Beauchamps News Issue 51

Spring Term - March 2017

Headteacher’s LetterDear Parents,The second half of the Spring Term has been full of fantastic experiences for our students and amazing achievements.Business and Humanities students enjoyed a week in New York, our GCSE Music students put on a fantastic showcase, our gymnastics team did brilliantly at their Regional competition, and as you can see we have had tremendous success in football. Congratulations to all of those who represented the school and to staff who ran the teams. Thanks also to all the parents who have supported our teams so well throughout the season.A major focus in the next few weeks will be the final preparation for our GCSE and A-Level students and I know the staff will give them lots of support.

A full revision programme is running after school and in the holidays, right up until their final exams. I wish you all a fantastic Easter break.Mr Hodges, Headteacher

Huge congratulations to all the Beauchamps High School Football Teams! Our Year 7 team were crowned District Cup winners on Friday 24 March by beating Woodlands 3-2 after extra time. It was an incredibly exciting game to watch, the boys worked very hard and represented the school with pride, We are so proud of them all. Team; Matthew G, Teddy B, Rocco H, Alfie A, Harry W, Ryan D, Riley A, Bailey G, Harrison D, Joe L, Jack C and Harry J.

Our Year 8 and Year 9 teams were both crowned District League Champions after amazing performances all season. Teams: Year 8 - Sam M, Jack G, Tom M, Sam D, Charlie S, MJ B, Charlie A, Toby T, Harvey S, Kenny C, Max H, Tom W, Ryan L, Aaron H.Year 9 - Callum R, Harry R, Cameron W, Ben P, Ryan S, James D, Ross N, Henry D, Tom N, Tommy P-F, Cameron B, Connor J, Louis P, Alfie A, Micki D, Bradley F

Our Senior Team, of boys from Years 10 and 11 were also crowned District Cup Winners on Thursday 23 March after beating Woodlands 1-0. In a game that sounds close, Beauchamps dominated the match and should’ve won by a larger margin if it wasn’t for the intervention of the Woodlands goalkeeper and the crossbar! The boys have been phenomenal all season and being crowned District Champions is their just reward. Team: Josh H, Charlie M, Gavin M, Byron H, George N, Jack M, Ryan D, Taylor A, Luke D, James G, Rob L, Gareth M, Ben O, Dean C.Finally to round off an amazing week of Football, our Senior boys were crowned U-16 County Futsal Champions at the County Finals in

the Copperbox Arena on Saturday 25 March. Meaning they are the best team in Essex! Beauchamps were drawn against a tough group, including Eastbury (last year’s National Champions), however they did not let that stop them! They will now go on to represent Essex at the Regional competition in June, and then perhaps England!

Fantastic Football! League Wins, Cup Wins And The

Best Team In Essex!!

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Multi-Cultural Day Year 7 Enjoy A Day Of Dance, Drums And Music

On Friday 24 February Year 7 students took part in our school’s annual Multi-Cultural Day. The day started for the students with a demonstration of the Chinese Lion Dance followed by the opportunity to take part in their own Chinese Lion Dance, plus Samba drumming, Indian dance, African dance and Junk percussion.It was a real hands-on, energetic day, giving the students a fantastic opportunity to learn about different cultures from around the world. It is also a great day for Year 7’s to mix with other students from their year group and to boost their knowledge for their Religious Education studies. The day was a real success and was enjoyed by all students. Report by Miss Tener

Recently, on Tuesday 28 February, Year 10 were taken off timetable for the day in order to partake in a “Poetry Carousel”. The idea was simple, each group would see four different teachers throughout the day and work on the poetry cluster for their exam in May. Students were put in groups that were not necessarily their English groups in order to draw from a range of students and their ideas.Students moved between teachers to enable them to receive a range of different perspectives. Each group

Poetry Carousel Making Exam Preparation Fun!

