There was great excitement in school today when children enjoyed a visit from a very special person, at his busiest time of year! Father Christmas came to school and each class were able to visit him in our Learning Pad (which had been transformed into a wonderful Christmas Grotto), where every child received a gift of a cuddly toy and a book.

Needless to say, we had a school full of incredibly excited children by the end of the afternoon, plus a group of very relieved and worn out Father Christmas Elves and Helpers (who bore a strong resemblance to some of our wonderful parents!) Thank you Father Christmas and thank you to our fantastic Beckley School Association! 

Last week, pupils in Blue Spruce class enjoyed a workshop run by King’s Church where they explored the stories behind ‘the story’! In the run up to Christmas, the Nativity story is familiar to most children, but Blue Spruce spent an afternoon ‘digging deeper’ into the story. How did Mary feel when the Angel Gabriel visited her? Why did the Wise Men bring three gifts that really weren’t very ‘baby appropriate’? Was the birth of Jesus predicted in the Bible? 

The Children and Families team from King’s Church used a whole range of immersive and interactive activities to help Blue Spruce investigate and explore the Nativity – solving puzzles, smelling real Frankincense and Myrrh, and handling Old Testament scrolls! It was a really fascinating afternoon and the pupils really enjoyed the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the story that they thought they knew so well!

Beckley pupils and staff all went dotty for Children in Needs once again this year! As part of our annual fundraising day for Children in Need, pupils and staff were asked to come to school wearing dotty clothing and make a contribution to the national Children in Need campaign. Well done to everyone who dyed their hair, coloured in their white t-shirts, found their dotty leggings and painted polka-dots on their faces…the school raised £95! 

Last week the school said goodbye and ‘thank you for the music’ to Mrs Barlow, who has been teaching music at Beckley for over 30 years! We held a special ‘school assembly’ for Mrs Barlow and the hall was full of pupils, staff, parents and former pupils. Mrs Barlow’s favourite school assembly songs were sung with great enthusiasm for her, and she was presented with gifts and cards from each class. The highlight however, was the unexpected ‘flash-mob’ surprise version of Abba’s song, ‘Thank You for the Music’ which pupils and staff sung for Mrs Barlow.  Thank you for the 30 years of music, Mrs Barlow, for giving it to us…

We recently held a wonderful Harvest Service at Beckley Church, to celebrate and give thanks for the food produced and crops grown for us to enjoy. The church was packed full with parents, families and visitors who joined with the pupils throughout the service. addition, there were poems, prayers and songs presented from the children. Parents and pupils had donated a wide range of food products that will go to the Seaview Project in St Leonards on Sea, who provide hot meals for the homeless.

Red Maple pupils recently visited a Fire Station in Hastings to learn about fire safety in the home and to find out more about the different things fire fighters do in their jobs. Children all had a go at using the water hoses and saw the large turntable ladders in action. The firefighters were really impressed by the understanding of fire safety in the home that the Red Maple pupils showed and complimented the class on their outstanding behaviour. What a great trip, Red Maple!

We recently took advantage of the fantastic weather to hold an art exhibition outside for parents to enjoy. The pupils displayed some of their amazing work from Terms 5 and 6 and parents were able to see the range and diversity of art they produced.

 

Recently, Beckley enjoyed having our school library being transformed into a very multi-sensory and interactive prayer space by the Christian Schools Workers Hastings charity. For two days, pupils visited the prayer space to explore creative ideas and approaches towards prayer – learning about different ways to talk and listen to God. As a Church of England school, prayer plays an important role in our everyday life so it was lovely to see how positive the children from each class were about being creative with ‘prayer’. The feedback from every class was incredibly positive and showed how much the pupils enjoyed having the opportunity to take some time to be still, think listen…and pray!

The fantastic run of our sports team taking part and winning local sports tournaments carried on this week as our Y5/6 mixed team took part in the local Netball tournament and won! Beckley played against other Y5/6 teams from other local schools. The pupils played magnificently and did not lose a single game, finishing as champions. What was even more wonderful was to see the great sporting attitude shown by our pupils who played throughout the tournament with a really positive and encouraging approach. We are so proud of all those Y5/6 pupils who took part and it was great to have such terrific support from our parents who came to cheer them on! Thank you to everyone!

There was real excitement in the final week of term at the BSA Easter Fair. After missing 3 Easter Fairs because of the pandemic, the Beckley School Association were finally able to run their first main event after the relaxation of the COVID restrictions – much to the thrill and delight of pupils, staff and parents. It was really lovely to see the school as a whole community once again, enjoying the various stalls and activities at the fair. Children loved being able to move around and decide what to spend their money on for the first part of the afternoon, before the parents joined them later. Highlights were the hoopla stall, hook a duck, the Easter Egg raffle and the fantastic Easter Egg hunt in the school orchard. Parents joined the fair for the final hour and enjoyed the amazing cakes on offer, with a nice cuppa! The event was the first time for two years that parents of Reception, years 1 and 2 could enjoy with parents from across the whole school community. It was also a great opportunity for them to see an example of the wonderful work that the BSA do. Mr Thurston said, ‘It was fantastic to see the school as a whole community again – we have missed it so much! I’m so grateful to the army of parents who have worked hard to organise and run the Easter Fair, and it was brilliant to see so many new parents getting involved with the BSA too!’