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December 14
Welcome to this, the last e-news of 2014. As all our communications will make clear, be it the school
magazine, the weekly bulletins, these e-newsletters, the website or our Facebook page, there is a
huge amount happening in this small, busy and achieving school. I do, however, want to draw your
attention to one particular recent publication: our Quality and Standards Report. This report, which
you should have received through a 'bag drop', ie, via the children, chronicles our achievements in
recent times and gives a clear indication of where we're going. If, for whatever reason, you didn't
receive a copy, let us know and we will rectify the situation. All that remains is for me to wish you all a
peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
John P Owen
Headmaster
Beaconhurst Production of Les Misérables
In the summer term of 2015, the Beaconhurst Expressive Arts group will be
performing Les Misérables at the Macrobert Theatre.
Les Misérables the play is based on a French historical novel written by Victor
Hugo. The story follows several characters from 1815 to the June rebellion in
Paris in 1832.
The boys with the main parts are: Jack Elfick as Valjean, Jack Robertson as
The Bishop, Daniel Baxter as Feuilly, Fraser Macpherson as Enjolrad, Blair
Fletcher as Marius, Jamie Salem-Dalgety and Felix Mackle as Thenardier.
The girls with the main parts are: Rachael Harbinson as Fantine, Jodie Differ as Eponine, Aimee White
as Madame Thenardier and Jana Tobin as Cosette.
The casts are currently rehearsing a song of the show called “At the End of the Day”. This is the scene
when Fantine loses her job and is forced to shave her hair off to sell for money and become a
prostitute. This is a sad and poignant part of the show.
Football Medals
Liam and Aidan Beveridge in J3 received medals for their
commitment to training and participation in matches from
their local football team, Cairneyhill Athletic.
Expressive Arts Showcase
This year, the senior cast of Beaconhurst are tackling the exceptionally well known and challenging
production of Les Misérables. It has been almost six years since the first performance of Les
Misérables at the school, but armed with a new cast, the Expressive Arts department were more than
eager to take on the show once again.
At Beaconhurst, there is also an exceptional range of great work within clubs and as a result we
thought we would share some of the talent with you. On Tuesday 11th November, this talent was
showcased to the members of the Beaconhurst community and the evening featured a combination of
drama presentations and songs from Les Misérables. Everything shown had been created and
performed entirely by the pupils and needless to say the night was a big success.
The showcase opened with a Higher drama presentation written by the cast themselves. This piece
featured returning faces such as Felix Mackle and Jack Robertson and was well performed and
thought-provoking. Next up, were two songs from the upcoming production of Les Misérables. The
songs “Bring Him Home” and “Stars”, sung by Jack Elfick and Jamie Salem-Dalgety respectively, were
expertly performed and really proved that the show will be one to watch. Jodie Differ (who portrayed
Mrs Lovett in last year’s production of Sweeney Todd) also sung “On My Own” with great emotion. It
is also worth noting that Rachael Harbinson accompanied the soloists on the piano and showed
exceptional skill and talent. To round of a fantastic night of expressive arts, the senior drama club
presented “The Fall of the House of Usher” – a piece adapted by Jack Elfick from Edgar Allan Poe’s
original work. This piece was also a joy to watch and featured members of the Senior Drama Club.
Overall, the evening was a great success and it was fantastic to see new and returning members of the
cast producing and presenting their drama pieces with aplomb.
Junior School Halloween Disco
Our Junior School pupils had a fantastic time at their Halloween Disco, organised by the P.T.A. There
were vampires, ghosts, ghouls, witches, pirates and even a werewolf! They had fun "dooking" for
apples and expended their energy dancing along to the superb disco.
Jewellery Making
J3 made jewellery from Pumpkin Seeds.
They are pictured with their finished products.
Miss Teen Scotland Charity
S5 pupil Aimeé White recently took part in the Miss Teen Scotland Charity pageant
and after performing on the catwalk and following an interview, she was chosen as
the Miss Teen Scotland Charity winner for 2014.
Junior Trailblazers
The two Junior School Trailblazers Clubs shared a trip to the
purpose-built mountain bike trails at Callendar Estates in Falkirk.
They were guided around the trails by Mr Sanderson and Mr
Meharry; Mr Bray and Finlay
Watson's dad also came along to
help.
