Beaconverse Podcast
Educational Inspiration and Insight Into Beacon Life.
Beaconverse Podcast
Beaconverse Episode 6 - Upper School
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In this month’s episode of Beaconverse, we were pleased to welcome Mrs Olhausen and Mr Tenison, who were accompanied by two of our Year 8 boys, to discuss life in Upper School at The Beacon.
We explore the benefits of staying at the school in Years 7 and 8, learn a bit about the Senior School preparation programme, as well as hear from the boys who highlight some of their favourite parts of Upper School.
Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoy!
Hello and welcome to Beacon First, the Beacon School monthly podcast where we endeavour to inspire you with educational topics as well as giving you insight into Beacon life.
SPEAKER_04Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy. In this episode, we will be covering Upper School at the Beacon. We're pleased to welcome Nikki Olhausen, Acting Deputy Head of Academic, and Edward Tennyson, head of upper school. Joining them are two of our year eight boys, Max and Rory. Welcome everyone.
unknownHello?
SPEAKER_04How are you? We've got a few questions for you which we'll um run through. Can you begin by telling us about some of the benefits of staying at the Beacon and partaking in the upper school programme?
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you very much. The upper school has subject-specific teachers in smaller class sizes than boys who would have been used to in the middle school. And also not only that, they you've got smaller tutor groups as well, and then the parcel care obviously with those academic staff, they very much know the pupils inside out. So by the time they leave in year eight, it's uh knowledge of the staff of those boys is except is second to none. Uh that then benefits so many areas of their education, be it in senior school preparation uh and guiding and advising for those schools. There are so many other opportunities apart from the being the more tailored education and smaller numbers, uh, the role uh scholarship opportunities in DT art, performing art and music and academics, and I think our list of awards over the last sort of five, six years is testament to that, and testament to the passion of those teachers who give up not just curriculum time but a lot of their own personal time to prepare those boys for whatever they are doing. Uh, this, of course, is all underpinned with our PSB or the Prep School Baccalaureate, where subjects will test boys at certain points in the year. So it means we do lots more modular work, which for a vast number of boys is a beneficial way of uh assessing them. So I hope that gives a little flavour of staying on and staying into the upper school.
SPEAKER_06Right, thank you. Thank you very much. Um, boys, what do you enjoy the most about being at the Beacon?
SPEAKER_01Uh I probably enjoy most probably sport, seemingly as I'm a very sporty boy, and there's lots of sports. We have five sessions of sport each week, so probably that. What's your favourite sport?
SPEAKER_03Football.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I probably agree with Rory. Sports probably one of the best aspects, especially as we get to play games on Wednesdays against other schools, and we get to compete in matches and sometimes even competitions, and yeah, that's probably the best aspect of school.
SPEAKER_04Thank you. So, Nikki and Ed, um do you believe the boys benefit more from staying at prep school um for the extra two years in the upper school?
SPEAKER_02Um yes, I 100% think that they do, and one of my favourite quotes of the moment is we're called a prep school for a reason. So I fully believe that we prepare the boys for their senior schools but also for life. There are all sorts of things that go into the senior school here, the upper school here. Um, Ed's alluded to some of those. Um, and we really do feel that the boys benefit because they become they mature with us, and we kind of school them and prep them for um in in all sorts of ways. It could be academic things, um and of course that's a very strong aspect of the upper school at the Beacon, but also I think maturity in in relationships and and the way they behave and conduct themselves socially, it's really true to say that the the upper school boys are set apart here in all sorts of ways, but one of them is is really visual, they wear blue braid on their blazers, um, and that sets them apart. So, you know, right from the moment they step into year seven, we are very strongly advocating the whole idea of them being role models to the younger boys. They're looked up to, they if they've been in the beacon for a long time themselves, they will have looked up to the upper school boys, you know, and it's a real mark of maturity, and we expect a lot from them in return. We do lots of work on preparing for senior schools, and that's with parents and boys, you know, on that journey of looking for which is the right school for for each boy because it's such an individual thing. We look at assessments and we look at how the senior schools will try and get people in, you know, more how they want to test them, and we will support the boys in that process as well. Ed mentioned as well the PSB, the pre-senior baccalaureate. Well, one of the aspects of that in the upper school is the thing called the PSPQ, which is very much like what year 13 students will do, and it's called an EPQ. And the PSPQ is a research-based piece of work, project-based, and it involves an awful lot of independence. So, again, you know, coming back to why is it beneficial to be in the upper school, I would say that's crucial, really, trying to build resilience, independence, and and a real sense of you know how to um hone skills that will make them fit for life, really.
SPEAKER_00When you're at the top of a school, and especially a small school, it's a great sense of pride, and whereas when you move on into secondary school, you might be in the top year, but you have then the issues and the pressures of A levels and public school public exams, and you can be in a year of 100 to 150, 200 pupils, whereas here it's half that. And so you can be a big fish in a small pond. So I think that that is actually a very big bonus of being in the upper school.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and alongside developing new relationships as well, and the pressures of that and the social circles.
SPEAKER_06Um, Rory and Max, um, do you think that staying on for years seven and eight has made a difference to your education?
