The Beacon Bulletin Spring Term 2023

Bulletin

The Sky's the Limit

THE BEACON BOYS SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXCITING SPRING EVENTS, INCLUDING STEM WEEK, FESTIVAL OF WORDS, MASTERCOOK, AN ART EXHIBITION AND NATIONAL SPORTS SUCCESS.

Beacon Life Highlights | Spring Term 2023

Headmaster's Welcome

"I am increasingly coming to realise, the enthusiasm of these boys on Amersham Road knows no bounds and every day is embraced with cheer, good humour and an appetite to get involved in everything the school has to offer."

- Nick Baker, Headmaster

Cold, wet and windy in the Spring Term, but there was nothing downbeat or miserable about The Beacon as the boys leapt forward into 2023. As I am increasingly coming to realise, the enthusiasm of these boys on Amersham Road knows no bounds and every day is embraced with cheer, good humour and an appetite to get involved in everything the school has to offer.

Whilst the boys worked industriously in the classroom and we celebrated scholarship success to numerous senior schools, STEM Week, the Festival of Words, MasterCook, the Art Exhibition and Lower School performances showcased the incredible breadth of the educational experience at The Beacon. On the sports field, the boys plundered hundreds of goals in football and

conceded very few, whilst on the hockey pitch and the ski slopes, our boys made the national finals.

As much as the school exists for the here and now, we are proud of our history and heritage, and a particular highlight of mine this term was welcoming back the Beacon boys of the 1950s and 1960s. Though much of the premises and school life had changed since their day, the spirit, ethos and culture has clearly remained; Beacon boys of the past are as proud of their school as those from the present.

Right arm over…

Summer Term to come!

Nick Baker, Headmaster

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR BAKER!

This term, Mr Nick Baker celebrated turning 50!

Visit our website and read about how he celebrated on Baker’s Beacon Blog. Happy Birthday, Nick!

Baker’s Weekly Beacon Blog

Be Inspired

Be

Be Creative

26 Under the Sea Art Exhibition showcasing work from all boys

Be Challenged

36 Stellar Sporting Season Term highlights for basketball,hockey, crosscountry, swimming and football

40 Beacon Life: Be Challenged

- Statistical Skittles

- Shiplake Maths Competition

- UKMT Maths Challenge

32 Beacon Life: Be Creative

- Learning about Light - Rotary Young Artist and Young Photographer - Gothic Tales

The Beacon Chesham Bois, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 5PF

Registered Charity number: 309911

Admissions admissions@beaconschool.co.uk 01494 432764

- Rotary Technology Tournament 2023

- Scholarship Success

Upcoming Open

Open Morning and Messy Stay & Play Saturday 30 September

REGISTER NOW

Private Visits and Tours

To book a private tour please email admissions@beaconschool.co.uk

Acknowledgments

Kerry Inch, Marketing Manager

Laura Marshall, Senior Marketing Assistant

Eleanor Geddes, Marketing & Social Media Assistant

Charlotte Buswell, Head of Development

Kathryn Grudgings, PA to the Headmaster

Be Inspired

Festival of Words

In March, there was a ‘buzz about books’ across the school as we celebrated our Festival of Words event.

In celebration of World Book Day, we launched a Festival of Words event that ran from Thursday 2 March to Friday 10 March. The event was packed with a series of fun and engaging literaturerelated initiatives to create a ‘buzz about books’ across the school.

A host of activities and initiatives were planned that suited and inspired different Year Groups, including bells ringing to prompt everyone to drop what they were doing and grab a book to read, an Art Exhibition showcasing artwork created by all boys from Nursery to Year 8, a visit from a West End Theatre Company providing our boys with the opportunity to bring books to life in Drama... and much more!

Inspired by 'Jack and the Beanstalk', Year 2 plant beans

Year 1 boy creates his own superworm

Clockwise from top left: Year 5 drop everything and read!; Year 3 Battle of the Books winners; Nursery teacher taking part in the 'Who's Reading?' guessing game for her class; Step inside your story personalised books

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Head to our website to read about the event in full. Highlights included the following initiatives and activities:

• Drop Everything and Read

• Pop-up Book Booth

• Step Inside Your Story

• Parent Coffee Morning

• Word and Book-Related Arts and Crafts

• Battle of the Books Competition

• Bringing Books to Life Workshops

• Book Buzz Book Club

• Punch Drunk Theatre Company ‘Abe and Alba’

• ‘Under the Sea’ Art Exhibition

• Chiltern Bookshop Bookfair

• Handwriting Competition

• Library Book Crafts Installation

• Charity Book Collection

• Themed Lunch

• Book Door Signs – Teachers Are Reading & Who's Reading?

A busy engaging and fun week!

Read our news story online

The Adventures of Abe and Alba

Over a three-week period, our Year 3 boys were involved in a mysterious situation that occurred when a magic book was left open and unattended, meaning the little people inside the book escaped! Our boys were required to carry out excellent writing skills in order to return two escaped characters (Abe and Alba) back into the book from which they came.

Read the full story on our website and view the image gallery

Year 3 boys discover the minature adventures of book characters

STEM Week 2023

In March, we celebrated Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) at The Beacon to raise awareness of British Science Week 2023

STEM, a 10-day celebration organised by the British Science Association, features fascinating, entertaining and engaging events and activities across the UK for people of all ages.

At The Beacon, our boys enjoyed a variety of STEM activities throughout the week, including a collaboration with The Royal Masonic School for Girls, fun challenges and games in lessons, a special visit from a Maths Magician, a STEM Event hosted by Oundle School for parents and boys and to top it off… the rare opportunity of boys pi’ing their teachers in the Quad!

Clockwise from above: The Royal Masonic School for Girls visit and collaboration, Mr Davies gets pi'ed, Oundle School STEM event in The Spinney

Beacon Life Be Inspired

Soaring into Space

Years 1 and 2 studied the Space and the Solar System over the Spring Term. They engaged in a range of activities in their lessons for an allencompassing learning experience.

