NEWSletter - beacon-live.tiarccms.co.ukbeacon-live.tiarccms.co.uk/userfiles/beacon/PDFs/Newsletters/... · They met up with Will Phelps, (the Headmaster joining The Beacon in 2015)

NEWSletter 7 November 2014 – Week 8

PAGE 1 TRADITIONAL VALUES | CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION

NEWS from the Headmaster

A key element of all we do at The Beacon is with the aim of preparing boys for the future. The recent choir tour, whichthe Beacon Voices undertook to New York is a prime example of this. What a fantastic experience, not only to visit oneof the most vibrant capital cities in the world, but also to perform in one of the largest cathedrals in the world. Theboys gained a wonderful insight into the culture and life of pupils in New York schools and broadened their horizonsand perspectives immeasurably. They met up with Will Phelps, (the Headmaster joining The Beacon in 2015) who washugely impressed with the abilities and assurance of the boys in their performances and wrote to tell me so.

This weekend every parent will receive an email letter regarding the ‘Acceptable Use Policy’ (appropriate to age) relatingto e-safety. These have already been discussed with all the older boys in school. Please sit down with your son andread through the policy ensuring he understands the contents and the implications of contravening the code, which areserious and will be treated severely by the school. Please ensure that you confirm your acceptance to this code bycompleting the online form (a link will be supplied in the letter).

And finally, I am very pleased to announce that Miss Rebecca Barkham has been appointed Head of Geography. I hopeyou have had a chance to admire the model volcanoes in the foyer that Miss Barkham has asked the boys to create –they are very impressive indeed.

NEWS from Pre-Prep


Half term seems to have disappeared into the mists of time. Halloween was shorts and t-shirt weather. Today the boyshave been excitedly telling me that Mum had to scrape the frost off their car’s windscreen. Now that Autumn hasarrived, could boys please come to school in their navy blue coat rather than their blazer and, if they are going to weargloves and hats, wear them in school colours. Many boys have produced some lovely descriptive poetry on fireworksthis week. The story of Guy Fawkes is almost the perfect story for small boys as it involves spies, a king and a plot tocreate a massive explosion. Year 2 have done some terrific work in history on this theme over the last few days. At halfterm I was fortunate enough to visit several prep schools in New York as I went on the Beacon Voices Choir Tour and itwas reassuring to discover children embarrass their teachers the world over. Visiting a very upmarket girls’ school on theUpper East Side I was introduced to a class of very prim little girls whose phonics lesson was covering the letter U. ‘Thisis Mr Haley from England.’ their teacher enthused. ‘Can anyone think of a word with the letter U in it?’ she asked. Avery together little girl looked me in the eye and shouted ‘thug’. Give me Beacon boys any day! Have a great weekendeverybody. – Richard Haley – Head of Pre-Prep

Performing Arts NEWS

Music

The ABRSM music exams will all take place on Tuesday 2nd December this term and not on December 3rd as previouslystated. They will be held in the Old Barn.

Next Thursday, 13 November, there is an Upper School 'Tea and Music' Concert in the Old Barn at 5.00pm open to anyboy in Years 7 & 8 who would like to play a solo. Do let me know if your son would like to take part.

A week later, on Thursday 20 November, we have our Film Music Concert at 6.00pm in the Sports Hall, when musicalensembles and choirs will be performing. This should be a fun evening and we do hope you will be able to join us forthe occasion!

Finally, many congratulations to the Beacon Voices who went on a choir tour to New York over the half term break. Itreally was a trip of a lifetime and the boys were a real credit to the school. They even managed to appear on the earlymorning weather channel! – Liz Van Tromp – Director of Music

Beacon Voices in Manhattan!

30 boys from Beacon Voices undertook a tour of New York during Octoberhalf term, cramming a huge amount into 6 days. They performed at fourNew York schools and two public venues, including the Cathedral of St. Johnthe Divine, the largest Anglican cathedral in the world. They also performedat the British International School of New York, where the currentHeadmaster is Will Phelps, who will be joining The Beacon next September.

In addition to their performances and rehearsal times, the boys also managed to fit in some sightseeing at theRockefeller Centre, the Statue of Liberty, the Air and Space Museum, The Empire State Building, Central Park and ofcourse some shopping at the Fifth Avenue Apple store and F A O Schwarz! A real highlight was a trip to Broadway tosee Matilda, which they all thoroughly enjoyed.