started and ended the day with the same teacher. They were revising ten of the fifteen poems from the ‘Power and Conflict’ cluster in preparation for their Literature Paper 2 exam. For this exam, students will have to memorise quotes in order to compare the two poems. Within the day, activities were focused on this and quote analysis.Students were engaged in active learning and were given a range of tasks to help them. In period 5, they made “Poppies Money” with their quotes and acted out lines from “The Prelude”. The English department put on a range of activities to engage the students in the poems and allow them to thoroughly enjoy the experience. The students were

enjoying their learning and it was an incredibly productive day with some fantastic work achieved.Report by Mrs Rayner-Smth

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In Programming Club, we have learnt how to make many programs by coding in various programming languages. These programs include games with a UI (User Interface), fully equipped calculators, an earth orbit calculator and many others that involve some science, maths and logical thinking. Programming club is not only a place to start a hobby but also a place to decide your future.We have learnt the fundamental programming principles in a range of languages including VB.net, VBA and Python. Some of the students in the club have gone on to learn advanced programming with languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, Ruby, JavaScript and HTML5 (web technologies).Last year we started a game design project to recreate the entire school, to full scale in virtual reality! It was a challenging task to achieve, however, we all pulled together and created a game where it was possible to run around the outside of the school and inside some of the classrooms.We built the game in a game engine called Unreal Engine which had fantastic options. The engine provided us with the materials and an editable field to do what we wanted. The 6 months progress elapsed very quickly and we are now in a stage to add

colour filters for the whole school to make it look a lot more realistic.Alongside the game project, we ordered some fascinating robotic engineering products to learn about hardware too! Our first hardware project was building a robot which we did with considerable passion as we are focused on extending our learning into both areas of digital design.The robot is capable of carrying and dropping items using a gripper. Now that it is built we intend to modify it so that it can be controlled using a Raspberry Pi computer. This will allow us to automate the actions of the robot.The Raspberry Pi, one of the smallest computers widely used across the world, has a hardware interface called the GPIO (General Purpose Input Output). We used the GPIO in conjunction with the Python p r o g r a m m i n g language code with a piece of hardware! Our next hardware project is going to be using RFID chips so that we

can simulate security systems, such as those used to electronically open some of the doors in the school and to start cars without keys. One member of the group has already started to attempt to intercept the communications between his router and an Amazon Dash Button.In the future, we would like to show interest towards learning more about our current programming languages, more about how to solve challenging logical programs and work with engineered hardware to make free software.Report by Karthik N, Dylan M, Harry L (and the rest of Programming Club)

If you are interested in joining Programming Club, please see Mr Kidman for more information.

Have An Interest In Computer Science? Programming Club May Be For You!

Music Showcase GCSE Performance

In March this year, our Year 10's & 11's performed at our annual GCSE Music Showcase. The event was held on the school stage in front of a public audience. There was a vast range of vocal and instrumental performances throughout the evening and the students certainly set a very high standard for everybody to enjoy. This type of musical event is an

excellent way to gain performance experience - putting into practice all the hard work and rehearsing throughout the GCSE courses so far. One parent commented " I was so proud of my daughter, I never knew she could sing like that and it brought a tear to my eye". Without doubt Beauchamps has an extraordinary amount of musical talent here and it was wonderful to hear just some of it at this special Upper School occasion.Report by Mr Byford

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Beauchamps High School Students Return To The Big Apple!

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During February half term, thirty-nine students from Year 11 and the Sixth Form, accompanied by Mr Goodacre, Mrs Butler, Mr Farrugia and Mr Hickey, jetted off to The Big Apple for the second annual New York visit.New York is a city that has been chosen for the combined Business and Humanities trip, as it is one of the biggest hubs on the planet. From the stock exchange on Wall Street to the generations of migrants that have passed through Ellis Island under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty. Not to mention, the city’s location on the Atlantic Ocean, it is without doubt a gateway to the world in every sense. The trip was a year and a half in the planning, so understandably there was some excitement when we finally boarded the coach at 6am on Monday morning. We were all thrilled that the wait was nearly over and we would soon be touching down in JFK airport and then heading to Manhattan island for six days of tours; site-seeing; parks; walks; boats; shows; eating and perhaps a little shopping too. Report by Mr Goodacre

