NEWSletter 26 June 2015 – Week 9

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As we move into the final week of the summer term, at this frenetic time of the school year, I had thought of compiling alist of all the boys’ achievements this term, but it really would be too long to publish.

While contemplating all the wonders of The Beacon I was visited by a primary school Head from the state sector; showingher around the school was a salutary experience. All that I take for granted was either a luxury for her or, mostly, non-existent in her world – I found myself embarrassed, and hers is a school rated as excellent by Ofsted. She is anticipating amelt-down in the maintained sector because there is a funding crisis and a crippling shortage of teachers, a crisis is looming.The stories she told were all about how education is failing children.

It was salutary because we at The Beacon, parents and teachers, are so fortunate. All that we take for granted means ourchildren are truly privileged, not just for all the wonderful facilities, small classes, dedicated teachers and inspiringopportunities, but because we have the freedom to aspire to provide the very best education it is possible to create.

NEWS from the Headmaster

The penultimate week of term has flown by and has been as busy as ever. The Pre-Prep concert on Tuesday was a greatsuccess. The boys enjoyed themselves and the audience was receptive if not to say adoring. That’s just as it should be.Can I just remind you all that there are no clubs at all next week and on Thursday could you please provide a packedlunch for the Pirate Picnic. On Tuesday the boys will spend most of the morning with their new teachers as part of theirMoving Up day. This is usually pretty exciting for everyone but especially so for Year 2 who, by moving in to Year 3, reallyare joining the big school with all that that entails. It is always a bitter sweet moment when boys move on but they reallyare ready for the next challenge. Meanwhile at the other end of the building the next cohort of Reception boys will arrive.Let the crying commence… Have a great weekend everybody. – Richard Haley, Head of Pre-Prep.

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NEWS from Pre-Prep

Trinity Guildhall guitar exam results

Congratulations to all the boys!

Liz Van Tromp – Head of Music

Jayan Patel Grade 2 - Merit Max Dell Grade 3 - Pass Oliver Davey Grade 1 - Distinction Fabien Belgrave Grade 1 - Merit

Jack Chesney Grade 6 - Merit Ben Eckersley Grade 3 - Pass Ben Phoenix Grade 1 - Merit

Pre-Prep ConcertA few more snaps ofthe great performers!

Year 7 PlayletsThe Year 7 playlets are a cross-curricular project between the Drama, Music and English departments. The boys studiedthe language, narrative and themes of the relevant text in their English lessons and, in Drama, they worked on anadapted script, learning about the play in performance and its potential impact on an audience. In Music, theycomposed all the sound that underscored the scenes.

The boys were allocated one scene per group and delegated the task of directing, staging and performing it withminimal help. It was only in the last few days that staff helped to pull the production together. As a result, many boysplayed each character. The boys used headwear to identify each character throughout the play.

I am pleased to say that I have seen the boys grow as a team over the last few weeks in their professionalism andmindfulness, with some strong leaders and creative thinkers emerging. The acting was good too! Well done everyone.

Will Maynard – Head of Drama

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Performing Arts NEWS

Parents’ Society NEWS

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Camp Night!Undeterred by the unpredictable weather, nearly 250 parents and children turned out to enjoy Camp Night onWillsfield last weekend. Warner Meats of Chalfont St Giles laid on generous helpings of delicious hog roast and BBQ(and camped overnight so they could serve fresh bacon rolls to bleary eyed campers at 6.30am). The kids ran wild forhours on end, and enjoyed the free Supercamps activities of golf, tug of war and circus skills, occasionally swinging bythe Lollie Dollies ice cream van and tuck shop (run by Year 5 and 6 boys in rather chaotic scenes). The organisers ofCamp Night, Ruth Schulten and Juliet Osborne, would like to thank everyone who turned out for making it so muchfun, and, in particular the 22 parents and 25 boys who helped run the event. A special mention for those who led indifferent areas: Melissa Dubaquie-Sanchez (car parking and signage), Carrie Hodgson and Liz Bingham-Cloke (ticketingand Welcome Desk), and Richard Beattie (camp fire).

We can’t run these events without this level of support, so many thanks.

Ruth Schulten & Juliet Osborne : bps@beaconschool.co.uk

SPORTSMAN OF THE WEEKHarry P

Harry scored 101 runs before beingretired in the U12A cricket match againstThorpe House. He also made threecatches in the match. Well done Harry.

TEAM OF THE WEEKCricket U9B

The U9B team won comfortably over Caldicott by 31 runs on Tuesday, meaning they are stillunbeaten with 1 game left to play.

Sports NEWS

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PHOTO OF THE WEEKAnyone seen the remote?

