The Beacon Bulletin - Autumn Term 2022

The

Brings in Baker

Beacon Life Highlights | Autumn Term 2022

Headmaster’s Welcome

Where did that term go?

It only seems like yesterday that I was conducting my first Staff Meeting, first Assembly, first Year 5 Geography lesson… yet, if you look through the following pages, you will see how much the Beacon boys have been getting up to this Autumn Term. Trips out, residentials, music concerts, fixtures, tournaments, workshops, productions, art installations, recitals and of course, lots of lessons; this has been a fulsome and very rewarding term in every sense. Beacon staff and boys feel a sense of pride in themselves and the school they represent; seldom I have worked in a school before where the whole community so clearly enjoy their shared experience and the relationships built here.

The Beacon is a busy school yet busy in every good way. Boys need to be engaged and constantly interacting with their environment. This school gives boys the opportunity and platform to go outside of their comfort zone, to experience new things, to get excited, to be challenged, to be ‘busy’. All things I am sure you will agree, are evidenced in the following pages.

Happy New Year!

Nick Baker, Headmaster

"It only seems like yesterday that I was conducting my first Staff Meeting, first Assembly, first Year 5 Geography lesson… " - Nick Baker, Headmaster

Mr Nick Baker with his Lego Lighthouse

Mr Baker’s First Term

New Headmaster takes the reins at The Beacon and immersed himself into a busy first term

We welcomed our new Headmaster, Mr Nick Baker, to The Beacon this academic year. Since joining in July, Nick immersed himself fully into Beacon Life throughout the Autumn Term, getting to know all our boys, parents, teachers and the wider community.

In his first term, Mr Baker has introduced some great new initiatives and ideas, such as The Beacon Cup of Kindness, which champions and rewards boys for their achievements and kindness on a weekly basis.

His passion for Lego has well and truly come to life in his office, with a newly built Lighthouse standing pride of place to represent our Beacon Houses that are named after Lighthouses: Cromer, Trinity, Eddystone and Portland.

Mr Baker has made a big impression on our Early Years’ boys, turning up to read them regular stories fully

immersed as a character from the chosen book. So far, he has been a wolf, a fox and a reindeer! He also got into role play for our Year 3 boys, being questioned in the hot seat acting as 'the Dark' from the book they were learning about, ‘Orion and the Dark’.

Mr Baker loves teaching alongside his headship of the school. He teaches Geography to our Year 5 boys, a subject he graduated in and has subsequently taught for several years. It is a superb way to get to know the boys personally.

Mr Baker has been instrumental in supporting school and community events. He even worked his own stall at our Christmas Fair by organising individual Santa-hat photos of all our boys to raise money for the Beacon Parents' Society event.

A fantastic start to the year and an exciting future for The Beacon.

This term saw the launch of 'Baker’s Beacon Blog’.

Each week, Mr Baker writes a personal message filled with weekly news and highlights that feature on his very own blog webpage.

Be Inspired

All Booked Up

It was a great pleasure to welcome a range of authors to the school over the Autumn Term, each of whom gave our boys a wonderful insight into their books and how their ideas came about.

MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman spoke to the boys about their thrilling murder mystery adventure books. They explained the process of two people writing one book and how they worked in unison. They asked the boys to contribute ideas to create a plot for a new book and collectively, everyone worked together to pull together a storyline.

British historian, author, columnist and television presenter, Dominic Sandbrook, gave an inspiring talk about his new series of history books for children. As a renowned author of adult books, the evening event was open to Beacon boys and their parents. We also welcomed guests from Heatherton School. Dominic discussed the historical figures he has written about and answered some questions from the audience, topping the event off with a book signing.

A host of renowned authors inspired our boys during insightful visits at the school, including MG Leonard, Sam Sedgman, Dominic Sandbrook, Chris Bradford and Julia Jarman.

Dominic Sandbrook signs books for the boys

Above: Authors MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman Left: Boys eager to participate in the Sam and MG event

“We were thrilled to welcome various authors to The Beacon, bringing literature to life for our Beacon boys of all ages. The events were fun, informative and engaging. Some of the boys tell me they are already getting stuck into reading the books. Great news!” - Mrs Howard, Librarian

Lastly, we were visited by an old friend, Julia Jarman, who has written over 100 books for children of all ages. Julia has long been involved with The Beacon because her classic rites-of-passage novel, Hangman, is on our Year 7 English curriculum.