The Pre-Prep corridors looked fantastic at the end of term with wonderful artwork of planets displayed. In Year 1, the boys worked together to create their very own giant rocket with proud smiles all round!

Our Year 2 boys were lucky enough to build and use the rotating Solar System machine in their classroom. They then learnt about the Moon landing and used the Solar System torch to project different pictures of the moon landing onto the classroom walls.

To support their learning of the Solar System, they also collaborated creatively to work on large scale paintings of planets, using sponges to create textured surfaces of the different planets as well as making cosmic biscuits! A fun an engaging topic enjoyed by all.

Clockwise from right: Year 2 making planets; learning about rockets; Year 2 decorating cosmic biscuits

Around the World

International Studies is a key part of learning at The Beacon and over the Spring Term, our boys in Early Years learnt about some of the French festivals in their Modern Foreign Languages lessons.

Our Little Beacons learnt about Mardi Gras and how it is celebrated in France. They discussed dressing up in costumes, parades, confetti and "les bulles" bubbles. Using toys, they learnt clothing items in French. They also discussed April Fool’s Day traditions and a common French prank to stick a paper fish on someone’s back discreetly. Our boys all had a go, with a great deal of enjoyment, shouting ‘poisson d’avril, poisson d’avril’ once caught!

THE BEACON PODCAST

Our Reception boys had their very first live video call with our French school partner. The children exchanged questions between the two classes. The French children were wearing handmade masks as they continued celebrations of Carnival.

Boys in Years 1, 2 and 3 learnt about Portugal as part of their International Studies lessons. Dino, Head Chef at The Beacon, is from Madeira (a Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean) so he treated the boys to an amazing Madeiran lunch. Dishes included Portuguese chicken, tropical juices, squid salad, Madeiran salad and Portuguese custard tarts. The feast was enjoyed (and devoured) by boys and staff alike!

Throughout the Spring Term, we were delighted to welcome multiple guests to our school podcast.

In episode 12 of Beaconverse, we were joined by our Head and Deputy Head of Lower School to discuss school life in Years 3 & 4, and in episode 13 we welcomed three former Beacon boys who attended The Beacon between 1942 and 1962.

If you are thinking about sending your son to an Independent Prep School from Year 3, have a listen to find out more about these vital two years of learning and the opportunities available to boys in Lower School at The Beacon.

In our latest podcast, episode 13, our guests shared memories and took us back in time, giving us a fascinating insight into what school life was really like in the 1940s, 50s and early 60s! Have a listen to hear their recollections.

NEXT PODCAST: Upper School & The Beacon KidsMBA

Top left: Nursery boys learn clothing items and parts of the body in French. Above: Portuguese lunch being served up

Beacon Life Be Inspired

Viking Day

Our Year 4 boys wrapped up their Viking topic with an immersive Viking Day. Dressed in their best Viking outfits, they spent the day learning about interesting facts and participating in fun activities, such as crafting Thor's hammer and making a game called 'Hnefatafl' using clay.

Tudor Time

Our Year 5 boys were tasked with a mission to find out if they could identify Tudor features in some of The Beacon buildings. They were able to point out the red clay tiles on triangular steep gable roofs, small windowpanes, and rough wooden beams held together by wooden pegs. They also marvelled at the size of the front door and explored the Inglenook fireplace. The conclusion of their historical inquiry was clearThe Beacon School occupies original Tudor buildings, making their new topic in History even more exciting.

Year 5 explore the Dining Hall

Year 4 boy dressed up for Viking Day

Renowned UK singing teacher, Andrew Ashwin, visited The Beacon to conduct workshops for our boys in Years 4, 5, and 6. Ashwin, the uncle of one of our Beacon boys, has had a successful fifteen-year career as a professional singer, performing across the UK, Europe, and beyond. He has now added literature to his repertoire with his debut book, 'Drumendus: Mission to the Drum Planet.' Ashwin shared the story of his writing and publishing journey with the boys and used a keyboard, trombone, ukulele, and bells as props to illustrate how he drew inspiration from music for his book's themes and adventures.

Augmented Reality Sandbox

The Beacon Parents’ Society contributed an incredibly exciting new piece of technology to The Beacon – a brand new augmented reality sandbox. It is an interactive educational tool to aid learning of typography, geography, natural sciences, watershed and computer sciences. As sand is moved around, new landscapes, volcanoes, rivers, map contours and even dinosaurs move or reshape!

The opportunities are endless, and we’re incredibly lucky as a school to have something primarily found in museums in one of our classrooms!

"A huge thanks to the Beacon Parents’ Society for contributing such a cutting edge asset to ensure Geography lessons are even more engaging for our boys!"

Andrew Ashwin Author Visit

View it in action on instagram

Be Kind

Headmaster, Mr Baker, and Head of Cooking & Nutrition, Mrs Rowland, judge the cupcake competition

The Beacon Parents’ Society

The Beacon Parents' Society (BPS) held successful fundraising events over our Spring Term, raising funds for various school projects and planning to continue to support the school in funding new equipment.

The Spring Term was another busy one for the Beacon Parents’ Society (BPS). In February, they held their inaugural Second-Hand Costume Sale, giving parents the opportunity to donate their sons' costumes for school-themed days by selling these on to families needing one for a future event. The BPS hope to make these sales a regular event in the school calendar to tie in with any upcoming school-themed days, with a view to being more sustainable as well as raising funds for BPS projects in school.

At the end of the Spring Term, the BPS held their popular Easter Cake Sale and this year, introduced a new Cupcake Competition. The number of entries received from our boys from Nursery to Year 8 was overwhelming and the standard of cupcakes was outstanding - there are a lot of very talented Beacon bakers. The BPS raised a fantastic £797! Many thanks to all the parents and boys for their support of the event.

The BPS continues to fund new equipment in school, including a state-of-the-art kinetic sandbox for the Geography department, new table tennis tables for the boys to play on at break-time, Roman Legionnary Armour and now a mannequin for the Classics Department plus multiple new board games and card games for a new Games Café which is held at breaktimes. The BPS are looking forward to being able to continue their support of future projects that benefit all our Beacon boys.

