BTEC Performing Arts Showcase- Come join us at Barr Beacon School on Wednesday 9th April for an evening filled with talent and creativity. Our students have been working hard to bring you performances in Dance, Drama and Music. The event will take place in the main school hall, doors will open at 5.45pm ready for a 6pm start. Tickets are free but must be claimed via the Eventbrite link. We look forward to welcoming you to an evening of Performing Arts!
Our first-ever game in the Matrix Trust League saw us take on Wednesfield Academy on Tuesday this week in a rollercoaster of a match - full of goals, drama, and G Mwase taking no nonsense from absolutely anyone!
The new league has two divisions, Walsall-based and Birmingham-based, with the winners facing off in a final. So basically, it’s like the Champions League… just with worse pitches and fewer sponsorship deals.
Things didn’t start well. We conceded early from a corner to go 1-0 down, which wasn’t exactly part of the game plan.
But panic? Not us.
H Gough got us back on track with a tidy finish to make it 1-1, and before Wednesfield could catch their breath, he was at it again to put us 2-1 up. I don't know whether I'm envious of his talent or whether he just rocks a mullet better than myself.
Then C Bennett decided he wanted in on the action and slotted home to give us a 3-1 lead. Confidence was high, the football was flowing, and for a brief moment, I was relaxed on the sidelines. But of course, we can’t have nice things for long.
Towards the end of the second half - we started to lose shape, conceded silly fouls and allowed too many attempts on goal. L Durrant kept us in the game by pulling out some world class saves!
Halftime Team Talk:
Inspirational words. Tactical genius. Or maybe just, “Lads, please stop messing about with the ball - we need more goals.” Either way, we were ready to go again.
We came out in the second half looking sharp… for about five minutes. Then Wednesfield hit back to make it 3-2. No problem, we thought, until they scored again.
3-3.
Suddenly, nerves kicked in and fingernails were being chewed.
Then, when we needed it most, newcomer A Marshall produced an assist straight out of a highlights reel, setting up H Gough to complete his hat-trick and put us back in front at 4-3. Relief all around. Well, almost.
As the game neared the final whistle, we won a penalty… or should we say, J Bryant won an Oscar for Best Theatrical Dive. VAR wasn’t available, but if it was, we’d probably still be debating whether there was even a gust of wind near him.
Regardless, the ref pointed to the spot, and he dusted himself off to smash home the penalty and seal a 5-3 victory.
Final Whistle – Job Done!
A great result in our first game of the Matrix Trust League. A proper team effort, plenty of goals, and a real sense of camaraderie. The sportsmanship between both teams was outstanding - a real credit to both schools.
And as a final treat, the lads celebrated in style on the minibus home—by absolutely butchering every song they attempted to sing.
Bring on the next round!
Recruiters are now using Assessment Centres more than ever before, with traditional interviews being just a small part of the interview process. In order to prepare our students for apprenticeship and graduate job applications, representatives from the Civil Service visited the school to run mock assessment centres.
Our Year 12 students received essential advice on how to succeed, with everything from making a good first impression, to being aware of their body language, through to how to work effectively in a team and communicate ideas professionally.
Students were given two tasks, both used by big apprenticeship employers in their recruitments practises. Each group received detailed feedback on what went well in Task 1 and students were then able to reflect on this and improve in Task 2.
Every student pushed themselves out of their comfort zone, developed transferable skills and said they felt more confident approaching an assessment centre in future.
Today a group of 33 cadets attended the Bronze Leadership training day at Barr Beacon School. The day is part of our ever-growing cadet experience open to all students within our secondary schools.
The cadets spent the morning learning about effective leadership styles & skills. In the afternoon it was thier turn to be assessed practically in a number of tricky tasks designed to test their management of a team, resources and time.
All of the cadets had a great time, learnt a lot about managing a team and achieved their Bronze Leadership Badges – Well Done!
Barr Beacon School was lucky enough to have a return visit from Randip Bahra, a Chartered Surveyor and Fellow with RICS. A new cohort of students learnt all about the different opportunities in surveying and stepped into the shoes of a Quantity Surveyor and Planning Surveyor, working out the profit margins for a housing project and devising environmental solutions to make their project more sustainable. Students were interested to not only learn about the attractive salaries on offer within these professions, but also to discover the wider reach of housing projects in supporting local communities.
Pupils in Year 10 were visited by representatives from Oxford and Cambridge University to discover more about what studying at a top university would be like. Our speakers explained the differences between their universities, the community feel gained from the college system and the many wide ranging courses on offer. The key message was to always try applying if you are interested, as you never know where it could lead.
