities. A great day – everyone had a different favourite!

Big Bang

Honywood PE Sports Clubs Summer Term 2018

Break Lunch After School

Monday

C7 Girls Rounders

SBa

C11 Fitness DBr

Tuesday

Mixed

Basketball Shooting All Years

GWl

Mixed C9 & 10

Table Tennis GWl (MH2)

C7 & 8 Mixed Cricket

DSc (PE2)

C11 Fitness DBr

C8 & 9 Rounders

CTh/LBo

Wednesday

Mixed

Basketball Shooting All Years

GWl

Mixed C7 & 8 Table Tennis GWl (MH2)

All Years Cricket GWl

(PE2)

All Years Athletics All staff C11 PE GCSE Revision Club LBo

Thursday

Mixed

Basketball Shooting All Years

GWl

Mixed C7 & 8

Table Tennis GWl (MH2)

Mixed C9 & 10 Cricket EWa

(PE2)

C9 & 10 Girls Rounders FJo/CTh

C11 Fitness DBr

Staff Meetings

Friday

Mixed

Basketball Shooting All Years

GWl

Mixed C9 & 10 Table Tennis GWl (MH2)

C11 Fitness DBr

C9, 10 & 11 GCSE

Club Practical

GWl/DSc/CTh/DBr

C11 PE GCSE Revision Club FJo EN1

Ever thought you could win “The Great British Bake off”?Why not enter your star bake into our competition?

50p to enter your bake or donate your cake to the saleThere’s lots of prizes available to win!

Just bring your star bake to Te.5 first thing in the morning

themed

THE GREAT HONYWOOD

26th April 2018

email lbrown@honywoodschool.com for more details

Don’t like baking?Cakes will also be for sale

Prices start from 50p so don’t forget your cash

On the main stage at lunchtime

Did you bake for the last Bake off and take a photo? Submit your photo to be judged as well

BAKE OFF

My Learning Choices

Ever thought you could win “The Great British Bake off”?Why not enter your star bake into our competition?

50p to enter your bake or donate your cake to the saleThere’s lots of prizes available to win!

Just bring your star bake to Te.5 first thing in the morning

themed

THE GREAT HONYWOOD

26th April 2018

email lbrown@honywoodschool.com for more details

Don’t like baking?Cakes will also be for sale

Prices start from 50p so don’t forget your cash

On the main stage at lunchtime

Did you bake for the last Bake off and take a photo? Submit your photo to be judged as well

BAKE OFF

Enterprise & SolutionsMLCs this week are available to C7 learners that would like to develop their understanding of what the key differences are between Sole Traders, partnerships and Franchises. Sessions will also be available for C8s that would like help developing their CVs and personal statements, ready for the week 37 activity applications and beyond.

Business StudiesMLCs this week will be focused on the ‘Motivation and Retention’, as they continue to work through the 3rd unit of the course – ‘Human Resources’. Sessions will also be available for c10s who would like to go over any aspects of the course in preparation for their mock exam.

MFLCohort 10, with your mock exams for French, German and Spanish approaching now is the perfect time to book an MLC with an MFL teacher to practise your listening, reading and writing skills! Why not book with a friend and you can learn how to practise and revise together!

EnglishFollowing the feedback from your recent assessments, please carefully digest the learning points you have been given. What are the areas you need to improve on? How do you intend to do this? Book an MLC with a member of the English team if you would like some further support and guidance.

My Learning Choices

23rd - April World Book Day/Dress Down Day

4th - May St Omer7th May - Bank Holiday

11th May - C11 Leavers Day12th May - French Exchange

Honywood go to France14th May - GCSE Exams Commence

28th May - 1st June Half Term12th June - Intake Day 114th June - Intake Day 2

14th June - Intake Evening 7pm

Important Dates

Family Learning Teamemail FLT@honywoodschool.comIf your youngster is absent please email attendance@honywoodschool.com

Well Doneto our Cohort 8 Duty Receptionists

Shae O’BrienEloise RigbyTom Vincent

Tommy WaiteJenny Bird