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2

People often think of Easter-time as a

period of change and it is hard for me to

resist thinking along similar lines. Driving to

work in bright sunlight this morning was a

refreshing change compared with the dark

starts to the day that always dominate

Winter. The first buds have appeared on

the plants around school. From my office

window I can see the caretakers doing a

magnificent job of clearing the flowerbeds

so we can start the new term feeling that

yes ‘Spring has definitely sprung’.

In this newsletter you will read about lots of

new activities – things our pupils are

experiencing for the first time, such as the

Year 7 theatre visit to Matilda or the eclipse

experience (take a look at the centre

pages to see how we prepared our pupils

for this special event).

Yet like many of the plants around school

there are perennial favourites; things that

return year on year, like the BBC School

Report and World Book Day. Yet when we

choose to repeat something we always

seek to make it better than the previous

time. What makes Beacon literally stand

out from the crowd is that we are rarely

content – we always know we can make

improvements. The 2015 BBC School Report

outcome is just one small but powerful

example of that. I urge you to watch this

year’s video on our website – it is even

better than last year’s. It really does give

you an insight into the wonderful things our

pupils get involved in.

Speaking of ‘things returning’, we have

been inundated with alumni getting back

in touch with us. You can read more about

this opposite and if you yourself are an

alumnus, or you are in touch with someone

who has been a Beacon student, please

urge them to complete the short survey on

our website.

Have a wonderful Easter break everybody.

Dame Maureen Brennan

Executive Headteacher

P.S. It goes without saying that our GCSE

and A Level pupils will be working flat out

on the bulk of their revision over Easter. You

can support them by looking through the

Help Your Child Revise section of our

website.

Over the past few months, Year 13 students have

been anxiously waiting to hear if they have been

offered a place to study at their chosen

university. Here is just a small selection of our many

success stories:

Tahmina Ahmed: Tahmina has a conditional offer

to study Chemical Engineering with Industrial

Experience at the University of Manchester.

Amritpal Bhatti: Amritpal has a very exciting offer to

study Film, Television and Digital Production at

Royal Holloway University of London.

Hollie-May Cash: Following an outstanding

interview at the University of Birmingham, Hollie-

May has been offered a place to study Nursing at

one of the country’s leading universities.

Harriet Clarke: Harriet will be continuing her love

of History, opting to study at The University of Leeds.

Ajmer Dhesi: Ajmer has a conditional offer to study

Business and Management at Aston University.

Aston have strong links with employers, offering

work experience during your degree, so Ajmer will

be in a good position to secure a job when he

graduates.

Jack Evans: Our budding future politician has

secured an offer to study Political Economy at the

prestigious King’s College, London.

Jack Moore: Jack has secured an offer for an

Aeronautical Engineering degree at

Loughborough university.

Jamie Nicholson: Medicine applications are

fiercely competitive. Jamie had an agonising

wait, but he finally discovered that he has been

offered a place to study Medicine at the University

of Birmingham.

Wesley Rawlings: After a rigorous assessment and

interview procedure, Wesley has secured an offer

to read Physics at Oxford University.

Robinson Soteriou: Robbie has put extensive

research into deciding which university is best for

him and ensured he attended Open Days. He has

a fantastic offer to study Psychology at Cardiff

University.

Mikeala Stewart: Mikeala is one of our many

students who has applied for a Primary Teaching

degree that will lead her straight to her future

career. She has already completed her BTEC

Health and Social Care course so is on track to

secure her place at Birmingham City University.

Joe Tomlinson: Although Joe didn’t study PE at A

level, his extensive sports commitments outside of

lessons have allowed him to secure a place on a

Sports Coaching course at Southampton Solent

University.

Xuebei Zhang: Like many of our Year 13 students,

Xuebei was spoilt for choice, receiving offers from

all 5 of her university choices. She has settled on

Mechanical Engineering at the University of

Nottingham.

Congratulations to everyone who has received

offers and the very best of luck to those who are

still waiting.

HEADTEACHER’S MESSAGE UNIVERSITY OFFERS

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Maintaining contact with our former students, our alumni, is an essential part of our careers provision. What could be more inspiring for current Barr Beacon students than to hear from those who came here and went on to take up positions at the best universities, in the best apprenticeships and in the most fulfilling careers?

To further develop our work for our alumni, we are launching a new part of the website just for them. Keep a look out for anything that features the new logo (below).

If you are a Barr Beacon alumnus and you have not got in touch with us recently, or at any point since leaving us, you might like to complete a brief series of questions which will help us update our alumnus database. We use this database to target careers support at particular groups of students and we would really value you spending a couple of minutes filling it in. Already this year we have had several former students back in school to speak about their experiences.

Your relationship with us continues long after the day you leave, so make sure you keep checking back on the website for the latest news and opportunities to stay connected to Barr Beacon School.

On Wednesday 18th March 49 Year 7 pupils were fortunate enough to travel to London to see the award winning musical ‘Matilda’.

First impressions were very positive from the staff and pupils as the elaborate set covered

in letters and books started to open up and reveal the stories of the Roald Dahl characters we know and love. The students were enthralled throughout the performance and were talking about all their favourite parts at the interval.

Pupils had all read the book (some having read it two or three times!) before seeing the show and they enjoyed drawing comparisons with the theatrical experience.

In what has become a beloved annual tradition, a group of pupils collaborated to write, shoot and edit a news broadcast which is then publicised by the BBC.

You can view this year’s video on the school

website.

MATILDA

BBC SCHOOL REPORT

4

A group of pupils have been taking part

in cycling training around Barr Beacon

with some external tutors.

Pupils tackled hills and enhanced their

cycling skills. All thoroughly enjoyed the

experience.

All pupils who took part received their

Level 3 award in Bikeability. Well done to

Connor Oldale (8B2), Morgan Garrard

(8B2), Mia Perfit (7B1), Ella Wood (7B1),

Madihah Hussain (7B2), Kira Fallowfield

(7W1), Emma Leedham (7B2), Lauren

Potts (7B1) and Esme Harris (7B1).

This term the Dance Department took a

group of 30 pupils to the MAC theatre to see

‘Broken’, a highly energetic, contemporary

contact piece that uses media technology to

enhance the experience.

‘Broken’ was packed full of excitement and

danger and the pupils were gripped at the

strength and courage of the professional

dancers, describing it as “like nothing that I

have ever seen before” and “amazing”. One

pupil even said that they were “scared for the

safety of the dancers” as they threw

themselves off stilts, 10ft planks, ropes and 20ft

poles.

Our next dance trip will be in May when we

will be visiting London to see the International

Festival of Street and Break Dance at the 2015

Breakin` Convention to be held at Sadler’s

Wells.

Year 9 had an exciting day on Friday 20th March,

when visitors came from The National Enterprise

Competition to deliver the day.

The ambassador for The Ryman National Enterprise

Challenge is the famous Dragons Den star – Theo

Paphitis, owner of Ryman’s Stationery.

Skills that Year 9 pupils were able to enhance and

experience throughout the day were: helping

them develop strategy, creative thinking,

communication, group work and presenting skills

Pupils created an idea for a new ride at Alton

Towers and developed their financial skills by

costing out their promotional budget. 8 teams

were chosen by the judges from the National

Enterprise Competition to pitch their ideas to Year

9. From this the judges that were made up of the

team from The National Enterprise Competition

and Mr Townsend and Mrs Durnall selected a team

to represent Barr Beacon at the National Final in

July at Alton Towers.

The winning team will have to present their ideas to

the judging panel at Alton Towers and compete

against others schools nationally.

CYCLE TRAINING

‘BROKEN’

ENTERPRISE

5

To celebrate World Book Day at Barr Beacon, KS3 pupils were asked to create a ‘giant’

version of their favourite book. We would like to thank all of KS3 for their outstanding efforts;

the books look fantastic and are being displayed throughout the department. We had

some superb entries and it was incredibly difficult to pick our top twelve.

A huge congratulations to our winners - First Place: Victoria Murrin (8M1) (300 House points);

Second Place: Chloe Davies (7M3) (200 House points); Third Place: David Curran (8C2),

Beth Hinks (9B2), Shane Wilcox (9W2), Joshua Wakeling (7W3), Adam Stubbs (10C1), Allyah

Begum (7W2), Chole Davis (7B1), Amy Robatham (8M1), Ethan Hunt (7W2), Tasneem Ravatt

(8M1) (100 House points).

