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Summer

2011 Beech House News Inside Story page 2

• School

Appointments

page 3

• National

Winners

• Biology

Challenge

page 4

• Golden Grin page 5

• LAMDA

and CREST Success

page 6

• Gymnastics

Medals

page 7

• Beech House Boxing Champions • Sports Day Results

Prom King 2011 - Jack Higginson

Prom Queen 2011 - Chelsea White

Year 11 Prom The venue for this year’s leavers’ do/prom was The Wine Press at Hollingworth Lake, and those of us who are veterans of these events all agreed that it couldn’t have been better! We met outside beforehand and were able to enjoy a lovely summer’s evening with the sun sparkling on the lake. As the pupils emerged like butterflies out of their various vehicles we were amazed at how, in only a few days, they had all become young men and women, rather than school girls and boys. Digital cameras were on overdrive as each and every one of us sought out that special shot that would form a lovely reminder of the evening. Eventually we made our way up to the function room, where once again there were gasps of delight when we took in the decorations and table layouts. More photos, the professional sort, were taken, while those waiting helped themselves to fruit punch and the array of sweeties from the candy bar. A three-course meal was efficiently served by the staff, during which everyone pondered over their voting slips for the King and Queen of the Prom. Mr. Bauer and Mrs. White were involved in the counting which was a close-run thing. The final results were Jack Higginson for King and Chelsea White (no relation!) for Queen. At the end of the meal Mrs. White thanked the prom committee for all their hard work in organising the evening, then took the opportunity to wish the pupils well using a number of tweet-like messages sent from members of staff. Finally, inspired it would seem by the view from the window overlooking the lake, she wished them ‘Bon voyage’, a smooth journey to their next destination then, as the sun was just on the point of setting, a toast to the end of an era and the start of a new one. We all rushed down to the lake side for one last group photograph as the sun went down on the class of 2011. But then it was back inside to cut the cake followed by dancing to work off some of the lovely food.

,

Reports Enclosed with this

newsletter you should

find your child’s report.

The documentation

provides a clear profile of

your child’s progress

throughout the last

academic term.

The staff and I have had

the opportunity during the

course of the last

academic term to discuss

individual children’s

progress with parents on

a formal and informal

basis. I hope many of you

will continue to take

advantage of our “open

door” policy next term.

Pupils in the

Upper Prep and

Senior

departments

will line up in

the yard on the

first day of next

term and be

taken to their

form rooms by

their new Form

tutors. The

Lower Prep

pupils will be

taken directly to

their new form rooms.

Beech House News

I am delighted to announce the

following appointments from

September :-

School

Head Boy – Jackson Cowie

Head Girl – Jessica Timperley

Prep

Head Boy – Ateeq Ur Rahman

Head Girl – Megan Klymowec

Senior Prefects – Lydia Nightingale

& Ameer Ali

Prefects – Bethany Moat, Saira

Mahmood, Arifah Tahir and Rabia

Tahir

Sub- Prefects: Harrison Kinder,

Saad Karim and April McCaffrey

The House Captains have already

taken up their post at Sports Day.

They are:-

Jupiter – Matthew Goss

Mercury – James Booth

Neptune – Ryan Matthews

Saturn – Kelly Bramley

I am sure you will join me in

congratulating them all and wishing them every success in their posts.

School Appointments School Concert

Staffing The Form tutors for the next academic year will be :- Lower Prep Nursery Miss Walker Reception Miss Haigh Year 1 Mrs Shahid Year 2 Miss Rousseau