Read the full story and find out what Julia got up to during her visit.

Left: MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman books

Above: Years 1 and 2 listening to Julia Jarman read her book

Top Left: Chris Bradford encourages the boys to get involved in a demonstration.

Beacon Life Be Inspired

Japanese Day

Throughout the Autumn Term, boys in Years 1 to 3 have been learning Japanese during their Modern Foreign Language lessons. Mrs Jones, Head of MFL, organised an excellent Japanese-themed day for all our Beacon boys to enjoy, and to educate them on the Japanese culture. The day started with a whole school Assembly, including a special visit from former parents who are native Japanese as well as a mischievous Sumo Wrestler who danced around the audience.

Read the full story and view images.

Below:

Bottom Right: Boy with kaleidoscope

Left: Mrs Fiona Jones, Head of MFL, and Mrs Karine Cook, French Teacher, along with former parent guests. Below: Boys with a Japanese kite

Miss Phillips, Deputy Head of Lower School, and boys in full dress

Head Boy Team

In September, we announced the appointment of our new Head Boy Team for 2022-2023. A huge well done to Zac S (Head Boy), Nick D (Deputy Head Boy) and Theo T (Deputy Head Boy) who have had a great first term getting stuck into their new roles of responsibility.

The boys have started working on one of their new ideas of putting together a starter pack for new joiners in our Upper School at The Beacon. The pack will include guidance on starting at The Beacon as well as a few tips and tricks.

They have been working collaboratively with our Admissions Team to put this together in time for new boys joining in September 2023.

Read the full story and view images.

The boys also took the hotseat in our podcast, Beaconverse. Head to our website and listen to episode 8.

Listen to episode 8 on our website.

We’ve had great fun recording Beaconverse this term, with three brand new episodes to listen to, there is something for everyone

At the start of the term, we welcomed our new Headmaster, Nick Baker, along with our newly appointed Head Boy Team. We spoke to Mr Baker about his plans for the school and asked our Head Boy Team about their leadership roles at the school.

Episode 10 was all about our brand-new Future Sparks Programme that launched in Middle School. We welcomed Mr Miles, Head of Middle School, alongside Leo (Year 5) and Rory (Year 6) to talk about the initiative and how the boys were getting on with the challenges so far.

School Council

In September, our School Council Team were elected and have subsequently had weekly discussions about ways in which they can improve the school.

The boys enthusiastically brainstormed lots of great ideas, including food menu requests and a proposal to upgrade existing equipment at the school. The School Council Team had difficulty choosing among the ideas, so they put them to vote. The ideas that got the most votes were proposed to Mr Baker. The shortlisted ideas for Mr Baker to decide

upon are bringing back cheese on toast and smoothies at break-times, the launch of a newsletter written exclusively by the team of School Council boys, and the organisation of a Table Tennis Tournament.

The School Council are also in the process of making their own suggestion boxes that will be displayed in classrooms for all our boys to put forward ideas for discussion.

We are looking forward to seeing some of these ideas coming to fruition.

Our final episode of the term was possibly our most chaotic (but most fun) recording to date. We welcomed our Housemasters and Housemistress with the four Heads of House to take part in The Beacon School Quiz! They were tested on their knowledge of The Beacon history as well as modern day facts relating to school life. It's impossible not to laugh when you listen to this one!

Listen on our website, on Google Podcasts, Spotify or ask your smart speaker to ‘play Beaconverse’.

Beacon Life Be Inspired

Taste the Rainbow

The aim of our taster sessions is to educate our boys on different types of healthy food as well as encourage them to try food they may never have tried before.

Our Years 3 and 4 boys were impressed to be presented with the colours of the rainbow, enjoying a sample of kale, carrot and beetroot pancakes with a range of sauces, various smoothies and two different types of bread; fig bread and pear bread. The boys got tasting and learnt a lot about the benefits of these different foods in the process.

"Taster sessions educate our boys on different types of healthy food as well as encourage them to try food they may never have tried before." - Dino, Beacon Catering

Our Year 8 boys watched The Red Heart Theatre Company perform a magnificent play about WW1 poets Jessie Pope, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen (amongst others!).

A talented actor from the Theatre Company gave a convincing performance as a Captain in the trenches, having found the pocketbook of Wilfred Owen who had just died. He read through the different notes and poems that young Owen wrote. Our boys were extremely impressed.

