2016 has certainly been an interesting year! Many events at home and abroad have shown that it is more important than ever for us to prepare our young people for an ever-changing world.

It has been wonderful to see our pupils being so eager to take an active interest in political and social events and you can read about some of these activities in these pages, including sixth formers getting to grips with the complexities of Brexit at a British Council conference.

We celebrated the achievements of over 200 pupils at our annual Awards Evening held in the splendour of Walsalls’ Town Hall. The beautiful building was the perfect venue to recognise hard working and highly achieving young people. It is one of my favourite nights of the year.

It is so important for our pupils to develop an international outlook and the news page from our Modern Foreign Languages department gives you a flavour of how we are doing this.

Christmas time is always a time to reflect on the experiences of people less fortunate than ourselves. The fundraising activities and artistic endeavours in these pages show how enthusiastically Beacon pupils do this. But Christmas is also a time for celebration and there is nothing wrong with a bit of escapism. I hope you enjoy the photos from We Will Rock You, Beacon’s Got Talent, the Christmas assembles and the staff pantomime.

I hope everyone has a peaceful christmas and a successful 2017.

IMPORTANT DATES AND NOTICES

Bank Holiday | Monday 2nd January 2017Return to School | Tuesday 3rd January 2017 Year 9 Curriculum Evening | Thursday 2nd February 2017Year 9 Progress Evening | Thursday 9th February 2017 Year 8 Curriculum Evening | Thursday 2nd March 2017Year 8 Progress Evening | Thursday 9th March 2017Year 7 Progress Evening | Thursday 30th March 2017

We regularly conduct research, such as surveys and focus groups, with our pupils so that we can �nd out how we further improve the learning experience. If you would prefer your child not to be involved with research please contact:postbox@barrbeaconschool.co.uk

SCHOOLNOTICE

Christmas NewsletterDecember 2016

Dame Maureen BrennanExecutive Headteacher

BREDON

Bredon House have had yet another fantastic term. I have been really impressed with all of your hard work and the way that you have contributed to all areas of school life. We have achieved an unbelievable amount of commendation certificates and praise postcards. I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. You certainly deserve it!

Congratulations to those pupils who have already received their Silver and Gold Certificates this term.

Attendance and PunctualityBredon House currently are still top of the attendance table with an impressive 96.97%. We also have a staggering number of pupils with 100% attendance for this academic year; an incredible 134! Well done Bredon House! A special mention needs to be given to 7B3, whose attendance is a superb 97.78%. This is the highest percentage in Bredon House!

Bredon House are also still sitting on top of the (Christmas) tree for the least amount of late marks!

AssembliesI would like to say a big thank you to 10B3 for their outstanding assembly on the traditions of Christmas. The pupils were all very confident when presenting their ideas and the information they provided us with was truly fantastic. We also enjoyed celebrating the amazing successes of Bredon pupils in our KS3 awards assembly. A massive well done to all of you who achieved an award!

Bredon House CupSunil Mistry 11B1 was awarded the Bredon House Cup in this year’s fantastic KS4 awards evening held at Walsall Town Hall. Sunil’s great determination, outstanding work ethic and tremendous support to the house resulted in him being a worthy recipient of this prestigious award. Fantastic work Sunil!

Online StudyBredon House are also setting a great example when it comes to learning outside of the classroom. Statistics from across the school show that 11B1 and 11B2 are completing more online tasks than any other tutor group. Haleemah Hussain 11B1 was last week’s top online user and Mia-Rae Brown 11B1 was the second highest achiever in Year 11. I am sure that all of your hard work will pay off when you receive your GCSE results in the summer!

I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mr M TownsendHead Of Bredon

CLENT

Mrs M SorensenHead Of Clent

May I start by thanking the Clent staff and pupils for their effort and enthusiasm. Children In Need is always one of the highlights of this term. Well done to Clent pupils for their participation and the huge amount of money they raised. Isabella Whitlock (7C2) also raised an amazing £50 by not using any electronic devices for 24 hours.

We have celebrated both KS3 and KS4 awards this term. At the annual Awards Evening at Walsall Town Hall, Clent Prefects were awarded their certificates by the Chair of Governors. Hafsah Godsil (11C1) received the special Clent House Award. This was awarded in recognition of Hafsah’s dedication to her House and the school as well as her outstanding academic achievements. There are far too many pupils to list individually, but well done to all of the recipients.

There have been a large number of sporting fixtures over the last couple of months and Clent pupils have played their part in raising the profile of our teams. In girls’ football there has been great commitment and dedication from Emily Allen (9C1) and Katie Thornhill (7C2). In the boys‘ Futsal competitions the following pupils have developed their skills and been a credit to the school. Barinder Bhandal (11C2), Lewis O’Reilly (11C2), Lewis Wartnaby (11C2), Eshan Rishi (11C2), Harrison Pajor-Bromfield (7C2), Max Whitehouse (7C1), Teshaun Gayle (7C1), Mankaran Sandhu (7C1) and Mitchell Hollander (7C1). In basketball, the boys showed an excellent team spirit from Javen Sander (8C2), Arjun Atwal (8C1), Callum Cooper (9C1), Dylan Kaler (9C1), Jakob Rayski (9C1), Edward Murrin (7C1) and William Steele (7C2)

Congratulations to those pupils who have achieved commendation certificates this term. A special mention to Hannah Gibbions (8C3), Hajra Sarfraz (7C2), Edward Murrin (7C1), Freddie Darkes (7C2), Hannah Mitchell (7C2) and Katie Thornhill (7C2) who have achieved their Silver certificates already.