Alexander Ardakov…

Those attending the Alexander Ardakov concert in The Old Barn this Thursdaywere treated to a truly magical performance. Mr Ardakov played a beautifulselection of works by Mozart, Chopin, Bach, Grieg and Liszt, which left theaudience spellbound. It was a privilege to hear someone so accomplished playat The Beacon and we are very grateful to him for taking the time to play for us.

Street Dance at The Beacon…

Over half-term twenty boys completed a two day course of Street Dance in the Old Barn.

Under the experienced tuition of professional dancer John Johnny, boys from Years 3 to 8were locking, breaking, popping, krumping and much more! All managed backflips andgrooved to James Brown with huge enthusiasm!

It was a great success, with showings to parents at the end of each day. Achy and tired,some boys left the course being heard to say 'it was the best thing I've ever done'!

Watch this space for Christmas workshops and a forthcoming weekly Street Dance club.

Christmas shows...

If you are planning a theatre trip this Christmas, please follow these links for two very stimulating family plays inspired bythe events of WW1. They play in Stratford and London.

The RSC's production of 'The Christmas Truce'. Age 9+: http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/the-christmas-truce/

'Not About Heroes' at Trafalgar Studios. Age 11+: http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/not-about-heroes/trafalgar-studios/

Will Maynard – Head of Drama


http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/not-about-heroes/trafalgar-studios/

http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/the-christmas-truce/

Sports NEWS

SPORTSMAN OF THE WEEKHenry A, U10D Team – Rugby

Henry played an excellent game in the U10D team match against The Dragonat home, securing two tries. He kept his focus and composure throughout thegame and showed great leadership on the pitch, trying to motivate the team atall times.

TEAM OF THE WEEKU9B1

The Beacon U9B1 team had an excellent game against Gayhurst, beating their opponents 55 - 0. The ruckingthroughout was exceptional and there were great tackles from all throughout the match. Congratulations boys.



Sports NEWS

MATCH REPORT : 2 Under 9 vs Gayhurst U9 The Beacon 20 : Gayhurst 10 – Match Won

The A team continued their winning form with a hard fought victory against Gayhurst. The heavily sanded pitch andthe cold conditions contributed to the high error rate. There were, however, a couple of moments of high quality,particularly Edward Bellamy's second try where the brilliant timing and excellent lines of running unlocked the solidGayhurst defence. Weak defence on our behalf allowed Gayhurst to cross our line twice but a second try by EdwardBellamy and a fine opportunist try in the last play of the game by Max Hayes made the game secure. Yet again therewere good performances by Marco Filippetto and Charlie Berens continuing their excellent form this term. – James Skea

MATCH REPORT : 2nd XV vs Gayhurst 1st XVThe Beacon 17 : Gayhurst 0 – Match Won

The long layoff from rugby and the lack of recent training and matches really showed in this fixture. There was a lackof cohesion in the team and plenty of individual errors. Despite this the team worked hard, persevered and ran outcomfortable winners. A disjointed first half was followed by a dominant display in the second which would haveresulted in multiple scores if we had just done the basics of running straight, drawing the man and passing the ball!One of the frustrating aspects of 2nd team rugby is the lack of a consistent team due to injuries and unavailability but Iam convinced that the team would be a very good one if we played and trained together a little more often. – James Skea

MATCH REPORT : U10C vs The DragonThe Beacon 20 : The Dragon 55 – Match Lost

The first game back after a long half term proved challenging for the U10Cs. After a promising start, with two veryquick tries for the Beacon boys from Alistair Begg, running through the Dragon defence, the Beacon were winning 10-0 within the first five minutes. At the restart The Dragon were quick to see the gaps in the Beacon defence and muchfaster to the breakdowns securing the ball for the majority of the match. With some excellent tackling by Theo Schultenand Edward O’Doherty, the Beacon kept the score at 25-10 at half time. The second half was very similar to the firstwith a further two tries from The Beacon, one from Arhan Chandra and another from Alistair Begg. The boys in thesecond half were a lot better at the breakdown, and the scrum performed excellently winning many opposition’sscrums and lineouts. In the cold conditions, a lot of mistakes were made and a few dropped balls, which The Dragonattack utilised and led to a final score of 55-20. Man of the match goes to Captain Theo Schulten, who put in somegreat tackles, and kept the game flowing nice and fast. – Clarice Underwood