Upper Prep

Year 3 Miss Whitehead

Year 4 Mrs Waterworth

Year 5 Mrs Ali

Year 6 Miss Sugden

Seniors

Year 7 Mrs Grange

Year 8D Mrs Carter &

Mrs Donnelly

Year 8R Mrs Drake &

Mr Rowlands

Year 9B Mr Bauer

Year 9H Mr Hargreaves

& Dr Hudson

Year 10D Mr Dugdill

& Mrs Gaynon

Year 10L Mrs Lockyer

Year 11G Mrs Gillett &

Miss Howard

Year 11R Mrs Rose &

Mr Walters

Page 2 of 7

The 'Beech House does Glee' Concerts are a Thriller

The 'sold out ' signs appeared at this year's event of ' Beech House does Glee'. The overall winners were 'Single Ladies' by Beyance ( Jack Brook, Daniel Matthews and Jacob Wright ) and 'Take a Bow' by Rihanna ( Charlotte Hardman). The concert was enjoyed by all who attended, some more than once! A big thanks must go to Mrs Waterworth for organising and directing.

Beech House News

Page 3 of 7 A cheque for £1500 is presented by Michael Precott

of Air Products to Year 5

School Awards

Pupils from Year 9 went to Bury College for

a Science and Industry Day. They had a

presentation by Dr R. Robinson, a clinical

scientist from the Royal Liverpool

University Hospital on science and

engineering opportunities. The pupils

enjoyed guessing what her role as an

engineer involved and which academic

routes she took to get there. The second

presentation was an Introduction to

Starchaser, the commercial Space Travel

Company. This involved fabulous rockets

and included demonstrations on Newton's

Laws of Physics and explosions. The

excitement didn't stop there as the pupils

were then enlightened about life at College

during a Q&A session with Science ‘A’

Level students at Bury. The pupils came

away enthused about taking science

further.

Science & Industry Day

The following Senior pupils have gained their Bronze Award (20 merits):- Ameer Ali, Issmaeel Ansari, Jacob Dench , Harry Hayden, Amy Fryer, Ella Hodgkinson, Cecily Morgan, Hassnat Nadim, Raeesah Shahid and Luke Shaw. The following have gained their Silver Award (40 merits) :- Henna Akhtar, Cody Birch, Jessica Butterworth, Jack Cryer, Haashim Khawaja, James Hart, Aneeqa Javed, Kishwar Naaz, Yusuf Seoud Omar Tahir, Rebecca Whitaker and Safa Zahoor. The following have gained their Gold Award (60 merits):- Alice Davies, Libby Dunstan, Anis Hussain and Rudi Worth. In the Lower Prep Rainbow Awards the following pupils obtained their red awards for 50 House Points :- Ali Salman, Alfie Mayer, Omer Afzal, Mahrus Qaz, Zain Ahmed Dar, Joseph Bingham, Amaara Rafique, Maria Grange & Daniel Rigg. A yellow award is given for 100 House Points. This was gained by :- Humayl Hasan, Harry Ashton, Abbie Slater, Nicole Healey, Ateeq Ur Rahman, Hassan Mohammed, Alexander Roebuck & Saif Azeez. Well done to all the pupils on gaining these awards. They represent a great deal of hard work and we hope this effort will be continued through into the next academic year.

Times Spelling Bee James Hart, Jacob Dench, Jacob Hill

and Anis Hussain from Year 7,

participated in the regional heats held

in Bolton. The boys scored 30 points

and were placed eighth.

Mathematics

Challenge Joshua White was the 'best in school'

in the Junior Mathematics Challenge.

Biology Challenge In this year’s Biology Challenge, run by the Society of Biology, the school won four awards. Bethany Moat and Jackson Cowie in Year 10, and Molly Corrigan in Year 9 all achieved Silver Awards. The best result went to Anusia Battersby in Year 9 who gained a Gold Award. As a reward pupils were taken to Manchester University. The lecture was to encourage pupils to take Biology Credits at Degree level. It was entitled Beauty and the Beasts and was delivered by Liz Sheffield Faculty of Life Sciences from the University of Manchester. She discussed the right and wrongs of animal and plant life in Hollywood.

