Following our ‘How to Support your Most Able child workshop’ many parents asked for the resources from the session to be shared. These resources can be found below.
Food Donations for Christmas Charity Appeal
Donations for our Christmas Charity appeal for our local food bank have started to flood in. Pupils in 8C1 have already collected a large variety of food and sanitary products to help local families at this special time of year. We are extremely grateful for all contributions made to this very worthy cause. The last day for donations is Thursday 15th December.
Matrix Collab Dance Performance
Dance students from across the Matrix Academy Trust came together on Monday 21st November at Turves Green Boys School to perform in a collaborative project. Each school was assigned a section of ‘Celebrate’ by Pitbull to choreograph and perform, before all coming together as one to learn and perform the final section. The event saw over 100 students come together and share their passion for dance. Students thoroughly enjoyed the experience of performing in front of others and making new friends. The overall performance shows the motivation and commitment that these students have for the subject.
KPMG Skills Builder Workshop
Year 13 students all took part in a workshop delivered by KPMG. Students were able to experience what it is like to work for a huge global business, taking on the role of consultant for the day. In teams, students made a pitch to solve a real life problem faced by KPMG, using cutting-edge technology within their solution. In the process, students had the chance to develop a range of transferable skills ready to take with them to the workplace or university.
Our visiting KPMG representative said: “It was a pleasure meeting your students. I was incredibly impressed with their enthusiasm approaching the challenge. Every team showcased an array of skills and worked together extremely well to find a solution. Their creativity also stood out as a clear strength.”
100% Attendance for 6 Consecutive Years
We are delighted to award four of our Year 13 students with an iPad each to celebrate a milestone that they have reached – 100% attendance for 6 consecutive years! This is a remarkable achievement and reflects their resilience and strength of character. We applaud and congratulate them all.
Lord Mayor's Quiz
As has become tradition, a small team of our Sixth Form students took part in the Lord Mayor’s Sixth Form Mega Quiz again this year. They battled through 10 rounds of questions, with topics ranging from high level mathematics, through to popular music. There were over 40 other local schools in attendance and the Lord Mayor of Birmingham herself. Students had an enjoyable time and represented the school admirably. Funds raised from the quiz will go to help worthy causes within the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal.
Collins Aerospace Workshop
Pupils with an interest in pursuing STEM careers attended an engaging workshop from Collins Aerospace. They gained an insight into the many different types of engineering careers by speaking to 6 different apprentices, learning about roles from Mechanical Design Engineering to Business.
Pupils were also set a challenge to create a parachute to protect an egg and were able to launch and test their designs. In the process, pupils gained skills of team work, communication and problem solving. The event was a huge success, with all pupils saying they had enjoyed the workshop and several pupils intending to make an application for an apprenticeship with Collins.
What made the event extra special was that it was run by our Alumnus, Harry Pickard, who is now working as a Manufacturing Engineer after securing a Degree Apprenticeship when he left Barr Beacon School.
Our pupils said: “I’ve really enjoyed it. This definitely sounds like a great job to have.” (Kellen, Year 11); “Overall the work shop was very helpful. It summed up what could be achieved in the engineering field and delved into the specifics and niches of the industry. Collins Aerospace also did a very good job explaining how you can enter the company from either the university route or straight from school by joining their apprenticeship scheme. I left the talk with a much better understanding of engineering and a desire to learn more.” (Corey, Year 13)
Self-Care and Mental Health
Written by Deputy Head Students Hannah N and Mazin E.
Self-care is vital in maintaining positive mental well-being. It is the process of caring for your individual needs and allowing your body to relax by doing things you enjoy. As discussed within school during Mental Health Week, a healthy mental state is vital as it impacts on all aspects of our social and intellectual lives.
With the holidays near approaching, whether you are celebrating during the Christmas period or not, having a break from school can be a positive way to spend time with friends and family, catch up on work, mentally recover from the demands of school and prepare for the new year.
With lockdown measures no longer in place, we can venture out more than we have done over the last two Christmas periods. It is also important to make sure that whilst out, meeting up with friends, we stay safe.
Mental and physical health is important to be cared for holistically. Positive physical health, such as through exercise, can also have positive impacts on mental health as endorphins and dopamine are released giving us that ‘feel good' factor.