The children all did really well and
showed how much they’ve improved their skills but most of all had
a great time and were a credit to the school!
Mr D Sanderson
Outdoor Education Coordinator
New Lanark Visit
When we went to New Lanark, we did lots of cool stuff. The whole place was about Robert Owen
who made life better for children and adults.
The creepiest part was the Annie McLeod Experience because it was all about Annie’s life and ghosts.
We went in a chair that moved so slowly. I got a bit nervous because I thought that it would go very
fast and twist us around and upside down.
My favourite part was when we did a role play. We went back to 1835 to a school room and
pretended to be Victorian school children. We learned quickly how strict the teachers used to be.
We put on dresses and tunics just like the children had to do and we wrote out the alphabet in the
same way Victorians would have. We used slate to write on during the lessons and there were no
rubbers if we made a mistake. We also had a dance lesson where we learned the Grand Old Duke of
York and also heard a poem about cows.
During our geography lesson I got to point out some countries on a huge map of the world. During
our maths lesson we were able to use a real abacus. The final lesson was about animals and in
Victorian times they actually brought a real baby crocodile into the school room. After lunch, we got
a tour of one of the millworker’s houses. It was very cramped and I would have hated to live like
that! We also went into one of the cotton mills and got to see all the dangerous jobs that children
would have done.
I loved the trip! I recommend it to take your family or friends because it is very fun and I really
enjoyed it.
Eva Laird Daly J4
Junior Start Nursery and Junior School Christmas Shows
(photos courtesy of Whyler Photos - available to buy from www.whylerphotos.com)
National Girls Choir of Scotland
I had the opportunity to be involved with the National Girls Choir of Scotland (NGC).
On Saturday 1st November this year, along with the NGC choir of 2013, I was invited to sing with
the choir in Old St. Pauls Church, Edinburgh, and be recorded by the BBC for the watch night
service on Christmas Eve.
The programme is due to be shown on BBC1 on Christmas Eve between 2330 and 0030. I am very
excited about this experience and unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you wish, am in
the front row and can't be missed!
Jana Tobin S5
Cross Country Racing
Heather Hale J5, started Canicross racing at the beginning of
this year. Canicross is cross country racing attached to a dog
with a harness. Heather has really enjoyed this and has placed
1st at the last 2 races in her age group.
The most recent event was at Foxlake near Dunbar where she
achieved 1st place again with her adult racing partner Lindsay
of Cani-Fit and her amazing working Cocker Spaniel, Pippa.
Swimming Success
Murray Dickson J4, came 1st in the 50m front crawl and 3rd in the 50m
backstroke at the Milngavie and Bearsden Mini Graded Meet on 19th
October.
He also took part in the Stirling Tri-Club Aquathlon on 12th October and came
second in the boys age 8 category.
Shoe Box Appeal
The Rotary Club of Bridge of Allan and Dunblane is
again supporting the Shoebox Appeal. Last year,
over 300 boxes were filled by schools and local
organisations in Bridge of Allan and Dunblane,
including our Junior School here at Beaconhurst. It
was a great achievement.
This year the Rotary are hoping to beat this target
and we are happy once again to be supporting this
appeal. The programme is now well established with
distribution continuing throughout the year to
countries such as Romania, Belarus, Ukraine,
Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, and Kosovo.
J3 Science Festival Review
"It was good entertainment, I liked the chemicals that he
used" - Shreyas Salunke
"I thought it was awesome. I loved when Dr Bunhead's
head was on fire" - Arandeep Bassi
"I thought it was good from start to finish" - Marissa
Hunter
"I liked it when the firework went off and when Dr
Bunhead shot the potato out of the plastic tube" Cameron Tung
"I thought it was amazing when Dr Bunhead came out into
the room with a flame on his head" - Rachel Myers
"I thought it was amazing! I loved the fireworks at the
end" - Zoe Gourley
Please note, Junior Start Nursery resumes 8am on Tuesday 6th January and
Junior and Senior School resumes 8.45am Wednesday 7th.
All that's left to say is:
Beaconhurst School
52 Kenilworth Road
Bridge of Allan
Stirling
FK9 4RR
Telephone:
01786 832146
[email protected]
E-mail:
www.beaconhurst.com
Website:
A company limited by guarantee (SCO 39250) and registered charity (SC) 05753)