Progress

Awards

The Progress Awards are

presented each term to

children in the Prep

Department who have

excelled in attitude,

behaviour and

performance. This term

the Honours went to :-

Nursery – Inaaya Ahmed

Reception – Hayaan

Mahmud

Year 1 – Humayl Hasan

Year 2 – Abbie Slater

Year 3 – Hira Iqbal

Year 4 - Ellie Roebuck

Year 5 – Zechariah

Omagbemi

Year 6 – Arman Qazi

Mandale Park Some of you may have been aware from the local press that there were plans proposed by Greater Manchester Waste to build waste and recycling units on Mandale Park. Thanks to a campaign by the Headmaster and other interested parties, I can reassure you that this proposal has now been dropped.

Hydro Jen Mr Sartain received a cheque on behalf of Year 5, who were the national winners of the Air Products environmental project. The pupils looked into the future and visualised how Rochdale would look if it were powered by hydrogen, and the environmental benefits of a cleaner fuel.

Beech House News

Page 4 of 7

Gifted and Talented School Trips

Web Site The school web site is www.beechhouseschool.co.uk It is a valuable source of information on school activities. Letters to parents are downloadable and diary dates are added on a weekly basis.

Year 7 visited the Blue Mosque in Rochdale. Over a thousand pupils visit the Neeli (Blue) Mosque every year as part of the UK Islamic Mission’s work, aiming to build links with all schools across the Borough of Rochdale. Our outing was eagerly awaited by Year 7 and we were warmly greeted by the mosque leaders. Pupils were treated to a variety of activities, including dressing up and a quiz. I am sure that our pupils impressed leaders with their knowledge of Islam. They enjoyed cake and orange juice before leaving for the walk back to school. Letters and cards of thanks designed by pupils, for both Imran and Tom, were posted to show our appreciation of the mosque’s hospitality. The Year 10 GCSE Geographers have been set the task of investigating two contrasting urban zones for their Controlled Assessment Task this year. After two weeks of intensive planning, they set out on their fieldtrip. We tried to find two very different parts of Rochdale and so visited Bamford as an example of suburban life and Townhead to investigate mixed industrial and residential inner-city usage. The end of year trips saw the Senior department travel to Southern France, whilst the Upper Prep visited Camelot in Chorley and the Lower Prep visited the Blue Aquarium in Ellesmere Port.

Summer Fair

Mrs Ali braves the Bucking Bronco

The school sent a team of four Year 10 pupils

(Ameer Ali, Bethany Moat, Arifah Tahir and

Jessica Timperley) to Bury College for their

annual challenge for gifted and talented pupils.

The team had to compete against eight other

schools in a variety of challenges, including a

general knowledge quick fire round, an

enterprise challenge in which they had to build a

bridge to strict specifications with spaghetti and

marshmallows, and a university aptitude test.

The team did very well in the bridge building but,

in a very close-run competition, missed out on

the major prizes. They did come away with a

medal for their efforts however, as did Mrs.

White for participating in the staff team.

Year 9's Climate Change Outreach Project

culminated in a special exhibition of all of the

pupil's work, from schools all over the country, at

the MOSI. The standard of exhibits was very

high and Beech House was especially proud to

find out that their project's class picture has been

used to promote the project to potential

sponsors, companies and schools for next year.

Golden Grin The Lower Prep children have achieved the highest award for the Golden Grin award for the fourth year in a row. The School actively promotes healthy eating, oral hygiene and exercise.

You will be

provided with a

copy of your

child’s daily and

homework

timetable during

the second week

of the new term.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Six pupils from Year 9 and Year 10 took part in two overnight expeditions as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. The expeditions took place at Ashworth Valley and Waddecar. Pupils had to plan a 12km walk, set up camp and prepare a hot meal in order to meet the criteria. All the pupils found the course extremely challenging, both physically and mentally. However, they all completed it and now need to continue to work towards their Bronze Award.

Many thanks to all the parents and staff who gave up their time to organise the Friends of Beech House Summer Fair. The weather was perfect and the star attraction for many was the Bucking Bronco. The individual champion, with a time of 61 seconds, was Jackson Cowie. The wining team were Colleen Bingham, Olivia Rigg and Robyn Valentine from Year 6. Mr Bauer was the staff champion with a time of 41 seconds. A large and enthusiastic crowd helped to raise £660 and a great time was had by all.

