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Spring

2020

Beech House News Inside Story page 2

• Rochdale Youth Festival of Performing Arts

page 3 • School Awards • House Points

page 4 • Berlin page 5

• World Book Day

Winners page 6

• Winmarleigh Hall

page 6 • Biology

Challenge Awards

Once again World Book Day coincided with GCSE results day. Year 11 celebrated an excellent series of results in English Language, English Literature and Mathematics. It was surreal to be handing out results to fictional characters, many from the English Literature texts. In English 24% of the pupils achieved a grade 9 and 77% achieved a grade 7 or above. The pass rate at grade 5 or above in English was 94%. All the pupils were entered at the Foundation Level in Mathematics, with 69% obtaining a grade 4 or 5. As nobody could predict, this turned out to be the only formal GCSE examinations Year 11 would sit. At least they did themselves proud.

GCSE SUCCESS

Published Author

Congratulations to Mrs Islam on her soon to be published book ‘Amazing Muslims Who Changed the World’. A richly illustrated and stunning collection of the true stories behind both modern and historical Muslim heroes, this book is one of the first of its kind in celebrating the achievements of Muslims around the world. It is a collection of 30 stories around the lives of famous and little known Muslims and is a must read.

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Beech House News

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The Beech House Upper Prep Choir

The winners in the Speech Section

Rochdale Youth Festival of Performing Arts The Beech House Music Department was proud to

send three soloists and two choirs to the Rochdale Youth Festival for Performing Arts. Our soloists were Ella Raw on guitar, Maria Grange on piano and Harriet Whitbread on the flute. They were all fantastic! Both the Beech House Upper Prep Choir and the Beech House Lower Prep Choir performed as well. The Upper Prep Choir performed in two categories, songs in unison and part songs! They performed two rousing, upbeat pieces (Ease on Down the Road and the Harvest Tango) and two slower, serious pieces (Dona Nobis Pacem and Hey Ho, Anybody Home). The fast pieces were fun and energetic, and the judges complimented us on memorizing all the words! The slow pieces were beautiful and melodic, and the judges complimented us on singing both a cappella (without any instruments). The Lower Prep Choir performed in the Talented Tinies category and performed Fact Not Fiction and Growing Stronger Every Day. The students did an amazing job, and the judges complimented on such a small choir singing with such loud voices! In the Speech section, Aayan Malik and Omer Afzal were highly commended in the Individual Prepared Talk section. Imaan Afzal, Anais Aston and Antonio Nangle were awarded highly commended in the Individual Prepared Reading Prose section. Avalee Sullivan-Manders was placed first and Arabella Hey was awarded second place. Luchia Wild, Ihsaan Al Haqq, Fatima Afzal, Imaan Afzal, Yumna Rana and Falisha Malik were all awarded Highly Commended. Congratulations go to Arabella Hey who was awarded the Wrigley Trophy Individual Reading (Poetry) Year 13 and under. This is a great achievement considering Arabella is in Year 3! The last time there was a Beech House winner of this trophy, they went on to read English at Oxford. No pressure there then Arabella!.

Upper Prep In English, Year 5 and 6 have been finding out about The North Pole and climate change. They created comic strips to teach children about the plight of the polar bears. The winners were: 1st - Lauren El-Hage (Year 6) 2nd - Yumna Rana (Year 5) 3rd - Leonardo Fernandez (Year 5)

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Beech House News

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PROGRESS AWARDS

SCHOOL AWARDS In the Senior Department the following pupils have been awarded 20 merits and received their Bronze Certificate: Harry Hurst-Grover, Rayan Hussain, Mahek Ifikhar, Mathilda Whitbread, Sophie Wilkinson and William Woodworth The Silver has been earned by Eva Porter. The Upper Prep Ruby award for 50 House Points was awarded to: Fatima Afzal, Saad Ali, Samih Anwar, Ismail Choudary,Charlie Cornell, Arabella Hey and Ammar Kayani. Yahya Tahir has been awarded his Emerald Award for 100 House Points. In the Lower Award Hassan Farooq and Eesa Tahir achieved their Red Rainbow award for 50 House Points. The Orange Rainbow award was earned by Haania Anwar for 100 House Points.

