Beechwood Lion Michaelmas 2020

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The

Beechwood Lion Michaelmas 2020

Read about Beechwood’s colourful 56th birthday on page 6.

From the Headmaster

Dear Parents and Friends, ...and so we reach the buffers of a wonderful Michaelmas term, in which our community has once again valiantly pulled together to ensure continuity of education through the vicissitudes of the pandemic and its attendant government guidelines. The planning over the summer holidays seems to have paid dividends and we count ourselves extremely fortunate that, apart from a precautionary twoweek hiatus in the boarding house, all of our pupils have enjoyed healthy, full-time, onsite learning for all 15 weeks.

As ever, when staff, pupils, parents and governors pull together with a single aim, there is nothing that we cannot achieve, and I am particularly grateful to the BPSPA for enabling the continuity of fun events throughout the term; who for example

could fail to be impressed by the creativity of the 50+ guys staked up the drive in lieu of our traditional Bonfire and Fireworks Night? Thank you also for your generosity in supporting our various charitable ventures this term; the contributions of Christmas goods to The Vineyard Churches in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead was a particular high point.

And so, the Battle of Beechwood is now over, the last hurrahs from the House matches have drifted away and your children have managed to suppress their excitement to ‘mild-hysteria’ level as they have dispelled the CoronaGrinch, donning all manner of festive onesies and then Christmas jumpers, consumed Santa cupcakes and Calippos, revelled in the Senior Leadership Team’s truly awful attempt at a nativity, (the Junior Department children were 100 times more professional in their line delivery, enunciation and just about every other performance skill!) They have explored escape rooms, celebrated the wonder of an early Christmas in School and sung their hearts out in the final Christmas Assemblies.

...and so the School once again falls silent... all is calm...all is bright ...until Monday’s installation of a 10GB fibre optic cable through the length of the School from DT to Woodlands.

What a term we have had! What progress we have made and let’s quietly hope that 2021 is nothing like as challenging as 2020 has been! Put the vaccines on ice, we’re going in!

Wishing all of our families and friends a very happy Christmas and New Year.

With best wishes, Yours, EDWARD BALFOUR HEADMASTER

Virtually Business as Usual

Heads of School

It has been fantastic to be back at School this term, and whilst COVID has posed some necessary limitations, we have managed to ‘keep calm carry on’, and even adapt, in ingenious ways. From a virtual Open Morning in October to a virtual tour of The Tower of London, from virtual Lunchtime Concerts to assemblies on Zoom, from the BPSPA Guy Festival to the The Battle of Beechwood and, of course, this year’s Christmas productions! The entire Beechwood community has been as enthusiastic and engaged as ever, in every part of school life. Read on to find out more...

Congratulations to Daisy and Grace, who were appointed as Heads of School just before half term. We all wish them all the best.

Virtual Open Morning

Virtual Fitness Bingo

Virtual Lunchtime Concert

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It’s Christmas!

Woodlands Nursery A Letter to Santa Each Woodlands class created a separate show which they wove together through a letter sent to Santa. Each verse of their letter led neatly into a Christmas song.

The letter finished acknowledging that the LOVE that comes from above is what really matters at Christmas.

Our 2, 3 and 4 year olds were extremely confident and professional as they performed their parts in front of three cameras and lots of bright lights.

Merry Christmas to the Beechwood Community from all of us in Woodlands.

SHIRLEY HAYMAN

The Nativity Story, Re-told by Reception The Reception children enjoyed learning all about the Nativity story, listening with huge interest and amazement. For their Christmas Nativity performance, each child took on a role, learning lines, songs and actions. As usual, the children went above and beyond with their performance skills and we really enjoyed watching the show in class.

RECEPTION TEACHERS

Year 1 - A Miracle in Town There are not many years in a child’s life when we, as adults, can stand misty eyed and rejoice in their performance as shepherds, angels and donkeys. The Year 1 team was incredibly proud of the children as they sang, danced and acted their way through ‘ A Miracle in Town’, a traditional re-telling of the Christmas story.

The children looked wonderful in the costumes kindly provided by parents and, as always everything came together for a spectacular performance. Well done Year 1!

YEAR 1 TEACHERS

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Ho ho ho...