The BPS Easter Cake Sale

Charity at The Beacon

The Beacon Community came together to support many charities. We thank everyone for their support.

Thank you to everyone who showed support for Comic Relief; we raised a fantastic total of £1,263.

The boys showed their support this year by wearing different and creative red items of clothing!

Following the tragic events in Syria and Turkey, our boys discussed ways that they, as a school community, could help. We held a ‘Non-Uniform Day’ so the boys could enjoy wearing their own choice of clothing with a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

As a community, we raised a total of £6,518.

As part of the Festival of Words celebration, our LSC Team organised a book collection through the Ihezie Foundation; a charity that collects and donates books to UK primary schools, and also to schools across Africa.

In total, we collected over 100 boxes of books! Thank you to the whole Beacon Community for your book donations and to our boys who helped on the day.

Comic Relief

DEC Earthquake Appeal Book Donation

Our boys were inspired by a chat from Duncan Dyason who works for the charity, Street Kids. Duncan lives in Guatemala City where he coordinates the work of the charity and works on the streets each week as a volunteer.

The mission of the charity is to rescue street-living children and prevent atrisk children from living on the streets anywhere in the world. The Street Kids outreach in Guatemala City is in partnership with other organisations and are working to get the number of street children from an estimated 5,000 to 0.

A very informative and eye-opening talk in Assembly.

A huge well done to Oliver W, Thomas S and Niam B who raised £500 for the Epilepsy Society by very kindly forgoing their birthday presents and asking for charity contributions instead.

Fab Five Complete Five

Well done to our 5 members of staff who took on the Berkhamsted Rotary Club 5-Mile Fun Run. They raised a fantastic £1,870 for the charity of their choice, Prostate Cancer UK.

Street Kids Outreach

Fantastic Fundraising

Beacon Life Be Kind

Children’s Mental Health Week

The Beacon took part in raising awareness of Children’s Mental Health Week, with this year’s theme being ‘Let’s Connect’. Each boy was given a piece of paper bunting to decorate with something that connects them to their family and friends. This was then connected and displayed around the classrooms. Our Reception boys were visited by Upper School boys, who helped them complete their display. The activity was aimed at highlighting the importance of connection for good mental health and recognising the different people and parts in our lives that make us happy.

Read the full story and view the image gallery

The whole school coming together and connecting whilst creating bunting

“I’d like to thank all the teachers who helped make this fun and memorable, and all the boys for getting involved and helping out. My challenge was to try and make sure that all the boys do something each day that makes them happy, and to share it with someone special.” - Mr Privett, Head of Self & Society

Women’s History Month

To celebrate Women's History Month and International Women's Day, we ran a whole-school initiative with displays, assemblies and workshops for boys from Nursery to Year 8 to raise awareness of equality for both girls and boys. The aim was to promote the school's values of respect and integrity and to give the boys opportunities to appreciate the women in their lives and the world, leading to an equal future.

Read the full story

Gut Microbiome Awareness

The Gut Fibre Challenge was a recent initiative for our boys in Years 4-8 that aimed to highlight the importance of consuming a diverse range of fibres to support the gut microbiome.

The challenge encouraged our boys to try at least 30 different types of fibre in a week, including a mix of whole grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, herbs and spices. They were also encouraged to try fermented foods!

We were delighted to welcome Glenn Stephens, founder of Rex Artisan Bakery in Little Chalfont, to talk about the benefits of good quality fermented bread. Glenn, who formerly worked in finance in the City, re-trained and apprenticed to become an artisan baker with an aim to establish the very best in bakeries. He now runs the award-winning Rex Artisan Bakery. Our boys were thrilled to taste his bread and the visit was a great lesson to reinforce that with determination, and passion, any dream is possible.

Read the story on our website

Each week, Mr Baker receives nominations of true acts of kindness and awards the boys with the Kindness Cup filled with sweet treats. Congratulations to all our nominees as well as the following boys who won the cup over the Spring Term:

Kishan P, Ben F, James L, Dino J, James I, Max McL, Niam B, Eeshan K, Adi M and Taylor C

BEACON CUP OF KINDNESS

Year 2 learning all about two female Space Scientists

Year 5 learn about gut health

Be Creative

Under the Sea

We were excited to invite our Beacon Community to an Art Exhibition hosted in the Spinney Theatre. The creative exhibits showcased artwork created by every boy across all Year Groups at the school.

In March, we held an Art Exhibition showcasing the wonderful artwork created by each boy at the school. The theme was ‘Under the Sea’, and the boys worked hard in their Art lessons to create masterpieces in line with the theme. The exhibition featured a variety of media and techniques, from colourful jellyfish to large-scale paintings and graffiti art.

A word board also featured at the exhibition, whereby visitors were encouraged to write down words that best described how the exhibition made them feel.

During the school day, each Year Group enjoyed visiting the exhibition to see their own artwork; pride of place and to admire what the other boys had been working on. After school, parents and siblings attended the exhibition with their sons who proudly talked through their work.

A huge thank you to the Beacon Parents’ Society for donating the display boards. We hope to use these for regular exhibitions moving forward; they are a great asset to display the artistic talent that we have at The Beacon.

View the full story on our website and a video montage of the exhibition

Masters in the Kitchen

Our MasterCook Competition 2023 kicked off with our Upper School boys cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

The standard of cuisine was so high this year that all our Upper School chefs proceeded to the final, which was adjudicated by special guest, Laurie Gear (Chef Patron at MICHELIN Star Artichoke Restaurant in Old Amersham).

Congratulations to all our boys; the dishes served were delicious and very well presented, making it an extremely tough competition.

Well done to the winners on their well prepared and superbly executed cuisine: Cassius J (1st) - stuffed shoulder of lamb, with

rosemary potatoes, harissa carrots and chimichurri followed by baked alaska.

Nicolas D (2nd) - pan-fried salmon fillet, rosemary roasted potatoes and ratatouille followed by a rich, dark, chocolate mousse.

