8 minute read
Beacon Life Be Inspired
Fond Farewell
We were proud to welcome families, Governors and staff to a Farewell Art Exhibition hosted at The Beacon for Mr Phelps, showcasing the outstanding creative talent of our Beacon boys across all Year groups.
We celebrated the departure of Mr Will Phelps, Headmaster at The Beacon for 6 years, in sensational style with an Art Exhibition led by Michelle Jackson, our Head of Art. Transforming our Sports Hall into a creative haven, the exhibition showcased the fabulous artistic flair of our Beacon boys from Nursery to Year 8. The space was adorned with colourful paintings, screen prints, spray paintings, drawings, sculptures, structures and many more types of artwork that our boys have been working tirelessly to achieve throughout the Spring Term. Each Year group at the school had a section of the room to deliver the creative projects and methods they have been working on, from Pop Art in Year 5, to Dinosaurs in Early Years, to Graffiti in Year 6.
The farewell Art Exhibition was well attended by our whole Beacon Community, and was a great opportunity to give a true expression of the wonderful talent our Beacon boys have developed. Enhanced with mood lighting, ambient music and refreshments, it was a lovely occasion and a glorious way to say a final farewell to Will Phelps before he takes his next step in his career.
Beacon boy showing off the art A great opportunity to give a true expression of the wonderful talent our Beacon boys have developed.
Clockwise from top left: Year 6 Graffiti, Year 5 Pop Art, Year 7 Chinese dragon fabric paintings, Pre-Prep castle paintings, Reception clay fossils, Reception volcano creative and Nursery dinosaur artwork.
Be Creative Beacon Life
Boy enjoying the newly launched Knitting Club Knitting Club
During the Spring Term, we launched a Knitting Club at The Beacon. Mr Powell, Deputy Head of Middle School, explained how he enjoyed learning knitting skills during his school years, which subsequently struck an interest in several boys who were keen to enjoy the challenge and learn to knit.
Our boys got stuck into their first project after being taught basic knitting terminology and techniques.
They set upon their task to complete a knitted dog bed as a leaving present for Merlin (our resident Beacon boy and Mr Phelps’ furry companion). The team of boys worked together to produce an excellent gift, with all the Beacon colours knitted into the bed, which was proudly presented to Mr Phelps during his last week at The Beacon.
Year 4 have been exploring the work of artist, Mark Hearld. He created textural collages inspired by the natural world, particularly British flora and fauna, the fox and chicken, hedgerow and songbird.
Our boys were challenged with putting their own spin on his inspiring work, using ink to create a variety of different marks on their paper, moving on to use materials such as feathers, straws and sticks to achieve different textures and effects.
The results were brilliant!
Year 4 boys exploring with Ink Art Year 7 boy confidently presenting his case Victorian Waxworks
Our Year 7 boys had an excellent time participating in this year's Victorian Waxworks English Challenge.
They were tasked with preparing and presenting their case to a panel of Teachers to convince them as to why they should remain in the waxwork museum.
They delivered fantastic cases with passion and determination, as well as producing well thought-out information posters to promote their selected waxwork figure.
Pre-Prep Art Exhibition
Over the half term break, our PrePrep boys worked hard to create some excellent artistic masterpieces to be displayed in our Winterbourn building for everyone to enjoy.
They got to work by designing and creating their shoebox castles and dragons using an amazing array of materials and techniques. Our boys created some fantastic 3D artwork and have loved seeing each other's pieces brightening up the Year 1 and Year 2 corridors.
A real spectacle for families to enjoy during tours at our Open Morning.
Wonderful creations made by our talented Pre-Prep boys
SELF AND SOCIETY
In Self & Society lessons, our boys have been learning about some of the famous stories from the Christian Bible. They discussed the meaning behind them, and how they can apply it to their own life. Our Year 5 boys had great fun recreating Noah’s Ark and took a valuable lesson from this, which is to never judge a book by its cover, and to be confident and brave in the skills you have learnt. Years 6, 7 and 8 have been learning about the ‘Real Game’, which teaches them about money and life skills. They were randomly generated a job with a gross income and were tasked with working out their income tax, savings and how to pay bills. With the money they had left, they were able to choose a luxury item that they could afford. The activity was great fun, teaching our older boys a valuable lesson.
ISI INSPECTION REPORT 2022
Be Challenged
Passion for Sport
An exciting Spring Term for our Sports department. Our newly formed basketball team had a victorious start, and outstanding success continued across our football, hockey and cross country teams.
Football
We have witnessed a fantastic football season at the school, with most of our teams finishing the term undefeated. Our boys played excellently throughout all their matches against Chesham Prep, Dragon School, Davenies and many more.
Our boys played with great sportsmanship and teamwork during all their games, both at home and away, which proved effective as they were victorious in almost all their games. A big well done to all the teams that took part. Our Reception boys also focused on their football skills this term, building up to playing short matches against each other. Our Little Beacon boys continued to practise their ball skills - catching, kicking, balancing and control. We were delighted to participate in the IAPS Hockey Tournament, which took place in the wonderful grounds of Stowe School.
Under 10's team
Hockey
The tournament consisted of 10 teams, meaning each game became a five-minute smash-and-grab affair, so taking the lead was essential. Our boys performed excellently to reach the cup competition where we were faced with Akeley Wood School during the quarter-finals.
The Beacon triumphed to make it through to the semi-finals against Moulsford. An excellent effort and a top 4 finish.
Clockwise from top: Year 7 practise their skills, Year 4 boy on the astro, Year 8 boys at the IAPS Hockey Tournament
Nursery boy swimming for the first ime without his flotation jacket
Pre-Prep Swimming
Our Little Beacons continued to impress us with their water confidence during the Spring Term. It was wonderful to see more boys showing greater independence by getting their faces wet and going under the water. At the end of each session, our boys jumped with joy into the deeper end of the pool which requires such courage and belief. Some boys also progressed to making their way from one side of the pool to the other without the need of a flotation jacket.
Reception boys focused on water confidence and demonstrated an excellent body position and speedboat leg kick on both their front and back. Some boys were able to swim across the width of the pool without any floatation aids and have started to co-ordinate their arms and legs to swim front crawl and backstroke, which is brilliant for their age.
In Year 1, our boys put their arms, legs, body position and breathing together to swim front crawl and backstroke. Some boys manged to show great water confidence by swimming down to the bottom of the deep end to return a sinker, not an easy feat!
The oldest boys in Pre-Prep refined the techniques for breaststroke, front crawl and backstroke. Some boys swam lengths to develop their stamina in the water and at the end of term it was wonderful to finish off with some races.