9/11 Memorial and MuseumOne of the highlights of the trip for me this year was our visit to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Many of the students had little or

no real idea of what had happened on that date in 2001, being too young to remember the horrific terrorist attacks which took place. What wasn’t lost on them however was the significance of this event, and the hundreds of people who lost their lives. The pools which have been constructed on the footprint of the towers bore the names of those who had died, and the students had time to wander this area and reflect on what had happened. We then went into the museum where students could see remnants of the tower structure including staircases which people had fled down and the huge steel structures twisted and damaged. The exhibition charted the events of 9/11 including eye witness accounts, video clips and heart breaking recordings of phone calls to loved ones. One final room showed the photographs of those who had died with testimonies from their families – a very emotional tribute. All of the students showed respect and compassion for the victims and left with a far better understanding of what had happened. Report by Mrs Butler

Blue Man GroupOne of the most light-hearted parts of our visit, and probably the most entertaining, was our trip to the Blue Man Group show on Broadway. It is a show which is hard to describe; three men dressed in blue Lycra and face

paint, banging on drums and s p l a t t e r i n g paint around! One particular m o m e n t stands out for the Beauchamps staff and students and that was when Kieran R was pulled up on stage to take part in the show. He donned a set of white overalls and boots and played his part admirably, much to the amusement of all of us. When the show was over the students had the opportunity to take photos with the cast and then we all headed back to the hostel after a very enjoyable and raucous evening! Report by Mrs Butler

The Empire State BuildingNew York, an amazing city we have all viewed through the silver screen but in reality it is bigger and busier than you would ever expect. Everywhere you turn, people are walking frantically, rushing down the subway, hailing yellow taxis and there is constant hooting with cars trying to manoeuvre through the busy roads. Each street and avenue is crammed with very tall buildings, built close to each other with very little room between them. There are a number of skyscrapers that line the Manhattan skyline but none as iconic as The Empire State Building. Located on Fifth Avenue and West 33rd and 34th Streets, The Empire State Building is in Midtown with the nickname being derived for New York, the Empire State. The building is a 102-story distinctive Art Deco style structure constructed during New York’s economic boom of the late 1920s at a time when builders were rushing to erect the world’s largest skyscrapers. The building stands a total of 1,454 feet including its antenna and for nearly forty years it stood as the world’s tallest building from its dedication ceremony on 1st May 1931 until the topping out of the original World Trade Centre North Tower in late 1970. We entered the Empire State Building, having to go through the now obligatory airport style security checks. It was fascinating entering

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a piece of history. Making our way through to the elevators, we wound our way round a series of pictures and photographs of the building and its history. Stepping out on the 86th floor Observatory Deck, we were greeted by the most spectacular views of the city. It was after sunset with the city’s building fully lit like diamonds sparkling against a beautiful dark backdrop.

Walking around the Deck gives you a 360 degree panoramic view that could only be viewed from the air, yet here we are standing “on top of the world”. On a clear day it may be possible to view about 80 miles away, however, as this was after sunset and tired as we were after our long flight, we still managed to enjoy views of Central Park, the Chrysler Building, Times Square and of course the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We concluded that this was “totally awesome”. Report by Christina D-SFrantically we burst off the plane with blood rushing in our veins, we were so excited to start our adventure. We went to the hostel dropped off our suitcases then walked to the Empire State Building, it was magical. No one actually realised how big it was until we were up there. The view was incredible, and I was amazed

at how small everything looked down below. We took pictures up at the 84th floor with the view of New York City behind us, we could see Central Park, 9/11 Memorial, Rockafella and many other amazing things in New York. Report by Summah G

Macy’s Macy’s was the most amazing place I’ve ever been to shop in my life. It had nine floors filled with unimaginable stuff, and I could have spent hours there. Shops that ranged from Starbucks to Mac to Louis Vuitton… I’m sure there were boy brands too! Nothing is better for a girl than a shopping trip in New York City! The Big Apple was truly unforgettable’ Report by Zara M

