On behalf of Mrs Cornwall, Mrs Hibbs and Great Barr Food Bank we would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to all the pupils and staff who brought in donations as part of our Reversed Advent Calendar Christmas Charity Appeal. 

Tony from Great Barr Food Bank said “this was one of the largest collections from a school he has ever seen and that it will do tremendous good for local families this Christmas. Barr Beacon should be extremely proud of themselves.” In total Barr Beacon collected 302 kgs of donations which is nearly a third of a ton! These donations will be shared with local families over Christmas and into the New Year. 

Barr Beacon School have been celebrating the achievements of a number of our staff. Whatever role they have to play in the smooth operation of the school all of our staff do a fantastic job to make the Barr Beacon vision of ‘Proud to Succeed’ a reality. From the amazing work of the site team, catering staff and admin department to the teachers in the classroom delivering on that promise for high quality education. We really couldn’t do it without the diligence, support and determination from all of our team who work tirelessly, continuingly looking for ways to adapt and develop to ensure they deliver the very best in whatever job they do.

To mark this the Matrix Academy Trust have recognised the achievements of a number of our staff across the year. Whilst it would be true to say all of our team deserve awards of some description and we are immensely proud of all, these individuals have stood out particularly as helping to make Barr Beacon what it is today. Barr Beacon wouldn’t be Barr Beacon without each and every one of these members and the rest of the staff body. We thank you for all of your support as Barr Beacon stakeholders throughout this year and invite you to wish our staff a huge Well Done for an extremely successful 2022!

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.

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 15^th December. 

Dance students from across the Matrix Academy Trust came together on Monday 21^st 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.

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.

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.

On Sunday 20^th 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.