Year 2 - The Queen’s Christmas Present ‘The Queen’s Christmas Present’ by Year 2 was inspired by Steve Antony’s books The Queen’s Hat, The Queen’s Handbag and The Queen’s Present.

When the Queen finds that her online shopping has gone awry she has to take matters into her own hands (with a little help from her royal entourage and a few special helpers) to find the perfect presents.

Starting at Buckingham Palace, the Queen journeys all over London before ending up at the North Pole.

The children enjoyed singing jazzy tunes like Jingle Bell Rock complete with actions, dancing to Merry Christmas Everyone or pretending to fly on Santa’s sleigh or ride a ‘Boris’ bike.

YEAR 2 TEACHERS

Christmas Cracker The original idea behind the ‘Christmas Cracker’ was to create an opportunity for every member of the Middle Department to perform to an audience, to showcase a real miscellany of ‘Christmassy’ things, and provide whistle-stop tour through many areas of the curriculum...along with some very corny jokes.

Whilst we cannot replicate our usual communal singing, we are pretty sure we have managed to tick all the other boxes, and hope that you enjoy the end result!

MIDDLE DEPARTMENT TEACHERS

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Across the Curriculum War Horse Dioramas

Maths Rocks!

Year 7 created wonderful dioramas to complement their study of Michael Morpurgo’s novel, War Horse.

Pupils chose a scene, thought carefully about the language used by Morpurgo and created a 3D version of the scene in a box.

They used Lego, model animals, real dirt, straw, rusted steel wool and even cumin seeds. What imagination!

In the second week of November, pupils from Early Years to Top Form enjoyed a wide range of mathematical activities in celebration of Maths Week England. From Barvember to shape garlands, they tried puzzles, games , Vedic maths and more. Johnny Ball even made an appearance in some interactive lessons...not that the pupils knew who he was!

Maths Week provides us with such a great opportunity to engage in the fun and beauty of maths. We often overlook how vital and wonderful a subject maths is, and initiatives like this help our pupils to enjoy it that little bit more.

BRIDGET MANTON

Cross-curricular Humpty Our Woodlanders discovered a huge crime scene outside the Nursery and saw that Humpty Dumpty had fallen off the wall and was in pieces on the floor. “Who did this to Humpty Dumpty?”, “How do you think it happened?”

The children became detectives and doctors, looking at fingerprints and working out how to stick Humpty back together again. Some created a Humpty Hospital and began reparatory work.

Then in Science, the children completed experiments involving hard boiled eggs and different protective materials, predicting what they thought would happen to each egg when dropped.

SHIRLEY HAYMAN

MARION WRIGHT

A Royal Affair Who needs an off-site school trip when a ‘virtual’ one can provide hands-on learning and a great deal of excitement?

Year 1 enjoyed a virtual tour of The Tower of London and Orchard Green became a superb setting for an investiture for Year 2, who had begun their new topic of Queen Elizabeth. A Street Party served up big smiles as the children waved flags, donned party hats and played games such as ‘Spot the Corgi’!

HELEN DALKIN

Battle Business Although the Battle of Hastings took place 954 years ago, it came to life for Year 5 this term. Pupils investigated historical sources and their reliability and explored the Bayeux Tapestry asking questions such as ‘Can we trust its version of events?’ and ‘What might have been illustrated on the missing piece?’.

Keeping with the battle theme, Year 5 have been composing using Garageband.

Having thought about how musicians use stories, legends and themes as inspiration for composing pupils took the theme of Battle and 1066 as a starting point for their own ‘Battle music’ with some brilliant and dramatic results.

Walk Like an Egyptian Year 3 Egyptian Day began with pupils arriving at School dressed in a fantastic array of outfits. We played an Egyptian board game and even went on to create our own rules.

There were lots of creative activities, and the pupils were supported by the experts: Mrs Kelway-Bamber and Mr Fox. Their visit was very welcome, not just because of their specialist knowledge, but also because Bruce came along too dressed in his finest Egpytian collar!

Pupils even enjoyed some Egyptian maths and ate delicious falafels and coconut cake, courtesy of Keeley and her fantastic team. Amongst all of this excitement, we found time to ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ and have a dance-off!