Mr Owen's Pocketbook

Chef Dino prepared the tasting menu with the catering team

Red Heart Theatre Company actor with our Year 8 boys

Vex Robots

Our Year 1 boys were excited to discover that their computing subject for the Autumn Term was Robotics.

The aim was to give the boys an understanding of instructions and to teach them how to create simple algorithms using robots.

Our boys have been exploring the different methods of coding in order to control the behaviour of the VEX 123, which were kindly donated to the school by the Beacon Parents’ Society.

We look forward to seeing our budding programmers develop through the ranks in the coming years!

World War II Day

Our Year 5 boys had a wonderful time being fully immersed into their World War 2 themed day.

They enjoyed getting into character, creating paratroopers, solving Enigma code, and much more.

Read the full story and view images.

Year 1 program their Vex Robot

Be Kind

The Beacon Cup of Kindness

Our Beacon boys have been striving towards being awarded the Kindness Cup, an accolade that Mr Baker introduced at the beginning of the Autumn Term.

The Kindness Cup is a trophy filled with sweet treats that is awarded to boys across the school as recognition for their acts of kindness at school.

Teachers and boys have been nominating pupils who have shown exceptional kindness to their peers or to someone within our Beacon Community. Mr Baker selects from the nominations on a weekly basis to announce the winner in Assembly every Monday.

Congratulations to the following boys who have been awarded the Cup of Kindness during the Autumn Term: Alfie S (Year 3), Daniel J (Year 6), Noah B (Year 8), Barney K (Year 2), Lewis J (Year 4), Kian V (Year 4), Byron H (Year 7), Oliver F (Year 6), Maxwell D (Year 7), Jaxon C (Year 2), Rory S and Zach Webb (Year 5).

"It has been lovely to read the nominations for acts of kindness that our boys have shown over the term. A huge well done to all the boys who have won The Kindness Cup so far." - Nick Baker, Headmaster

November

The Gift of Giving

Throughout the Autumn Term, our whole community have come together to support many incredible charities. We raised a total of £715.82, as well as donating a huge number of essentials, gifts, toys and food to local charities for less fortunate families to enjoy at Christmas.

The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal

People Who Help Us

During the first half of the Autumn Term, our Early Years boys were inspired by their topic ‘People Who Help Us’.

To kick off the topic, our Nursery and Reception boys were taken on a tour of the school to meet people who help them along the way. They were introduced to various people among the school community, from Matron, the Facilities Team, our Catering staff to the Headmaster!

Each week, there was a different focus on the topic. During Drama, Reception boys discussed and acted out different job roles, such as Firefighters, Police Officers, Nurses and Vets.

In the classrooms, the boys got creative, working together to make a huge fire engine that they very much enjoyed using during play sessions. Our boys also made x-rays when discussing Doctors and Nurses!

"The highlight of the topic was a special visit from PCSO Lee Bryan (Officer Lee) who parked his police car in the Quad!" - Claire Sharp, Head of Early Years

Nursery boy creates X-ray

Find out what our Little Beacons got up to in their first few weeks.

Boys excited to have a visit from the Police

Matron visited our Little Beacons Nursery to tell them all about her important job and they had fun using her bandages and plasters.

The highlight of the topic was a special visit from PCSO Lee Bryan (Officer Lee) who parked his police car in the Quad! He showed our boys all the items every Police Officer keeps in the boot of their car for emergencies. They enjoyed an insightful Q&A session, then were wowed when Officer Lee put on the flashing lights and the sirens!

Back in the classroom, Officer Lee explained all the important jobs he does, and the boys watched a short video about PC Ben. PC Ben tells the story of a Police Constable called Ben and the many people he gets to help every day while out on patrol.

It was an all-encompassing topic that was not only insightful, but truly inspiring.

PCSO Lee Bryan and our Little Beacons in The Quad Recption boys learn through play

Beacon Life Be Kind

Christmas at The Beacon

Towards the end of the Autumn Term, we very much got into the Christmas spirit.

Our boys made lots of delicious gingerbread biscuits during their Cooking and Nutrition lessons as gifts for the community.

Christmas Jumper Day was a big hit, and the catering team cooked up a delectable festive feast of turkey and all the trimmings to enjoy on the day.