WORLD BOOK DAY

PWC visited Year 11 and Year 12 pupils

who are interested in pursuing a career in

business, accounting or economics. They

discussed the opportunities available to

them at one of the country’s leading

firms.

Newman University gave interview advice

to Year 12 students. These hints and tips

will be vital for Year 12 in September

when they are applying for universities

and the country’s top apprenticeship

schemes.

A current student from Birmingham City

University spoke to Year 12 students about

her academic journey, future career path

and student life.

CAREERS ADVICE

6

Pupils in Year 9 had a fantastic opportunity

this half term to attend the Beth Shalom

Holocaust Educational Centre.

During the two day visit, Year 9 were able to

explore key events that happened during the

Holocaust and after. They were able to

attend the Holocaust Exhibition which took

them on a journey throughout the events and

stages of the Holocaust.

Pupils excelled themselves when they got the

chance to listen and talk to a Holocaust

survivor. They had some excellent questions

on how the survivors felt about what had

happened to them and how their experience

had influenced their beliefs and faith today.

The pupils found this to be a valuable

opportunity, which will now be discussed

further in their History and RE lessons.

HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CENTRE VISIT

7

Barr Beacon’s pupils have all been busy

taking part in several writing competitions

over the last term as part of the school’s

drive for using a pen outside of school.

The Where’s Wally? Competition got

pupils describing scenes from the famous

books. It goes without saying finding

Wally was always the first priority, but in

the end we had loads of entries with

some epic descriptions. Well done to our

winners Olivia Beresford, Safiyyah Hussain

and Logan Chambers (all 8W2).

The other major competition we ran was

writing a storyboard for your very own

fantasy game, linking in with this term’s

theme of fantasy books and how they

form the roots of many of our pastimes,

from TV shows like Game of Thrones,

computer games such as Zelda and

Skyrim to films like X-Men and Lord of The

Rings. The pupils were given free rein on

their game’s story, from mermaids to

knights in castles.

A big congratulation to the winner

Thomas Mills (7M1) followed closely by

Louise Churchill (7W3) and Chloe Davies.

Our ‘Secret Agent’ superhero pupils

dressed the part for Red Nose Day this

year. Shaken…Not Stirred.

‘Gunge your Teacher’ was a huge

success at break time!

WRITING COMPETITION WINNERS

8

49 of our Year 7 pupils attended the Pi Day

Maths event that was run by Coventry

Cathedral.

Pupils discovered how Pi can be applied in

the real world. They learnt why Pi Day this

year was extra special: 3/14/15 (March 14th

2015) and how Albert Einstein and Pi Day are

connected.

Pupils took part in a number of activities

including creating a Pi skyline using multi-link

cubes, making a Pi bracelet, making a Pi

spiral and looking at what pattern would

occur if a small light was attached to the tyre

on a bike. The Mobius strip left some of the

pupils a little bit confused – understandably!

The pupils enjoyed the opportunity to work

creatively with Maths.

“It’s been fun making the spiral.”

“The activities have been fun. I enjoyed

making the bracelet. It was interesting

learning about Albert Einstein!”

They were all able to recite Pi to at least 9

decimal places.

On March 19th Year 13 students took part in a

WHEELS & SKILLS Programme, where they

were encouraged to think independently

about the choices they make as a driver or

passenger. The overall aim of the session was

to encourage students to improve their road

safety skills and keep themselves and others

safe.

The West Midlands Fire Service explained the

dangers and consequences of driver

distractions/speeding. This helped Year 13 to

focus on the driver, passenger and

distractions caused by pedestrians.

Vehicle Maintenance was delivered by

representatives from Kwik-Fit. Year 13 were

given safety advice associated with

maintaining a roadworthy vehicle.

The AA delivered an interactive session,

explaining the importance of learning to drive

and empowering the new driver with the

correct skills and attitude to stay safe on the

road.

Driving the electrical go kart was enjoyed by

all; this session highlighted the consequences

of drink-driving. Upon completion of a couple

of successful and in control laps, the students

were stopped and asked to wear impairment

goggles (these simulate the effects of

alcohol). They then completed the course,

inevitably hitting a cardboard pedestrian.

An amazing experience, enjoyed by all!

Pi MATHS DAY WHEELS & SKILLS

9

This year’s Easter egg decorating competition

was a real eggstravaganza! There were over 300 entries, each being awarded 10 House points for their House. The judges deliberated for over an hour and eventually awarded:

1st prize and 300 House points Brandon Giusa (7M2) for ‘Eggicopter’

2nd prize and 200 House points Keilee Devey (10B1) for ‘Egg-cellence’

3rd prize and 100 House points Leah Hegney’s (7C1) for ‘Surfer’

Lauren Potts (8B1), Aaron Johnston (10B1), Navjot Dhillon (9B2), Leah Dickson-Campbell (7M1), Jessica Mountford (10B1), Charlotte Frazer-Morris

(10M1), Nina Howard (8B1) and Surina Kaur Shergill (7M1) were all highly commended and will receive an extra 50 House points for their respective Houses.

On Friday 20th March, Sixth Form Biology students visited Twycross Zoo, where they saw a variety of different animals in their ex-situ habitats.

Twycross Zoo is home to many species of animal but is a specialist centre for primates, and much of the day was centred around these.

A member of the education team put on workshop sessions for our students. Year 12s studied ‘Biodiversity and Conservation’ whilst the Year 13s

focused on ‘Animal Behaviour’.

Students (and teachers) said how much they had enjoyed the day and many said they would be returning again.

Here is a fantastic report from Mackenzie Rennison in 7B2. The 2015 British Cycling National BMX Series kicked off in style at the home of British Cycling, Manchester. The two-day event featured 940 entries from across Europe with riders ranging from ages 5 to over 50. The first round started on Saturday and after finishing my three races in good positions, I qualified for the quarter final. I then went into a semi-final and managed to reach the A final. I finished the first round with a national ranking of 8th. I continued to race well on Sunday and again qualified for the semi-finals. I then went on to win the B final. This meant that I finished racing with a national ranking of 9th. Overall, I have made a fantastic start to the British BMX Series and I am currently ranked 9th in Great Britain! I am really looking forward to my next competitive race at Cyclopark in Kent.

EGGSTRAVAGANZA! TWYCROSS ZOO

BMX COMPETITION

10

“A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I will be

eternally grateful for receiving the chance to

go”

Lessons from Auschwitz (LFA) are an

organisation that give Sixth Form students the

opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau on a

truly eye-opening experience. The

opportunity arose when Mrs Selby shared the

chance to visit the world’s most formidable

concentration camp with the Year 12 History

group – an opportunity that was only

available to two students. After Habeebah

and myself had received the news that we

had been selected to attend, we really

started to reflect upon our expectations,

feelings and thoughts on this trip.

Before we knew it, there was only one week

until departure for Poland. This is when we

received information about our visit, including

historical information, main messages we

should gain from the experience and a

reflective notebook to record our experience.

4:20am, Wednesday 25th February 2015:

Depart for Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland.

After our three-hour flight to Poland’s Krakow

Airport and an hour’s coach journey to

Ośweięcim, a site of Jewish extermination, the

atmosphere rapidly changed from that on

the journey here. We stood in a large, empty,

wasteland area as our Group Leader said

“We are looking at what isn’t here, rather that

what is”. Many confused faces were mirrored

across the group, changing to a face of

disturbance upon reflecting on what had

been said. We were standing on the site of

what was once one of the most beautifully

respected Synagogues across Europe. Over

60% of the town’s population was Jewish - the

Nazis removed all existence of Jewish life from

the town. Not one Jewish person lives there

today.

Leaving the once Jewish town of Ośweięcim,

we arrived at Auschwitz I, the world-known

camp for stating “Arbeit macht frei” (Work

Sets You Free). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the

place of death for over 1.2 million people,

and walking around the site really helped us

to understand that it was not just 1.2 million

people, but the whole livelihood of

communities. Walking around corridors of

cabinets filled with tonnes of human hair,

shoes and suitcases really made it personal.

Seeing just a minute percentage of

belongings of each person was hard to see.

The women’s shoes – someone had gone out

to their local shoe store, maybe with their

family, tried on several pairs, asked opinions,

swirled in the mirror and felt good about

buying their pair of nice, new red shoes. That

is one pair – the room was full – and that is

only an incredibly small amount of shoes.

Leaving Auschwitz I felt emotionally drained

from the truly horrid things we had just seen.