Planet HollywoodWe went to Planet Hollywood on our third night in New York. After a long day of walking and sightseeing it was nice to sit down with a group of my chums to chill out and have a meal to finish

off the day before heading back to the hostel. There was a shop in the restaurant where some of the girls brought some merchandise like rucksacks and oversized jumpers along with some classic film props and costumes such as my all-time hero Superman. Report Sam S

Liberty Island and Ellis IslandOn Wednesday morning we set off on the subway to Battery Park to get the ferry to Liberty Island. As we sailed across the Hudson River, bathed in glorious sunshine, we got a magnificent view of the famous old Lady Liberty. The excitement at seeing this iconic symbol of freedom, gave us a small sense of how millions of immigrants must have felt on arriving in New York on their way to a new life in the United States. On Liberty Island, we got a great opportunity to walk around the statue and take some photographs before we set off to Ellis Island. During its time as the main immigration centre for people arriving into the United States, Ellis Island became known worldwide as the gateway to America. From 1892-1924, over 12 million people passed through the doors of the immigration centre, in search of a better life and

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tthe American Dream. Today, the centre is major museum. We got to follow a tour which guided us through the process that these millions of people had to go through when they arrived in New York. Students got a chance to experience the immigrant journey from arrival in the Great Hall, to medical inspections, to the onward struggle for survival after they were approved. The Island provided a stunning view of the iconic Manhattan skyline and some last opportunities for some photos before hopping on the ferry back. Report by Mr Hickey

The United NationsThe United Nations (UN), an international organisation founded in 1945 (created from its failed predecessor, The League of Nations) is committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. On the second day of

our trip, we visited the imposing headquarters of the UN, designed by the world renowned Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer. Although situated in New York City, the land is under sole administration of the UN, not the US government. The UN headquarters sits on 18 acres of land purchased with an US$8million donation made in 1946 by John D Rockefeller Jr.We arrived at 9:30am at the gates and went through the airport style security checks, where we also had to present our passports. Walking across from the security area to the foyer of the visitor centre we could see all the member states flags lined in country alphabetical order fluttering in the crisp morning air. After security, we all gathered in the main

reception area and split into groups with each having an official UN guide. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and provided us with information about the UN, the building, its history and explained the role and aims of the UN. Our first stop was a visit to the United Nations General Assembly with a seating capacity of 1,800. Comprising of 193 member states

of the UN, this is the main deliberative policymaking and representative organ, which also provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of international issues including peace and security.We next visited the Security Council Chamber, a gift from Norway. The Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining peace and security and may meet whenever peace is threatened. The permanent members of the UN Security Council are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. All 193 members of the UN agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council, of which member states are obligated to implement under the charter. Our next stop was to the Economic and Social (ECOSOC) Chamber which is one of the six principal organs of the UN. The Council has 54 members and holds one four-week session each year in July. The

Chamber was a gift from Sweden with the wood from Swedish pine trees in the delegates’ area. The unique feature of this Chamber is the public gallery being deliberately left exposed. The ‘unfinished’ ceiling is a symbolic reminder that the economic and social work of the UN is never finished.During the visit, there were many examples of the work of the UN including a display of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights; its peace keeping forces; its humanitarian efforts; and exhibits such as land mines, hand grenades and anti-tank mines. In conclusion our “take away” from this extremely educational and inspiring visit was the many aspects of the work conducted by the UN is not always highlighted in the mainstream media, an opportunity definitely not worth missing! Report by Christina D-S

Final thoughtsWe arrived back at the school just after 10am on the Saturday morning, having flown through the night we were all a little weary and glad of the weekend ahead before returning to school on Monday. Though given the choice, I think every one of us would happily have got back on a plane to JFK to do the whole trip over.The visit ran like clockwork, the students were exceptionally well behaved and even the weather was mild by New York winter standards. How we manage to fit everything in, I am never quite sure. One minute, you’re sitting on the plane on the way to NYC eagerly anticipating the week ahead, the next you’re back on the flight home with a blur of memories and experiences running through your mind.

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Beauchamps High School Students Return To The Big Apple!

