“When will it stop raining?” seems to have been the catchphrase of the week as the relentless weather tries its hardest, yet fails, to dampen the spirits of our Beacon community, many of whom are more than happy to play in the rain. I often say that the best impression of The Beacon is at breaktime, when you have some boys who want nothing more than to razz around on the Astro whatever the weather, some who still want to do sport but prefer to do this in the dry and warmth of the Sports Hall, those that just want to chat and eat their snack in the dining room, and those that want to read, play chess or take solace in the Library discussing all things literary with our storyteller Mrs Howard. If I was a Beacon boy, I think I would probably take the breaktime Sports Hall option. My wife Brigid, who grew up in Sheffield, will regularly berate me and our two sons as “too nesh”, which I needed to Google to find that it was northern slang for a person who is “weak and delicate, in particular in being susceptible to the cold.” I will take that on the chin, as for me, Patrick and Joseph, staying out of the cold seems entirely sensible. This week, Mr Robinson and I had a visit from a netball contractor regarding court markings on the Astro and she recommended that our ‘Show Court’ should be in the Sports Hall for maximum use and engagement with the sport. We completely agree, and a smart new floor and refurbishment of that entire facility for all sports will be taking place this summer.
On a serious note, you may have seen in the press this week that scammers are targeting independent school parents with emails purporting to be from school finance departments and sending fraudulent bank account details and links to payment. This has not affected us in our recent history but just to serve as a reminder, our emails (almost always from accounts@) will never contain bank details or weblinks. They will, however, have a PDF invoice attached which contains the amount owing and bank details. It is also worth stating that our bank details are unchanged, and the school has no plans to change these at any point in the future. It is never a problem to query with us if you have even the slightest doubt over an email received from the school requesting money, so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you are concerned or unsure.
Nick Baker