YEAR 3 TEACHERS

YEAR 5 TEACHERS

Des tomates, s’il-vous plaît!

Merci beaucoup, Madame Fairburn for a French shopping experience with a difference. She valiantly took the role of different shopkeepers so that Year 2 could practise their French as a special end to their topic on food. Pupils also got to play the shopping trolley game and illustrate a café menu too!

YEAR 2 TEACHERS

Designs on DT In Design Technology, we like to focus on real-world skills and techniques that are used by the numerous different types of designer in society.

The Middle Department have been working on problem solving challenges, architectural modelling and tinkering with electronics, motors and switches in order to step into the fun world of simple robotics.

Senior pupils been thinking about the future, designing ocean cities to try and solve the projected overpopulation issues, working in 3D design software to create a model, which they then fabricated.

We have also looked at traditional crafts and the Japanese style of carpentry known as ‘Kumiko’, involving fine, accurate woodworking to create elegant looking cubes, which are then decorated and illuminated using a USB powered LED circuit which pupils will solder together.

TOM FOX

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Introducing...

Top Form pupils have taken on special responsibilities in different areas of the School as part of their Leadership Through Service Award.

We were delighted to meet our newly appointed Marketing helpers Bea G, Top BM, Jack F, Top MC and Ben M, Top BM, who embarked on their first task with gusto, interviewing some of the newest members of Beechwood Park staff and finding out some interesting facts along the way.

PIPPA HOPKINS

ELINA HLADKYJ, GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT Favourite animal: elephant

CHARLOTTE BURTON, TEACHER OF MODERN LANGUAGES

Favourite food: doughnuts

First impression of Beechwood Park: a friendly school where pupils love to learn

Alternative occupation: astronaut

Favourite meal at school: the Diwali lunch

Time travel destination: the year 3000

Hobbies: yoga, cycling and playing the flute

Favourite room in the school: the Library

Favourite sport: hockey

If you could live anywhere in the world: Switzerland

Favourite subject at school: French (obviously!)

LAURA ALLEN, RECEPTIONIST /SCHOOL SECRETARY Favourite animal: cat Favourite sport: tennis/football Diwali lunch, a hit with everyone

LAURA CAMPBELL, TEACHER OF ENGLISH Favourite animal: black panther Favourite sweet: Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt (other brands are available…!)

MIKE, SCIENCE DEPARTMENT How old are you? A tortoise never reveals his (or her) age

Things learnt since being at Beechwood: mail merge & multitasking Did you always want to work in a school?

I always wanted to have a job working with children Favourite author: have read so many books that I can’t choose a favourite

Favourite food: lettuce and other leafy greens

Favourite place at school: the Library

What do you like about Beechwood? The children of course - they all stop for a chat as they walk down the corridor past my home although they do sometimes wake me up!

Alternative occupation: Social Researcher

Favourite sport: running :)

ANNE-MARIE RIDLER, BURSAR

Ideal time travel destination: back to the year I was born

Aspirations for the future: to take over the Science Department, prior to world domination

Favourite subject at school: Chemistry and Maths

Describe yourself in one word: enthusiastic

Favourite books: Esio Trot, The Beginning of the Armadillos and of course, The Hare and the Tortoise

Favourite sport: rowing - I have made many friends, and met my husband, at my local club

PAUL READING, TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS Your favourite subject at school: History, inspired by a teacher who was teaching us about the Greeks and the famous battles against the Persian empire Hobbies: running and gardening (particularly growing vegetables) Favourite country: England - I have worked abroad and really enjoyed the experience but there is no place quite like home What have you learnt since being at Beechwood? Quite a lot, including many facts about the school itself. I have learnt to use new systems and access new resources, as well as appreciating just how bright and creative young people can be Favourite room at Beechwood: library, I have noticed many of my childhood books on the upper shelves Best school lunch: must be the Diwali meal that we had recently, it was simply outstanding

Favourite author / book: Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy Why Beechwood? My predecessor, Mr Blad, sold it to me when I asked him about the job, then I came for a tour and haven’t looked back

The Library, a popular spot

New things learnt at Beechwood: I find I learn something new every day!