MATCH REPORT : U10A vs The Dragon The Beacon 30 : The Dragon 15 – Match Won

It may have been Fireworks night in the evening, but at 2.30 on Willsfield, there were definitely some fireworks goingoff with the electrifying rugby the U10A team were playing! Excellent individual runs, mixed with some fantasticflowing passes allowed the Beacon to score early and dominate The Dragon. The score at half time was 4-1 and theboys were confident to continue their dominance. A lapse in concentration however, and some nifty runs by theopposition scrum half, brought it back to 4-3. With some fighting spirit, the boys dug deep and fought back to win 6-3with tries from Toby Rynn (2), Freddie Hancock (2) Jacob Avis and Raphael Weatherall. – Sam Privett


Sports NEWS

MATCH REPORT : U9B vs Gayhurst The Beacon 55 : Gayhurst 0 – Match Won

As a coach you can never be sure what the boys will have remembered after a two week break. The U9 boys producedtheir best team performance of the season and came out winners by 55-0. They rucked the way Ireland used to in the 80s,with the only difference being they did it for the whole match, not just for 2/3rd of it. They were like men possessed,going into the breakdown, with legs pumping, hitting Gayhurst with their shoulders and winning almost every collision.Josh Lee-Brock was captain and he led by example with a superb all round performance. He was ably supported by FergusTopham (who did not miss a tackle all game) and Oliver Bloore. The work that those three did around the park wasphenomenal and they made sure that their new scrum half Harry Clarke had clean ball so that he could get the back linemoving. When wingers score tries it is a good sign of a good team performance, as this means that boys are getting theball through the hands so the wingers can get to the line. Sure enough Fraser Creighton scored one on the right wing andGeorge Darbyshire got three tries on the left wing with his best performance of the season. Thomas Redmond made greatdecisions at fly half and passed at the right times. He also made a great tackle on one of the biggest U9s he is likely to everplay against. In the centres were William Yarroll, who made some good tackles and joined the rucks when he was requiredand Leo Wilson who helped himself to one try with strong running. Overall the boys should be delighted with theireffort. – David Robinson

MATCH REPORT : Colts A vs GayhurstThe Beacon 56 : Gayhurst 0 – Match Won

The Colts A continued their great run with a 56-0 win over Gayhurst, although the scoreline makes you assume that it wasan easier win than it actually was. The boys were not at their sharpest but fought hard for this win. The scoreline got tothis level because they scored four tries in the last seven minutes. For the first time this season the forwards did notproduce fast ball for our backs, which allowed Gayhurst to get organised and made it hard for the backs to penetrate. Thebacks also were not at their clinical best and either went too far into contact or passed too early allowing the opposition todrift across and made the space for the wingers very narrow. However, the boys produced some great phases of rugby andthe handling at times was phenomenal. A special mention must go to Thomas Bough who had one of his best games andscored one brilliant try where he jinked his way through their whole team. Other try scorers were Tom Way, Tim Hayes,Thomas Hortop, Jack Clarke and Luca Tartaglia Baker. The boys now face a very tough game against Moulsford onSaturday.. – David Robinson

MATCH REPORT : U10D vs The DragonThe Beacon 20 : The Dragon 35 – Match Lost

This was always going to be a tough game, with many of our players having to step in to new positions with which theywere not familiar - all good experience! The Dragon kicked off with more focus than our boys and quickly scored a coupleof tries. Zayhan Zahid's try in the first half was key to lifting the mood and suddenly The Beacon looked like they wanted awin. Oliver Hancock showed excellent rucking skills and Oliver Kirk put in some fantastic tackles. Henry Anderson had acracking match, scoring two tries and showing super leadership skills, helping to refocus the boys after their slow start.With a try from Arthur Langley in the second half, we lost with a respectable score of 35-20. – Allison Foden-Ellis


Sports NEWS

MATCH REPORT : Under 9D vs GayhurstThe Beacon 10 : Gayhurst 35 – Match Lost

On a bitterly cold afternoon on Willsfield, the U9D team braved the weather and took on a strong Gayhurst opposition.After a promising start with some great runs from Mayur Magdani, and some great tackles, Gayhurst managed tobreak through and score the opening try. As a result, the heads dropped andthe boys let in another 6 tries. However, with two great runs, Harvey Coopermanaged to score two late tries to bring the final score to 10-35. – Sam Privett

The best of the action from Willsfield this week:


DT Half Term Club

The DT Half Term Club was a great success and all the participants had awonderful time undertaking a variety of different projects during the week.

