Pupils in French and German have been busy honing their translation skills. Pupils in Year 8 and Year 9 have entered Oxford University’s Anthea Bell Translation Competition. The national competition challenges pupils to translate tricky poems or literary texts into English from German or French. Well done to Florence P 8C1, Finley J 8C1, Alexandra Tr8C1, Vikhyati S 9W2 and Malaika L 9W2 for your entries. Find out more about the competition here: https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/research-at-queens/translation-exchange/anthea-bell-prize/ 

A number of Year 8 pupils were given the incredible opportunity to take part in a virtual STEM session on Monday 20^th March 2023. The pupils who have shown an interest in the possibility of pursuing a STEM career in the future, took part in an engineering activity where they were guided by STEM experts to create a Rubber Band Car. The session delivered by The Smallpiece Trust, was mapped to the curricula of England and Wales, to ensure a valuable, educational opportunity for all students who took part. Pupils were keen to create their car from a range of recycled materials and test to see if it worked. The opportunity enabled our pupils to develop their STEM skills through using their knowledge and creative abilities to achieve the final goal. Lots of excellent cars were created.

Twelve of our Year 9 pupils competed in the splendour of Birmingham’s Great Hall against schools from across the length and breadth of the West Midlands. Our teams did us proud winning some rounds and all three of our 4 person teams came comfortably within the top 10. The visit also included a tour of the university and highly engaging physics lecture from Professors of the Physics department at Birmingham. One of our pupils commented that they could “really see myself studying here if I work hard enough” and all agreed it offered a brilliant insight into what life and learning at a top Russell Group university could be like.

Year 11 pupils took part in a languages workshop with a Freelance Translator, Jae Marple. Jae is able to choose which work he takes on and has tailored his career to his passion, translating for the Football industry. Most recently, Jae has been translating articles for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the FIFA Women’s U19 World Cup in India. He has been fortunate enough to create transcriptions of press conferences and interviews with famous managers and players, including Arsène Wenger and Patrick Vieira for the Invincible documentary. Jae speaks many languages, but specialises in Spanish and French. He set our year 11 French pupils a challenge, to translate an article he had to complete himself for the World Cup. Pupils enjoyed translating real life material and dived into the challenge of decoding unfamiliar phrases and words, using their knowledge of the football industry.

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.”

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)

Our annual Careers Fair is a chance for every pupil in the school to discover their career options ahead, whether that is higher level study at university, further study through a college, Sixth Form or a training provider, or entering the world of work through an apprenticeship. 

Pupils were able to meet a range of different visitors and ask them questions about their future pathways. From Year 7 taking their first steps with a quiz that allowed them to understand new options, such as what traineeship or T level is, all the way through to Year 13 speaking to universities and apprenticeship providers to help finalise their options, the fair was a chance for everyone to learn something new. 

Our pupils really impressed our visitors during the fair:

Megan from The University of Sheffield said “I was so impressed with how polite and knowledgeable the pupils were!”

Lorrette from HMRC said she was impressed with our pupil’s “positive attitude and inquisitive minds”.

Darren from The University of South Wales said: “It was a lovely atmosphere at your school and the Sixth Form Events Managers looked after us so well”.

Year 9 students at Barr Beacon School are preparing to take part in Take Your Child to Work Day on Friday 15^th July. 

Pupils have secured experiences in a vast range of industries to get a taste of the world of work. Our pupils will be spending a day with dentists, decorators, educators, office managers, pharmacists, lawyers, business owners, jewellers, plumbers and even the Mayor of Walsall. 

Pupils will be working for small and large companies, from dog kennels, hairdressers and care homes, to the well-known names of Ernst and Young, Fedex, Rolls Royce and West Midlands Police. 

Those pupils staying in school for the day won’t miss out either. They will be taking part in a virtual work experience day with the NextGen Skills Academy, learning about careers in gaming and VFX and taking part in a series of challenges.

Year 8 pupils with the highest number of praise points were rewarded with a visit to the Inspiring the Black Country Event. This was a large careers fair filled with interactive exhibits. The event allowed pupils to explore a multitude of careers and get a hands on insight into each. Pupils had the chance to change a tyre, meet a robot, perform a mock operation with the NHS, test their reflexes with the RAF and even pull their own pint with Marstons.  Exhibitors came from a range of industries, including Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, DPD, National Highways, Balfour Beatty and more. All the pupils had a great time engaging with the employers and discovering new and exciting careers.