CRICKET MATCH REPORT : U12A v Thorpe House The U12A team travelled to Thorpe House for their first match without the Year 8 boys. The Beacon batted first butunfortunately lost Archie Palmer early on. This brought Harry Petrie to the crease with Nic Blagg and, after a couple ofscratchy overs, the fireworks started! The ball was regularly flying to the boundary and the two boys put on 158 runsoff 83 balls, including taking 28 from a single over. Blagg retired on 59 off 42 balls with a couple of overs remainingbut that left Petrie there still to complete a truly memorable innings. Harry went into the following over 89 not out andhit three superb boundaries to take him to the school’s first century of the season and more importantly, Harry’s firstever 100. He retired at the end of the over and made his way to the boundary to a very well deserved standing ovation.Robert Worthington and Harry West then carried on the free scoring and with the help of a fine 6 over long off fromRobert, the team finished on 211-4 off just 20 overs.

Thorpe’s mammoth task got even more difficult when David Steinhauer and took two early wickets along with one forWorthington to leave them 7 for 3. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and despite some late runs Thorpewere only able to make 92-9 off their 20 overs. There were two wickets each for Max Taylor and Harry West and threecatches each from captain and centurion Harry Petrie and wicket keeper Rosco Parkin.

A superb victory for the boys with great team morale shown. Nic’s 59 was a great knock and Harry’s hundred will livelong in the memory for all those who were there, but the team as a whole worked extremely hard for the 119 runvictory. Well done to all who played. – Andy Dixon

CRICKET MATCH REPORT : U9C v CaldicottThe penultimate fixture for the U9C team against local rivals Caldicott was a fixture long awaited. The sun was shiningand playing in front of the grand stand, the scene was set and it couldn't have been more perfect. Put into bowl first,we were able to restrict Caldicott to 245 runs, with some brilliant bowling from Thomas Redmond, swinging it bothways, and some excellent fielding from Marco Filippetto, Alexander Schiavi, Khush Solanki and Josh Lee-Brock. An all-round excellent display in the field. Now was the chance to chase down a very reachable total. The Beacon got off to aflying start with Khyal Amin hitting some lovely pull shots, and equally Noah Moss-Marks and Nicholas Smythe battingwith confidence to allow the team to streak ahead. Harry Clarke batted superbly, scoring 42 runs off 18 balls, hittingthree 6s and a multiple of 4s. We ended on 290 runs, doubling Caldicott's score. A brilliant match, well done.– Sam Privett

CRICKET MATCH REPORT : U12B v Thorpe HouseThe U12B finished the season with a resounding 6 wicket win on a glorious summer's afternoon at Thorpe House.

The home side batted first and, on a hard and fast outfield, rattled up an imposing 145-5 from their 20 overs. MaxGarrood was the pick of The Beacon attack with 2-32.

The Beacon reply started slowly and looked to be in deep trouble with 3 wickets down and only 20 runs on the board.However a fine partnership between Finley Hepden-Dyer (42 not out) and Benjamin Smart (32) saw The Beacon homeby 6 wickets with just 3 balls to spare! – Graham Mawdsley

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Sports NEWS

Also in the NEWS

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YOUR LAST CHANCEto be part of The Beacon WAY!

We are creating a brick path at The Beaconaround the well outside the new buildingin the quad, which will be called 'TheBeacon WAY'.

Anyone associated with The Beaconcommunity – current parents, staff,governors, Old Beaconians etc. canpurchase a specially engraved brick (orbricks!) which will become part of thenew path design and hence part of thehistory of The Beacon in the future.

Bricks will be available to purchase untilthe end of term – 3 July 2015. It isanticipated that the paths will be createdtowards the end of the summer holidaysin readiness for the Autumn 2015 term.To purchase a brick, clickwww.thebeaconway.co.uk

Be part of…

The Beacon has undergone a three phase development over the last fifteen years toimprove the facilities for the boys. Phase 1 was the redevelopment of the changing roomblock, Phase 2 was the Osborne building and Phase 3 is the new building extending fromOsborne, which is due to open in September. To celebrate this we are creating a sponsoredpath to, and around, the newly discovered 'well' adjacent to the new building in the Quad. Anyone associated with The Beacon community – current parents, staff, governors, OldBeaconians etc. can purchase a specially engraved brick (or bricks!) which will become partof the new path design and hence part of the history of The Beacon in the future. Thepath will be called 'The Beacon Way'.

PersonalisationYour brick can be personalised to include your name or the name of your family and, ifyou are a current or former pupil, the years you have spent at The Beacon (e.g. J. Smith1998-2004). You may also wish to dedicate a brick to someone else as a present or even asa memorial. You will be asked to add your inscription when buying your brick so be carefulwith your spelling but don’t worry, a certificate will be sent to you for you to check thefinal text and correct any mistakes before your brick is engraved.OrderingBricks can be purchased at a cost of £100 which includes two lines of engraving (16Characters per line, including all spaces and punctuation) in gold. Double bricks are alsoavailable at a cost of £200 with four lines of engraving. A sample of one of the bricks isavailable to view in the school office; they are standard paver bricks made to engineeringstrength specifications, 210 x 105 x 50mm for a single and 210 x 210 x 50mm for a double.To order your brick(s) please click the following link www.thebeaconway.co.uk.The funds raised through this initiative will be used to purchase equipment for the newbuilding.