We set off for Auschwitz II, better known as

Birkenau.

Birkenau was just as hard to see. Rows upon

rows, upon rows of wooden shed-like

buildings. No heating, no ventilation, no

toilets, no water – nothing. A three-tier,

double bed width, wooden structure was

‘home’ for 30 prisoners. 20 beds per shed.

600 people per shed. From standing on the

guard tower, the site was so large you

couldn’t see even half of the camp. A gallery

of confiscated family photos from the

suitcases of the murdered once again

humanised the holocaust. Families – all sat on

a bench having their photo taken in summer,

wedding photos, child portraits, elderly

couples – all people, real humans. They had

their own ambitions, their own dreams, their

own careers, their own families, and their own

LESSONS FROM AUSCHWITZ

By Joe Crumtpton 12C1

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lives. The Nazis destroyed all of that.

Upon retuning home I was able to reflect

upon my experience. As so many people

said, “Did you have fun?” “Did you enjoy it?”

only to correct themselves after

contextualising where I had been, I realised

the difficulty I had in describing the

experience. You see pictures in textbooks, on

TV and online – but being there is so different.

It’s extremely hard to cram so many emotions

and feelings into one adjective.

It was hard to see, it is hard to describe, but it

is easy to share a simple message to prevent

anything even remotely similar from

happening again –

Do not discriminate; embrace individuality

Habeebah’s return thoughts:

“Returning home was an overwhelming

experience for me because so much had

happened during the day and to come home

to such normality was difficult. It was such a

surreal experience but hard to process my

thoughts and feelings.”

Joe and Habeebah will be sharing their

experiences with pupils in forthcoming

assemblies.

All Year 10 pupils attend a talk by Newman

University about the variety of courses

available.

Mrs Varnum said that 10B1 were so keen to

find out more information, that on returning to

their form room they completed further

research from the UCAS website. They even

found out the difference between an

undergraduate and postgraduate

degree. Do you know the difference?

The Year 12 Health Champions recently

organised a range of activities to raise

awareness about Prostate and Ovarian

Cancer.

Crossword puzzles were distributed to all

pupils in Years 7-11, so that they could find

out more information. Sixth Form students

wore pink on Wednesday 11th March and

Blue on Friday 13th March. Faces were

painted with the campaigns’ symbols and

cakes were sold.

The hard work and determination by the

Health Champions, resulted in £331.19

being donated to the two charities.

HIGHER EDUCATION TALK

AWARENESS WEEK

12

What a fantastic term it has been for Bredon

House. Our pupils have involved themselves

fully in House competitions and we are

certainly in contention to defend our trophy.

Bredon House currently have the highest

attendance in the school with 96.70%. We

also have the largest number of pupils with

100% attendance for this academic year, an

incredible 98! A special mention needs to be

given to 8B1, whose attendance is an

impressive 97.95%, and to 7B2, who are still

leading the way with the best punctuality

record.

A huge well done goes to Bredon House who

dominated the KS3 swimming competition.

The disciplines included front crawl, back

crawl, breaststroke, butterfly and relay. Pia

and Sancha Tonks (9B2 and 9B1) were

absolutely incredible and Ryan Pearce (7B2)

also swam exceptionally well.

Bredon also created some fantastic designs in

Barr Beacon’s Easter Egg Competition. In

total Bredon House handed in 124 entries!

Keilee Devey (10B1) came in 2nd place and

was awarded 200 House points for her Egg-

cellent design. A special mention also has to

be given to Lauren Potts (7B1), Aaron

Johnston (10B1), Navjot Dhillon (9B2), Jessica

Mountford (10B1), Charlotte Frazer-Morris

(10B1) and Nina Howard (8B1) who all

achieved an extra 50 House points for their

fantastic eggs.

Bredon House also won this year’s Soft Skills

competition during Careers Week. The pupils

were asked to fill in their careers booklets in

every lesson and identify which soft skills

employers are looking for. Bredon achieved

2,441 house points in total for this competition!

Well done to everyone who participated!

Well done to everyone who achieved a

certificate for commendations this term. I

would also like to congratulate those pupils

who were awarded Numeracy certificates.

9B3 delivered a thought provoking assembly

about mental health and how to deal with

depression. The assembly was well delivered

and offered great advice to all of our pupils.

10B1 similarly spoke about the importance of

eating a healthy diet and recommended

some delicious recipes. Their confidence

whilst presenting these assemblies was

extremely impressive.

I hope you have a relaxing Easter holiday and

I look forward to seeing you on the 13th April.

Mr Townsend

Clent House currently have the second

highest attendance in the school with

96.56%. I know we will all continue to

strive to arrive on time and attend every

day. A special mention goes to 7C1 for

maintaining the best attendance and

punctuality.

There have been numerous sporting

achievements and fixtures this half term. I

would like to personally congratulate the

following Clent pupils for their

commitment, attitude and efforts: Kyle

Dean (10C2) for his commitment to extra-

curricular football – well done on scoring

a goal against Q3 Academy on Tuesday

24th February; Anna Lockett (9C1)

represented the Year 11 team in a netball

team in a tournament; Lydia Kealy (11C1)

for her outstanding performance in

defence in the Year 11 netball

tournament; Ryan Mills (7C1) in

representing the Year 7 rugby team in

their first ever match; James Walker

(11C1) for completing his Young

Badminton Officials qualification; Maan

Bains (11C2), Owen McMillan (11C1),

Chamkore Singh (11C2) represented the

Year 11 rugby team in the Walsall

Schools’ Tournament; Jordan Clement

(11C2), Brayden Keay (11C2) for their

efforts in the Birmingham & Black Country

futsal competition; Mitchell Brown (10C3),

Josh Ekwulugo (10C1), Jamie Williams

(10C1) for their efforts in the Year 10

rugby tournament; Lachlan Baigent (7C2)

for representing the Year 7 football team.

Well done to all of those pupils who have

now achieved a certificate for

commendations.

A special mention has to be given to

David Curran (8C2), Michael Gayle (8C2)

Amrita Hayre (8C2), Mya Mistry (8C2) and

Desha Kheera (8C2) who have achieved

their Silver.

Have a wonderful Easter break everyone.

Mrs Sorensen

BREDON CLENT

13

Malvern is still in the lead with House points and

competitions. We now want to build on this by

staying ahead into the summer term.

Year 11 - keep going with all your revision and

exam time over Easter. This will put you in good

stead for your exams in May and June.

Congratulations to Alexander Donaghue (9M1)

who completed the Scout Chase Walk along with

James Ricketts in 9B2. This involved Alex walking

38.2 miles which took him 18 hours. He had to carry

a rucksack with his provisions and navigate himself

around the route. A real test of resilience!

Congratulations to all of the following Malvern

pupils who were excellent ambassadors for Barr

Beacon School in the rugby tournament: Henry

Roper (11M1), Jagvir Kang (11M2), Karl Pothecary

(11M1), James King (11M1), Aaron Bradburn

(11M3), James Barnes (11M1).

Congratulations to Finlay Trainor (7M2), who took

part in the Staffordshire Tournament.

Well done to the following for their contributions

and excellent play in the Year 9 and 10 Rugby

team: Joshua Guest (9M1), Jack Gray (10M2),

Harry Pickard (10M2).

Get A-Head is an independent cancer charity

supporting those with head and neck diseases and

cancers. Trevor Francis, a new patron for the

charity, recently promoted a keepy-upy

competition to raise money for the charity. Barr

Beacon pupils were involved in short football drills

lead by the ex-England player and also went head

to head with him in a keepy-upy competition.

Jacob Ramsey (9M2) completed that many that

he was told by ITV to stop as they needed to move

onto the next shot. Well done Jacob and Hannah

Ramsey (9M2) for competing.

Well done to Rhianna Dixon-Danks and Lindsey Hill

(both 9M1) who represented Malvern in the

Netball Team tournament at Aldridge.

Well done to Danielle McGivern (7M3), Rachel

Murphy (7M3), Lenny Foster (7M3), Luke Casey

(7M3), and Jordan Lee (8M1) for excellent

behaviour, fantastic effort and enthusiasm in the

seated volleyball tournament.

Leah Dickson-Campbell (7M1), Charlotte Frazer-

Morris (10M1), and Surina Kaur Shergill (7M1) were

all highly commended in the Easter Egg

Competition and will receive an extra 50 House

points for their respective Houses.