JOEL WOOD, HEAD OF TPR

Breaktime drink: coffee, hopefully accompanied by a chocolate biscuit

Interview conducted by 6JFW

Favourite room at school: the Great Hall

Favourite subject when I was younger: I loved Woodwork (D&T) and still make things at home – most recently a picnic table for our squirrels.

Best School lunch: the weekly roast.

Favourite animal: dogs – and it’s great to see Scoobie and Bruce around school.

Favourite author: Ian Fleming’s James Bond books – There are a few books in the library.

Why Beechwood? My old Headmaster came for some teacher training and described it as a wow school! So, I had to come and see for myself. It is!

New things learnt since arrival at Beechwood: the children here love Sherbet lemons!

WELCOME ALSO...

Welcome to our other new members of staff this term: Victoria White Teaching Assistant Victoria Markham, Reception Red Teacher, Amanda Barker, Assistant Bursar, Pippa Hopkins, Marketing & Communications Manager, Mary Jones, Science Technician and owner of Mike the Tortoise, Shona McCabe, Sports Teacher and Felicity Meakins, Harp Teacher.

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Inclusiveness Harvest Thanks

Christmas Giving

The St. John’s Foodbank in Markyate and St Albans & District Foodbank were delighted to receive the wonderful Harvest food items that Beechwood families kindly donated. Thank you for your generosity.

Beechwood pupils have been inspired to raise money for our School charity Happy Days, with events such as Onesie Day and a virtual bucket collection in conjunction with the Christmas performances.

At the end of term, the School also donned Christmas jumpers to raise money for Save the Children and donated Christmas gifts to the Vineyard Churches. Read Tom and Ethan’s account here.

BRIDGET MANTON

Celebrating Diwali Woodlanders and Junior Department pupils enjoyed learning about the Hindu festival of Diwali.

Reception pupils listened to the story of Diwali and then made their own diwa tissue windows by tearing and sticking tissue paper then adding jewels to a diwa picture. They also made their own lanterns, Rangoli patterns and Diwali cards, which were used to decorate the Dining Room for a spectacular Diwali lunch which was enjoyed by the whole School.

LOUISE PAGE

BRIDGET MANTON

For the second year running, albeit with the whole School involved this time, we are sending presents off to the Vineyard Church in St. Albans and also to the Children’s Storehouse (which is linked to Mr Barringer and the Vineyard Church in Hemel) so that children who are less privileged than us can have a bit of joy this Christmas. Each Form has decided on a gift for the children and they’ve shared out the cost of it between them. These will be taken to the Vineyard Churches where parents will come in and choose a present best suited to their child.

In our Forms pupils have put forward ideas about what to buy and then discussed the options. Everyone donated the same amount, before one member of the Form purchased the gift on behalf of everyone else.

So, it’s a big thank you from us and the Vineyard Churches for allowing us to give other children a better Christmas, one that we hope they will remember.

TOM R AND ETHAN P, TOP FORMERS WITH CHARITY RESPONSIBILITIES.

Tooled Up School Beechwood Park is delighted to be a ‘Tooled Up’ school. Dr Kathy Weston is one of the country’s leading experts on parenting and the founder of Tooled Up Education.

As a Tooled Up School, parents at Beechwood have free access to her website library which contains a large number of resources on a wide range of educational topics. Dr Weston works in partnership with the School and constantly adds to the Library, following requests JAIME PACKER from parents and staff.

Lest We Forget Anti-Bullying Week Anti-Bullying Week is an initiative by the Anti Bullying Alliance, a unique coalition of organisations and individuals, working together to stop bullying.

This campaign provided our community with the opportunity to explore BIG and sometimes uncomfortable questions, and to wear odd socks every day during the week to highlight the difference between us all.

From Woodlands Nursery to Top Form pupils discussed, reflected and made pledges to unite against all types of bullying.

Following a thought-provoking Remembrance Assembly on Armistice Day, the School paused for two minutes on the 11th hour. Thank you to Mr Bullock and Mrs Lodge and our valiant trumpeter, Peter, 7LD for making the event so memorable.

Across the School, pupils had created some insightful installations and artwork, the most evident of these being a collage of poppies decorating the Great Hall and Performance Hall and a superb and poignant display of poppies on the Front Lawn created by Seb A-K, Top IG. OLIVER BULLOCK

KERRY CLARKE

Diversity & Inclusion Committee This term, we established the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, including a collection of staff from across the whole School. We discussed what diversity meant to each of us and the impact of recent events on our community.