Here are some ideas that you may find helpful to try in promoting more positive mental health:
- Going on walks
- Trying a new hobby
- Watching shows or films that you enjoy
- Setting revision boundaries and allocating time to rest
- Getting involved in sports or clubs
Our mental well-being is a core principle of our daily lives. It impacts on how we function in a plethora of activities and therefore, we must sustain a good work-life balance and avoid the harmful effects of neglecting this.
Sometimes we can feel anxious and display behaviours due to the circumstances surrounding us. We can combat these ‘down’ feelings by having a routine, whereby you can, for instance, work for a few hours a day with regularly timed breaks and then reward yourself when you have finished by partaking in a fun activity such as going out with friends to the cinema.
Sustaining your mental health in this way increases the overall efficiency of your work so you get the best of both worlds. Additionally, there are many activities after school that you can take part in such as puzzle club, sports and many more.
We hope you may have found interest in the points that we have raised to outline the importance of mental health and caring for your self-care. Perhaps this blog has allowed you to spark more interest in you being able to discover something you can do to help improve your overall mental health.
Links for support:
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/
https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/talk-us-phone/
https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/your-feelings/mental-health/
Links for further reading :
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
Cadets 'rise' to the challenge!
On Sunday 20th November fourteen teams from around the Wales & West Region met at RAF Cosford to compete in the most competitive competitions of the year – The Regional Air Squadron Trophy or RAST for short. The competition sets out to test our cadets in six key areas of RAF syllabus with all the points being added up to produce an overall winner for the day. The events consisted of Marksmanship (shooting), First Aid, Command Tasks, Drill (marching), RAF Knowledge, and Aircraft Recognition. This was our first year at the regional competition and many of our team of thirteen cadets were excited (if not a little apprehensive) at what to expect over the duration of the day.
We started the day with the command task which tested the teamwork and communication skills of our cadets, with the first event over and no one knowing the scores our attention moved to the next tasks – Shooting, First Aid and Aircraft Recognition. For these three events, the team had to divide themselves so that only four would shoot, four would conduct first aid, and the five remaining cadets being left to recognise aircraft. With the team going in different directions the staff headed up one group each – of course I had the joy of escorting the shooters in order to feel the nostalgia from my army days. With Thomas L of 9B1 shooting an impressive 5mm group we had high hopes for the individual marksmanship trophy, but alas it wasn’t meant to be when a cadet from a rival school achieved a 4mm group!!
The team reconvened for lunch and a final uniform check/drill rehearsal before it was our time to march out to the parade square. The team, commanded by Flight Sergeant Katie O of 12M1 began their drill sequence and were looking sharp until suddenly the rain decided to get too heavy in order to carry on. After a brief break, a few needed words of encouragement from Group Captain Simon (Commanding Officer responsible for all RAF cadets in the region) and the weather improving slightly, a very soggy team of Barr Beacon cadets completed their sequence displaying discipline and courage.
Lastly it was time to give out the trophies for the event. All of the cadets gathered in the main hall of No1 Radio School and waited anxiously. As the categories got read out there were cheers and praise to all who had competed displaying the sportsmanship of the event. Barr Beacon School especially excelled this year in Aircraft Recognition with Cadet Edie H of 9M1 coming joint top individual in the category – a very proud moment as this was her first ever cadet competition. After a long day of competition, highs, lows and being rained off of a parade square the cadets all enjoyed the challenges placed upon them throughout the day, and are looking forward to the next competition. Well Done to all of our cadets who took part!!!
A big thank you goes out to Flt Lt Muller & Mr Garner from the school for supporting the team throughout the day.
Scholastic Book Fair
It is time again for the annual Autumn book fair at Barr Beacon School, ready to fill your must-read shelves with material for the holiday season! Wishlists will be available to collect from the iCentre on November 28th and, once filled out, they can be taken home for parents and guardians to place orders direct with Scholastic for delivery to our school. With new stories from the pulse-pausing Alice Oseman and a new clock running down from Adam Silvera, there are books for all interests!
Consider the gift of reading this Christmas; all books purchased through the Scholastic book fair help to raise money that can be spent on books for our library, selected by our own student council. Save shopping online for books, give your pupil a chance to select the gifts they want to give and support reading at Barr Beacon!
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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