Well done to all of those pupils who have now

achieved a certificate for commendations. We

have a few with their Headteacher’s Award

already.

Wishing you all a Happy and safe Easter break.

Hope you all have a restful break ready for the

summer term.

Mrs Saunders

Time really does seem to fly, and I’m sure that no-

one is noticing this more than the Year 11s who are

now just weeks away from their exams. I am

certain that you will join me in wishing them the

best of luck.

This half-term has seen activities for both World

Book Day and Comic Relief take place in school.

Well done to Wrekin pupils for raising over £300

through turning up in non-uniform. Another £280

was raised during break with the activities in the

hall.

Looking ahead to next term, our Year 10 pupils

have been busy writing their letters of application

to become a prefect. The prefects at Barr Beacon

really do epitomise everything that is great about

our school. Therefore, I was delighted to see that

half of our Year 10 pupils in Wrekin have submitted

an application. The pupils have clearly put a lot of

time and effort into their letters and it will certainly

be very difficult to select the best pupils from such

a strong field of candidates.

As ever, a large number of Wrekin pupils have

collected commendations and praise postcards.

The following pupils have all received their Gold

certificates: Daniel Swain, Taran Bains, Kai Bullock,

Hannah Niazi, Liliemae Gillon, Kira Fallowfield,

Jasmin Chahal (all 7W1); Simran Uppal, Katrina

Hall, Ethan Hunt, Aliyah Begum (all 7W2); Ella Dashti

(7W3). Congratulations also to the pupils who

have attained their Silver certificate: Adele Goode

(7W1); James Capewell, Aiden Barrs (both 7W2);

Louise Churchill, Kariena Sangha, Joe Toy, Isabelle

Dugmore, Rumannah Khalid (all 7W3); Aneesah

Ijaz, Ellie Smith, Lauren Wood and Juwairiyah

Ravat (all 8W2). Well done also to Mohammad

Iqbal in 8W2 for collecting his bronze certificate.

Our sporting stars continue to flourish. In netball,

Mary Roper (8W1) scored some fantastic goals; in

rugby, Jacob Jones (10W1) was part of the team

that competed in the four team tournament and

Devon Usher-Haughton (7W1), Ben Hamilton (7W2),

Jay Clement (7W2), Kai Bullock (7W1), Oliver Cook

(7W1), Matthew Westley (7W2) and James

Capewell (7W2) were all selected to represent the

school in the Staffordshire Year 7 rugby

tournament. In futsal, Cameron Healey and Daniel

Doherty (both 11W2) were part of the Barr Beacon

team that qualified for the second heat of the

Black Country & Birmingham heats. In football,

Nabeel Subedar (7W2), Matthew Westley (7W2),

Kai Bullock (7W1), Ben Stanley (7W2), Daniel

Dashti (7W2), Oliver Cook (7W1), Carrick

Hodder (7W2) and Jay Clement (7W2) formed the

spine of the team which lost narrowly to Q3. A

special mention must go to Matthew Westley and

Kai Bullock who were both excellent on their Barr

Beacon debuts.

May I end by wishing you all a very relaxing break

and the best of luck to all of our pupils ahead of

the Summer term.

Mr Holmes

MALVERN WREKIN

14

15

16

Badminton

Girls’ House Badminton - Thursday 5th February

Year 11 GCSE PE pupils held their own girls’

badminton competition on Thursday 5th

February. The pupils did a great job in running

the event including setting up the courts,

registering the players, organising the fixture

list, announcing the rules, stewarding players

to their matches, umpiring the matches,

recording the results and announcing the final

standings. Completing these tasks will help

towards their GCSE PE practical grade so their

competence was pleasing. Well done to Ben

Haggerty (11M1), Rozia Khan (11M1), Harry

Matthews (11B1), Karl Pothecary

(11M1), Cameron Walker-Jolley (11W1),

James Walker (11C1),

In the competition, each participant received

House points for attending and further House

points were awarded for the highest finishing

girls from each year. The final House points

awarded were Bredon 300, Clent 170,

Malvern 120 and Wrekin 120.

Special congratulations to Jess Springett (9C2)

(Year 9 winner), Lydia Roper (8B1) (overall and

Year 8 winner - shown above) and Diya Chort

(7B1) (Year 7 winner).

Boys’ House Badminton - Friday 6th February

GCSE PE pupils also held their own boys’

badminton competition. The pupils had to

undertake a range of roles including setting

up the courts, registering the players,

organising the fixture list, announcing the

rules, stewarding players to their matches,

umpiring the matches, recording the results

and announcing the final standings. The

organising of the tournament will go towards

the pupis’ GCSE PE practical grade so their

competence was pleasing. Well done to

Sean Davies (11B1), Majed Miah (10B1),

Daniel Clark (10B1), Kurtis Murphy (10B1),

Charlie Ward (10W2),

The pupils held a singles competition in which

each participant received House points for

attending. Further House points were

awarded for the highest finishing girls from

each year. The final points awarded were

Bredon 360, Clent 90, Malvern 210 and Wrekin

60.

Special congratulations to Callum Carter

(8C1), who beat Harjodh Singh (8B1) (shown

above) in the KS3 final, and Ethan Taylor

(10B1) who won all of his games to win the

overall KS4 competition.

Badminton Trip - Wednesday 4th March

On Wednesday 4th March, the Barr Beacon

PE Department took 28 pupils to watch the

Yonex All England Open Badminton

Championship. The pupils were lucky enough

to see some of the world’s best players in

singles and doubles action.

Cameron Parry (9B1) and Phoebe Ingram

(9B1) were lucky enough to meet with

Germany's Marc Zwiebler (European singles

Gold medalist 2012 and European mixed

doubles Gold medalist 2014) and Michael

Fuchs (current world ranked 6 in mixed

doubles).

SPORTS NEWS

17

SPORTS NEWS

The pupils were also lucky to see UK number 1

Ravij Ouseph win his thrilling game. At 1-1,

Ouseph was 21-20 up and the shuttle was

called out by officials but, on review, it just

caught the edge of the line.

We were also treated to the return of 2-time

Olympic and 5-time world champion Lin Dan.

Lin Dan is known to be the greatest ever

men’s singles player and put on a wonderful

performance to beat his opponent

comfortably. After the game he was

bombarded by fans wanting signatures and

some of our pupils were lucky enough to get

it.

Basketball

Year 8 Basketball – Wednesday 4th February

The Year 8 basketball team were defeated 20

-8 by West Walsall Academy. Due to heavy

traffic the West Walsall side did not arrive until

4:40pm. By this stage the Barr Beacon boys

had undergone a mini training session as it

seemed their opponents might not make it. In

the early stages of this game it seemed the

extra training had paid off with Beacon

scoring some brilliant baskets and

implementing good man-to-man defence.

Unfortunately we really struggled to deal with

the height of the West Walsall team. They

had 3 particularly tall players who rebounded

well and scored with ease. Towards the end

of the game the Beacon team started to look

tired. The stress of the extra training before

the game left a few of the players breathing

heavier than normal.

The final score really flattered West Walsall.

Beacon played some of the best basketball

they have played this season. This was

reflected by some of the viewing parents who

commented that "they are really coming

together now". They are still very new to

basketball and are coming up against teams

that have had much more gain time and

most have club players.

Well done to Jake Allen (8W2), who really

improved his skills, especially on offence;

Michael Gayle (8C2), who really improved

tactically; Owen Stevenson (8B3) who did well

in his first ever game; Davin Sinclair (8M1), who

impressively defended even against much

taller players; Ben Lillie (8B1) for very fluent

dribbling and scoring some lovely baskets;

Jack Carter (8M1), who sliced open the

opponent's defence with slick interplay;

Immanuel Badley (8B1), a powerhouse on the

court, driving past opponents and even out-

rebounding the opposing 6ft centre.

British Basketball League – Worcester Wolves

vs Plymouth Raiders - Friday 6th March

Twelve Barr Beacon

pupils were taken to

Worcester University

Arena to watch a

highly competitive

British Basketball

League fixture

between two of the

league’s best

teams. Pupils

entered the venue

and found their

seats just as the

teams were finishing

their pre-game

warm ups.

The pupils were extremely excited to witness

first hand some of the exceptional dribbling

and shooting that both of the teams are

renowned for. Neither team disappointed

from the outset both teams were desperate

for the win to boost their league position and

in turn produced some exceptional basketball

to help ensure their team were victorious.

