By M. Hill, Deputy Head Boy

2020 was unlike any other in our lifetimes. The collective struggle of our society in fighting a constant battle has been a new experience for the all of us. With protests in Hong Kong, devastating wildfires in Australia, wars, volcanic eruptions, oil leaks in Ambarnaya, a catalogue of racial injustices including the murder of George Floyd, a massive explosion in Lebanon, the deaths of many, many innocent people, multiple floods and earthquakes, the rise of COVID-19 and much more. No wonder we felt so tired and overwhelmed. 

2020 was truly a year to remember. 

In spite of this overwhelming madness, there have been a rather large amount of positives things that have happened throughout the year. 

Although it isn’t really apparent, our society has taken a huge step forwards in its approach to equality, acceptance and respect. With some ‘haters’ still standing tall, trying their best to force their outdated opinions on others, many of us have risen together to fight back and ensure we all feel proud to be who we truly are. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Hey! It’s 2020 bro, you can’t be saying that any more” (or similar) many times. Although a simple comment, it reflects on how much our society has begun to accept those who don’t conform to the old normalisations and expectations. That, is a huge step forward and is something to be proud of. Alongside this, I’d like to draw your attention to just a few of the many positive things that have happened over the course of 2020, and share with you a valuable reflection on them as a whole. 

Polio was officially eradicated on the African continent

On 25th August, with the help of the WHO, Rotary International, CDC, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gave, the Vaccine Alliance, Africa was deemed Polio-free after the last confirmed case was recorded in 2016 in Nigeria. This virus has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands, and to see its eradication in Africa is wonderful.

Dogs trained to protect wildlife have saved 45 rhinos from poachers in South Africa

In March, the Southern African Wildlife College and Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance had used various beagles and bloodhounds to track down poachers in South Africa. Over the last decade, 9442 African rhinos have been lost to poaching, and with this extraordinary work by these two organisations, they were able to prevent an extra 45 rhinos being poached. Poaching is a serious issue in South Africa, and it gives us hope that organisations such as these are making extraordinary attempts, and succeeding, in reducing the number of rhinos lost. 

People around the world rose up to protest against racial injustice

After the devastating death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis, USA protests had arisen in nearly all major cities. Hundreds of thousands of people had flooded the streets, desperate to make a change to the overwhelming racial injustice that infects our society. This stand against racism had extended to more than 60 different countries in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and against the racial injustice and police brutality. In response to such a movement, the officer responsible for the death, Derek Chauvin, was charged with second-degree murder, alongside his accomplices for abetting the murder, reforms were made in the way police were to handle members of the public, vows to put more funding towards youth and social services, new databases for collecting video footage of all police action, the removal of several Confederate and slavery-linked statues around the world, action in the media to address institutional racism, and changes to many commercial products to more accurately represent black lives. This change has been a dramatic one, and as an advocator for equality and acceptance for those around me, it is incredible to see a world standing up for those who society treat with disrespect and animosity. 

Crayola had released new inclusive skin-tone crayons

It may seem trivial to some, but moves like this are important. In May, Crayola had released its most inclusive skint-tone crayons to date. The ‘Colours of the World’ pack includes over 40 different skin colours, allowing children to “accurately colour themselves into the world”. Such an idea has propelled the inclusivity of all children of different skin tones into the world, allowing them to feel accepted and ‘normal’, whilst allowing them to understand that there are many different skin tones in the world, with all being equally as important as the next. It is typically thought that we are taught to treat those of other skin-tones differently, leading to preset ideas of others when they are older. Having such an inclusive product for children to use is a definite advancement in enabling our society to function collectively, rather than as isolated groups. 

In addition to the horrible events of 2020, there were many incredible ones too. A valuable reflection on 2020 that I believe is necessary to take away, is that through all of the darkness and trauma you may experience, either individually or with others, you are never truly alone. You will always be wanted in this world, and you should never feel insignificant. No one can be better at being you than yourself, so you should feel free to be the best you that you can be. Amidst all of the valuable lessons 2020 has taught us, the most important now is to love and cherish those around you, and do whatever makes you happy. 