Various performances took place with lots of traditional Christmas carols being sung as well as A Christmas Carol production, proudly presented by our Year 6 boys who got everyone feeling Christmassy.

Our Beacon boys were overjoyed to recieve a Beacon chocolate Advent Calender from the Headmaster and the Beacon Parents' Society.

Over the break, we have been posting our '12 Days of Beacon Christmas' videos on our social media channels to give a range of fun activites and tips for the Chrsitmas break. If you haven't yet seen themtake a look!

Year 2 boys playing in the snow

Gingerbread men made by our Beacon boys,

Christmas Jumper Day

The Beacon Advent Calendar Gifts

Low Carbon Cooking

During the Autumn Term, our Years 4 to 8 boys have been focusing on the impact we have on the environment in everyday life and how there are simple changes that can be made to better our carbon footprint, one of which is in the kitchen.

Our Head of Cooking and Nutrition, Mrs Rowland, has been teaching our boys about the small changes you can do with cooking that can make a huge difference.

Read the full story.

Eco Warriors Assemble

Our Eco Council has been working hard to encourage both staff and pupils to turn off lights when not needed. In doing so, they are keen to help reduce the school's growing and substantial energy costs - and to help the environment at the same time.

Eco Council President, Buddy T (Year 5), and two Vice Presidents, Harry C (Year 6) and Thomas S (Year 6), along with a few other Eco Council members, held a meeting with our Headmaster, Mr Baker, to discuss

proposed plans to redevelop the area outside our Modern Foreign Languages building. The purpose of this project is to attract nature, and to make the area more visually attractive with the planting of colourful shrubs, perennials, climbers and annuals.

A former Beacon Parent, Mrs Kate Shawyer, who is a local Garden Designer at Kate Shawyer Gardens, has kindly drawn up beautiful plans, free of charge, to make the area more attractive to birds, butterflies,

bees (and the whole Beacon Community) with the introduction of plants such as lavender, hellebores, clematis, alliums, snowdrops and buddleia (also known as 'the butterfly bush').

The Eco Council hope that Mr Baker is as excited about the plans as they are, and that the Beacon Parents' Society can support with funding the cost of the project - along with keen parent volunteers, who can help with the digging and planting.

Be Creative

Creative Collaboration

Throughout the Autumn Term, it was wonderful to collaborate with local girls’ school, Heatherton School, to participate in various joint activities.

In Art, our Year 4 boys joined Year 4 girls at Heatherton to create bespoke poppies for Remembrance Day. The boys and girls worked in pairs at each of the Art Studios to mould poppies out of clay, carefully hand-painting them in red and securing them to stalks.

They were nicely displayed in Amersham town centre in between the two schools for passers-by to enjoy.

Poppy installation in Amersham

Read more and view images.

We have been thrilled to welcome Heatherton girls each Monday into our school to join our Beacon Orchestra. The orchestra have come a long way since initially working together and are

sounding excellent.

We were proud to see them perform their showcase during the Instrumental Concert which took place in November.

OUTSTANDING ORCHESTRA

Beacon Life Be Creative

Cooking up a Storm

In Year 4, our boys begin learning Cooking and Nutrition. During their first lesson this year, our boys were tasked with harvesting tomatoes from our Kitchen Garden and preparing the tomatoes to make a lovely tomato sauce. They’re fast becoming wonderful little chefs!

Think Ink

Following a study of street artist, Roa, our Year 7 boys took inspiration from his work to create large scale black and white drawings of different animals. They made fantastic creations whilst experimenting with a variety of mark making using ink.

A brilliant harvest of tomatoes

Sketches of The Quad

We love these wonderful sketches of the heart of The Beacon, encapsulating The Quad during summer and winter.

Credit: shoreditchsketcher.com

@shoreditchsketcher

BLOOMING MARVELLOUS

Some of our Nursery boys worked together to plant a selection of bulbs. Using a dibber, they took great care embedding them in the soil, taking care to place them the right way around. We look forward to seeing them bloom in spring!

TAMBOURINE TACTICS

Our Year 3 boys started looking at the different elements in Music and are already developing excellent ensemble skills. They have been exploring rhythm and learning about note values. A highlight was playing the different parts from 'Snape, Snape, Severus Snape' using percussion instruments.

Using broken musical instruments as the body, our Year 6 boys created sea creatures. They used masking tape and various materials to imitate fins. Super sea sculptures, boys!