However, the basketball displayed from

Worcester Wolves proved to be of a higher

quality on the day and led them to a narrow

victory over highly competitive Plymouth

Raiders team.

All of the pupils from Barr Beacon were

extremely well behaved and conducted

themselves impeccably.

18

The Year 8 and Year 9 basketball teams went

to Aldridge School to play their league

games. It was a great evening of basketball

and both sets of pupils were a credit to their

schools. Despite mixed fortunes for the

Beacon boys, both games were hard-fought

yet were also fabulous displays of fair play.

Year 8 Basketball - Monday 9th February

The team have been getting better and

better every match. They are a receptive

group who really want to learn and improve.

Having lost a recent game by 1 point, it was

great to see them win comfortably 16-4. Barr

Beacon were well organised on defence not

allowing the Aldridge team many scoring

opportunities. The Beacon attacking play was

more structured with the ball being moved

around much quicker to find gaps in the

opposing defence.

Well done to Owen Stevenson (8B3) who

rebounded excellently and is starting to really

improve tactically; Davin Sinclair (8M1) for

relentless pressure on defence and a few

superb screens to create scoring

opportunities; Jake Allen (8W2), who is now a

key player for Beacon, barely put a foot

wrong and scored the most points on the

night; Dievan Chort (7B2) who scored a very

important basket when the scores were close;

Ben Lillie (8B1) who started well despite a wrist

injury; Mitchell Petri (8C3) whose positioning

and decision making improved throughout

the game; Ajani Allen (8W1), a powerhouse

on defence and offence.

Year 9 Basketball - Monday 9th February

The team were left disappointed after being

defeated 26-14. The game started very

evenly with Beacon scoring some good

baskets and defending as a team. However,

as the game went on Beacon's defence

become disorganised. Tiredness and/or a

lack of tactical awareness meant that

Aldridge were driving towards the Beacon

basket time and time again. Beacon were

not adapting a coherent defensive shape,

some players were pressing high up the court

while others were opting for zonal. On

offence the boys seemed demoralised as the

score ran away from them. This lead to far

too many longer range shots that didn't

trouble the basket. The team have the basic

skills to win basketball games, but struggle

adopting tactics to beat their opponents. But

this will come with more experience.

Well done to Ben Saunders (9M1), who scored

some very good baskets from the perimeter;

Eshan Rishim (9C1), who kept trying to

organise the team, even late in the game;

Joel Burns (9B1) who was fast and creative on

offence but is determined to be more

composed when shooting; Joe Farr (9C1) who

was tactically solid; Sam Basnett (9M1) who

defended well but struggled to get on

offence because of the physical nature of the

Aldridge team; Adam Jennings (9C1), who

encouraged the team throughout, even in

late stages of the game; Brett Stewart (9B1)

for good endeavour in adversity.

Both teams still have 2 games to go and will

be looking to continue to learn and get more

wins on the board.

Basketball Leagues

All the leagues have now finished and they

can be seen below:

Year 8

Year 9

P W L D Points For Against Diff

Shire Oak 1st

7 7 0 0 21 190 64 126

Walsall Academy

2nd

7 6 1 0 19 174 57 117

St Francis 3rd

7 4 3 0 15 81 97 -16

Willenhall 4th

4 2 2 0 8 49 87 -38

B. Beacon 5th

5 1 4 0 7 47 82 -35

Pool Hayes 6th

4 1 3 0 6 67 60 7

Aldridge NR 7th

5 0 5 0 5 21 104 -83

Brownhills 8th

3 0 3 0 3 8 86 -78

P W L D PTS FOR AGAINST DIFF

Shire Oak 1st

8 7 1 0 22 249 125 124

Streetly 2nd

8 4 4 0 16 129 175 -46

St Francis 3rd

8 4 4 0 16 195 242 -47

Aldridge NR 4th

5 4 1 0 13 77 74 3

Willenhall 5th

5 3 2 0 11 120 45 75

Shelfield 6th

5 2 3 0 9 116 110 6

Barr Beacon

7th

6 1 5 0 8 98 140 -42

Pool Hayes

8th

5 1 4 0 7 92 132 -40

Brownhills 9th

4 0 4 0 4 59 92 -33

SPORTS NEWS

19

Year 11

Football

Girls’ Football

Football Trip – England Versus USA Women’s -

Friday 13th February 2015

Fourteen Beacon girls travelled down the M1

to Stadium MK to watch one of the biggest

Ladies international football matches in this

year’s calendar. The game between England

and USA was going to be a tight one and it

certainly was exciting. We were very

fortunate to get to the ground early enough

to take part in the Fan Zone excitement

before the match begun. The girls competed

in a number of small games and challenges.

They had their faces painted and they met

some of football’s most famous mascots.

The Fan Zone instilled excitement into the girls

which prepared them well to watch the

match. After the National Anthem the match

kicked off. The 14,000 fans were buzzing and

the Beacon girls were joining in with the

chanting and songs. USA had some big

players, and the game began with the USA

keeping hold of possession. England made it

very difficult for themselves and within

minutes it was easy to tell this was going to be

a difficult game for the home nation. USA

were first to the ball every time and won back

every ball they gave away.

In the 25th minute, the USA striker Alex

Morgan headed the ball into the back of the

England net, putting the visitors 1 goal ahead.

USA gained confidence and kept the lead for

the majority of the game. The supporters

were doing all they could to get behind

England and the Beacon girls joined in with all

of the motivational shouts and chants. The

support gave England some enthusiasm and

in the 56th minute Fran Kirby shot at goal;

unfortunately the ball hit the crossbar but was

followed up by Jodie Taylor - GOAL! The

crowd went wild; the Beacon girls were out of

their seats cheering along - but unfortunately

the linesman had flagged offside. The

disallowed goal was a major setback for

England, especially as the replay showed that

the player was actually onside when the ball

was kicked.

Unfortunately, England did not take another

chance at goal and the game remained 0-1

until the 90th minute. Despite the home loss,

this game was a great experience for the

Beacon girls to see. With England seeded 4th

in the world and USA seeded 2nd it really was

one of the best games to see in women's

football.

Year 8 Girls’ Football Thursday 26th February

2015

The Year 8 girls’ football team travelled to the

University of Birmingham for a local schools 6-

a-side tournament. Unfortunately Beacon’s

normal goalkeeper was unable to play and

so the girls had to take it in turns to go in

goal. In the first match against North

Birmingham Academy Beacon struggled to

pass the ball around effectively which

enabled NBA space to play.

At half time Beacon were trailing 2-0. In the

second half the girls were more relaxed and

played much better football. Unfortunately

Beacon lost the game 4-0. The second game

saw Barr Beacon come up against Walsall

Academy. It was a tight game but Beacon

made some excellent passes. Elle Taylor

(8W1) encouraged the team well and led the

girls as Captain brilliantly. In the second half

P W L D PTS FOR AGAINST DIFF

Willenhall 1st

7 5 2 0 17 185 165 20

Pool Hayes 2nd

4 4 0 0 12 199 58 141

St Francis 3rd

6 3 2 1 12 122 142 -20

Barr Bea-con 4th

5 2 3 0 9 92 129 -37

Shelfield 5th

4 2 2 0 8 92 100 -8

Aldridge 6th

4 0 1 3 5 61 90 -29

West Walsall

Academy 7th

2 1 1 0 4 29 39 -10

Shire Oak 8th

4 0 4 0 4 44 101 -57

SPORTS NEWS

20

Rebecca Nicholls (8W1) dribbled the ball

around the Walsall defence and hit the ball

beautifully into the back of the net. Beacon

had now won 1 and lost 1.

In the third and final group game Beacon girls

knew they had to win to stand a chance of

getting through to the semi-final. Beacon

were now up against St Thomas More B team.

Mary Roper (8W1) and Mia Perfit (7B2) worked

exceptionally hard throughout the game and

in the 7th minute Molly Bergin (8W1) shot at

goal and put the Beacon girls 1-0 up. Only a

minute later, Molly went through on goal

again and scored a second goal! Beacon

slipped up slightly just after half time and

conceded a goal but responded brilliantly by

scoring another goal.

Lydia Roper (8B1) played some fantastic

football and defended well. Beacon had

won their last group game 3-1. Fortunately,

Beacon had gained enough points to go

through to the semi-final.