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would like to give my thanks to all the staff and students involved for once again making the trip such a success, I am looking forward to NYC 2018 already.Report by Mr Goodacre

NYC 2018 – Year 10 and 12 studentsIf you are interested in joining us in New York next February, places are still available. Please see Mr Goodacre for more details or pick up a trip letter from the Finance office.If the reports you have read so far aren’t enough to convince you to come along, then perhaps these comments from students will:Sarah C: “It was absolutely amazing. Great sights to see, we

had a fantastic time!”Jasmine M “Best experience I will ever have, with wonderful teachers. Thank you so much!”Summah G “A once in a lifetime opportunity, it was Epic!”Zara M “NY was amazing and so were the shops.”Sam S “Had a wonderful time with my chums # Beauchamps

on tour 2017.”Emilie W “Best experience, with the best people.”Craig L-C “I had an amazing experience with all my friends”Payton C “It was the best trip ever and I had an amazing time with some special people.”Maddi L “The best experience of my life, Times Square was lush!”Kieran R “I can’t believe I got on stage with the blue man group! What a trip, I even enjoyed the flight over.”Kieran R “It was an incredible trip from start to finish. One of my highlights was the Blueman group performance on Broadway, which was superb in audience interaction, humour and music. Overall it was a stellar experience”.

Business AwardsEvery term, the Business department gives out an award for exceptional skills, ability and dedication to the study of Business, Economics and Retail.This term, the lower school winner was Max B (Year 10, GCSE Business Studies) and the Sixth Form winner was Joel H (Year 12, BTEC Business).Max impressed staff in the department with his unwavering commitment to his studies. Often staying behind after school to improve his work, undertaking tasks independently and responding to advice given by his teachers. Keep up the hard work Max, we believe you’re going to be a real high flyer!Joel, is a student who has come a long way in a short space of time, both in terms of his attitude towards his studies and the work he has produced. On two occasions, while undertaking projects for local businesses as part of his BTEC course, Joel’s name has been mentioned as someone who has impressed the owners of the businesses. It can only be a matter of time before he is running a business himself, well done!Mr Goodacre and the Business Team

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The Beauchamps under 14 Gymnastic team finished 6th out of nineteen teams when they competed at the Regional Gymnastics Competition at Chelmsford Gym Club on 28 February. This is an amazing achievement, moving up a place from last year. We were the top team from our District beating Billericay, Bromfords and De La Salle. The competition overall was fierce but our girls held their nerve and produced some of the best performances I have seen them do.

The team consisted of Lilli-Ann C, Devon A and Katie G n Year 9, Brooke C and Grace B in Year 8 and Lulutho N in Year 7. Well done to all the girls who truly worked as a team! Congratulations. Report by Mrs Smith

World Book Week After the success of 2016’s

inaugural World Book Week, we were keen to start planning this year’s event. Once again the students were treated to a wide range of guest speakers, all of whom celebrated the use of language in its many different forms. Variety is the spice of life, as the following diary of an eventful week demonstrates.

On Monday 27 February Year 10 were the chosen audience for Karl Nova, one of the

UK’s leading performance poets and hip hop artists. Although his family were keen for Karl to follow a strictly academic career, he always knew that his success would lie in a more creative arena. He continued to write and perform whilst at University, and kept his audience gripped as he told the story of how he defended his university’s honour in an impromptu Rap Battle with gatecrashers from a rival establishment. Karl has attempted to keep his work positive, refusing to repeat the more common subject matter of gang warfare, crime and poverty. Karl’s overall message is follow your dreams, something he will achieve as he presents his father with a copy

of his first published collection of poetry in May 2017.

