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This Week’s News from the Senior Department
Leadership through Service
In last week’s Senior Department assembly, I spoke to the pupils about updating their Leadership through Service portfolios. Before half term, I had also reflected with them upon October’s Black History Month and also the concept of Leadership through Service, by discussing the example of Martin Luther King Jnr, the great Civil Rights Leader. There is no doubt that Martin Luther King Jnr played a crucial role in leading those campaigning for Civil Rights in America and he was most certainly leading through serving others.
As many of you will be aware, for a number of years we have operated a Leadership through Service Award in the Senior Department at Beechwood. The programme works in line with the School’s Mission, to Nurture, Engage and Inspire and the Senior Department’s aims to develop confident and independent learners. The Leadership through Service Award helps pupils to develop their leadership skills and qualities through reflectiveness, recognising and recording how their achievements, qualities and skills at Beechwood, and outside School, have had a positive impact upon others. The Leadership through Service Award is a continuation, and development, of the Beechwood Park Award that operates in the Middle Department. Both Awards complement our Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHEE) programme and our new Future Skills curriculum.
This term, we have re-launched the Leadership through Service, with a framework of eight key areas to help guide pupils to develop their understanding of leadership, and also to help structure their Leadership through Service activities: Teamwork; Communication; Problem Solving; Creativity; Community & Enterprise; Aspiration & Achievement; Resilience and Responsibility.
Each Senior Department pupil has an e-portfolio on Google Classroom, where they document their journey through all three years of the Senior Department creating a record of their rich and varied lives in and out of School; some are ornate with images and videos; others reflections on their impact upon others, and, whatever their author’s ability, are records of each child’s co-curricular and pastoral journey as they progress through Beechwood. They provide you, us and them, with a record of their growing sense of self and as leaders within their communities. As each year progresses, Form Teachers recommend pupils for either a ‘Bronze’, ‘Silver’, ‘Gold’ or ‘Platinum’ award. More information on the Leadership through Service Award is available on your child’s Google Classroom.
I hope that all Senior Department pupils will enjoy recording, sharing and reflecting on their personal development and on their continuing Leadership through Service journey through the Senior Department.
Mr Cook
Drama
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
On Tuesday evening, Year 7 visited The Troubadour, Wembley Park to see the brilliant stage production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Budding theatre critic Felix M (7MC) summed up the experience as follows – (click image to enlarge):
Meanwhile, Top Form created their own version of a mini-scene from the play (physical theatre style). In this scene, Christopher arrives home from school:
Year 6 are studying Refugee Boy, a play adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah’s novel. They recorded some scenes where they explored different physical and vocal skills to create tension. Here is a recording from each Year 6 class.