HOUSE POINTS The totals at the end of the Spring Term are: Neptune : 345 Saturn : 304 Mercury : 286 Jupiter : 280

Excitement of Science A mixture of pupils from Years 8 to11 went to this year’s Excitement of Science lecture organised by the Worsley Rotary Club, at Manchester University. It was presented by Eamonn Kerrins and was entitled 'The Search for Aliens'. He is an astrophysicist and senior lecturer based at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, part of the Department of Physics & Astronomy within the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Manchester. He took us on a wild ride around the universe explaining how astronomers hunt for signs of life. He explained, with the help of the Hubble spacecraft pictures, the characterisation of exoplanet atmospheres through transmission spectroscopy studies and the detection of exoplanets using the microlensing effect. He also explained optical and near-infrared time-domain surveys of our Galaxy and its neighbours. Some pupils found it 'beyond them' whilst others found it very interesting.

CHRISTMAS There was standing room for the Lower Prep for their production of ‘Once upon a Christmas Time’. The capacity audience were treated to an outstanding production. Thanks go to the director, Miss Dwyer and the cast. It was obvious from the quality of the production how much time the pupils had spent learning their lines. This was followed by the Christmas Fair. The highlight of the week for the pupils was a special visitor at the Lower Prep. Santa arrived and was helped by his elves – one of whom the pupils decided was naughty! They were also entertained by Mr Mayers on guitar!

Which of the elves is the naughty one?

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 - Maame Hammond Reception - Haania Anwar Year 1 - Rayan Mahmood Year 3 - Arabella Hey Year 4 - Yahya Tahir Year 6 – Hajrah Bashir and

Maxwell White

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Beech House News

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BERLIN

Day1: After a very early journey to Berlin on Monday morning, we unpacked and settled into our rooms. We then wrapped up and explored Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish and the gypsy memorials. Day 2: We were up early ready for another cold and windy day in Berlin. First stop was the Berlin Wall memorial. We went into the visitor centre and enjoyed an informative video. Next, we moved onto the Topography of Terror. This was a museum detailing how the Nazi party came into power and committed numerous atrocities. After stopping for lunch at Hakershire market we went to the Berlin dungeons. Ella was accused of being a witch, Nicole had a ‘surgical procedure’ and Matt was found guilty of being a fashion disaster.

Day 3: It was a very busy day! We started off at Checkpoint Charlie. Unfortunately, the museum was closed so we had to make do with the information displayed on the ways around the check point. We then went to KaDeWe, a designer department store. Alex and Declan tried on some very expensive clothes, while Muaiz decided to go on a bit of a spending spree. Next on the list was the Berlin bunker. We went inside the massive concrete structure and learned all out the history of Berlin during World War II. We left the bunker and headed to the site of Adolf Hitler’s bunker. His bunker has been destroyed, but it was still fascinating being at the site where he had spent so much time. Afterwards we had time for some souvenir shopping before going to the Reichstag. Mrs Grange had some trouble getting past security, but we eventually managed to get in. In the middle of the Reichstag is a large glass dome with a spiral staircase. The top of the staircase gave us some great views over the city. We enjoyed an evening meal at Andy's Diner. It was an American style restaurant and gave us the opportunity to celebrate Lucy's birthday. After eating, the Year11s were treated to a bit of free time in the city. Day 4: In the morning we got a coach and travelled to Tropical Island Water Park. The water park was in a huge building about an hour and a half outside of Berlin. The park included a variety of slides indoor and outdoor pools. We then went out for our evening meal in central Berlin. When we arrived back at the hotel, we had our traditional awards night. Day 5 : Our last day was split into a morning of Writter Sports chocolate factory, the Burning of the Books monument and shopping at a discount designer department store. We then ate lunch in central Berlin before heading back to the hotel for the final time and making our way to the airport for our return journey to Manchester. I would Just like this opportunity to say a big thank you to all the staff for all their hard work.