Beech House News

Page 5 of 7

May we give our annual reminder to parents; that a list of uniform requirements is available from the school office. Parents must ensure that these are followed. In particular, boys’ trousers (or shorts up to and including Year 5) should be mid-grey in colour and not dark grey / charcoal grey. This year we have had problems with footwear with several boys wearing trainer-type shoes to school. These are not appropriate; neither is any footwear with decoration. We state that footwear must be black. Girls are warned against wearing ballet pump style footwear; as these have no proper grip and also slip off the foot easily. We have had several accidents this year. Our official uniform supplier is Monkhouse; if you have any queries, please contact the school in the first instance.

Uniform High Energy Drinks

Charity The Nursery and Reception children had a wonderful time on their annual Barnardo's Toddle Waddle sponsored walk around Broadfield Park raised £286.76. Recently having members of her family pass away from cancer, Arifah Tahir (Year 10), decided that she wanted to raise money for Cancer Research. The money would go towards helping relieve other families suffering from the loss of loved ones, and also try to stop cancer affecting more and more people. A fancy dress day at school was organised by her - the ideal way to raise money for a worthwhile cause, followed by a snack sale at lunchtime. A grand total of £330 was raised. The day was a complete success and evrybody seemed to enjoy themselves. Thanks to all who took part! The school was visited by 'Pip' the mascot from Medi-Equip, to thank them for completing a sponsored walk in aid of the charity. All funds raised will go towards the purchase of vital

equipment and resources for sick children and their parents.

During the recent hot weather sales of ice pops and choc ices by Haashim Khawaja, who also helped promote the sales, raised over £32 on behalf of 'Get Kids Going'.

Playground Games

The pupils had to complete a set of tasks on health and safety before delivering their game. The team of Colleen Bingham, Sophie Din, Shariq Haidery and Arman Qazi did exceptionally well and were placed third.

Staff are concerned that pupils are being given these drinks. Many of them, as well as containing high levels of sugar, have large amount of caffeine in them. Pupils consuming them at break time and lunch time (particularly when they have had no breakfast) are not settling down into lessons. They are not needed in a well-balanced diet. We have decided that pupils are not allowed to bring them into school for breaks and lunchtime; only if they are taking part in a school fixture will pupils be allowed to bring them in as part of their kit. There are many more suitable bottled drinks that children may bring and the summer break should be used to introduce your child to these.

CREST Congratulations to the following pupils, who have received certificates for their excellent project work on ‘Habitats’. They have received British Science Association ‘Crest’ Awards:- Silver - Alice Davies (Year 8) Bronze Year 10 - Aqib Ahmed , Bushra Ahmad, Tia Barker, Kelley Bramley, Daniel Charlson, Jackson Cowie, Harrison Kinder, Matthew Goss, Ryan Matthews, April McCaffrey, Venetia Southwell and Rabia Tahir. Year 8 - Rebecca Affleck, Henna Akhtar, Kingsley Benson, Victoria Burnett, Joseph Hamblett, Hassnat Nadim, Junaid Naseer, Emma Hardman, Conor Leyland, Haanee Munir, Thomas Quinn, James Riley, Piers Smithies and Rebecca Whitaker.

LAMDA The pupils would like to thank Mrs Boon for helping obtain the best results in the school's history. In addition it was the first time Bronze Medals have been awarded to pupils from Beech House in all the years of taking these examinations. Introductory Examinations Pass with Merit - Mahrus Qazi & Saif Ali-Azeez Pass with Distinction - Scarlett Gethin-Jones, Alfie Mayer, Nicole Healey & Abbie Slater Entry Level Speaking Pass with Merit - Luke Butterworth & Rebecca Burnett Pass with Distinction - Hira Iqbal, Milly Cooper, Elana El-Hage & Aleena Qazi

