Baker’s Beacon Blog – Week 25

Dear Parents,

Talking to the boys this week and reading the many postcards (thanks boys!), it sounds like everyone had an excellent holiday and though it was only two weeks, managed to pack a lot in.  None more than Ski Trip leader Mr Porter and colleagues who took 50 boys on a very successful ski trip to Les Menuires. Having lunch with one of those colleagues, Mr Alex Horn, this week I asked who the best skier was.  He was unequivocal in his response, “William F, definitely, brilliant technique and someone that is just a pleasure to watch on the slopes”.  Great to hear re William and this was clearly an expert and informed opinion as when I followed up with, “Who was the best skier on staff?”, Alex took a mouthful of food, shrugged his shoulders and rather apologetically replied, “Don’t like to say but, probably me.”  Fair enough Mr Horn! Suffice to say I haven’t followed this up with other colleagues to verify the legitimacy of this view…

The Bakers didn’t go anywhere but we did find time to do a number of different activities as a family.  Some classic favourites – Top Golf in Watford always goes down well with my two boys – and some new activities, including last week when we walked over the Millennium Dome. I’m not that brilliant with heights but a gift voucher was given to me for my recent birthday and it seemed ungrateful not to use it. All four of us got kitted up, taught the basics of how to traverse the Dome keeping connected to the safety rail at all times and set off on the 1mm ‘thick’ fabric.  The start is really steep and as part of a larger group, the Guide kept asking us to stop to let others catch up.  My boys, teasing, kept asking why I needed to keep two hands on the rail at all times but I wasn’t massively enjoying the experience and just wanted to crack on to the top, take a picture, and then get off the other side.  But all was well.  We reached the top, I bored the family with a quick Geography lesson pointing out main features of London and the shape of the River Thames as it turns into an estuary and then completed the far easier descent. A real sense of achievement and a fun thing for the family to do, particularly as we followed it with taking the ferry back up the Thames to Westminster…and, of course, more family Geography lessons…

With excitement building for the BPS Ball in a few weeks and all manner of year and whole school events in the calendar, please look out for details of arrangements as we approach them in the coming weeks.  Speaking to one of you yesterday, I am aware that with many of these events in the body of the school week, the more notice the better.  Our school calendar is here and key events always listed at the bottom of the weekly newsletter so please do diarise.  The sun is out, Beacon boys are enthused and raring to go – it’s going to be a great term!

Have a good weekend,

Nick Baker

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