It’s been a busy first week back after the Easter holidays with lots of celebrations to share with you!

At Primary Mrs Dixon challenged her class to write instructions without any help. Look at how helpful Mark’s instructions are…great job Mark!

At Secondary the Bonsai pupils made an amazing start to the term with their pie chart work in Maths. On Tuesday Kelvin proved that he could draw a perfect pie chart; he measured and drew his angles to the exact degree which really impressed Miss Burrows, especially given that at the start of the lesson he was unsure what a pie chart was! On Wednesday both Adam and Kelvin learned how to interpret pie charts by first using their knowledge of fractions, then moving onto interpreting them from being given the angles of each category. They particularly enjoyed using the scientific calculators to complete this work; it is important that pupils develop their confidence in using scientific calculators in preparation for their Maths GCSE exams.

On Wednesday Brooke had her first Maths lesson in the Aspens group; she earned herself a sticker and lots of praise from Miss Burrows for her outstanding effort and behaviour.  Brooke said that she had never earned any stickers before and was incredibly proud of herself! And if that wasn’t enough success for one day she then went on to earn herself another sticker and the admiration of Mrs Pattison in the very next lesson for her amazing attitude to learning in English!

During his work based learning placement at Bill Quay Farm, Alan has been learning how to use the digger; he has been learning all aspects of the construction industry and is doing amazing.

This half term pupils are attending surfing lessons at South Shields Surf School. Pupils who have experienced their first lesson this week have had an amazing time and can’t wait to get back in the water next week!

Its been another busy week at The Beacon Centre with lots to report!

Pupils at the secondary site have been enjoying the extensive range of games available to them at break and lunch times; there have been lots of challenges between staff and pupils to see who is the Connect 4 Champion, Defeater of Draughts and Jewel of Jenga! We hadn’t realised just how competitive the pupils and staff can be! It’s great to see pupils practicing essential cognitive skills such as decision making, strategic thinking and problem solving.

In Food Technology this week it has been the battle of the chicken curries with Miss Burrows being the expert judge to crown the Chef of the Week; this accolade went to Alan for his perfect consistency, exceptional flavour and beautiful presentation! Also Kelvin was the winner of the Key Stage 3 pupils with an amazing consistency and marvellous flavour!

This week’s winners of the £10 amazon voucher for the highest number of positive behaviour points were Jon at Secondary and Paul at Primary; well done to both pupils!

Well done to Caitlin in Year 10 for achieving Level 1 Functional Skills in Maths!

Our past pupil Aaron has also achieved his Level 2 Functional Skills in English – Writing; he now only has one more element to achieve in order to have all the qualifications that he needs to begin his apprenticeship as a Teaching Assistant which is English – Speaking and Listening. Aaron came into school today and spoke to Mrs Pattison and Miss Burrows about Police Service Dogs. We’ll keep you informed of the outcome!

This morning two Bonsai pupils, Adam and Olivia, decided to offer ‘housekeeping’ services to all of the teachers at the secondary site by cleaning their whiteboards in preparation for next week’s lessons. They were extremely professional in explaining their service and received lots of gratitude from staff.

In experiential learning today secondary pupils used their initiative, recycled their packed lunch supplies and utilised the elements to craft a water filter to support their studies in Science.

What a week it has been at The Beacon Centre this week!

Firstly a huge well done to our Year 11 students who have sat their mock GCSE examinations this week; they have demonstrated maturity, resilience and determination while sitting their exams. Mock exams will continue on Monday and Tuesday of next week and pupils will receive their results on Tuesday 21st March.

In Maths Miss Burrows’ Learning Legends of the Week are Caitlin and Chuks for their outstanding effort in this week’s lesson on inequalities.

Mrs Graham’s Chef of the Week goes to Daniel for his fantastic fish and chips that he cooked from scratch in Food Technology.

In the Oaks class Laura finished her DT project; did you guess that she was making an apron? Fantastic craftsmanship Laura! Well done!

This week saw the launch of our new rewards incentive in which the three students with the most positive behaviour points go into a draw to win a £10 Amazon voucher. This week’s winners are Mark at Primary and Dylan M at Secondary.

At Primary Savannah was celebrated for her efforts in completing her English work independently and demonstrating beautiful handwriting.

Lastly, leading the way to a brighter future does not stop for The Beacon Centre even when our students have left us; Aaron, one of last year’s Year 11 pupils wanted to further his qualifications in order to broaden his horizons. The Beacon Centre are working with Aaron to enhance his qualifications for him to be able to succeed in securing a place in a Teaching and Learning apprenticeship. Aaron has now passed Functional Skills Level 2 in Maths and is well on his way to passing English reading and writing. Keep up the good work Aaron!

We are proud to announce that we have achieved the first section of the Rainbow Flag Award which is ‘Skilled Teacher’; this section recognises that our staff, including Senior Leadership Team and non-teaching staff, can recognise and consistently challenge and report LGBTphobia, and are confidently using positive and appropriate language around LGBT+ identities.