On Tuesday 28 February it was Year 8’s turn to welcome Tony Lee, the renowned comic’s writer, novelist and screenwriter who was a huge hit last year as well. He encouraged students who are reluctant readers to try lots of different styles of books; he advised to never give up, but instead try ‘changing the channel’ as if flicking through a TV listings. He kept Year 8 totally engaged and frequently laughing.His workshops which followed were all about narrative structure, managing plot twists in a convincing manner. To demonstrate this, Tony led the classes in a defence of the school against a vampire invasion in which they had to predict the consequences of their actions.On Wednesday 1 March dystopian fantasy writer, Jon Robinson, came into school to speak to Year 9 about his writing career. His first fiction attempt was at age 10, when his delightful Christmas story culminated in an angry wife decorating her Christmas tree with her husband’s body parts!! Needless to say, his teacher recognised, at this early stage, that Jon had a particularly g r a p h i c w r i t i n g style. This

has been well used in his bestselling Nowhere trilogy.Jon also ran a series of writing workshops, working on setting and story-opening. Thursday 2 March was World Book Day itself. Although there were no guest speakers, the Library was kept busy giving out the free World Book Day books to students and running book quizzes. On Friday 3 March our final visitor was Karen Rubins, who is a highly renowned comic strip creator and illustrator. She spoke to a hall full of enthralled Year 7s and took them through her development in the field and demonstrated how a comic strip is brought to publication. She was asked many questions about her inspiration and gave out lots of advice about how to get your work published or self-publishing. Many students took her card throughout the day; she agreed to look at any work they submitted to her and feedback advice.Her workshops were amazing! She spoke about characterisation through illustration and did a live drawing of Batman so that the students could analyse the visual clues to his character and personality.It was a fantastic week of learning and inspiration and we are already looking forward to next year! Report by Mrs Perkins

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The winner of the February Brainteaser is Christina D-S (13E) who correctly answered: Your bedroom clock is broken. Every hour it gains thirty-six minutes. However, exactly one hour ago it stopped, showing the time as eight twenty-four AM. You know that it showed the right time at two AM. What time is it now?The answer was 7am. Well done Christina.

EasterBrainteaser

A farmer has to cross a river in a boat.He has a chicken, a fox, and a bag of grain with him.The boat is only big enough for him to take one of the three across at a time. He cannot leave the grain and the chicken alone together, since the chicken will eat the grain. And he cannot leave the fox and chicken alone together, since the fox will eat the chicken.How does he get everything safely across the river?Please submit your entry to Miss Leahy in B3 by Friday 5 May 2017, remembering to include your name and tutor group. All correct entries will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win Love To Shop vouchers.

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Friday, 24 March was Red Nose Day! All Sixth Formers were encouraged to wear something red or something a little unusual, to help the school to raise money for this amazing charity.They didn’t disappoint!At the last count over £1500 had been raised.

UCAS Exhibition 2017All Year 12 students have been invited to the UCAS Exhibition to be held in Colchester on Wednesday, 14 June, 2017.UCAS Exhibitions are the only opportunity students have to explore a variety of options in one setting. The Colchester exhibition will give students a chance to speak with university admissions staff and subject specialists, to find out what life is like on and off campus and to discover what else is on offer when exams are done and dusted −

A Senior Mentoring Programme has begun, but there are still spaces available for any Year 12 students who would like the opportunity to mentor a student from one of the younger year groups. Volunteers will benefit from training provided by a range of experts, and they will learn skills in coaching, teaching special needs and strategies to build confidence. For more information, please contact Miss Moore.

We are also increasing the number of members on the Sixth Form Committee. If you are confident, friendly and interested in building advertisement and organisational skills, then why not join? These students will be primarily in charge of our fundraising and social events. The team works closely with Miss Brabant and Miss Moore to make the Beauchamps Sixth Form an enjoyable and memorable experience. If you are interested, please contact Miss Brabant or Miss Moore.

volunteer work, gap year adventures and career opportunities. Best of all, the exhibition is free to attend − for students, parents, teachers, and advisers.We expect that the whole year group will attend this exciting and informative event. Letters have been sent out and reply slips should be returned to Miss Moore.

Recruiting!

Are you a budding writer? Miss Leahy is running writing workshops in B3 every Thursday after school. If you are aged between 14-18 and are interested in improving your writing skills and maybe entering the BBC Young Writers Competition this year then come along.

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Our Achievements and Successes Let’s Shout About Our Students and Staff!

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“The Time Is Always Right To Do The Right Thing” M. Luther King JrThank you to Tommy N in Year 9 who found a silver ring outside the school gates and handed it in so it could be reunited with its owner.

