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News from the Senior Department
Pupil Voice
This week I had my first Pupil Voice meeting of the term with Senior Department representatives from each form group:
- Alex R; 6AH
- Neil R, 6AL
- Joe K, 6KL
- Jack W, 6SA
- Isaac C, 7LD
- Mattie J, 7LH
- Charlie N, 7GW
- Tommy H, Top CAG
- Adam C, Top MC
- Aidan B, Top JW
- Josh D, Top JB
It was fantastic to hear the thoughts of pupils from Years 6, 7 and Top Form on a variety of issues such as rewards; sanctions; behaviour and uniform. We also talked about how to take part in a meeting; the expected etiquette, and the fact that you should expect biscuits!
We were lucky enough to be joined by Mrs Cussans, who enjoyed meeting the pupils and being part of the discussions. I was so impressed with their maturity and thoughtfulness. They certainly represented their form groups very well.
They have definitely given me lots of food for thought, and I have a plethora of ideas to take forward now to the next stages. Not least of all the types of biscuits they prefer!
Mrs Wright
Head of Senior Department
Redheart Theatre Experience
It was wonderful to welcome the Redheart Theatre Group to Beechwood this week for a thrilling performance to Top Form pupils. Head of School Aidan Burger has written a review of the performance:
This week on Halloween we had an exciting visit from a professional actor who runs the Redheart Theatre Company. He performed two thrilling gothic tales. The first was “ The Red Room” by HG Wells, and the second was the “Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. We had previously studied these stories in our English lessons, so it was wonderful to see them brought to life on stage.
‘The Red Room’ tells the tale of a naive young man who spends the night in the Red Room at Lorraine Castle. Many believe the Red Room to be haunted but this does not faze the narrator until he starts to sense a presence in the room and his candlelight is extinguished. He takes a fall in the night, and when he wakes with concussion the following morning, he understands what truly haunts the room: Fear itself.
In the “Tell Tale Heart ” the old man with whom the narrator lives has a clouded, pale, blue “vulture-like” eye. It distresses the narrator so much so that he plots to murder the old man. For seven nights, the narrator opens the door of the old man’s room to shine a sliver of light from his lantern onto the evil eye. On the eighth night, death is in the air. Has he finally done the deed?
We all thoroughly enjoyed the performance and there were plenty of spine-chilling moments, which had us on the edge of our seats. It was a spooktacular Halloween treat!
By Aidan Burger
Top Form
“War Horse”
Last half-term, our Year 7 our pupils studied Michael Morpurgo’s novel, War Horse.
Over the holidays, the pupils were tasked with choosing a scene from the novel and depicting this in a diorama form. The results have been absolutely stunning and the English Department staff are very impressed with the very high-quality work on display in the South Corridor. Pupils in other year groups have also enjoyed looking at the dioramas.
You can see examples of the the children’s work below:
Congratulations to Elliot – our ice skating superstar!
Elliot (Year 6) competed in his first national ice skating competition this week – the British Ice Skating Young Stars competition in Sheffield.
He competed in the Beginners Free Skating category against nine other boys and was placed fourth overall. He achieved a higher score than the coaches expected, rising to the occasion.
Well done, Elliot!