Be Challenged

Game On

The year has kicked off to a great start with all boys from Nursery to Year 8 achieving outstanding progression both on the field and in the pool during their lessons, matches and galas.

Our Nursery and Reception boys have been focused on developing their fundamental movements that are at the core of any sport.

Our Year 1 boys got to grips with throwing and catching a rugby ball. As the Autumn Term progressed, our boys participated in small, sided possession-based games.

Our Year 2 boys started developing their hand-eye coordination by throwing and catching different sized balls and equipment. They were also taught the rules of touch rugby.

"Throughout the Autumn Term, we have seen our boys improve tremendously with their sporting ability. The standard of rugby across all year groups is staggering, I have to pinch myself when I see some of the things they can do" - Dave Robinson, Director of Sport

Reception boy enjoying his swimming lesson

Boys in Years 3 to 8 have completed an outstanding term of Sport, from rugby games to cross country and swimming, as well as improving on their technique during their PE lessons. The boys were eager to get back on the rugby field at the beginning of the Autumn Term and have played a staggering 241 matches in total.

Our outstanding sports department have been teaching the boys the importance of enjoying sport. How to work as a team, to celebrate as a team and to share the disappointment of a loss as a team.

Along with a lot of rugby, the boys have also excelled during their Cross Country and swimming fixtures, improving massively with their technique and confidence.

Year 4 rugby on Willsfield

Year 8 boy playing hockey on the AstroTurf

Nursery boy playing football on AstroTurf

Year 2 boy playing touch rugby

Year 8 boy playing Badminton in the Sports Hall

Mr Tenison introduced the Year 2 boys to science in our labs... with a bang!

Spectacular Science

The Autumn Term has seen a remarkable range of Science topics and experiments. Our boys have enjoyed getting stuck into all the different activities and learning about Sound, Electricity, the Solar System and much more.

The Autumn Term has seen a remarkable range of Science topics and experiments. Our boys have enjoyed different activities and learning about Sound, Electricity, the Solar System and much more.

Our Year 2 boys were thrilled to visit the big boys’ Science labs where Mr Tenison put on quite the show introducing them to Science.

Year 3 started off the term with a pop as they headed out to The Quad to experiment with bubbles.

Year 4 completed their topic on electricity, finishing off with a very exciting demonstration with the Van Der Graff generator, which made their hair stand on end!

Year 5 explored the gravitational pull of the Earth. They made paper aeroplanes, differing in size, and measured how quickly they could make it back to Earth.

Year 6 headed over to Willsfield to measure the speed of sound.

Year 7 compared the properties of metals and non-metals.

Year 8 studied forces and were tasked with using springs to prove Hooke’s Law.

An excellent term in Science all round!

Clockwise from below left: Year 5 explore gravity; Year 4 make circuits; Year 2 delighted by the flash bang experiment; Year 7 boy during his lesson

Beacon Life Be Challenged

Balloon Debate

During the first half of the Autumn term, our Year 6 boys worked on their persuasive-writing and speech skills during their English lessons. They learnt different techniques in preparation for the eagerlyanticipated Balloon Debate. Each boy chose a character to represent, and they had to persuade their class as to why they should stay in the ‘hot air balloon’. We heard some compelling speeches from the likes of Martin Luther King Jnr to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Congratulations to Jack R, Adi M, James I and Angus B for executing excellent speeches and winning the debate!

X Marks the Spot

Year 1 learnt all about pirates and were thrilled to find out their teachers had discovered an old treasure box.

After excitedly hunting through the treasure, our boys were challenged to create their own treasure maps. They had to ensure they marked the spot where the treasure was hidden with an X so they could find it again.

Year 6 boy presents his speech

Year 1 boy drawing treasure map

Merchant Taylors’ Maths Competition

Fun and Games

In Year 4, our boys spent time learning about place value by playing some strategic games during their Maths lesson.

One of the games involved throwing 4 dice, creating a 4-digit number and then placing counters on a grid. The aim was to get rid of all their counters. The best part was knocking off those belonging to their opponent!

MATHS CHALLENGE

Our budding Beacon Mathematicians enjoyed taking part in the Primary Maths Challenge during the Autumn Term. They received an impressive number of awards which demonstrates the talent our boys possess for this subject. A very well done to the boys who won gold and reached the highest standards of national Maths. Good luck in the next round, boys!