Harry H (3rd) - ravioli filled with pheasant, served with a tomato sauce followed by crème brulée. We are looking forward to seeing how the other Year Groups compare over the Summer Term.

Clockwise from top left: Upper School MasterCook winners; Nicolas D, Cassius J and Harry H; Harry H preparing his dishes; Adrian T with bruschette; shrimp saganaki with flat bread; Kim and Laurie judging the Upper School final; Singaporean beef stir-fry; ravioli filled with pheasant

All Creatures Great & Small

As an extension to topic work, some of our Beacon boys were delighted, and a little apprehensive, to have some creepy crawly visitors!

Our boys in Early Years learnt about spiders during the Spring Term, and our Pre-Prep boys enjoyed their topic about the rainforest. To enhance their learning, they were excited to have a visit from 'Wild Science'.

The team brought in various rainforest animals, giving the boys an opportunity to get up close and even touch or hold some of the creatures. Following lots of discussions about spiders, our Reception and Nursery boys were especially intrigued to see a Tarantula up close and learn about its characteristics.

Year 1 enjoying a visit from 'Wild Science'

Remarkable Rainforest

As part of their rainforest topic, our Year 2 boys learnt about the effects that palm oil farms have on animals in the rainforest of Borneo. The boys read a story about an orangutan with nowhere to go, whose home had been destroyed due to deforestation. They quickly decided that something must be done to save the orangutans. They thought that by writing a letter to companies who use palm oil in their products, it would be a good way to communicate how they felt. Some of our boys wrote letters to ‘Dove Soap’ to try and persuade them to use more sustainable palm oil and think consciously about how they source their palm oil.

Also, in light of the rainforest topic, our boys took part in an Art lesson where they were tasked with creating detailed, life-like paintings of redeyed tree frogs. They discussed the amazingly bright colours on these rainforest animals and used a stepby-step guide to draw their frogs, using watercolours to create the detail on the frogs.

"The boys read a story about an orangutan with nowhere to go, whose home had been destroyed due to deforestation. They quickly decided that something must be done to save the orangutans. They thought that writing a letter to companies who use palm oil in their products would be a good way to communicate how they felt."

Incy Wincy Spider

Our Nursery and Reception boys focussed on Nursery Rhymes which underpinned their classroom lessons over the Spring Term.

During 'Incy Wincy Spider' week, our Little Beacons worked together to make a giant spider. They learnt facts along the way and discovered that some spiders have up to 8 eyes. A few of the boys had a go at making an individual spider using egg cartons and pipe cleaners. They also enjoyed an experiment where toy spiders

were placed in bowls of water and left outside overnight to see what would happen. In the morning, the boys were thrilled to discover that the spiders had frozen in ice and they had fun trying to rescue them!

Our Reception boys got creative making their own spiders by painting and placing them in a giant web.

However, the highlight for all was the visit from friendly tarantula named Tequila from South America!

Year 2 creating redeyed tree frogs in Art

Nursery boys work on a giant spider

Beacon Life Be Creative

Learning about Light

Over the Spring Term, our Photography Club learnt lots of new techniques to improve their skills and help them to take more accurate and interesting photos.

The boys experimented with the shutter speed on the DSLR cameras to create striking, abstract photos with long exposures, which produced some amazing results.

Rotary Young Artist and Young Photographer

A huge congratulations to our boys who won prizes for their amazing artwork and photographs in the Rotary Young Artist and Young Photographer Competitions 2023.

Rotary Young Artist Competition

Maxwell D (Year 7) won the Rotary Young Artist Competition with his painting in line with the theme of Sunrise and Sunset. Maxwell created a painting of Sir Elton John entitled ‘Don’t let the sun go down on me’. He was lucky enough to meet the man himself and Sir Elton John personally signed his painting! Great work, it is a truly impressive painting.

Young Photographer Competition

The Theme for the Young Photographer Competition was ‘The beauty of architecture.’ Congratulations to the following Beacon boys for their amazing work:

Winner - Isaac K (Year 3)

2nd - Charlie R (Year 1)

3rd - Dexter R (Year 3)

Our Year 7 boys enjoyed creative writing, Gothic Style, which was inspired by the use of The Hollow Woods Myriorama card. They worked collaboratively to create descriptions designed to encapsulate the Gothic Genre.

Read their work on our website

In a continuation of their Gothic Tales learning, our Year 7 boys also enjoyed a visit from The Redheart Theatre Company. The actor performed dramatisations of two short stories, 'The Red Room' by H.G. Wells and 'The Tell Tale Heart' by Edgar Allen Poe. The boys particularly enjoyed 'The Red Room' for its unexpected twists and turns about a man who didn't believe in ghosts staying in a haunted room. It was an entertaining and impressive performance.

Gothic Tales

Sir Elton John and winner Maxwell D

Be Challenged

Stellar Sporting Season!

Our boys displayed outstanding athletic prowess across a range of sports including football, hockey, cross country, basketball and swimming.

Basketball

Over the Spring Term, our basketball team had a superb season filled with hard work and dedication from all the players. The tryouts were incredibly competitive, and every participating boy gave it their all, making it a difficult decision to form the team. The selected players showed their skills and abilities on the court, delivering some fantastic performances throughout the season. Our boys demonstrated good sportsmanship both on and off the court, representing The Beacon well. It was a successful season, and the boys should be proud of their accomplishments.

Year 8 team talk

Hockey

At the beginning of Spring Term, our Under 10 Hockey team had the opportunity to take part in 8 games at Teddies as well as 6 games at Bradfield College, competing brilliantly in all of them.

The U12 hockey team travelled to the Regional Hockey Championships at Reading Hockey Club as Bucks Champions. They reached the final against RGS High Wycombe and left as winners comfortably beating them 2-0. The boys were disappointed not to qualify for the main competition but can be rightly proud of their performances on the pitch throughout the day.

Our U11 Colts qualified for the National Hockey Finals after being runners up in the South East Region. Having worked hard since September towards this moment, the boys travelled to Haileybury for the regional IAPS hockey. They played some fantastic matches making it to the final but with a 4 -1 defeat to Bedford meant there was no cherry on the cake. However, to be 2nd out of 20 South East prep schools was quite an achievement.