On the first day everybody made a working trebuchet/catapult using sticks,which they made themselves using newspaper and special rollers. Therecord distance for flinging a golf ball stands at 8 metres now! Otherprojects included making a wooden whistle, a three coloured twisted keyfob and a ‘steady’ hand game similar to the ones that are being used atthe BPS Christmas Fair. The third day was the CAD/CAM day when theboys and girls designed clock faces and cut them on the laser cutter inplywood. They also made their first initial on the 3D printer.

Remembrance Assembly – Tuesday 11 November

All boys are required to wear a poppy at the school Remembrance Service on Tuesday11 November. These are on sale in the school office so can boys please bring somemoney in on Monday to purchase a poppy if they have not already acquired one.

Balloon Debate

The Year 6 Balloon debate wasvery impressive with persuasiveand articulate arguments putforward for Nelson Mandela, BillGates, Albert Einstein andArchimedes amongst others.Abraham Lincoln was savedfrom a watery fate by Henry N(left). Congratulations to all whotook part - a great event!

Candle for Remembrance

Jugaad S (right), Year 7, lit the Candle for Remembrance last Sunday at theWiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust in Russell Square, London, inmemory of all who lost their lives and were affected by the 1984 anti-Sikhgenocidal pogroms.

Did you know?…

… that checking the parent portal on a weekly basis will ensure that you do not miss any email communications.

A note from the Headmaster – ParkingThis issue causes the most problems of all, both for neighbours of the school and parents. We cannot increase thecapacity of car park spaces and so the situation has to be managed, which is possible if all parents are sensible andresponsible. Parking across a neighbour’s drive, or in such a way that a road is blocked for utility and emergencyvehicles, is unacceptable. The issue in Oakway became so bad recently that a resident’s car was damaged and thesafety of the boys was being seriously compromised. If all those who can, use the drop and go system in the morning,and if parents don’t arrive early for pick up (or stop for a chat!), then we can manage the system and keep a flow oftraffic. I have noticed that there are very few lift shares, which could make a substantial difference and, of course, be abenefit to the environment. I urge parents to get together to see what can be arranged.

Also in the NEWS


Parents’ Society NEWSWe are now on the final countdown to the Christmas Fair on Saturday 15 November, 11 am - 2 pm. Your sons should allhave bought home two books of raffle tickets. Tickets are priced at £1 each and prizes include an Apple iPad mini, a KurtGeiger voucher, vintage champagne, hampers, and lots, lots more!

Thank you for continuing to bring in jars of sweets (no nuts please) and bottles of something stronger for the bottletombola. Next Friday, we will be very grateful for donations of cakes. The boys should have bought home plates for youto fill with goodies.

There will be nearly 30 stalls in the Sports hall. We have lots of newcomers offering an astonishing array of products,gifts and games. Please note that the stall holders can only accept cash or cheques.

For the boys and siblings there will be lots to entertain them including Splat the Rat, Panning for Gold, Christmas Crafts,games in Activities Rooms and Laser Quest on the Astro.

The Café is returning and will be offering bacon and sausage rolls, cakes, mince pies and a selection of beveragesincluding luxury hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

So fun for all and we do look forward to seeing you there!

Annie Dunster and Nonny Steel, Co-Chairs, Beacon Parents' Society : [email protected]

Important DATES for your diaryMonday 10 November Year 8 River Chess Geography Trip.

Tuesday 11 November 9.00 am – 3.00 pm WW1 Activity Day – Reception to Year 2

10.15 am – 11.15 am Remembrance Assembly

Wednesday 12 November Year 3 Trip to Pitt Rivers Museum

Thursday 13 November Year 5 Visit Neasden Temple

5.00 pm Upper School Tea and Music

Saturday 15 November 11.00am – 2.00 pm Parents’ Society Christmas Fair

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NEWSletter - beacon-live.tiarccms.co.ukbeacon-live.tiarccms.co.uk/userfiles/beacon/PDFs/Newsletters/... · They met up with Will Phelps, (the Headmaster joining The Beacon in 2015)

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