The girls played Walsall Academy A team but

unfortunately lost the game 2 – 0 and were

therefore knocked out of the tournament. In

the 3/4th place play off Beacon came up

against STM A team and worked well. The

game finished 0-0 and was decided by

penalties. Unfortunately 2 of the Beacon girls

missed their penalty and we finished 4th out of

10 teams in the tournament. After a little bit of

a rocky start the Beacon girls worked

exceptionally well to get through to the semi-

finals and finish 4th in the tournament.

The girls have some more important games

coming up so this tournament has prepared

them well for these games. Well done to Elle

Taylor (Captain) (8W1), Rebecca Nicholls

(8W1), Lydia Roper (8B1), Mary Roper (8W1),

Molly Bergin (8W1), Mia Perfit (7B2).

Barr Beacon vs St Thomas More (Year 9 Girls) -

Match report written by Pheobe Ingram (Year

9 Captain) – Monday 16th March

Barr Beacon girls played a football match

against St. Thomas More. The girls played

fairly well considering that they had a few

disadvantages. This was a Year 9 match, St

Thomas More had a full Year 9 team, however

Barr Beacon only had 4 Year 9s, one being

injured and only being able to play in goal

when she normally plays mid-field. I would

also add that one of the Year 8 players got

injured during the match but carried on.

The girls lost to a high score and St Thomas

More played well, however I believe that BB

tried their hardest and did not fail to make us

proud. Although they lost to a high amount,

there were some excellent passes and

tackles, and also some good saves. We could

have got a higher score, but we still did well

enough to get a goal. There were some

excellent turns and kicks throughout the

game from our players and although some of

the players felt exhausted and were aching

all over, they didn’t fail to please the team

and do us proud by carrying on. This shows

dedication to the fact that even though the

players may not have been well enough to

play, they didn’t give up and they tried their

hardest.

So overall, it wasn't a bad match. Some

players were disappointed with the result, but

they did try extremely hard. They may not

have got everything right first time but that will

just be something to improve on. It was a 5-

aside game which some members of the

team find harder to play than a normal

game, which would be another

disadvantage. During practice on Friday

nights, we could improve on some of the

things that went wrong during the match, and

hopefully make a difference on the next

match that they play. A big well done to the

girls, who all did very well and tried really

hard. I cannot praise them enough for how

much they tried.

Boys’ Football

Year 10 Boys Football vs Q3 Academy -

Tuesday 24th February 2015

The Year 10 boys’ football team played

against Q3 Academy, and were very excited

about playing another competitive side. They

went down 2-0 early on due to some

defensive confusion, but at no point did their

heads drop. A tactical re-shuffle allowed

some of the more creative players to start to

express themselves and Barr Beacon soon

found themselves back in the game, courtesy

of a Kasen Peace (10M1) strike. Things didn’t

continue the way the team had hoped as Q3

managed to score an important goal prior to

half time.

Going in to half time, 3-1 down was not

something that the team were used to and

was a shock to the system. Pupils were keen

SPORTS NEWS

21

to get the second half under way to try and

claw back some of the goals needed to

make the game much more competitive.

Unfortunately Q3 Academy managed to

score another goal to make the score 4-1 as

Barr Beacon were throwing men forward in

search of goals.

Two quick goals from Kieran Copestick (10B2)

and Kyle Dean (10C2) provided the team with

a glimmer of hope but Q3 increased the

tempo they played at and were victorious 5-

3.

Overall, it was a good performance by the

teams and they were unlucky with the result.

Well done to Liam Campkin (10B2), Kyle Dean

(10C2), Kasen Peace (10M1), Kieran

Copestick (10B2), Harry Pickard (10M2),

Tommy Doyle (10M3), Aaron Williams (10W1),

Kurtis Murphy (10B1), Curtis Bullock (10W2),

Rahul Shoker (10B1), Ben Wright (10C1), Adam

Keough (10M1), Jacob Jones (10W1).

Year 7 Boys Football vs Q3 Academy –

Thursday 12th March

The Year 7 boys’ football team made the

relatively short journey to Q3 Academy to

take part in an eagerly anticipated football

friendly. Despite the team possessing a vast

array of talent they soon found themselves

trailing by 1 goal to nil courtesy of an

extremely fortunate shot from a Q3 attacker.

Barr Beacon’s heads dropped and their

confidence seemed to disappear almost

immediately and while they were all

wondering what had just happened Q3

managed to score another gaol within a

matter of minutes.

With the score still at 2-0 going in to the

second half Barr Beacon had nothing to lose.

The team started to keep possession of the

ball and play some extremely creative

football which was starting to create chance

after chance. After 10 minutes of the second

half Niall Clarke (7B1) managed to find himself

in the right place and the right time to

outmuscle a defensive opponent to strike the

ball home to give Barr Beacon a glimmer of

hope. The team continued to search for their

elusive second goal and eventually found it,

with number 9, Niall Clarke yet again finding

the net, this time courtesy of a long range

effort that the keeper could get nowhere

near.

Barr Beacon truly believed that they were

going to go on to win the game. However,

fatigue played a big part in the game as Barr

Beacon failed to clear a long ball and in turn

get back and defend in numbers which let in

a Q3 striker to score the decisive and winning

goal. Barr Beacon had a matter of seconds

to try and salvage a draw but were unable to

do so.

A special mention must go to Matthew

Westley (7W2)and Kai Bullock (7W1) who were

both excellent on their Barr Beacon debuts. If

it wasn’t for their determined approach to the

game and their never say die attitude the

score would surely have been greater for Q3.

Well done to Nabeel Subedar (7W2),

McKenzie Rennison (7B2), Matthew

Westley (7W2), Kai Bullock (7W1), Ben Stanley

(7W2), Daniel Dashti (7W2), Oliver Cook (7W1),

Lachlan Baigent (7C2), Carrick Hodder (7W2),

Niall Clarke (7B1), Jay Clement (7W2).

Futsal

Year 7 - Thursday 5th February

Seven Year 7 pupils were taken to the Futsal

Centre in Birmingham to take part in the

annual Inter-School Futsal Competition. The

team were drawn into a group of 4, meaning

only 3 group games and an enviable task to

progress when we were paired against

Brownhills, Walsall Academy and Sandwell.

The boys played Brownhills first and Nabeel

Subedar (7W2) was the stand out performer in

goal, pulling off several impressive saves. With

Beacon on the back foot, we broke forward

following some neat play in midfield and Ben

Stanley (7W2) put the finishing touches to the

move (1-0).

In the next game, Beacon came up against a

strong Walsall Academy side who put us

under lots of pressure, with Nabeel again

pulling off some excellent saves. With time

running out and the team holding on for a

draw, Walsall broke and scored what would

prove to be the winning goal.

Going into the last game knowing a win could

mean progression to the semi-finals, Beacon

came up against an equally strong Brownhills

side. The game ebbed and flowed, with

Beacon taking an early lead through Oliver

Cook (7W1), only for us to be pegged back

shortly after. With tension building going into

SPORTS NEWS

22

the closing minutes, substitutions were made

in the hope of giving the team a boost.

Shortly after, the subs paid dividends and

Beacon played some exquisite football

through the Brownhills defence and Jay

Clement put the finishing touches to the

move – cue scenes of joy! At the final whistle

the team thought they had qualified for the

final, only for the organisers to inform us that

they would be going straight to the final,

which the boys would miss out on, as our goal

difference was +1 compared to Walsall

Academy’s +2.

Well done to Nabeel Subedar (7W2), Oliver

Cook (7W1), Carrick Hodder (7W2), Ben

Stanley (7W2), Daniel Dashti (7W2), Jay

Clement (7W2), Lachlan Baingent (7C2).

Year 9 – Thursday 5th February

On Thursday 5th February seven Year 9 pupils

were taken to the Futsal Centre in Birmingham

to take part in the annual Inter-School Futsal

Competition.

The evening got off to an exceptional start as

the team managed to win their first two

games comfortably scoring 8 goals along the

way (Hydesville 5-0 & Wolverhampton

Academy 3-1). Due to the size of the league

that the team were in they then needed to

play the same two fixtures to determine who

would go through to the event’s final to

crown the overall under 14 champions.

The team carried on from where they left of

and once again were victorious as they beat

Hydesville 3-0. Going in to the last league

game, the team knew that they had done

enough to progress to the final and

inadvertently took their foot off the gas and

lost the remaining game against

Wolverhampton Academy, 2-1. Confidence

was extremely high as the team had played

some exceptional football and had only

conceded 2 goals en route to the final.