Merchant Taylors’ School kindly invited us to take part in their Maths Competition which consisted of a funfilled afternoon of Maths activities.

The boys were met by their Head of Maths and a Year 11 student, who gave them a map of the school in preparation for the first challenge. They were tasked with a Maths Trail around the school grounds using the map to navigate! When the trail was complete, they began their second challenge which involved anagrams and problem-solving. Our budding Beacon Mathematicians excelled in the tasks!

Finally, they took part in a ‘Headto-Head’. Alex T was nominated to represent The Beacon, who did very well under pressure. The team gained first place out of all the local Prep Schools.

Year 4 play Maths game

Be Confident

Our Year 6 boys well and truly got us in the festive spirit by putting on a superb performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’.

The acting throughout the performance was at an exceptional level for a show as long as this one. Their professionalism was impressively high for the entirety of the show. Once again, our Performing Arts Team were fantastic and worked tirelessly throughout the busiest of terms!

"The Year 6 boys amazed us with their teamwork, bravery and talents in the Musical adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ We set the bar extremely high this year and the boys rose to it during show week. We couldn’t be prouder of such an incredible effort from the boys, parent and staff team. God bless us, everyone!"

- Zenelle Oosthuizen, Head of Drama

Centre Stage

The Autumn Term is always busy with productions and performances, from Nativities to Concerts and Carol Services with Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. We have been truly spoilt with the talent showcased.

Carol Services

Our Lower, Middle and Upper School boys worked hard throughout the term in preparation for their Carol Service performed in a local church, St Mary’s Church in Chesham.

The services comprised of an introduction from Reverend Canon Edward Bowes-Smith, followed by readings from our Beacon boys and a variety of Christmas Carols sung by Beacon boy soloists, the Beacon Voices and everyone in the congregation. It was a pleasure to hear our Beacon Community singing festive songs in harmony together again.

Reception Nativity

Nativities

Our Nursery, Reception and Year 1 boys put on wonderful performances during their Nativity plays. Their hard work and dedication paid off as they sang many songs whilst using sign language with confidence and wowed their loved ones.

Instrumental Concerts

We were delighted to host an array of events here at The Beacon, including the Nursery, Reception and Year 1 Nativity performances and Year 2's Christmas Concert. We also enjoyed watching boys from Lower, Middle and Upper School perform in their Informal Concerts.

Year 2 Christmas Concert

Beacon Life Be Confident

LAMDA and Instrumental Taster Day

Our Performing Arts Department hosted a taster morning for boys in Year 3 upwards to showcase the exceptional opportunities we have available to them at the school. Beacon boys, along with their parents, spoke to our Head of Music, LAMDA and peri teachers, to find out more about LAMDA tuition, musical and instrumental opportunities.

It was a well-attended event that allowed our boys to trial different instruments and get more insight into Performing Arts at The Beacon.

Learning Languages

Our Little Beacons and Reception boys are always excited for their weekly French session with Madame Cook, our Frenchspeaking specialist at the school.

Over the Autumn Term, the boys were learning the French names for parts of the body, using a familiar English song to help them to learn the new vocabulary.

In Pre-Prep, the emphasis was on aural/ oral teaching of languages. We aim to make French lively and fun for our boys with varied and interesting lessons.

A highlight of the term for our Year 7 boys was the work they did on their map skills in Modern Foreign Languages lessons. Their task was to identify the names and locations of all French or Spanish-speaking countries around the world. Given that there are 21 Spanish-speaking countries and some 39 French-speaking countries (many of which are tiny islands), this was no mean feat!

Madame Cook teaching Nursery boys French

Year 7 in MFL lesson.

Harvest Festival

We were so proud of our boys in Nursery, Reception, Years 1 and 2 during their Harvest Festivals; they did a fantastic job executing their songs and moving in time with each other. It was lovely to see their autumnal artwork showcased that they had worked on during their Art lessons.

"Thank you to all the parents who joined us for the occasion, it was great to see the Spinney Theatre full of families." - Jane Voneshen, Music Teacher

A Win for Cromer

Congratulations to Cromer who came out on top and successfully won the House competition for the Autumn Term. As a treat, the boys were allowed to spend the afternoon in the Old Barn watching a movie and eating popcorn. The chosen movie was Elf.