Throughout the season all our boys did themselves proud in both performance and sportsmanship, on and off the pitch.

"Throughout the season, all our boys did themselves proud in both performance and sportsmanship, on and off the pitch."

U10's Hockey Tournament

U11's IAPS Hockey

U11's Hockey Team

Cross-Country

Our boys put in a lot of effort during their Games lessons, preparing themselves for the challenging cross-country courses and competitions.

Season highlights included the annual crosscountry event at Stowe School. Xander B finished in 2nd place in the Year 6 race, followed closely by Toby R and Oliver A who all qualified for the National Championships. Our Year 5 boys all secured places in the top 20 in their respective age groups.

The U11's Cross-Country Team finished 6th (out of 42 schools) in Malvern College National Prep Schools Championships. All boys finished the course in the top 90 and Xander B achieved an amazing 13th place overall, out of 250 boys.

Throughout the season, our boys have shown incredible strength and endurance, pushing themselves to achieve their personal best times. They worked together, encouraging and supporting each other every step of the way. All our boys can be proud of their achievements.

Swimming

During this Spring Term, frequent swimming lessons have enabled our boys to continue building confidence and improve their swimming techniques.

Our Nursery boys made significant progress since the beginning of the Spring Term, becoming more comfortable in the water, and confidently swimming widths with water aids while blowing bubbles. In Reception, our boys also made remarkable progress working hard on their swimming techniques.

Meanwhile, our older boys participated in the ESSA Primary School Team Championships County Round at Woodside Leisure Centre in Watford. The boys put on an incredible display in the final and won the Medley Relay shield with a remarkable time of 1.15.89, making them the fastest team in Buckinghamshire!

Above: U11 Medley Relay Team

Left: Nursery boy during his weekly swim lesson

Football

Football was outstanding over the Spring Term with our boys excelling in multiple matches, demonstrating impressive teamwork, strong leadership, and exceptional skills throughout the term. The Beacon team’s dedication and hard work paid off on the field.

Reception boys were introduced to foundation skills and worked on confidently passing, trapping and dribbling the ball as well as shooting!

Highlights at some of our matches included The Beacon U11B1 hitting double figures in a 10-0 victory over St John's Beaumont at the beginning of the season and the U8C1 team played a fantastic match at Moulsford clenching a win in the last 20 seconds. The Beacon U13D team put in a top performance to defeat Dragon School 6-1. The Colts B2’s also came out as winners against the Dragon School in a 3-1 defeat.

Our U10A team made a trip over to Claires Court to compete in a tournament involving 16 different schools. The boys made it to the final in a nail-biting match that then went to

penalties. Henry M finished the game with a diving save to win the shootout 6-5!

The U10C1 enjoyed a comprehensive 6-2 win over Belmont School which also saw some of our boys playing fantastic debuts. There were some difficult fixtures as well as the wins, but our teams all put in outstanding efforts and the future bodes brightly for next year.

"The U10C1 enjoyed a comprehensive 6-2 win over Belmont School which also saw some of our boys playing fantastic debuts."

U10C1, Belmont School

The U11's Football Team

Beacon Life Be Challenged

Statistical Skittles

Our Year 5 boys demonstrated a variety of statistical skills in a functional way, whilst engaging in a Skittles Data Investigation during their Maths lessons.

Before they even opened their allocated pack of sweets, our boys had to estimate how many of each colour might be in each pack. Some of the boys had really close guesses! Once they got familiar with the data, they presented it by creating pictograms, bar graphs, tally charts and impressive pie charts. They agreed that line graphs wouldn't be appropriate in this instance, as they are better suited to present results observed over a period of time.

To top off the Maths investigation, our boys created beautiful, colourful posters, showcasing their understanding of statistics. As a reward for their effort, they got to eat their data at the end of the lesson!

Shiplake Maths Competition

In January, six of our budding Mathematicians attended a Maths Competition at Shiplake College

All of the boys worked collaboratively and embraced every task with enthusiasm and perseverance. After a nail-biting sudden death question about capacity, The Beacon boys were declared winners for the second year in a row! A huge well done to all our boys for an amazing afternoon of Maths.

Congratulations to Rory S, Nico V, Shay N, Max M, Jeevan L, Aarav R.

UKMT Maths Challenge

Our Beacon Mathematicians were given the chance, following fantastic results in the UKMT Intermediate Challenge, to sit the Grey Kangaroo UKMT Challenge. The Grey Kangaroo Challenge is aimed towards highachieving 16-year-olds in Year 10 and Year 11, so for some of our boys to have an opportunity to participate was fantastic. We scored very highly indeed with three elite Mathematicians gaining a Merit certificate each.

Well done to Alex T (Year 7), Kevin Z (Year 7) and Shay N (Year 5).

Rotary Technology Tournament 2023

The Beacon boys were victorious in winning the Rotary Technology Tournament 2023!

Two teams of our boys from Years 5 to 8 participated, competing against several other schools in the local area. Each team had to solve the same interactive technology-based task requiring participants to design, develop and build a solution with the materials supplied.

Both of our Beacon teams succeeded in completing the task, with one of our teams winning the foundation award for their age group in the tournament overall!

SCHOLARSHIP SUCCESS

We are thrilled that so many of our Beacon boys have been awarded superb Scholarships and Exhibitions by their future senior schools. These are fantastic achievements in what is an increasingly competitive process.

Keep an eye out for our website news story over our Summer Term with the announcement of scholars!

Be Confident

A Spring in our Step

Our Pre-Prep boys took to the Spinney Theatre at the end of the Spring Term and put on some fantastic performances.

Under The Sea

Our Year 2 boys worked hard throughout the Spring Term in Music, Singing and Drama to perform a wonderful Spring Showcase, 'Under The Sea'.

Parents were invited into the Spinney Theatre to enjoy our boys’ pieces on recorders together in a large recorder orchestra, singing a variety of songs as well as acting brilliant Drama playlets.