The team then faced Brownhills School who

were a significantly bigger and stronger team

from the outset. Unfortunately, things didn't

go as planned as Barr Beacon soon found

themselves trailing 3-1. Brownhills then

managed to score another impressive team

goal to make the score 4-1. Barr Beacon

rallied together and in the final few minutes of

the game scored what ended up being a

consolation goal to bring the game to a 4-2

conclusion, meaning that Barr Beacon

finished runners-up.

The pupils involved were extremely well

behaved, mature and were a credit to the

school. Well done to Jacob Ramsey (9M2),

Josh Cunnington (9B2), Lewis O'Reilly (9C2),

Lewis Wartnaby (9C2), Daniel Westley (9B2),

Billy Bartholomew (9C1), Will Collins (9B3).

Year 11 - Thursday 5th March

Seven of the Year 11 boys’ football team

went to the Birmingham & Black Country

Futsal Competition in Lozells. The boys were

full of confidence and were looking forward

to their first fixture. They used this enthusiasm

extremely well and beat High Arcal School

comfortably, scoring 4 goals en route to a 4-1

victory. The boys then had to wait for 2 other

fixtures to be played before they could

continue their good run but found themselves

up against a stubborn and extremely

defensive North East Wolverhampton School

who were happy to have lots of defenders

behind the ball and score on the break. This

meant that the game was extremely high

scoring as Barr Beacon were constantly going

in search of the winning goal. This will to

throw players forward often left Barr Beacon

with a 2v1 situation which North East

Wolverhampton punished on several

occasions, with the final result being 3-3. The

final league game saw Barr Beacon go up

against Sandwell Academy in what turned

out to be the decisive match to see who

would win the group and who would finish as

runners up. Barr Beacon didn’t disappoint

and dominated the game from start to finish,

winning 3-0.

Beacon progressed to the semi-finals with the

winner guaranteed a place in the next

competition (in April). The team continued

where they left off and soon found

themselves on the winning side of a hard-

fought 1-0 victory against Baverstock School.

The team was expecting to then play in the

tournament final to try and earn the right to

be called competition winners but due to

other commitments Sandwell Academy (the

other semi-final victors) had left.

Barr Beacon have therefore qualified for the

second heat of the Black Country &

Birmingham heats with the tournament’s

winners going on to take part in the regional

finals.

Well done to Jordan Clement (11C2),

Brayden Keay (11C2), Cameron Healey

SPORTS NEWS

23

(11W2), Jay Spears (11M3), Daniel Firkins

(11B2), Reiss Wagstaff (11B1), Daniel Doherty

(11W2).

Netball

Year 11 Netball - Wednesday 25th February

The Year 11s played a netball tournament

against 4 other schools. Unfortunately, the

team only had 6 players due to other

commitments, so already we were 1 person

down. Beacon’s first match was against a

strong Aldridge side. They led the first half but

unfortunately conceded in the second. The

second game was against pool Hayes, during

which unfortunately one of our players went

down with an injury and we had to play with

only 5 with no substitutes. The team battled

on and still scored plenty! The last two games

were against St Francis and Brownhills. At this

point the team still rose to the challenge of

playing with only 5 players.

There were some fantastic goals from Amie

Kealy (11M1) as goal attack, and a great

partnership with Robyn Meredith (11M1) as

goal shooter in the circle. Lydia Howard

(11M1) worked well as centre and always

supported the other players. Anna Lockett

and Lydia Kealy gave an outstanding

performance in defence and constantly kept

the teams on their toes. Rozia Khan gave a

great performance and is the most improved

player on the team.

BB v Aldridge: 3-7

BB v Pool Hayes: 4-8

BB v St Francis: 4-7

BB v Brownhills: 4-2

Netball Trip – Monday 9th March

Barr Beacon took 12 pupils to watch the

Netball Super league: Yorkshire Jets vs

Loughborough Lightning. The Yorkshire Jets

continued their brilliant run of form with a 65-

56 win over Loughborough Lightning in Round

8 of the Netball Super League. Pupils had a

fantastic time and the game was shown live

on Sky Sports 1. Pupils truly were amazed at

the level of play as well as some key players

throughout the game.

Netball – Wednesday 11th March

On 11th March, our netball squad travelled to

Aldridge to play in a netball tournament

amongst 7 other schools. The girls played

superbly; a big mention must go to Hafsa

Godsil (9C2) and Anna Lockett (9C1) who

guided the players to success and structured

the game to our advantage. Our attacking

side were outstanding and all players showed

passion and team work throughout. Some of

the players in Year 9 had never competed in

a netball tournament and came away with

enthusiasm to drive forward onto the next

game/tournament. Some of the Year 8 team

also played to aid their experience and will

be on top form for next week’s tournament.

We won 4 games overall; the other games

were very close but didn’t reflect the

outstanding performance of Barr Beacon.

BB VS Aldridge: 2-4

BB VS Shire Oak: 5-1

BB VS Queen Marys: 0-2

BB VS Shelfield: 6-2

BB VS Walsall Academy: 2-0

BB VS St Francis: 7-3

BB VS Streetly: 3-4

Well done to Anastascia Hadjimarcou (9C1),

Mica Johal (9B1), Jessica Kearney (9B1), Anna

Lockett (9C1), Hafsa Godsil (9C2), Georgia

Farmer (9C1), Rihanna Dixon-Danks (9M1),

Lindsey Hill (9M1), Cody Robins (8C1), Lydia

Roper ( 8B1), Mary Roper (8W1), Riya Mistry

(8B1), Nina Howard (8B1), Cerys Wilson (8C1).

Rugby

England V Italy –Twickenham Saturday 14th

March - Match Report by Robert Steadman

The passionate echoes of the national

anthems had barely died when Italy

stunned a capacity Twickenham crowd in

the third minute when the storming Sergio

Parisse took advantage of good work from

Luca Morisi to dummy Mike Brown and

barrel through in the left-hand corner for

the first score of the match. To say the

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least, Italy were not intimidated by

England’s powerful forwards. Brown was

then knocked out by an inadvertent

collision with Andrea Masi after 12 minutes

and was stretchered of and replaced by

Billy Twelvetrees.

England finally stepped into gear with a

scrappy try from Billy Vunipola in the 24th

minute quickly followed by Jonathan

Joseph's brilliant shimmying break covering

half the length of the pitch and was the

pick of England's scores as the 82,061

capacity crowd including Barr Beacon

pupils acted as the 16th man for the

England team and, together with loud

choruses of Swing Low Sweet Chariots, they

went on to take a half time lead of 15-5.

Joseph then accelerated away to another

try midway through the second half after

Vunipola and Ben Youngs grabbed tries of

their own from close in. A strong second

half display against a tiring Italian side

finally saw them home and gave the score

line a touch of gloss as the game finished

with a score line of England 47-17 Italy.

The whole day was a truly memorable and

unforgettable experience for all pupils and

staff who watched a top quality rugby

game played in a world class stadium.

Year 7 Rugby – Thursday 26th February

The Year 7 rugby team played in their first

rugby tournament. For the majority of

players it was their first experience of

competitive rugby. It was a 10-a-side

format that included full line-outs and

competed 5 man scrums.

The Barr Beacon team represented the

school impeccably, displaying great

sportsmanship and endeavour throughout

their 4 matches. Despite recording 3

defeats and a draw, the team's play really

improved throughout the event as they

took on all of the feedback from staff.

Barr Beacon 1 v 3 Queen Mary's

Barr Beacon 1 v 2 St Francis

Barr Beacon 2 v 2 Walsall Academy

Barr Beacon 1 v 4 Shire Oak

Well done to Levi Devey (7M2), Thomas Mills

(7M3), Finlay Trainor (7M2), James Capewell

(7M2), Devon Usher-Haughton (7W1), Ryan

Mills (7C1), Nial Clarke (7B1), Kai Bullock

(7W1), McKenzie Rennison (7B2), Matthew

Westley (7W2), Oliver Cooke (7W1), Scott

Hamilton (7B1), Louie Fletcher 7M3.

Year 11 Rugby – Thursday 5th March

Last night our upper school rugby team

competed in the Walsall Tournament. They

lost 10-0 to Aldridge in their opening

match. In the second game they lost to

Shire Oak in a very physical match against

the eventual champions. Unfortunately,

during this match Daniel Hemming (11B1)

sustained a head injury, having a deep cut

above the eyebrow. This was a shame as

he was a very influential leader on the

pitch.