Be Adventurous

Adventure Awaits

Our boys have enjoyed venturing out of school to enhance their classroom learning on a variety of exciting trips.

Our Year 7 boys headed to Blenheim Woods for a 2-day team-building residential trip. They participated in various activities that tested their ability to work together. They made their own fire, learnt how to cook in the wild and put up their own tents. The trip was filled with many outdoor challenges and the boys had a great time!

Pompeii, Italy

Our Years 6 to 8 boys said ‘Ciao’ as they arrived in Italy on a fun-packed week-long sight-seeing trip! Our teachers had planned a tight schedule for the boys, including visits to Pompeii’s Roman city ruins, the wonderful city of Capri and sunny Naples.

Read the full story and view images.

Battlefields, Belgium

Our Year 8 boys set off on a 3-day battlefields trip to round off the end of the first half of our Autumn Term. They hopped on the coach at 6am, and on arrival in Belgium, they got stuck into the range of activities planned to continue their learning about the history of WWI.

Read the full story and view images.

Hazard Alley

Our Year 4 boys had a day trip to Hazard Alley, learning all about safety. They were shown the best ways to keep safe online as well as offline. The boys took part in various interactive activities and had a lovely time with their peers.

Blenheim Woods

The Great Outdoors

Welly Walks

Every Wednesday morning, our Little Beacons don their wellies and head into the beautiful woodlands surrounding the school. In line with their autumnal topic, our Nursery boys have been learning about trees, leaves and animals that hibernate. They enjoyed rustling through the leaves and a highlight was always seeing their friend, Mr Squirrel!

Nursery Welly Walk

Year 2 Outdoor Learning

In Year 2 Outdoor Learning lessons, our boys undertook several activities relating to exploration and natural wonder. They went on bug hunts, leaf identification and den-making activities for Baz the cuddly toy! Throughout the different tasks, they showed some form of independence, teamwork, communication and listening skills. A great time was had by all and huge amounts of fun!

Year 3 Outdoor Senses

In English, our Year 3 boys have been studying the book ‘Orion and the Dark’ by Emily Yarlett.

In preparation for writing a description from Orion’s perspective, the boys went on a sensory walk around the school. They enjoyed using the four senses of touch, smell, sight and sound to explore different areas around the school.

Back in the classroom they were tasked with writing descriptive sentences about what they had experienced. Year 3

Sensory Walk

Be Prepared

Beacon Life Be Prepared

Future Sparks

We were excited to announce the launch of The Beacon ‘Future Sparks’ Programme for our Middle School boys at the start of the Autumn Term.

The programme is designed to give boys the tools to develop their interpersonal skills and encourage growth of communication and collaboration. It is filled with tasks and challenges that develop different skills.

The aim of the initiative is to inspire our boys to make the most of the opportunities that come their way and encourage them to spark excellence throughout their Beacon journey and beyond.

Find out more about The Beacon ‘Future Sparks’ Programme.

Have a listen to the Future Sparks Podcast

Exploring The Beacon

We were delighted to welcome prospective families to The Beacon for our Open Event in October. Visitors had the opportunity to explore our tremendous facilities led by our Upper School boys, enjoying a taster of activities throughout the tour. They met our teachers and listened to a talk from our Headmaster.

We also hosted a Messy Stay & Play for 18 months to 4-year-olds. They experienced all that we have on offer within our Early Years setting, playing in the outdoor space as well as getting stuck into a variety of messy play activities!

Register at our next Open Event on Friday 12 May

Independent Schools Show

We were pleased to attend the Independent Schools Show in Battersea this year. It was great 2-day event, giving us the opportunity to meet many prospective families as well as connect with contacts at other schools and education partners. The debut of our brandnew Beacon Lego minifigures was unsurprisingly a massive hit!

Virtual Tour Launch

We were thrilled to launch our new Virtual Tour of the school. Now you can submerge yourself into the corridors, explore the grounds, view videos, photo galleries, get snippets of useful information and meet some of our senior teachers, Headmaster and Director of Admissions.

Keeping Yourself Safe Day

Boys from Nursery all the way up to Year 8 were involved in our Keeping Yourself Safe Day with teaching and workshops tailored to ages. They learnt valuable lessons on how to keep themselves safe at school, outside of school and online.

We were visited by NSPCC representatives who carried out the workshops as well as a Trading Standards Officer who spoke to our Years 7 and 8 boys about online safety.