Year 12 Students and Year 10 pupils had the invaluable opportunity to attend free first aid training with St John Ambulance. Pupils learnt how to deal with several life threatening situations, including responding to a catastrophic bleed, performing CPR on an a patient who isn’t breathing and placing unresponsive patients in the recovery position.
The session also raised awareness of the risks of vape spiking and knife crime.
Our Year 12 Students were visited by the team at Ask Apprenticeships to gain advice on pursuing apprenticeships after Sixth Form. Students learnt about the key places to find vacancies and were given top tips for succeeding.
The theme for the 2025 Turing visits was ‘not just tourists’. We wanted to encourage our pupils to not just visit a place, but experience the cultures within it immersing themselves in daily life through food, religion and cultural activities.
Our first Turing visit for 2024-2025 was for Year 12 pupils travelling to Morocco. We spent a week in Marrakesh and the surrounding areas learning about life in this country.
Food plays an important part in any culture. During our visit, we attended a cooking class where we learned about traditional Moroccan dishes, what the Common ingredients in Morocco are and how these are prepared in line with religious rules. We enjoyed trying the dishes, with Chicken Pastilla (a sugary pastry filled with chicken) and Beef Tagine being particular favourites. Some pupils experienced their first McDonalds ever as Moroccan McDonalds serves Halal meat which is not common in the UK.
We tried our hand at using Arabic to communicate with locals. We also attended a calligraphy class where we learnt about the types of Arabic script, the traditional inks and pens before having a go at writing our names in Arabic. The biggest challenge was remembering to write right to left!
We travelled to Marrakesh during the holy month of Ramadan, and so we were able to experience the regular call to prayer. Many of our tour guides and hosts were able to talk about the importance of Ramadan to Muslims and we were able to respect our tour guides by not eating and drinking in front of them and allowing them to break fast in the evening. A number of pupils were able to enter the Koutubia Mosque in Marrakesh to pray and were blown away by the sheer scale and size of the mosques with hundreds of Muslims praying together.
Marrakesh is very different to the cities and towns that we live in, it is much busier and noisier! We were able to experience the souks and markets seeing differences in the ways that goods are sold - we didn't see one supermarket ! Many of us tried our hand at bartering for souvenirs and sunglasses, with the Wednesfield pupils in particular discovering new haggling talents. We found it tricky as it involved a lot of confidence but we did manage to get some real bargains!
Thankfully we were able to escape the hustle and bustle of Marrakesh for the calm of the Jardin Marjorelle, a peaceful garden once owned by Yves Saint Laurent , a great space to regather our thoughts before heading back out into the city.
Over our last 2 days, we ventured out of Marrakesh to experience rural Morocco. We headed into the Atlas Mountains where we hiked up the Imlil valley to see the highest peak in Morocco, Mount Toubkal. Whilst on our hike it started to snow – which was totally unexpected. We all had to show a lot of reliance climbing the steep hill but were greeted with amazing views. We were able to discuss the similarities and differences between life in the UK and life in Morocco with our guides. We were surprised on the way up the mountain to get stuck in a traffic jam of sheep! On the way down we found a common language with some local boys playing a quick game of football.
Our final night was spent in the desert. A complete contrast to life in the mountains, we enjoyed an off road adventure to get to our campsite where we were able to relax in the comfort of luxury tents. We were treated to Moroccan music on the Oud and drums before we tried some of the moves! We especially enjoyed the traditional hats with tassels to spin around our heads.
By immersing ourselves in Moroccan life, we learnt lots about this remarkable part of the world as well as gaining a greater understanding about our own cultures and practices. We didn't just visit Morocco - we lived Morocco!
On Friday 7th March 2025, a group of 14 pupils attended the world’s biggest dance event, ‘Move It’ at London’s Excel Arena. Pupils were given the opportunity to watch BTEC and degree levels student performances from across the best performing arts institutions in the UK. They were able to book workshops with professional choreographers and were able to explore a variety of stalls offering professional advice towards Dance training. Pupils made the most of their day by booking a variety of workshops, including acrobatics, ballroom and hip hop. The Barr Beacon Dancers were an excellent representatives for the school. The staff were incredibly proud of the dancers and their enthusiasm. It has provided them with lots of inspiration for their future in Dance.
Barr Beacon School
Old Hall Lane
Aldridge, Walsall
West Midlands
WS9 0RF
T: 0121 366 6600
postbox@barrbeaconschool.co.uk
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Friday: 8:00 am - 3:30 pm