In the first instance, the committee has been set up to assess the School curriculum and identify areas that can support the pupils’ understanding of diversity and difference. We are also introducing a pupil-led Diversity and Inclusion Committee, next term, to support this development further. I look forward to sharing updates with you on this committee next term.

A Diverse & Reflective Birthday Beechwood’s 56th birthday was a day of celebration, reflection and colour. We combined our festivities with wearing yellow in support of #HelloYellow, a Young Minds initiative to support young people’s mental health on World Mental Health Day. Our youngest pupils are learning to associate colour with feelings and so were delighted to wear yellow to celebrate Beechwood’s special day.

A Middle Department assembly encouraged all pupils to reflect on simple ways to look after themselves and stay mentally healthy and happy, whilst Senior Department pupils demonstrated great insight on the topic of Diversity.

There was also a special culinary ‘diversity’ birthday lunch and everyone enjoyed dishes from a range of countries.

A memorable day!

JONATHAN COKE

JONATHAN COKE, CHAIR OF THE DIVERSITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE

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Sport Let Battle Commence!

This term, external sports fixtures may have been thwarted by the pandemic, but the enterprising Sports Department was determined that this was not going to stop pupils having some good, healthy competition… and a large dose of fun!

And so, the Battle of Beechwood was born; a programme of varied and exciting lesserknown competitive sports offering pupils from Year 3 to Top Form the opportunity to compete in weekly internal fixtures against other teams in their year group bubble in order to earn points for their team.

The Battle has intensified as the term has progressed and sports have included Bench Ball, Dodgeball, Team Pursuit, Kabbadi and more recently Trios.

In line with the School’s child-centred mission, the battle teams have been created especially for this competition with pupils involved in naming their own team. This has led to some fabulously creative names, such as ‘Reggae Potatoes’, ‘Cien Fuegos’ (too hot to handle perhaps?!) and ‘Pickled Lions’!

Well done to everyone who competed in The Battle of Beechwood this term. We have seen some fantastic team spirit, amazing sportsmanship and it has been great seeing the pupils learning new games and transferring their skills across all the disciplines!

CLARE LECKIE-HARBORD.

Junior Sport In their sport and PE lessons this term, Woodlands Nursery and the Junior Department have been working on fundamental skills.

Most recently, Junior Department pupils have been perfecting racket skills, football, hockey, throwing and catching. They have been practising quick steps with a ladder, using a racket and tennis ball and even learning how to skip. They have also thought about how to dodge and make fast changes of direction while playing the River Bank game. Most importantly our youngest pupils have been having fun whilst learning skills that will prove invaluable as they progress through the School.

KYLIE-PAUL LE BAS

Fitness Bingo The whole School got their hearts racing last Friday morning as they participated in a CoCurricular Assembly led by the Sports Department.

After being inspired to get active with some YouTubers dancing to Baby Shark, Junior, Middle and Senior Department pupils found out about The Importance of Intensity in Physical Activity before embarking on an invigorating game of Fitness Bingo. 2B said they loved it, TopIG said they put in 100% effort and 4K asked if they could do it every week! Well done to everyone for getting physical and a special mention to winners TopLHH and 3O. KYLIE-PAUL LE BAS

House Matches We have seen more matches than usual this term, with pupils having had the opportunity to try both hockey and football. As always, pupils played with great excitement, enthusiasm and skill, displaying fine sportsmanship and teamwork

ALEXIS HAMILTON

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BPSPA and Alumni BPSPA News Well, life might be a bit different at the moment but that has not stopped us from kicking off the school year in style! Whilst we haven’t been able to run our usual events, some super creative ideas and out-of-the-box thinking have enabled us to come together in spirit if not in person.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, our AGM took place in September via Zoom during which we said goodbye to the outgoing BPSPA committee and welcomed the new members. Our thanks to Sarah Woodruff and her team for all their hard work and dedication.