A massive congratulations to Sophie J and Aimee M (7E) who came first and second in the Spring half-term Literacy Competition. Year 7 and 8 students were tasked with finding grammatical errors within the community over the half term. In doing so, the students were able to test and further extend their grammatical knowledge. Miss Cooper is looking forward to seeing the entries for the Easter Literacy Competition.

Congratulations to Liam W in Year 10 who has been selected for the South Essex District Cricket Board U15 winter training squad in preparation for the upcoming Cricket season. Liam will receive some advanced coaching whilst on this programme and hopefully he will represent South Essex in the summer months.

Congratulations to Matt B in Year 8, who has been selected to play for the U13 South Essex District Cricket Squad for the 2017 S u m m e r season

Congratulations to Emily S in Year 7, who showed her Glen of Imaal Terrier, Bella, at the world renowned Crufts Dog Show winning Best of Breed.

Congratulations to Mr De Wet who has received a “Special Commendation Award” from the Pearson Teaching Awards. The Award came as a result of a nomination from a parent of a Year 11 student who left us in the Summer of 2016. The nomination included “Mr DeWet gave fantastic one-to-one support and guidance, my son would not have secured his college place without the help of Mr De Wet and his belief in my son”. Well Done Mr DeWet!

On Sunday 19 March, Mr Goodacre ran the Hastings half marathon in aid of a Clic Sargent campaign raising money to send a 7 year old girl called Amber to the USA for Proton beam radiation treatment on her brain tumor. With the money raised, Amber and her family now have £11,300 of the £12,000 needed for her treatment and stay.Mr Goodacre said that the course was much more challenging than he had expected with lots of hills and the wind coming off the coast blowing the runners. However he still managed to complete the 13.1 miles in a personal best time of 2 hours and 7 minutes.

Emily and her family have three dogs which they showed at the competition, winning a total of six rossettes between them! Quite an achievement.

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Alumni News We would like to say a huge congratulations to former student Dr Melissa Uchida (nee George) who was one of the recipients of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for “the fundamental discovery and exploration of neutrino oscillations, revealing a new frontier beyond, and possibly far beyond, the standard model of particle Physics”. It really is a huge honour to receive such an award. The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was founded in 2012 by Yuri Milner to recognize those individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. It is open to all physicists; theoretical, mathematical and experimental, working on the deepest mysteries of the Universe. Melissa attended Beauchamps High School from 1994 to 1999. She completed a joint honours degree in Mathematics and Physics at Royal Holloway and a PhD in Experimental Particle Physics at Queen Mary University of London. She is now a Particle Physicist working at Imperial College London. We are hoping to arrange for Melissa to visit the school in the near future and speak to some of our students about her career journey and achievements.

Charity Fundraising Supporting our local community and beyond

Red Nose Day was on Friday 24 March and as ever the school showed it’s full support. Students enjoyed a non-school uniform day in return for a £1 donation, there was a staff sweepstake, penalty shoot-outs, a talent competition and individual form fundrasiting events which altogether raised a fantastic £1547.25! Thank you to everyone who participated.

On Tuesday 14 March the Student Council ran a cake sale in aid of Cancer Research UK. Both students and staff bought lots of cake and we would like to say a big thank you to them all.A special thank you goes to Chartwells canteen staff and Mrs Chlopas, Mrs Morgan and Mrs Coughlan for supplying the cakes and to Mr Chumbley who donated £20 for the Charity. We would also like to say a big thank you to Charlie’s Nan who baked a marble cake for us and to all the Student Council members who helped out; thank you Buhe, Erin, Jasmine, Myia, Isobel, Charlie, Jack, Sidharth, Bethany, Latisha, Emily, Joseph, Ellie-May, Harleigh and Natasha.

We raised £175 for Cancer Research UK!