In the last game the team conceded 3

early tries to Walsall Academy. However,

this did not stop Beacon from coming

forward. The backs passed the ball out

wide to James Barnes who scored a

fantastic try and his first for

Beacon. Beacon were then on the front

foot, and Matthew Eccleston saw the gap,

side stepped two players and scored

another brilliant try. For the 4 minutes

Beacon were camped on Walsall

Academy’s try line. In the dying seconds

Jagvir looked like he scored the equalising

try, but it was disallowed as he was

deemed to be a double movement. The

final whistle then went, but all pupils had

given a brilliant account of themselves and

enjoyed the evening.

Well done to Daniel Hemming (11B1) for

very decisive passing, excellent leadership

skills and being quick to the breakdown;

Henry Roper (11M1), who has really

improved since he started playing in Year

10; Perry Howell (10B1), who did very well

playing up and age group and held himself

well physically; Maan Bains (11C2) for great

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energy and enthusiasm and great

improvement since last match; Jagvir Kang

(11M2), who is very powerful and was

unlucky to have his try disallowed; Matt

Eccleston (11B2), Player of the Tournament

and very strong for a smaller player, with

brilliant passing; Karl Pothecary (11M1), who

was very powerful, showing why he plays for

Leicester Tigers; James King (11M1),

powerful on the ball, with good physicality;

Owen McMillan (11C1), who played well,

but had to come off injured; Aaron

Bradburn (11M3), very good return to the

forwards and ran well with the ball; Luke

Arkinstall-Shore (10B1), for good positioning

out on the wing; Chamkore Singh (11C2),

for very hard tackling and being fully

committed to every scrum, tackle and

breakdown; Kundai Nazare (10W1), for

excellent running with the ball and some

last gasp tackles; James Barnes (11M1), for

a brilliant try.

Year 10 Rugby - Monday 9th March

The Year 10 boy’s rugby team were taken

to Walsall Academy to take part in a four

team tournament against Walsall

Academy, Aldersley High School and

Aldridge School. The team’s first game was

against Aldridge and from the outset the

game was highly competitive as both

teams were playing very well in the

defensive third of the pitch when not in

possession of the ball. As the game drew to

its conclusion, both of the teams began to

tire and they both managed to score a try

meaning that the score was 1-1 with

minutes left. Fatigue played a big part as

several of the Barr Beacon players were

extremely tired and missed some very

important challenges within the dying

seconds of the game which allowed

Aldridge to score the winning try, with Barr

Beacon losing their first fixture 2-1.

The team rallied together and didn’t let the

first defeat affect their confidence going

into their second game against a very

strong and physical Aldersley High School.

From the first whistle both teams looked to

attack at all costs to try to get as many tries

as possible as they searched for a victory.

Neither team disappointed and with the

game coming to its conclusion the score

was 5-3 to Aldersley. Harry Pickard was the

pick of the Barr Beacon attack as every

time he got the ball he looked capable of

scoring. However, Barr Beacon left it a little

too late to claw back the two try deficit

and lost their second game 5-3.

With one fixture remaining (against

tournament hosts, Walsall Academy) the

team were even more resolute to ensure

that they finished the tournament on a high.

Barr Beacon certainly didn’t disappoint and

within the first minute of the game they

found themselves leading 1-0. The team

continued to play some exceptional rugby,

especially during the scrum, due to a

noticeable size advantage and made this

dominance pay as they scored another try.

In turn Walsall Academy found gaps in the

Barr Beacon defence to score a try of their

own. However, Beacon soon killed off any

Walsall Academy hope of winning the

game as they scored their third and final try

of the match. A Walsall Academy try in the

dying seconds proved to be little more than

consolation meaning that Barr Beacon

were victorious 3-2.

From the beginning to the end of the

tournament the pupils conducted

themselves excellently but learned that

they must ensure that they defend as a unit

and not as individuals if they are to minimise

the tries that they concede in future fixtures.

Well done to Perry Howell (10B1), Majed

Miah (10B1), Harry Pickard (10M2), Jacob

Jones (10W1), Mitchell Brown (10C3), Jamie

Sadler-Ripley (10B1), Josh Ekwulugo (10C1),

Jack Gray (10M2), Phillip Chamunda (10B1),

Jamie Williams (10C1),

PTS based on:

Win = 3

Draw = 2

Loss = 1

Rankings determined on point’s difference:

Aldridge = - 4

Walsall = -2 (6 Tries scored)

Beacon = -2 (7 Tries scored)

As both Barr Beacon and Walsall had a

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points difference of -2 if was decided on

number of tries scored, meaning Barr Beacon

were the runners up on 7.

Rugby – Year 10 - Monday 16th March

The Year 10 rugby team hosted St Francis

School for their Walsall Schools’ league game.

We were expecting tough competition as St

Francis School had recently dominated the

Walsall Rugby Festivals across all year groups.

Unfortunately, due to injuries and the

collapsed timetable day the team were left

short and had to play with 13 players from the

start. The numerical advantage for St Francis

took its toll very early on with 2 tries going

down inside the first 10 minutes.

5 minutes before the interval Jamie Sadler-

Ripley (10B1) entered the game to make the

contest 15-14. There was an immediate

impact as Majed Miah (10B1) scored a

fantastic try right in the corner following

effective rucking from Josh Guest (9M1) and

the aforementioned Jamie Sadler Ripley.

Majed took the ball from the breakdown,

dummied to pass right before running back

around the ruck and diving for the line. This

left the score 10-5 at the interval.

Half time was welcomed by Beacon as the

boys were tiring toward the end of the half.

The wet and windy conditions meant the

game was full of scrums and breakdowns

which really push the body to the limit. The

defensive effort of being players short was a

growing influence in the half.

The second half, like the first, started with a

quick St Francis try. It was a poor pass that

resulted in St Francis taking possession inside

our 22. Their prop was an unstoppable force

once he got the momentum so close to our

line.

5 minutes later Luke Arkinstall-Shore (10B1)

kicked when under pressure. It was the

perfect kick that cleared into the St Francis

half. The ball was gathered by the full back

who had no support from his offside team

mates. The Barr Beacon boys had sensed a

chance and chased the kick. A good tackle

would surely lead to a try scoring opportunity.

Jacob Jones ate up the ground and timed his

tackle perfectly. The ball was loose with half

an empty pitch for Beacon to run into.

Unfortunately Jacob and Luke managed to

knock the ball on. This was more signs of

tiredness having just sprinted 40 yards to close

the kick.

20-5 quickly followed. Barr Beacon had gone

from having a great chance to score to being

almost out of the game. It was a flowing

move from St Francis, but gaps were

beginning to appear in the Beacon defensive

line.

Harry Pickard (10M2) rallied the troops. He still

believed we could turn it around. His driving

maul required very close refereeing to see

that the ball was put down behind the try line

but by a St Francis player and not Harry. It

was a devastating drive that was a sign of

new found belief. With 5 minutes to go

Kundai Nazare made the breakthrough,

running down the wing at lightening pace to

score. Luke Arkinstall-Shore expertly

converted, leaving the score at 20-12.

The final 5 minutes was Beacon pressure but St

Francis held strong to win. This was a

momentous effort from the Barr Beacon boys,

taking a very strong team pretty close, even

with fewer players.

Golf

Over 5 weeks this Spring term, 7 girls have

been having specialist golf coaching at

Walsall Golf Club. All girls have progressed

massively and have really enjoyed the

experience. Many were beginners to start

with and can now play a range of strokes

consistently. Ella Pugh, who plays golf for the

county, has done a fantastic job coaching

the other pupils as part of her PE GCSE. The

pupils involved were Robyn Meredith (11M1),

Phoebe Ingram (9C1), Cameron Parry (9B1),

Bethany Hinks (9B2), Charlie Bland (9B2), Ella

Pugh (11M2), Hafsah Alam (9B2).

Swimming

Brownhills Gala – Wednesday 11th March

On Wednesday 11th March, three of our

pupils competed in a swimming

competition at Brownhills.

Ryan Andrews (11C1) came 2nd in both the

freestyle and backstroke and 3rd in the

butterfly, Robyn Meredith (11M1) came 4th in

backstroke and 2nd in butterfly and Kaitlin

Vardarcik (11M1) came 5th in the freestyle

race.

Pupils swam tremendously - well done to all!

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