A big thank you to the NSPCC, Surrey Trading Standards and Suzy Hutchings as well as our Beacon teachers for passing on valuable knowledge and educating our boys on how to be alert and keep safe.

Take a virtual tour

Mr Nick Baker and Mrs Pippa Pearson at ISS Show

Be Together

The Beacon Parents’ Society were busy over the Autumn Term. In September, they held their annual family rounders tournament on Willsfield, and what a glorious day it was! Mr Baker attended to support the event and duly distributed the winning team's prize and certificates.

In October, our Sports Hall was filled with 120 eager quizzers for the annual Quiz Night. The event was a huge success with our in-house catering team making a chilli feast and Quizzy Sue taking the role as Quizmaster. A Beacon staff team won; will they keep their crown next year? We raised a fantastic £1,600 for the BPS from the evening.

It was then the much awaited annual Christmas Fair in and around the entire school site in late November. We had a large variety of activities from Zorbing to face painting and a large array of stalls. The event was a huge success and was only made possible with the support of all the parents, children and staff. We raised over £6,000 for the BPS with this event alone.

The BPS supports local charities which are selected every 3 years and it was time to make that change having supported Roald Dahl's Children's Charity and Young Minds for the previous period. The BPS selected a variety of local charities and voted for the following to benefit from funds raised by BPS events from January 2023: Horizon Sports Club; Inspire BUCKS; and PACE. We look forward to supporting these superb and very well deserving charities.

In the meantime, the school will benefit from a state-of-the-art sand box for the Geography department and the

DT lab will be in receipt of a new laser cutter as technology has moved on and the old machine has served Mr Van Royan and the boys very well over the last 10 years.

As ever, thank you to the entire community for your continued support. Please feel free to reach out to Emma & Octavia should you like to get involved. We are always delighted to hear from you!

Happy New Year!

Octavia & Emma BPS Co Chairs

"The BPS supports local charities which are selected every 3 years and it was time to make that change having supported Roald Dahl's Children's Charity and Young Minds for the previous period."

Alumni News

Congratulations to Hugh Coles (OB 1996-2006) for being nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, and for also winning this year’s WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Musical for his portrayal of George McFly in Back to the Future: The Musical.

Congratulations also to Chris Smith (OB 1987-95) for graduating from Class 25 of the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Programme. The programme helps to teach innovator success through selfreflection, peer learning, mentoring, and a structured curriculum taught by venture capitalists and global thought leaders.

Special thanks to Tom Way (OB 200717) who returned to The Beacon this term to take part in an Assembly. Tom, who recently graduated from Radley College with a stellar set of A-levels and diplomas in Piano, Saxophone and Singing, wowed us with his incredible piano playing and gamely answered a wide variety of questions from the boys.

We loved reading David Harris-Burland’s (OB 2002-06) recent interview with Forbes Magazine in which he spoke about his eco-conscious sportswear and

accessories company Vivida Lifestyle. You can read his interview by clicking here. David is currently looking for investors to propel the brand to the next stage of growth.

The family of the late Rupert Whewell (OB 1977-83) have recently published his first novel. Rupert, an experienced climber, tragically died whilst attempting to climb Nanda Devi, India’s second highest peak, in May 2019. His novel, White Dog, is a literary thriller set against the backdrop of the contemporary art world. Published posthumously to rave reviews, White Dog is available from most major book outlets.

Former Beacon parent Gary Bunce has published his debut novel for children, with beautiful illustrations by Nicky Bunce. The Secret Adventures of Franacken Petalblower and Friends tells a series of wonderfully imaginative stories set in magical woods inspired by the countryside around Amersham and Hyde Heath.

We are looking forward to welcoming back as many former pupils as possible at our 1950s Alumni Reunion on Thursday 16 March 2023 between 12 noon – 3pm. The event promises to be a wonderful opportunity for former pupils who attended the school in the 1950s, to get together and have lunch

in The Beacon’s dining room (thankfully no longer located in the basement!). There will also be the opportunity to meet with current pupils and staff, as well as tour the school and see many of the changes that have taken place at The Beacon over the years. Alumni who attended in the late 1940s and early 1960s are also very welcome to join us. If you haven't received a notification about this event, but would like to attend, please do get in touch at alumni@beaconschool.co.uk

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Tom Way

1958 Beacon Cricket Team