Level 1 Speaking Grade 1 Pass with Merit -Emily Cooper & Megan Klymowec Level 1 Speaking Grade 2 Pass with Merit - Sophie Din Level 1 Speaking Grade 3 Pass with Merit - Junaid Naseer

Level 2 Speaking Grade 5 Pass with Merit - Victoria Burnett Pass with Distinction - Anusia Battersby Level 3 Speaking Grade 6 Bronze Medal - Charlotte Affleck & Sarah Idris

M

Gymnastics

The school put in a fine performance in the Rochdale Championships. The U9 Gymnastics team of Jacey Noon, Olivia Shaw, Joe Noon, Daisi Daniels and Harry Gee were runners up. In addition Daisi was bronze medalist in the individual event. In the U11 event Natelie El –Hage, Robyn Valentine, Asim Butt and Harry Gee were also bronze medal winners.

Beech House News

.

Page 6 of 7

SwimmingSwimmingSwimmingSwimming

Regional Swimming Finals The Upper Prep team of Mairah Hasan, Olivia Rigg, Robyn Valentine, Natalie El-Hage and Vienna Simic were placed fourth in the medley relay and fifth in the freestyle relay.

Orienteering

Following an excellent year, Jack Cryer (7C) was chosen to try out for the North West Junior Squad. He is now officially a member of the North West Squad. In the Junior Championships score race held at Whitton Park, Blackburn, Jack Cryer finished in 4th place. With three very experienced people in the top three, he was awarded a medal as 'Top Junior'. U11 Rochdale – winners The team of Colleen Bingham, Pippa Coale, Shariq Haidery and Arman Qazi were not the quickest on the course, but they made the least mistakes. As a result they were crowned Rochdale Champions.

Rochdale Mini

Olympics

The U9 team were bronze medallists in this event, whilst the U10 team were silver medallists. The school struck individual gold with Harris Husnain in the egg and spoon race, whilst Gareth Tasttersall and Luke Butterworth won the three-legged event for the under 10s.

Cricket U11 Girls Rochdale - 4th v St Vincent’s lost v Crossgates lost v Milnrow Parish lost

Skiing Daisi Daniels, Year 4, took part in the British Indoor Skiing Grand Prix Series Mini 2 land was awarded 1

st

Place 2011 over both days. Daisi won trophies for both downhill events.

Athletics ISA North of England Finals U13’s Boys 100m : Conor Leyland - 4

th

U15’s Girls 800m : Rebecca Whitaker - 5

th

Independent Prep School In the Interschool Prep Athletics Beech House had three medal winners. Joshua Ogunbanjo won the gold in the U11 200m and the bronze in the 100m. Vienna Simic was second in the 400m and Yusuf Siddique won the U10 200m. The final positions were:- 1

st Highfield Priory

2nd

Forest School 3

rd Bury Catholic Prep

4th

Firwood Manor 5

th Clarendon Cottage

6th

Hillcrest Grammar 7

th Prenton Prep

8th

Beech House

Rebecca Whitaker represented Rochdale at the Greater Manchester Schools Athletics Championships.

Rochdale PE Festival U12 Rounders – Champions v Holy Family won 15.5 : 6.5 v St. Annes won 13.5 : 3.5 v St. Cuthbert’s lost 6 : 9 v Siddal Moor won 7.5 : 6.5 Semi Final v Wardle won 5.5 : 5 Final v Holy Family won on rounders scored due to rain U12 Football – 3

rd

v Brownhill won 3 : 1 v Hollingworth drew 0 : 0 v Cardinal Langley won 1 : 0 v Holy Family drew 1 : 1 Semi Final v Oulder Hill lost 0 : 3 U12 Handball – 3

rd

Rugby U 11 Rochdale v St.Vincents lost 2 : 5 v Alice Ingham won 4 : 1 v St. James lost 3 : 6 v St. Johns lost 3 : 4

Water Polo U 14 Regional Finals - 4th v King Edwards lost 0 : 10 v Kings lost 0 : 9 v Warwick lost 1 : 9

