On a blustery autumn morning, over one hundred cadets and staff from four of our schools braved the high winds and cold to pay their respects to those who have given the most to our communities and country within the armed forces and emergency services. At this time, we also remembered those innocent civilians who lost their lives in the crossfire of conflict.

This year, our Armistice Day parade was held at Barr Beacon School in Walsall and was attended by the Headteachers from Barr Beacon School, Bloxwich Academy, Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School, Etone College and Turves Green Boys’ School. Major (Ret) Simon Cuthbert of the West Midlands Cadet Expansion Programme attended as the inspecting officer, and our CEO Ms Lynsey Draycott was also in attendance. It was a proud moment for all of the cadets. 

The parade was commanded by Flt Lt Muller. Ms Broome of Barr Beacon School (a Veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq) conducted The Act of Remembrance. All of the cadets and staff marked the two minutes silence before Maj Cuthbert addressed the parade about the importance of remembrance and how smart all of the cadets looked whilst on parade.

LEST WE FORGET.

On Sunday 13^th November 2022, our Head Students Daniel and Makara represented the school at Aldridge Remembrance Service.  They joined the parade before laying a wreath at the War Memorial to pay homage to the fallen and to remember the sacrifices that are made to protect our freedom.  This year marks 40 years since The Falklands conflict and those who served in 1982 were also remembered.

As the cosy season approaches, more visiting speakers and authors are opting to make their events virtually accessible to schools across the UK. Barr Beacon’s iCentre was proud to join Booktrust in hosting Jeffrey Boakye’s virtual Q&A alongside pupils from 30 other schools. Jeffrey Boakye is an educator, broadcaster and author of several books exploring the interactions between race and British culture across various disciplines; titles such as ‘I Heard What You Said’ and ‘Black, Listed’ break open a passionate and expansive dialogue into the experiences of Black youth in the UK, educators working within the education system and the evolution of Black culture in the UK reminiscent of David Olusoga’s ‘Black and British’. 

In a live stream spanning just under an hour, Mr. Boakye discussed the contents of his most recent publication ‘Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs’, a history illustrated by a curated playlist of songs meant to be listened to alongside the text, as well as fielding questions from pupils live over Youtube. At Barr Beacon School, we are uncompromising in our celebration of diversity, with our curriculum recently being brought in line with Pearson Educational’s own ‘Lit In Colour’ initiative and an influx of books from BAME authors joining the shelves of our library facilities, so we were overjoyed to be a part of Mr. Boakye’s Q&A session. 

Keep your eyes on the screens for future author events, and for any pupils looking to read Jeffrey Boakye’s ‘Musical Truth’ please speak to your iCentre Co-ordinator to place it in reserve, as our current copies have already flown off the new arrivals shelf!

In the past few weeks, 24 of our cadets here at Barr Beacon School were fortunate enough to attend two flying days at RAF Cosford near Stafford. The aim of these flying days is to introduce the cadets to the basics of propelled flight and earn them their first flying badge which they can wear with pride on their uniforms. 

Both days began with a drive to the RAF station where the cadets all underwent an initial safety training session, which taught them how to react in an emergency whilst in the air – something that very rarely happens!! All of the cadets sat apprehensively and trying not to show how nervous some of them were prior to getting placed into a flying order.  Once all of the safety and practices were completed it was time to suit up in the style of Maverick from top gun. 

They donned their aviator flying suits and helmets before being taken out to the planes. Once in the cockpit, they all took to the skies for a 20min flying lesson (with a qualified pilot) in which they all got to control the aircraft for themselves as they soared above the Staffordshire countryside. Whilst in the air they got to experience some of the stomach-churning manoeuvres that some of us would gladly pass on. One of the cadets expressed how the ‘Barrel Roll’ was the best thing they had ever done – I just smiled and agreed!!! 😊

By the end of each day all of the cadets had earned a flying badge, experienced an adrenaline rush and slowly came back down to earth. We finished the experience off with a visit to the RAF museum (co-located with the flying school), before returning back to school with stories of who had done the best loop of the day. 