The boys have achieved an incredible standard with their Performing Arts work. Encore!

Pre-Prep Informal Spring Concert

Beacon Voices, Brass Monkeys, Toot Club and Mini Strings all performed in a brilliant Pre-Prep Spring Informal Concert, including a few brave soloists. What a lovely way to celebrate all the hard work our boys have put into instrumental lessons and clubs over the course of the Spring Term. Bravo, Pre-Prep Musicians!

Year 2 Spring Showcase

Confident Concerts

With an incredible amount of hard work over the Spring Term, our boys truly shone during their showcase concerts.

Prep Performing Arts Concerts

Our Lower School, Middle School and Upper School boys put on outstanding Performing Arts Concerts in front of an audience of loved ones in the Old Barn. The quality of performances was overwhelming.

In the Lower School Concert, it was wonderful to see some of our boys performing instrumental solos and singing solos so confidently as well as sharing some of their LAMDA work. It was a superb way to show the progress all our boys have made over the term.

In the Middle School Concert, our boys performed their LAMDA

and ABRSM exam repertoire in preparation for upcoming public examinations, which were all professionally delivered.

In our Upper School Concert, the evening began with Star Wars on trumpet and included works by Tchaikovsky on violin, Schumann on piano, Coldplay (piano/vocals) as well as an exciting rendition of Hotel California on electric guitar to finish. Dramatic performances included excerpts from Shakespeare and Ayckbourn, as well as performances by a forgetful chef, a boy who fell into a book, a talking Gingerbread Man and even Puck from Midsummer Night’s Dream!

Above: Lower School boys take centre stage

Left: Middle School boys take a bow

Class Concerts

It has been exciting to see our young musicians making so much progress with their instrumental playing!

We enjoyed some fantastic Class Music Concerts towards the end of the Spring Term, both in Pre-Prep and in Lower School. It was a super way to develop our boys' confidence with performing in front of an audience.

Year 1

Year 3

Year 1

Roll Up, Roll Up

Boys in Early Years had a fun-filled Circus Day at the end of the Spring Term filled with activities, a Drama workshop and more!

Reception in a circus drama workshop

For our boys in Early Years, Circus Day marked the end of their overarching topic, ‘The Circus’. They were encouraged to dress in brightly coloured clothes for the day and on arrival at school, they were amazed to see their teachers had got into the Circus Day spirit, being dressed in full circus attire from the ring master to clowns!

Our boys took to the classroom activities with much excitement! Little Beacons had the opportunity to make popcorn, design their own clown hat, practice their circus skills and colour circus-themed pictures. Reception boys coloured clowns, made cuboid circus boxes and circus patterns.

After discussing acrobats, the boys watched some video clips of our very own Miss Kyla Cook (Lower School Teaching Assistant) representing Great Britain in gymnastics, as she performed with the rest of the team in Scotland, earlier this year. Her routines were amazing, and the boys watched in stunned silence and awe – it was very clear to see why the team came away with three gold medals!

A highlight of the day was for all our boys as they were immersed in the circus and participated in a circus-

themed Drama workshop. They took to it with great confidence!

Our Little Beacons showed off their super circus skills in Games, being challenged to a variety of tasks to focus on balancing, catching and jumping. With extreme concentration and determination, they tackled each challenge with a lot of laughs!

Great fun was had by all, and it was a perfect day to end their circus topic.

Top: Circus Day in full swing in Nursery Above: Circus inspired activities during PE

Reception boy getting into character during Drama

Little Beacon boy becomes an acrobat during his PE lesson

Beacon Life Be Confident

Greek Myths

Congratulations to Year 4 for their outstanding 'Greek Myths' shows. It was wonderful to see them developing their performance skills; projecting their lines, giving great expression with acting and a clear tone with singing, developing teamwork skills and building confidence using the larger theatre space.

Read the full story and view images

Beacon Voices Sing at Rugby School

Our Upper School Beacon Voices were honoured to be invited to Rugby School to perform with the Rugby School combined choir and baroque orchestra in a stunning rendition of Vivaldi's 'Gloria' and Handel's Coronation Anthem 'Zadok The Priest.'

The boys performed these iconic works of the classical canon with outstanding professionalism and fine musicianship. Well done, boys!

Year 4 perform Greek Myths

Upper School Beacon Voices at Rugby School

Upper School Beacon Voices

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Frankie from 'West End in Schools' directed our Year 5 boys in four classbased workshops around the famous story of Macbeth. Our boys have studied 'The Scottish Play' in their English and Drama lessons so they impressed Frankie with their prior knowledge of the play and were able to bring the story to life using fun, physical and vocal exercises, getting to grips with the Shakespearean text.

It was fantastic to see how much the boys enjoyed their workshops and to see them working as a team!

Recorder Rapping

Our Year 3 boys made an excellent start with their Recorder Project over the Spring Term. Some of them have developed their knowledge of recorder playing substantially since last year and some have been playing the recorder for the first time! They have had fun recorder rapping and improving their ensemble skills with reading music together.

"Some of them have developed their knowledge of recorder playing substantially since last year and some have been playing the recorder for the first time!"

Our Year 7 boys worked on their skills of persuasion in English lessons for our Victorian Waxworks Event. They researched the famous Victorian they had been assigned, wrote and delivered a speech arguing their right to remain in the waxworks museum instead of being melted down for a more contemporary figure, such as Ed Sheeran! They created information plaques too which supported their deliveries.

Great fun was had by all, the speeches were of a very high quality and the boys learnt some very important skills at the same time!

Victorian Waxworks

Year 5 Macbeth workshop

Year 7 boy arguing his case

Year 3 boys working together during music

Be Adventurous

The Great Outdoors

Beacon boys explored the woodlands around the school and took on a variety of Outdoor Learning tasks.

Our Nursery boys enjoy weekly ‘welly walks’ in the surrounding woodland areas of The Beacon and have fun exploring and learning about the great outdoors. Recently, we developed a dedicated Outdoor Learning area for our younger boys, creating a safe environment for them to enjoy activities. During the Spring Term, our Little Beacons explored the area for the first time! They used magnifying glasses and garden tools, collected stones, leaves, and other items on the list for their nature hunt! They had a great time and have since enjoyed multiple sessions.