Rounders

The U11 team should be congratulated in being runners up in their ISA tournament. U11 ISA North of England v Greenbank lost 10: 15 v The Firs won 27: 20 v Cransley won 31 : 18 v Hillcrest won 32 : 8 v Oakhill won 37 : 8 Friendly v Broadfield won 15.5 :1.5 U13 Rochdale - 5th v St Anne’s - lost 6 : 10 v Falinge lost 7 :7 .5 v Matthew Moss lost 3.5 : 2.5 v Siddal Moor lost 6.5 : 9.5 v Holy Family v Cardinal Langley lost 1 : 9.5 U14 ISA North of England – 4

th

v Bridgewater drew 8 : 8 v Queen Ethelburgha’s lost 3 : 19 v Hill House lost 1 : 15 v Hull Collegiate lost 2 : 16 U14 Rochdale v Cardinal Langley lost 1 : 9.5

House Points All pupils in the Prep Departments of the school are to be congratulated on the number of House Points they have achieved this year. Mercury were the winners just two House points per pupil, over a year. The final totals for the year are:- 1

st Mercury - 2480

2nd

Saturn - 2347 3

rd Neptune - 1856

4th Jupiter - 1209

At the third time of asking the Prep Sports Day took place with glorious weather. The lead repeatedly changed throughout the event which was won on the last relay race by Saturn and House Captain James Booth collected the trophy on their behalf. The final scores were: Mercury 116, Saturn110, Neptune 85 and Jupiter 56. The Seniors took to the track on an overcast day. In a competition were the lead changed hands many times, Saturn reversed the House fortunes from the day before. The trophy was collected by the House Captain, Kelley Bramley. The final totals were: Saturn 156, Neptune143, Mercury 132 and Jupiter 113. The parent’s races were won by last year’s winners, Mrs Simic and Mr Slater.

Beech House News Page 7 of 7

Sports Day

Soccer The U14 team won their league, whilst the U16's were runners up. U7’s Football – Friendly v Broadfield lost 3 : 6 v St John’s lost 2 : 3 U9 Rochdale Finals v Holy Trinity lost 0 : 1 v St. John's won 1 : 0 v St. Mary's lost 0 : 6 v St. James drew 1 : 1

U11 Rochdale - 3rd U13 RMSFA v St Cuthberts lost 0 : 3 v St Anne’s won 3 : 0 v Falinge Park drew 0 : 0 v Holly Family drew 2 : 2 v Oulder Hill drew 2 : 2

U14 League v Rossendale (h) won 15 : 0 Conor Leyland (Year 8) has had trials with Oldham Athletic.

Netball U11 Rochdale v Caldershaw lost 3 :12 v Meanwood lost 0 : 7 v Meanwood lost 1 : 4 U11 Merseyside v Avalon lost 0 : 7 v Carleton lost 1 : 4 v Prenton lost 1 : 8 v Liverpool College lost 1 :13

Boxing Beech House enter five boxers in the Greater Manchester Inter-Schools Boxing Championships held at Abraham Moss School. The school produced four champions, Akbar Awan, Aston Buckley, Ali Nawaz and Aleem Tahir. Asim Saleem lost his bout. Beech House provided the most winners in the competition, and as a result was presented with the Fr George Saintsbury Cup as the top school in Manchester by Anthony Crolla, the British Lightweight Champion. Aston Buckley, Kingsley Benson, Megan Klymowec and Awan Akbar have all reached the standard required to box at ABA level.

Vollyball Manchester Schools The school enter this event for the first time and the U11 team lost to Irlam in the semi-finals to win the bronze medal.

Rochdale

Awards The school was nominated for the participation category, whilst Gareth Tatterall was nominated in the sportsmanship category.

National Schools

Sports Day The weather held fine as the Senior pupils competed in eight different sports. Their scores from each event were added together. In the afternoon the staff maintained their unbeaten record with a narrow victory against the pupils in the rounders match.