Unfortunately, the ever popular Beechwood Quiz and Curry Night could not take place this term, however plans are underway to run it during the Summer Term as an al fresco event (social distancing rules permitting). It was with a heavy heart that we also had to cancel our usual Bonfire Night and Fireworks Display, however the occasion did not go unmarked thanks to the first ever Beechwood Park Guy Fawkes Festival! Our thanks to everyone who entered a Guy into the competition - we were blown away with the response and, of course, the wonderful creativity shown. The Guys made a fantastic display along the school driveway (I mean, how often will you see Donald Trump on the way to school?!) and around the grounds and helped put a smile on everyone’s face as we entered our second national lockdown. Special thanks must also be extended to our Maintenance team, without whom we could not have run this event.

and our thanks go to Mrs Kelway-Bamber who had the difficult job of choosing the winning entries.

We have also received some great feedback from you all regarding the Bonfire Night goody bags, which we hope went some way to making up for the fact we couldn’t put on a fireworks display this year. Thank you to those of you who shared photos of your children enjoying their sparklers and glow sticks!

An extremely exciting development this term has been the creation of our very first BPSPA online shop: https://www.bpspa. shop. Huge thanks to Robin Balen and Mrs Ridler for their time and effort in making this idea a reality - it will revolutionise the way we sell our merchandise and, in time, tickets for events as well (yes, that day will come again!) Please do take a few minutes to browse our fantastic products - and remember, there is 10% off for all orders placed before the end of the year.

I am sure 2020 is a year that we will all be pleased to bid farewell to. However, despite the very many difficulties and challenges that this year has presented, I hope that there will be some positive things to reflect on - perhaps spending more quality time with family or enjoying the beautiful countryside that we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful BPSPA team, who have shown such innovation and enthusiasm to keep the spirit of the school community alive during these tricky times.

The festive season is set to be a bit different this year but, however you spend it, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and best wishes for 2021.

JENA HOCKLEY - BPSPA CHAIR

The creativity did not stop with the Guys, as many of you also showed your artistic flair by designing some incredible Bonfire Night themed posters. It was a joy to see such original, colourful artworks

Alumni News University Challenge Old Beechwoodians get everywhere! It was great to see Thomas Sherlock (2005-2012), on University Challenge recently, representing the University of St Andrews.

After a fabulous performance, his team made it through to the second round, where, unfortunately, they lost to Imperial College, London.

Darcy Shooting Star In his last few years at Beechwood, Darcy McBride (2008-2017) embarked on a new sport; Shotgun Shooting. Now at Bedford School, we were delighted to hear that he has gone from strength to strength to become Junior British Open Sporting Clay Shooting Champion, an accolade which goes back to 1948!

The age category for Juniors is 16-21 and with Darcy having just moved into Juniors on 31st July this is quite some achievement. Congratulations Darcy...

Clay Pigeon Shooting Champion!

Old Beechwoodians Play at Lord’s Two Old Beechwoodians, George Cutler (2006-2017) and Hugh Craig (2006-2015), both former students of Mr Cooper and Mr Ridley, had the amazing opportunity to play at Lord’s Cricket Ground in September. The boys played for Redbourn Cricket Club, having reached the final of the National Village Cup sponsored by the Cricketers Magazine.

Unfortunately, Redbourn narrowly lost to Colwall Cricket Club in the final, falling six runs short of the required total.

To reach the final and to get to Lord’s however, was a remarkable achievement with the team winning seven knockout games on their way to what would prove to be the Club’s biggest day in its nearly 200year history!

Sasha Jagsi (Beechwood 2007-2014), Head of School, St Albans High School for Girls, 2019/2020 When asked to reflect on her current role and her time at Beechwood, Sasha said: “I have loved undertaking the role of Head of School this year as it has allowed me the opportunity to get to know all members of my school community and has enabled me to share my passions with the wider community, whilst also giving me the scope to get involved with lots of behind the scenes action at school and help make change on behalf of all students.

One of my favourite memories of Beechwood is the extensive co-curricular programme which led me to discover so many passions. I found my love of singing through the Chamber Choir “Vox Leonis” and my love for drama through taking part in School Productions such as “Cats” and “Hansel and Gretel.” I also had the unforgettable experience of being a boarder in my last year at the School which was a time I will always treasure. I am currently studying English Literature, History and Drama at A Level and would love to pursue my dream of becoming an actress or singer after university.

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