Year 2 also took to the woodlands and despite the rainy weather, the boys had an exciting and engaging nature walk searching for signs of spring. They were well equipped for the deep puddles and many of the boys noticed spring shoots breaking through the ground. Oscar F, Oscar B and Arthur B spotted deer footprints in the muddy ground, and looked down badger setts to see if there were any signs of baby badgers emerging. They took part in a silent moment, listening out for creatures they could hear in the forest and enjoyed getting their hands and wellies dirty!

Our Year 3 boys looked at the art of knot-tying and worked on learning how to tie figure of eight and reef knots on their Outdoor Learning expedition. They explored the ideas

of cooperation and team-building through unstructured play. They built dens and went on the hunt for bugs. However, the most popular activity was excavating the roots of a large fallen tree! They always enjoy their Outdoor Learning sessions and even had fun when it was hailing!

Our Year 4 boys were thrilled to take part in an orienteering challenge. They learnt the basics of map-reading and competed against each other to complete a scavenger hunt. A task was given at each checkpoint, testing their mapwork and all things natural.

Meanwhile, our Years 5 and 6 boys were tasked with more advanced Outdoor Learning skills, such as building a shelter, starting and maintaining a fire and cooking a meal. The activities required teamwork and problem-solving to help build their confidence and independence. It was a great learning experience for everyone.

Nursery Outdoor Learning News

Year 6 Activities News

Year 6 boys under their shelter

Year 4 Orienteering

Year 5 cooking having made a fire

Year 3 boys

Nursery boys looking at insects

View our Year 6 boys in action

Terrific Trips

As part of their learning and personal development, our Beacon boys have enjoyed trip opportunities out of school from skiing to learning about Tudors to exploring the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Super Skiing

The Beacon ski trip boys in Years 6 to 8 had an amazing week away in Les Menuires, France, where they quickly progressed in their skiing skills and gained confidence on the slopes. They enjoyed evening activities and made the most of their time on the snow, completing impressive jumps and tricks. The trip ended with awards for clean rooms, kindness, and impressive skiing skills, leaving each boy with a smile on his face and having developed personally as well as in sports.

Ufton Court Trip

Our Year 5 Beacon boys had a great time on their recent trip to Ufton Court, where they learned about Tudor lifestyle and participated in hands-on activities. They had fun sentencing their friends to Tudor-style punishments and playing Tudor games, including learning how to skip. The tour guides were excellent and showed the boys around the manor house and grounds, sharing the fascinating history of the Tudor era, including discovering hidden priest holes. The boys also enjoyed eating Tudor-style lunches! It was a brilliant trip that the boys thoroughly enjoyed.

IAPS Ski Championship 2023

#TeamBeacon took to the slopes to compete in the IAPS Ski Championship 2023 held in Passo Del Tonale, Italy.

Thirteen boys from Years 6 to 8 took part and put in outstanding efforts. William F ended the week 8th fastest out of 95 others, our boys all achieved PB's over the course of the week and to top it off, we won the U11 Silver. Well done, boys!

Ashmolean Trip

Our Year 3 boys had an educational and exciting time exploring the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. They became Ancient Egyptian detectives and were given clue cards to locate specific artifacts. They learned many interesting facts about each artifact, including its origin and purpose. The boys also had the opportunity to view the Museum's largest artifact, an Egyptian tomb! After lunch, they explored the mummies' area and learned about Ancient Rome and Greece before finishing the day. The boys had an informative and enjoyable trip that enriched their knowledge of Ancient Egypt.

Read the full story and view a gallery of images.

Year 3 exploring the Ashmolean Museum

Be Together

Beacon Life Be Together

Egg-cellent Easter Celebrations

The Beacon Community enjoyed funfilled Easter celebrations with various activities for all Year Groups. Our boys baked chocolate treats, participated in Easter egg hunts, did some creative writing, has Easter-themed French lessons, and made Easter hats and cards.

Our Year 5 boys learned about chemical and physical changes by making honeycomb and melting chocolate in Science. Our Year 6 boys were set a task of creating their own Fairtrade Easter Egg businesses and the Beacon Parents' Society hosted a Easter Bake Sale as well as a Cupcake Competition judged by Mrs Rowland and Mr Baker. A busy and cracking Easter period!

Top Left: Year 6 boys work on their Easter Egg presentation

Top Right: Nursery boy delighted with a bunny biscuit he made

Above: Year 5 wowed with a honeycomb experiment

Left: The Pre-Prep Easter hat parade

Battle of the Houses

The House Competition over the Spring Term was intense with a table tennis tournament and general knowledge quiz taking place.

Many congratulations to Cromer who came out top again this year and enjoyed a House treat of free choice and non-uniform at the end of the term!

Read the story in full.

Live, Love… Books!

A new reading initiative was introduced and rolled out over the Spring Term, inviting teachers from around the school to the Pre-Prep classrooms to read a variety of stories to our boys. The aim was to encourage reading for pleasure

and also introduce other teachers to the class to create a smoother transition for the boys as they move up in the school.

Read the news story.

We were delighted to host our Open House event by welcoming Years 3 & 4 parents into the school to take a look at the wonderful work their boys have produced over the term.

Read more and see our gallery of images.

The Beacon Open House

Mr Williams, Head of PE, reads to Reception

Beacon Life Be Together

The Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year started on Sunday 22 January this year and this year it is the Year of the Rabbit. To celebrate, our Reception boys made lanterns using red, yellow, and orange tissue paper and a rabbit silhouette cut out of black card. They shared a book called Peppa's Chinese New Year, which taught them lots of interesting facts. They also learnt that people celebrate by eating delicious foods, wearing smart clothes, meeting with families and often there's fireworks! Lastly, the boys made rabbit-shaped shortbread biscuits to enjoy.