Ibrahim Sohail – Head Boy

September. The days are getting shorter. The nights are getting colder, and after what feels like years, we’re back at school.

The final weeks of August mark the dreaded back to school shop which I’m certain everyone loves(!).

Although, if I’m perfectly honest, I do LOVE it.

It’s allowed me to justify my need to go shopping, from buying ANOTHER new maths set (which I always lose) to a fresh set of school shoes. I’ve always enjoyed the shop before the start of term, having everything perfectly organised, then waking on the highly awaited first day, body pumping with adrenaline, ready to see my friends and get learning.

The new school year marks the next step in your education, whether that be our new peers just beginning their secondary school journey, the Year 11s ready for GCSEs or us Year 13s in our final year of A-levels and our final year at Barr Beacon *cries uncontrollably*.

Wait what! Final year? That’s actually crazy!

But my point is, no matter what stage of education we are now in, we are all such amazing people with such amazing talents and let’s make the most of our talents and wisdom this school year. So go learn the ukulele, go play football for a team. Grasp the opportunities given to you this year, be brave, be YOU!

I think it’s so important to never forget how privileged we are to have access to such high-level education facilities, when over 40% of the world do not. It’s vital to always remain grateful for what we have and continue to be the amazing people we are.

Now, I’m sure by now, we are all quite used to our new (COVID-necessary) school routines. Returning to/joining school has not been ‘normal’ this September, but we’ve all shown true Barr Beacon resilience and togetherness by adapting to the new COVID measures put into place, we’ve got to continue what we’re doing to keep ourselves and everyone safe.

Our lovely staff at Barr Beacon have worked tirelessly to make our return safe whilst still providing the highest quality of education, as always. A big shout out and thank you to the caretakers, bistro staff, teachers and ALL staff at Barr Beacon School. We appreciate you!

Joshua Anderson – Deputy Head Boy

Do no harm

On 9^th July, Year 12 students had a webinar with a 96-year-old survivor of the Holocaust, Iby Knill. Joshua Anderson, Deputy Head Boy, reflects on this and his visit to a former concentration camp earlier in the year.

After visiting Bergen-Belsen on the 12^th February and witnessing the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, my eyes have been forever opened by the extremely powerful testimony of Iby Knill. Despite the horrific trauma she has faced, she has an extremely positive resolve towards all aspects of life, including holding no resentment to those at Auschwitz-Birkenau. After being liberated, she spent time working in the home office where she was the only woman out of 50 men. 

After living an extremely normal life up until the 1930s, she noticed a major turning point in 1935 from the introduction of the Nuremberg laws into society. As a young person at the time, she was shocked and confused as to why she was being made to wear a Star of David on her coat and being marked out from the rest of society. Her life was completely turned upside down when a family friend called Lucy was taken away to be used sexually by German soldiers in Russia. This appalled me as I was horrified to hear about how inhumane the Nazi regime was as they took an innocent teenage girl away from her home and forced her into a situation no one should ever have to experience.

After hearing the news, Knill escaped to Hungary as an illegal immigrant up until 1942, when an insider leaked the location of 148 Jewish men and women. The Nazis reacted swiftly and imprisoned her along with everyone else hidden within the network. They were sent to Auschwitz where one of the most upsetting comments I’ve ever heard appeared in one of her poems; Knill wrote: “only the strong and healthy will remain”. I felt extremely guilty when I read this and realised how lucky and privileged we are to have hot meals every single day, to never have to worry about if the water we’re drinking is clean or where we will sleep at night. In April 1944, Knill was sent on a death march towards Bergen-Belsen concentration camp until the march was intercepted by allied forces and her life as a prisoner due to her religion was over. 

