Our Gold Duke of Edinburgh Team for 2025 began their expedition training refresher and practice expedition this weekend. They spent Saturday in school for a classroom based day recapping emergency procedures, the countryside and Highway Code and first aid. On Sunday they spent the day at Errwood Reservoir focussing on navigation training. They've just finished day 1 of their practice expedition. The weather has been beautiful and all are in high spirits.
Monday morning saw this term's Beacon Values breakfast with 24 pupils, six from each House, who had received nominations from staff. The Beacon Values underpin the ethos of our school and being able to celebrate the pupils who make daily contributions to upholding these values is important to us. What is wonderful about the celebration of the pupils is that each shows in all of their actions how they daily live out the values in action. Each nominated pupil received specific feedback on why they had received the nomination allowing for all to congratulate and celebrate one another. Well done to all who took part; what a wonderful way to start the week!
BTEC Performing Arts Showcase- Come join us at Barr Beacon School on Wednesday 9th April for an evening filled with talent and creativity. Our students have been working hard to bring you performances in Dance, Drama and Music. The event will take place in the main school hall, doors will open at 5.45pm ready for a 6pm start. Tickets are free but must be claimed via the Eventbrite link. We look forward to welcoming you to an evening of Performing Arts!
Our first-ever game in the Matrix Trust League saw us take on Wednesfield Academy on Tuesday this week in a rollercoaster of a match - full of goals, drama, and G Mwase taking no nonsense from absolutely anyone!
The new league has two divisions, Walsall-based and Birmingham-based, with the winners facing off in a final. So basically, it’s like the Champions League… just with worse pitches and fewer sponsorship deals.
Things didn’t start well. We conceded early from a corner to go 1-0 down, which wasn’t exactly part of the game plan.
But panic? Not us.
H Gough got us back on track with a tidy finish to make it 1-1, and before Wednesfield could catch their breath, he was at it again to put us 2-1 up. I don't know whether I'm envious of his talent or whether he just rocks a mullet better than myself.
Then C Bennett decided he wanted in on the action and slotted home to give us a 3-1 lead. Confidence was high, the football was flowing, and for a brief moment, I was relaxed on the sidelines. But of course, we can’t have nice things for long.
Towards the end of the second half - we started to lose shape, conceded silly fouls and allowed too many attempts on goal. L Durrant kept us in the game by pulling out some world class saves!
Halftime Team Talk:
Inspirational words. Tactical genius. Or maybe just, “Lads, please stop messing about with the ball - we need more goals.” Either way, we were ready to go again.
We came out in the second half looking sharp… for about five minutes. Then Wednesfield hit back to make it 3-2. No problem, we thought, until they scored again.
3-3.
Suddenly, nerves kicked in and fingernails were being chewed.
Then, when we needed it most, newcomer A Marshall produced an assist straight out of a highlights reel, setting up H Gough to complete his hat-trick and put us back in front at 4-3. Relief all around. Well, almost.
As the game neared the final whistle, we won a penalty… or should we say, J Bryant won an Oscar for Best Theatrical Dive. VAR wasn’t available, but if it was, we’d probably still be debating whether there was even a gust of wind near him.
Regardless, the ref pointed to the spot, and he dusted himself off to smash home the penalty and seal a 5-3 victory.
Final Whistle – Job Done!
A great result in our first game of the Matrix Trust League. A proper team effort, plenty of goals, and a real sense of camaraderie. The sportsmanship between both teams was outstanding - a real credit to both schools.
And as a final treat, the lads celebrated in style on the minibus home—by absolutely butchering every song they attempted to sing.
Bring on the next round!
Recruiters are now using Assessment Centres more than ever before, with traditional interviews being just a small part of the interview process. In order to prepare our students for apprenticeship and graduate job applications, representatives from the Civil Service visited the school to run mock assessment centres.
Our Year 12 students received essential advice on how to succeed, with everything from making a good first impression, to being aware of their body language, through to how to work effectively in a team and communicate ideas professionally.
Students were given two tasks, both used by big apprenticeship employers in their recruitments practises. Each group received detailed feedback on what went well in Task 1 and students were then able to reflect on this and improve in Task 2.
Every student pushed themselves out of their comfort zone, developed transferable skills and said they felt more confident approaching an assessment centre in future.
Today a group of 33 cadets attended the Bronze Leadership training day at Barr Beacon School. The day is part of our ever-growing cadet experience open to all students within our secondary schools.
The cadets spent the morning learning about effective leadership styles & skills. In the afternoon it was thier turn to be assessed practically in a number of tricky tasks designed to test their management of a team, resources and time.
All of the cadets had a great time, learnt a lot about managing a team and achieved their Bronze Leadership Badges – Well Done!
Barr Beacon School was lucky enough to have a return visit from Randip Bahra, a Chartered Surveyor and Fellow with RICS. A new cohort of students learnt all about the different opportunities in surveying and stepped into the shoes of a Quantity Surveyor and Planning Surveyor, working out the profit margins for a housing project and devising environmental solutions to make their project more sustainable. Students were interested to not only learn about the attractive salaries on offer within these professions, but also to discover the wider reach of housing projects in supporting local communities.
Pupils in Year 10 were visited by representatives from Oxford and Cambridge University to discover more about what studying at a top university would be like. Our speakers explained the differences between their universities, the community feel gained from the college system and the many wide ranging courses on offer. The key message was to always try applying if you are interested, as you never know where it could lead.
Year 12 Students and Year 10 pupils had the invaluable opportunity to attend free first aid training with St John Ambulance. Pupils learnt how to deal with several life threatening situations, including responding to a catastrophic bleed, performing CPR on an a patient who isn’t breathing and placing unresponsive patients in the recovery position.
The session also raised awareness of the risks of vape spiking and knife crime.
Our Year 12 Students were visited by the team at Ask Apprenticeships to gain advice on pursuing apprenticeships after Sixth Form. Students learnt about the key places to find vacancies and were given top tips for succeeding.
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
