GCSE (Year 11 pupils)

Thursday 20^th August

On Friday 10^th July, all pupils and were sent a personalised letter with their allocated arrival time and venue. It is imperative that they follow these instructions so we can manage social distancing.

If anyone would prefer to receive results via post, they must provide Mrs S Edwards (Exams Officer) with a stamped addressed envelope. If someone other than the pupil is collecting results, they must provide a permission letter signed by the pupil and must have with them some form of identification on Results Day. They will still need to attend at the time and venue mentioned in the letter.

Year 11 pupils from other schools who want to join our Sixth Form:

If we have made you a conditional offer and you meet our entry requirements and wish to take up your place, you will need to come into school between 1pm and 3pm on Thursday 20th August 2020. You must bring with you a copy of your GCSE results and either your birth certificate or passport (original documents only please as we are not able to accept copies). We cannot guarantee you will be able to take all the subjects you have chosen. This is dependent on group sizes.

Our Careers Team, Mr Altree and Miss Killick, will be available to support pupils with their next steps on Results Day, should they need any help or advice. If anyone needs any advice before, or after Results Day, please email gkillick@barrbeacconschool.co.uk or caltree@barrbeaconschool.co.uk and they will respond to any emails at their first available opportunity. If you need more urgent advice, you can contact the Black Country Careers Hub through their self-referral service: https://www.blackcountryskillsfactory.co.uk/schools/individualsupport-and-guidance/

How did we decide on grades?

All schools across the country have followed the process laid out by the government for awarding Centre Assessment Grades.

We are very confident we have assessed you with a high degree of accuracy. We undertook a lengthy, rigorous process with every Year 11 teacher participating in a series of meetings. Every grade was decided by whole teams, not individual teachers.

During these grading meetings, we used all available forms of evidence for every single grade, including mock exams, classwork, homework, coursework, prior attainment (how you had performed in previous years) as well as current effort. All grade decisions were rooted in evidence to eliminate any potential bias.

Over a period of several weeks, every grade was discussed multiple times, as part of a rigorous quality assurance process. Only when we were confident that we had graded everyone accurately did we send the grades to the exam boards.

The government announced on Monday 17^th August that these grades we submitted (Centre Assessed Grades) will stand, for both A levels and GCSEs. 

What you need to know about BTEC subjects

Year 11 pupils will NOT receive their BTEC grades on results day. Pearson, who run BTEC, changed the way they are calculating grades to make the system fairer. They only announced this late on Wednesday 19th August. You can read their statement HERE

Information regarding HPV Vaccinations (for current Year 7 who will be Year 8 in September)

You can read their covering letter HERE

HERE is the consent form – please complete this electronically and send to the nursing team (link at the bottom of the page), NOT us.

Nikita in Year 9 has won a top prize in the Sky Academy Studios #keepconnected film-making competition. More than 500 films were entered by students across the UK. Nikita’s film, ‘Untold Story’ was selected as one of six overall winners and the winner of their Secondary School category.

The idea behind the competition was for children to bring their lockdown stories to life using technology they could access at home.

Here are the thoughts of Ian France, Commissioning Editor at Sky Kids:

At Barr Beacon School we aspire for you to speak clearly and confidently at all times. We also want you to be able to have a discussion with others, expressing your views maturely while being sensitive to others’ viewpoints. We often have such discussions in school but, while you are at home, you can enjoy lively, topical and relevant discussions with the people you live with. We will be posting suggested ‘Talking Points’ here, often linked with what’s going on in the news. Have a go at leading a discussion at home!

Read more guidance HERE or download and watch our Powerpoint with narration HERE.

Our first talking point is a very sensitive and important topic so make sure everyone listens respectfully to everyone’s views – Click Here.

Our second talking point centres around some of the points raised by Marcus Rashford in his open letter to the government. Take a look here and get talking! – Click Here.

Our next talking point is around the different ways people have been affected by lockdown. Click Here.

When UDOIT Dance Foundation advertised the UK National Dance Championships was going to be held online this year as a virtual competition, dance teacher Miss Salmon messaged the pupils to ask if they would like to participate virtually. 

The pupils their videos through for checking prior to sending them off and we have had some success. We have four students who are now through to the next round! 

• E Tivnan Year 11
• D McGuirk Year 10
• E Sammons Year 8
• R Mardenborough Year 8

Miss Salmon said: “They have represented Barr Beacon in a professional manner and I’m very proud of them.”

We will keep you updated after the next round.

We are very proud of H. Hussain, one of our Year 12 students.  She has used Lockdown as an opportunity to put her baking skills into practice and earn money for charity.

What started as a hobby to give her something to do besides schoolwork has turned into a successful cake selling venture with all proceeds going to the Penny Appeal, which aids people in more than 30 crisis-hit countries. So far she has raised £1042.55!

Next on the agenda is to bake cakesicles for NHS staff at Walsall Manor Hospital to thank them for all the hard work they continue to do during this difficult time.

You can find out more about the Penny Appeal charity HERE.

Katie in Year 9 has recorded this splendid rendition of World War 2 classic ‘We’ll Meet Again’ to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

We’ll meet again

Don’t know where

Don’t know when

But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day…