After the meeting concluded, she said many powerful and extremely relevant things. She discussed how she has always lived by her father’s motto ‘Do no harm’ and on differences in class, gender, race and religion, she stated that “all differences should be valued and respected”. This remains relevant in today’s society with all the unjust actions that are being taken towards Muslims in concentration camps in China, who are also being persecuted because of their religion. She urged that as humans, we need to learn from the mistakes of the holocaust. Knill also mentioned the fact that “under the skin, we’re all the same”; we all need to understand and appreciate what has been shown to us by the BLM movement (our Head Girl Henna wrote an amazing piece on this which can be read HERE). 

I believe as a school, events like these are key to promoting global issues and as Deputy Head Boy, I was proud at the number of non-historians who turned up to hear the inspirational survivor talk about her experiences. 

I would like to thank Mrs Selby for organising this important event but, most importantly, I’d like to thank Iby Knill for helping us to keep the memory alive and aiding us in remembering the 6 million Jews who sadly lost their lives.  

Some useful websites can be found here if you’d like to hear more about Iby Knill or learn more about the holocaust.

https://www.het.org.uk/

www.ibyknill.co.uk

“White rabbits”

“Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit”

“Pinch punch first day of the month”

Whatever you may say when you wake up to a new page on the calendar, let me ask why we may say these things? (Let’s leave aside their sometimes very strange origins: https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/01/why-do-we-say-white-rabbits-and-pinch-punch-on-the-first-day-of-the-month-7993616/)

I can put my hands up to admit that I am one of those people who like to say these ‘good luck’ mantras to just be on the ‘safe side’. But this left me to ponder why should we depend on these few words to help determine how these next 31, 30, 28 (or 29 in a leap year) days will go?

My own personal ethos (and that of Barr Beacon) fully agrees that hard work will always pay off no matter how long it takes. Success is not determined by luck. Only we can decide how we want to mould our futures, whether it is a long-term goal like wanting to pursue a certain vocation or a short-term goal like simply getting through a whole month and keeping yourself organised.  

A new month can commemorate a sense of change in ourselves like setting new goals to achieve. Perhaps we could take up a new skill, talk to a new face in one of our classes or even try something that we had always wanted to do but never had the chance to, such as staring a blog? (N.B. I’m talking autobiographically here!)

It is also a great time to look back on the last month and not forget what we have learned and how the world is changing. Both the Black Lives Matter movement (see the previous blog) and Pride Month has shown us that our world is striving closer towards equality that the people of these communities have always deserved. Starting a new month isn’t about moving on to the next ‘trending’ discourse but a chance to tackle these problems further until there is nothing to tackle. Remember to educate, sign petitions and donate to both communities as we need change.  

Now, a new month doesn’t always mean a new you and new goals. You shouldn’t ever feel limited to a date beginning the 1st to push you into a state of fresh starts. It could be in the middle of the month, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day and you may feel in a little bit of a slump, but this doesn’t mean you have to wait another 15 days to start all over again. You can hit the refresh button whenever you like and the sooner you do, the closer you can get to reach this month’s goals you may have abandoned on the second square of the calendar.

But a new month is always a great place to reset and go. And go with passion, determination and never giving up.

For this new month of July which we’re all about to embark on, I hope we can all embody all of these qualities and when we hit the 31st I cannot wait to see all the amazing things we have achieved and that we can carry on with in the future.

Although we may not need it, as hard work will be the backbone of our successes, for this month and many more months to come… good luck!

For more information on the Black Lives Matter movement please read our previous blog post.

Here’s a page to petitions for LGBTQ+ rights: https://www.change.org/t/lgbt-rights-3

Here are some links to LGBTQ+ charities and communities which you can use to educate and donate if you can:

All Out: https://allout.org/en/what-all-out

London Gaymers: https://www.londongaymers.co.uk/

Switchboard: https://switchboard.lgbt/

Stonewall: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/

Pictured below are my rabbits Pippin and Luna wishing us all ‘good luck’ for this July!