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Beech House News

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Lower Prep The Nursery and Reception children have enjoyed planting potatoes. They are now waiting eagerly for them to grow!

Liverpool Years 5 & 6 annual trip to Liverpool coincided with World Book Day this year. A full bus of characters went on a jolly trip to visit the Liverpool Maritime Museum and The Liverpool Museum. The pupils left cold dull Rochdale for the sunny riverfront. They enjoyed having their lunch alfresco before having a cultured afternoon listening to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra especially doing the ‘penguin dance’!

WORLD BOOK DAY

To celebrate World Book Day, both staff and students at Beech House School pulled out all the stops and transformed into our favourite literary characters. The worlds of Peter Rabbit, Harry Potter, Of Mice and Men and plenty more collided, turning Beech House into a wonderland of colourful characters. Students had the opportunity to participate in reading exercises throughout the day, immersing themselves in the latest stories currently topping the book-selling charts. Themes of privilege, identity and hardship were all explored, as well as timely reminders to always have hope. Upper Prep had a mini-book sale too, paying 20p per book. Our pupils raised £13.20, meaning 66 books were bought and sold! An enormous thank you goes to those who donated such lovely stories and for taking home some new, exciting ones too. To top the day off, prizes were given to those best dressed. Our Senior winners were Maria Grange for Curley’s Wife, Aryan Mahmood for the Joker and Archie Mayer for his impression of Tin Tin. Our Upper Prep winners were Farhaan Shoaib for Mega Man, Evie Wallett for Poppy and Amelia Gorton Rigg for Beetle Juice. In the Lower Prep, the winners were Mohammed Yahya for Postman Pat, Maryam Sohail for Golidlocks and the Three Bears, Mariam Mahmood for Mary Poppins and Gabriella Nangle for Wonder Woman. Not to be outdone the staff winners were Mr Mayers in the Seniors, Mrs Abbas in the Prep and Miss Pickles in the Lower Prep.

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Beech House News

Livvy K

Livvy K attended the school to entertain the Senior pupils. The session began with an outstanding performance of some of her songs. This was followed by a mental health, online safety and cyber bullying presentation. The pupils participated in a Q&A with Livvy K about the presentation and the artist, and finally an autograph session for the pupils. The live performance is so engaging, that when the message was being delivered, pupils wanted to be involved and were hanging off her every word.

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Winmarleigh Hall This year’s residential for Year 4 to Year 7 was at PGL Winmarleigh Hall. It was a week rich in experience, of conquering their fears of heights, being away from home for the first time, for some and getting to know each other in challenging situations and working as a team. The children had many opportunities to learn and develop new skills; from the thrills and spills of the high activities, to the problem-solving teamwork activities. Each day was fully packed with five group activities, including giant swing, high ropes, zip wire Canoeing, archery, trapeze, raft building, abseiling and learning to drive the all-terrain vehicle. Each evening we had activities like ambush, campfire, passport to the world, and a disco to finish off the week. When reflecting on our week the children were able to highlight many examples of perseverance, courage, friendship, trust, compassion and respect, which they had witnessed at Winmarleigh Hall. The enthusiasm with which the children approached all these learning opportunities was great to witness. They all had such positive attitudes towards trying their best. The week provided them with memorable experiences which they will never forget. On the morning of our final day the children were keen to reminisce and reflect on their week, channelling their motivation and enthusiasm resulted in some amazing work. We had rounded off our week with a talk on the minibus during the return journey, recalling emotions and telling anecdotes about each activity. They returned as more experienced and developed children.

Biology Challenge

Congratulations to the following pupils for their achievement in this year’s Biology Challenge:

Silver Award

Nicole Healey, Ella Raw & Sophie Wilkinson

Bronze Award

Anique Ali, Pieter Ayal-Mullock , Maria Grange & Ruby Peters-Ali

Highly Commended Award

Omer Afzal, Anikait Chopra, Ateeq Ur-Rahman & Ibrahim Khan

Commended Award

Dominic Dodd, Jannat Khan, Aneesa Imaan, Matthew Hankinson, Noah Hartley & Charlotte Higginson