Our exceptional staff put on a Pantomime performance for each House today. Oh yes they did! A huge ‘thank you’ to the staff who made today so memorable for our pupils with a pantomime performance of ‘Robin Hood’. All the planning and rehearsing paid off as  all pupils enjoyed the performance on the last day of term before Christmas.

A group of Year 7 pupils enjoyed a visit to the annual Christmas Lectures at University of Birmingham. Pupils attended two engaging sessions. The first was themed around Christmas, where pupils learnt about the evolution of Christmas and how cracker jokes are created, before having a go at making their own. We then moved on to a lecture about space travel, where lecturers discussed if we should live on the moon. Finally, pupils enjoyed a tour of the university and were surprised by its scale and the amount of extra services on offer, such as societies, sports pitches and event their own train station.

A massive ‘thank you’ to everyone who generously donated items for our Food Bank collection. All donations were collected today and Great Barr Food Bank were so grateful for everything we have supplied as a school community. Around 150 people are currently using Great Barr Food Bank each week so we will be making a huge difference to our community around Christmas time.

Our Year 13 students have once again shown what brilliant role models they are, giving mock interviews to our Year 11 pupils.  

In preparation for their upcoming Sixth Form, College and Apprenticeship applications, Year 11 pupils needed some practise preparing for the interview stage. We didn’t want their first interview to be the real thing. Who better to prepare our pupils for this than our Year 13 students. Each of them has been through at least two recent interviews, whether for their own entry to Sixth Form, or the more challenging interviews that helped secure their leading roles in school. Some of our students have even faced very tricky interviews for competitive university courses and degree level apprenticeships, so they could share their experiences and offer lots of helpful hints and advice.

We are extremely proud of both our Year 13 students, for giving up their time to help others, and our Year 11 pupils, for stepping out of their comfort zone and making the most of this opportunity.

We are excited to announce that a talented group of young girls recently took part in the CyberFirst competition, a prestigious event designed to nurture the next generation of cybersecurity experts.

CyberFirst, a program initiated by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), encourages young minds to explore the ever-growing field of cybersecurity, providing them with essential skills for a future in tech.

The competition challenged participants with various cyber-related problems, testing their abilities in areas such as cryptography, network security, and ethical hacking. The girls demonstrated impressive problem-solving skills, teamwork, and determination, proving that they are more than ready to take on the challenges of the digital age.

This competition not only highlighted the potential of these future tech leaders but also served as a reminder of the importance of encouraging diversity in STEM fields, particularly in cybersecurity. We are proud of their achievements and look forward to seeing how these bright young minds continue to excel in the world of tech.

Congratulations to the girls that took part in the challenge: S.Bhupla (8C1), J.Johnson (8C1), P.Kaur (8B1), J. Mather (8B1), A.Osbourne (8C1), O.Robert (8C1), E.Spencer (8B1) and P.Weston (8C1)

Introducing the winners of our Autumn Photography Competition: vongratulations to our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners, as well as our talented runners-up. The challenge was to capture the essence of our 'Beacon values' and our pupils did an amazing job showcasing their creativity with such a diverse and beautiful portfolio. Well done to all participants for their hard work and impressive edits! #ProudToSucceed

Our Head Student, T.Hunt, was the driving force behind this unique and powerful fundraiser.

Sixth Form Ambassadors joined forces with him and they have spent the last two weeks promoting Movember, to staff and pupils, by taking orders for moustaches.

On Thursday, we held our ‘Wear a moustache for an hour!’ PSHE session.  Staff, pupils and students wore fake moustaches to raise awareness of men’s mental health.

Discussions were based around how men can sometimes find it hard to speak openly about their issues and the message we wanted to get across and shouted loud about was ‘MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS!’

Our younger pupils enjoyed spending time with our Sixth Form students.  It was heart-warming to watch the interactions between them as they came together for this event. 

We raised a total of £130.56.  Thank you to everyone who supported this event to help make a difference to the lives of others.

As a part of our effort in encouraging reading and celebrating academic excellence, Barr Beacon School has introduced a book vending machine as new element of its rewards programme. The innovative machine, which dispenses books instead of snacks or drinks, provides students with the unique opportunity to earn a free book each week as a reward for their hard work, good behaviour and academic achievements.

Pupils who achieve our “Pupil of the Week” award and those who are a part of the Millionaire’s Club will get a gold token that can be used to purchase a book from the book vending machine which is located in the iCentre.

Our Year 13 students enjoyed taking part in the annual Lord Mayor’s Mega Quiz. Each year, Sixth Form teams from across the region compete to win the Mega Quiz, with rounds on the likes of geography, mathematics, physics, music and social media.

Each team donated to the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal. Barr Beacon School has been a long term supporter of the event, which has raised over £200,000 for good causes since it was first launched.

Our team this year enjoyed the variety of topics and even had fun when the tricky questions sometimes got the better of them. They represented the school very well.