SPEAKER_07Uh yeah, I think it has because we kind of get a like a feel for what it feels to be like, to be responsible, like you can take your own decision. If you want to revise, that's your decision, and it shows in your grades and things, so it just gives us a taste what it would be like in later on in life, and it's like responsibility for the to show the example for the younger boys. Uh some of the younger boys actually, as they said, um look up to us, and I know, and Rory probably knows, as we're here in year three, we were looking at the older boys going, Wow, it would not be so cool. They have all these braided blazers and uh they have these cool calculators that calculate. But yeah, that's that's generally what happened. We we saw the different coloured calculators and we were like, wow, that'll be up someday.
SPEAKER_04Um thank you. Um so the beacon offers many opportunities to be involved in um leadership role. Can you give us a few examples please?
SPEAKER_02Um there are all sorts of different things, and again we try and get the boys to really think about what would suit them and to be aspirational. So one of the one of the things they can apply to be is Head Boy, and that's um the interview takes place with um Ed and with the head teacher, and it's quite an interesting process. They have to apply, they have to write a letter, and then they're interviewed to find out whether they're suitable or not. So there's Head Boy, there's the Deputy Head Boys, there's Heads of House opportunities as well, so there's um all of those different opportunities for boys to get involved in. But on top of that, there are also opportunities for boys to read with the younger boys in school. So, for instance, some of the year eight boys this year have been reading with year fours, and um the feedback's been quite phenomenal. So, you know, in some respects it might be like, well, that's not really a role of responsibility, but it absolutely is, and it comes down to again the role modelling and the idea that they would spend some of their time and go and help the year fours. The year fours have absolutely adored that, they really have. Um so there's been that, there's been there will be opportunities as well for peer mentors in a similar vein. Um, so there are roles of responsibility all across the school, and I think depending on what your interests are, there is something that you can get involved in, you know, and and it's it's definitely something to aspire to.
SPEAKER_06And boys, have either of you taken part in any roles of responsibility, and what skills have you gained from these?
SPEAKER_01Uh so I have when we did house football in your eight, I was like the captain of the team, and I learned like you you have to have good leadership skills, like don't give up, like make your voice heard. Yeah. Like encourage the maybe not so talented players, yeah, uh, help them get through like the match and try their hardest.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, great, fantastic, thank you.
SPEAKER_04Um so we know you have lots of exciting activities planned for the Year Eight Leavers programme this year. Can you tell us a bit about them and um why this program is so important?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so there's huge amounts going on. We we we go off our formal timetable, uh academic timetable, uh the end of the first half of the summer term, and then the second half, which is this the four and a half weeks for us, the the main focus is is a play, and actually this year they're doing the two players are doing a uh a dramatic production of brainstorm which looks the teenage mind. So, actually, for all of our boys that should be right up their street because if they haven't hit puberty yet or only just starting to, it was certainly something they'll be they'll have their own questions to ask about that, but actually for them to act it out as well is is fantastic. There's more of the musical production in Guys and Dolls, which uh that's a wonderful event for them, and they're they're very fortunate they're taking it up to the Edward Fringe Festival in August. There are a few are then going to be looking at doing, say, maybe other things such as filming the plays, and they're also doing some sort of community-based work. I, for example, am taking 11 of them off to pick strawberries for the Jubilee Festival, and we're tying it all in with that. We're also hosting uh the local veterans, uh, armed forces veterans, members of the Royal British Legion, and so we'll give them off some of the strawberries that uh for the for afternoon tea that we picked for there. Uh, there's also a first aid course the boys will do, and I've got a careers fair as well, we've got some parents coming in and they're gonna tell the boys about their experiences in the world of work. Uh, I if there's a bit of time to fill in, I will discuss all of the jobs that I've had over the years. I think some of them might be slightly surprised about that. We can also fill in some what we call life skills. Now, some of them will be very good at these, others, their skills in this area might leave a little bit to be desired. Final full week of term, we've got a residential trip where we came down to New Key for some more sports and other excitement on the beach. And then we've got a couple of what I call nice juicy trips to we're going to Imperial War Museum at Duxford and then to Thor Park for a bit of bit of fun.
SPEAKER_06Um boys, what are you most looking forward to taking part in during your final half term at the Beacon?
SPEAKER_07Um probably like the Leavers programme, that's gonna be like a fun thing to look forward to as uh we've done all the exams and things we can just relax a bit more and we can try just have fun as we're going to like uh new key soon and things like that. I just think it'll be um a great thing to look forward to.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, Corey?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, pretty much the same. I'm looking forward to go to uh uh go to new key foot park.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, very exciting. Um and how has your experience with applying to senior or grammar schools been?
SPEAKER_01Uh they've been fine. I have uh applied and got into Ship Lake. Congratulations! Thank you. Got a look around the school and I thought it was a very nice school. Uh we used all the facilities which are very good, and the classrooms.
SPEAKER_04Well, thank you very much, everyone. That was really good.
SPEAKER_01Thanks very much.
SPEAKER_03Thank you.
SPEAKER_04Thank you.