Jack Petchey Awards Well Done To The WinnersCongratulations to this term’s Jack Petchey Award Winners Isabelle E in Year 7 and Zach H in Year 8.Isabelle E won her award for raising by far the most money when she took part in a school Readathon challenge. The students were all given a 4 week period to read as much as they could and get sponsorship for doing so. They chose their own challenges; some a set number of books, some a daily page target, some to read something they wouldn’t normally choose etc. Isabelle raised an amazing £150!

The money she and other students raised went to Readathon.org, an umbrella organisation that distributes funds to various children’s charities such as Clic Sargent, The Roald Dahl Foundation and their own charity, Readathon. This provides libraries, book gifts and author/storyteller visits to children who are in hospital. Well

done Isabelle.

Zach H won his award after a member of the public rang the school to congratulate the behaviour of one of our students, Zach, down in Wickford town centre near the Aldi Store. The lady called to say she was on a “Walking Bus” with young students coming back from Wickford Junior School to Wickford C of E Infant School when Zach came over to warn them that there was a dog on the loose and then proceeded to try to catch the dog – asking other bystanders to help him. She said he not only showed great care for the animal but made sure no-one got hurt in the process of retrieving the dog and felt that Zach was a good ambassador for our school and should be recognised and praised. Well done Zach.

Richard York attended the school from 1972 to 1979. During his time here he was heavily involved in music and the punk movement. The Headteacher at the time, Mr Davies, allowed Richard’s band StaPrest and other local bands such as Depeche Mode and Alison Moyet to perform in the school’s West Hall. Richard’s band went on to be signed, by Ronnie Scott’s management, and they released a single ‘School Days’ which achieved some success and is now a collectors rarety. Richard left the music scene to pursue a career in the Metropolitan Police, however since retirement he has reformed with his former band mates and they are now

recording a new album. They will be performing at The Swan in Wickford on Saturday 8 April, as part of a 72/73 school reunion.

Beauchamps News Issue 51 12

Beauchamps High SchoolBeauchamps DriveWickfordSS11 8LYPhone: 01268 735466Fax: 01268 570981Email: admin@beauchamps.essex.sch.ukWeb: www.beauchampshighschool.co.uk

The Spring term ends on Friday 31 March. Students will return to school for the Summer term on Tuesday 18 April. The May half term holiday runs from Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June.

Dates For Your Diary

“30 years from now, it won’t matter what shoes you wore, how your hair looked or what jeans you bought. What will matter is what you learnt and how you used it.” Unknown Author

Wickford and District Floral Arts Club are looking for new members. The club is open to all ages. If you would like some more information please call Carol Baker on 01268 440460

If you have any information which you feel should be featured in future editions of the Beauchamps Newsletter, please contact us on:mwright@beauchamps.essex.sch.uk

Future Issues Of Beauchamps News

Drama TripThe Lion King

The drama department took fifty-six students to see the award winning musical The Lion King. The show is now in its 18th year at London's Lyceum Theatre. It was a fantastic evening, the students enjoyed views of the city's landmarks before watching a breath taking musical showcase. We were lucky enough to have fantastic seats with puppeteers through the audience students were able to see the animals up close. The students were a credit to the school. A special thanks to Mrs Ritchin, Mr Mower, Mrs Perkins, Mrs T Butler for their help on a fantastic evening. Report by Mrs Simpson

Please keep collecting Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers for our school. You can hand them into Student Reception or Mrs Perkins in the Learning Resource Centre. Thank you!

On Wednesday 15 March, Year 7 student Elena J travelled to London to interview Dr Curran, Senior Lecturer at the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary’s University and here is what she had to say: “I found Dr Curran on a website called 'The Centre of the Cell' when I was looking for information on cloning. He replied to an email I had sent, attaching an interesting chapter of his book and he also offered for me to interview him in person.My mum & I went to the Queen Mary University in London to meet him and I felt very nervous but once I

met him he soon made me feel at ease. I had some questions ready to ask him such as; who inspired you to become a scientist? Have you ever tried cloning?. We talked about Dolly the sheep and the possibility of a woolly mammoth being resurrected. He said the way science has come on over the years is incredible and who knows what we could achieve in the next 100 years, but he absolutely didn't agree with human cloning!!” Report by Elena J

Dr Curran Interview