Bricks will be available to purchase until the end of term – 4 July 2015. It is anticipated thatthe paths will be created towards the end of the summer holidays in readiness for theAutumn 2015 term.

Closing date for purchas

ing:

FRIDAY 3 JULY

Author Visit

Year 4 and 5 sat entranced through a talk byAmanda Hatter, a local author. Amanda's self-published book ‘Callum Fox and the MouseholeGhost’ is a time slip adventure/ghost story whichencompasses the present andWorld War II. Boys weretreated to not only extractsfrom the book but alsobackground to the storyranging from WWIIevacuees and the Cornishmining industry, to theRNLI. An informativeand entertaining treat!

English Speaking Board Results

The Lower School boys completed their English Speaking Board exams last week. We are exceptionally pleased with theoutstanding set of results, with all the boys excelling themselves. This is a fantastic accomplishment, as the cohort hasmanaged to achieve the best set of results on record with 80 out of 137 boys getting a Distinction. Well done, boys!

I would like to thank all the parents for all their support and hard work in helping the boys prepare for this exam. Theboys’ certificates will arrive over the summer holidays and be handed out in September.

Mrs Slatford – Head of Lower School

Library Books

Please could we enlist your help in getting your boys to return theirlibrary books? Please look under beds, behind drawers, on bookshelvesand any books with a Beacon School barcode in the front should handedin as soon as possible. No questions will be asked, even if they arehorribly overdue, we would just like them back so that we can carry outa stocktake over the holidays.

In anticipation, Mrs Turrell and Miss Wildman

The Storybox Theatre visits Lower School

Boys from Years 3 and 4 were treated to a mesmerisingperformance from Rod Burnett of the Storybox Theatrecompany. Rod combines his storytelling skills withingenious puppetry to hold an audience entranced.This time with retellings of "TheThree Little Pigs", "Susannah theFanciful Sow" and "The OldWoman and her Pig". Everyonejoined in, gave Rod their fullattention and learnt a little aboutour porcine friends in the process!

Also in the NEWS

Year 5 on the beach!

Year 5 had their annual residential trip to Swanage thisweek. They stopped at Corfe Castle en route for apicnic lunch in the grounds and then had three days ofsun, sea, sand and surf in Dorset. They had amazingweather every day, built sand castles, went climbing atthe famous Dancing Ledge and had an epic ice creamevening one night. Activities included many differentbeach games, raft building (and luckily all crafts wereseaworthy!) and a mini Olympics in the park. After apacked three days the boys arrived home exactly ontime, ready for a good rest!

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Year 3 & 4 Streetdance Showcase!

Year 3 and 4 cantando in Italiano!

All of Year 3 and 4 have been learning an Italian song this year, ‘Per Fare un Tavolo’, They performed it brilliantly thisweek in the Headmaster’s garden. The video has been uploaded to our Facebook page and you can view it via thefollowing link: https://www.facebook.com/beaconschoolamersham

Year 3 in Ashridge

As we go to press, Year 3 are enjoying their visit toAshridge estate, where they have been having agreat time outdoors. They have been collectingnatural materials and helping to create a 3Dsculpture of adeer fromtheir findings.They havesent us somephotos toshow us theresults.

Also in the NEWS

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FOLLOW US @Follow us on Facebook. Click here: https://www.facebook.com/beaconschoolamersham

Follow us on Twitter. Click here: https://twitter.com/Beacon_School

Saturday 27 June 7.30 pm Beacon Young Voices perform at King’s Church, Amersham

Monday 29 June Year 4 Trip to Cadbury World

Tuesday 30 June Moving Up Day

Year 7 Trip to Globe Theatre

Year 8 Trip to Thorpe Park

9.00 am OPRO Fittings

Wednesday 1 July Whole School Photo

Thursday 2 July Nursery and Reception Pirate Day and Picnic

Year 8 Paintball Day

Friday 3 July 11.30 am Term ends for Pre-Prep

12.00 pm Year 3 and Year 4 day ends

12.30 pm Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 day ends

Saturday 4 July 10.00 am Speech Day at The Wycombe Swan after which Term ends forboys in Years 3 – 8

Important DATES for your diary

A truly 21st Century,World ClassEducation

ANNUALREVIEW2014-15

Years 3-8, see you atThe Wycombe Swannext Saturday forthe Annual Review!