May I wish you all a happy and relaxing festive period and I look forward to seeing you all back in January, ready for the new term.

MALVERN

What an amazing term. You have been working hard and have demonstrated great community this term with many fundraisers and charity events that have been going on within school. Keep up the great work. I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a restful break and look forward to seeing you all back in January ready for the new term.

Memorable Moments11M1 Assembly – this was about being kind to each other and raising our self-esteem. This was really well organised and all of 11M1 took part, supported by their Form Tutor Mr Harris. Excellent work 11M1.

KS3 Awards AssemblyIt was a pleasure to award on behalf of their teachers, so many Malvern students for all their hard work and effort. In addition to this it was a pleasure to award those pupils who have achieved 100% attendance. They are truly excellent role models for the rest of Malvern House. There are so many pupils who achieved these awards and I can’t mention them all on the Newsletter but you know who you are and I’d like to say I’m very proud of you all.

FundraisersWell done to MALVERN who raised the most out of all four houses this term for Children In Need. You are very generous and charitable. You are great givers. I’m very proud of you.

Champions Against BullyingWell done to Dylan Chauhan (8M1), Libby Bent (8M2) and Abi Hadley (7M2) for their hard work and effort in helping to organise Anti-bullying Week. The assembly was super and delivered to all houses during Anti-bullying week with a positive message of ensuring that if we stand together we have the Power for Good.

100% Attendance AssemblyCongratulations to all pupils that achieved 100% Attendance last year and were recognised in this assembly for achieving . The assembly was enjoyable to watch and there were so many of Malvern pupils to mention. Keep up the hard work and attendance.

Participation in school sports teamsMaisie Ford (8M2), Poppie Gillon (8M2) and Abbey Oakley (9M1) – Well done Girls Football tea, fro being stars of the term.Oliver Dean (9M2) – A massive well done for representing Great Britain in Portugal for the Gymnastics Tumbling competition.

Keep up all the hard work Malvern. Stay safe over Christmas and the New Year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mrs S SaundersHead Of Malvern

WREKIN

Mr A GrocuttHead Of Wrekin

Well as the nights draw in and Christmas approaches, Wrekin pupils have been hard at work ensuring that they are achieving in all aspects of school life. Whether it be academic, sport or performing arts, Wrekin students really have given it their all this half term.

Attendance and PunctualityWrekin have continued to work hard in the punctuality stakes and received 50 House Points this term for fewer late marks than any other House which is a great step in the right direction. This needs to continue after Christmas however as punctuality is key to Wrekin pupils’ success. On the attendance front, Wrekin have worked hard to have the most pupils with 100% in the school which they have been battling with Bredon for the past few weeks. Wrekin currently have 133 pupils with 100%. A huge well done to 7W1 whose attendance is the best in Wrekin house with 98.3%.

CommendationsWrekin pupils continue to amass commendations in all years. This is a great way to recognise all the students who day in day out are going above and beyond to make sure that staff at the school have no choice but to reward them with commendations. A HUGE well done must go to Eve Lorton-Mulcare (8W1) who has already achieved her Gold Commendation Award and is well on the way to the Headteachers award.

Sports and Performing ArtThere have been a number of sporting fixtures that have been taking place over this term which have included many Wrekin pupils. Girls’ football is in full swing and a massive well done to Karis Poultney (9W1), Libby Ogleby (9W1), Charlotte Dean (8W2), Freya Chhokar (7W1), Ella Watts (7W1), Jenna Hardboard (7W1), Jessica Colclough (7W2). For rugby a huge well done to Tom Jukes (10W1) and Ajani Allen (10W1). In basketball a well done to Nabeel Subadar (9W2), Ethan Rickhuss (8W2) and Thierry Dean Powell (8W2).

Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed Barr Beacon’s production of We Will Rock You. It was AMAZING. Once again Wrekin showed their talents in a variety of ways, so a massive well done to all who took part in whatever capacity.

Great AchievementWilliam Mellor (8W2) is now a published writer. After spending last Easter at Chessington Zoo and looking at conservation work that takes place he felt compelled to write a poem entitled ‘Endangered’. This was then submitted to the young writers ‘competition and Williams poem was selected and published. William was really pleased with this as were his parents and I am sure that this young man has many more poems to come.

Bouncing into BeaconJennifer Slack (10W2) has had great success at K-Star Thai boxing recently. She has been developing her technique and was awarded her yellow band. Jennifer says ‘I started going 6 months ago. To grade, I had to know certain moves off by heart. I achieved As and Bs in specific moves. I chose to do this because I did other martial arts but I didn’t enjoy them as much as Thai Boxing. I hope to achieve a green band in the next year and further develop my skills’. A huge well done to Jennifer and we look forward to seeing what she does next.

I hope you all have a great break and stay safe. Please enjoy your time spent with family and friends and ensure you are refreshed and recharged for January.