All of the cadets enjoyed the day away from school, experiencing something completely different and look forward to their chance to fly high again.  A big thanks goes out to the staff of 8AEF and in particular Flt Lt Rob Lewis for making the day very memorable for our cadets. 

We now are turning our attention to Armistice Day and remembering those who have given and continue to give so much to our Country and Communities. LEST WE FORGET. 

If your child would like to join the Cadet Force here at school or you would like to know more, please contact us at postbox@Barrbeaconschool.co.uk

On Thursday 3^rd November Barr Beacon’s Anti-Bullying Champions participated in the Diana Awards ‘Anti-Bullying Training’. The training was delivered online with pupils interacting alongside another secondary school in discussing how to ‘Stand up to Racist Behaviour in Schools’. 

This was a great opportunity for our pupils as they will be using their training as Anti-Bullying Champions to ensure Barr Beacon School remains a safe place for all our pupils and to act as advocates for their peers.  We take any reports of bullying very seriously and we remind pupils regularly that we are a ‘Telling and Listening School’.  The role that the Anti-Bullying Champions have in this work is very important. Mrs Cornwall, Anti-Bullying Lead and Assistant Headteacher was extremely impressed with all the pupils’ active participation and impeccable behaviour. More Anti-bullying news coming soon during Anti-Bullying week 14^th – 18^th November  #antibullyingweek2022 

Barr Beacon School celebrated Black History Month during October with a series of assemblies and activities. The School Council planned the assembly and celebrated the wonderful contributions that modern black Britons make to our society. Black History is happening every day in the UK and around the world, and amazing people are shaping all areas of life from finance to Sport and Science to Art.

Following the assemblies our School Council wanted to make sure that Black History month surrounded us and was visible everywhere in our school. They requested that each tutor group produce a profile presentation of inspirational black Britons, how they epitomise our own Beacon values and the impact they have had on society. A recording of a virtual version of the assembly and some of the wonderful profiles that our tutor groups created can be seen below.

Barr Beacon School has lots of exciting and fun acitivities to help raise money for Children in Need. 

From Monday 31^st October our year 13 House Captains will be visiting all forms with ‘guess the name of the teddy bear’ and ‘how many sweets are in the jar?’ competitions. Both activities cost 50p per entry and winners will be announced on the big day – Friday 18^th November 2022. 

On Thursday 17^th November 2022 pupils will have the opportunity to take part in a penalty shootout against a member of staff. This will take place during both break times in the sports hall and will cost 50p for 3 shots.  

All money raised will go directly to Children in Need.  

We are delighted to hear that one of our former students has very recently been invited to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE. 

Robert Cashmore MBE completed his Sixth Form studies at Barr Beacon School in 2002.  He studied AS level Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Business & Economics, Geography and History.  He pursued Mathematics, Business & Economics and Geography into year 2 and finished his school years with a fantastic set of A level results – grades AAB.  He continued with his academic learning and has many achievements under his belt.  He is currently working for London based Octopus Investments as their Global Institutional Distribution Director for the Middle East.

Here is Robert’s story:

“Since finishing Barr Beacon I have completed two undergraduate degrees, one from the London School of Economics and the other from the University of Cambridge.  Following that I completed a Masters Degree at the University of Oxford. I have lived in a number of different countries.

I spent five years in the City of London working for a number of investment banks, including UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  Prior to Octopus, I was a senior British diplomat specialising in Gulf investment into the UK.  I spent four years as the UK Government’s Head of Investment for Saudi Arabia and two years as the Director for Investment Middle East, based in the United Arab Emirates.  During my time here, I played a leading role in securing the £10bn UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership.  I received an MBE in the 2020 Queen’s Honours list for services to UK Trade and Investment.

Last week I was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive my MBE from HRH Princess Anne.”

We offer our congratulations to Robert for all his successes following on from his hard work and dedication.  We are thrilled to be in contact with him and look forward to inviting him into school to work with our current students.

On Friday 30^th September staff at Barr Beacon School joined in the national coffee morning to raise important funds for Macmillan cancer support. Staff were extremely generous in providing both delicious cakes and treats to be purchased and in turn their donations. This successful event raised £178.50 to help with this worthy cause. Many thanks to all the staff who came along or made a donation.