Ramadan Assembly

Ms Shahid, an English Teacher at The Beacon, spoke to our boys in assembly about Ramadan. The aim was to acknowledge the arrival of the month of Ramadan and to share the experiences of Muslims who observe fasting.

The boys learnt that Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days and that the act of fasting teaches Muslims to be charitable, kind and resilient. This is also the time when Muslims distribute food to their neighbours, friends and family; they arrange feasts at Iftar time and welcome others to join them. At the end of the month of Ramadan and when the new moon arrives, Muslims celebrate the festival of Eidal-Fitr - one of the two most important Muslim festivals.

Above: Reception boys enjoy a Chinese inspired lunch Right: Boys in Reception bake biscuits

Holocaust Memorial Day

Our boys in Years 6, 7 and 8 remembered Holocaust Memorial Day by joining a live webinar with author, Tom Palmer, and Holocaust Survivor Mala Tribich.

The boys also spent a morning watching presentations from Mrs

Olhausen, Mr Tenison, Mr Winter and Mrs Compton, whereby they spoke about the difficult times during the Holocaust and the dramatic events that took place.

DONOR IMPACT REPORT

The Beacon Pathway

To mark The Beacon’s 90th Anniversary, we are creating a new Beacon Pathway.

Anyone associated with The BeaconOld Beaconians, parents, staff, governors and friends - can purchase a specially engraved brick (or bricks!) which will form part of the new path design and be a part of Beacon history! Your brick can be personalised to include your name or the name of your family, together with your years at The Beacon, e.g. J Bloggs (OB 1981-9). Bricks can also be dedicated to others as a present or as a memorial.

Bricks can be purchased at a cost of £100 which includes two lines of

engraving, with each line having 15 characters including spaces. Double bricks are also available at a cost of £200 with four lines of engraving.

All funds raised through this initiative will be split between the Headmaster’s Bursary Fund and projects that help to benefit our boys and improve their educational experience.

Visit www.beaconschool.co.uk/supportus/name-a-brick to find out more and purchase a brick before 31 May.

Over the Spring Term, we were excited to share The Beacon’s first ever Donor Impact Report highlighting the progress made by our Headmaster’s Bursary Fund. Thanks to the phenomenal support shown by our Beacon Community, we were thrilled to welcome five new boys to The Beacon last year on 100% bursaries.

We are enormously grateful to all our parents, alumni, staff, governors and friends who have so generously supported the Headmaster’s Bursary programme, which continues to broaden access to the school by ensuring that a Beacon education remains accessible to bright and talented boys regardless of their families’ financial circumstances.

Further information about the Headmaster’s Bursary Fund and also The Beacon Bursary Fund, a separate charity that offers financial assistance to existing pupils whose families find themselves in temporary financial difficulty, can be found on our website, beaconschool.co.uk

Read the report.

Beacon webinar with Tom Palmer and Mala Tribich

Alumni News

Blast from the Past Beacon Talks

We were delighted to welcome two dozen former pupils back to The Beacon for our 1940s and 1950s Alumni Reunion. For some of our guests, it was their first time back to the school in over 60 years!

Our visitors greatly enjoyed being shown around by Upper School boys, and lunch in the Dining Hall was also a highlight – many remembered school meals being served in the basement and subject to food rationing.

We loved hearing our Old Boys' stories and recollections, and we were reminded of how much the school has grown and changed over the years.

We were thrilled to welcome back former Beacon boys Fergus Keogh (OB 2005-14) and L-J Yarroll (OB 200814) for the first in our new series of Beacon Talks.

L-J and Fergus captivated our Senior School boys with their respective talks on pursuing careers in the CGI animation and video game design industries.

A huge thanks to both for giving up their time and sharing their expertise. We loved having you back!

Follow our alumni social channels:

Be Prepared

Beacon Life Be Prepared

Shining Future Programme

We were excited to release our brand-new Upper School brochure, highlighting the outstanding opportunities available to boys in Years 7 and 8 at The Beacon.

Discover our ‘Shining Future’ programme, which is tailored to each individual, enabling boys to fulfill their potential and develop lifelong skills to shine into the future.

We welcomed parents into school on Monday 27 February to our Upper School Introduction evening hosted by our Headmaster, Nick Baker. He delved into the benefits of the programme in Years 7 & 8 and answered questions from parents. It was a very insightful evening for all involved.

Tutor Time

During Tutor Time, our teachers have been focusing on planning informative talks and workshops for our Years 6-8 boys, to develop their understanding of specific topics that will aid their life skills for the future.

Years 7 & 8 Tutor Time Curriculum

We have developed a Tutor Time curriculum for boys in Years 7 & 8, covering a wide range of topics such as e-safety, mental health, careers and gender equality to prepare them for life after school.

Shining Future

The Beacon Upper School

The Real Money Game

Boys in Years 6, 7, and 8 learn about money and how to become financially literate. The Years 7 and 8 boys had a 3-week module in economics during Tutor Time, including talks on topics such as credit ratings, savings, mortgages, and pensions. The boys also played 'The Real Money Game' where they had to budget their expenses based on their randomly generated job income. The sessions were based on skills that are valuable for life.

Upper School Introduction Evening

On Monday 27 February we hosted an Upper School Information Evening with talks from Mr Baker, Mr Tenison, Mrs Olhausen, Mr Detre and some words from our boys. Visit www. bit.ly/WatchUSIE to watch the session.

For more information about our Upper School at The Beacon, visit our website to view our Shining Future Programme brochure.

Visit

UPPER SCHOOL AT THE BEACON PROVIDES BOYS WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO

MATURE AND FLOURISH IN AN INTIMATE AND NURTURING ENVIRONMENT.

LEARNING PROGRAMME IS TAILORED TO EACH INDIVIDUAL

ENABLE BOYS TO FULFILL THEIR ACADEMIC POTENTIAL, GAIN GREATER INDEPENDENCE, BUILD CONFIDENCE AND ULTIMATELY DEVELOP LIFELONG

SKILLS TO SHINE INTO THE FUTURE.

The Beacon | Chesham Bois | Amersham | Buckinghamshire | HP6 5PF