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Things I have enjoyed It has been brilliant to not have to deal with the overscheduling of every day life - to actually sit and eat 3 meals in a day with my family and reset a bit. My biggest plus is our lockdown decision to get a dog. Barney is a total pain but we adore him and will ensure we get out for walks! Reading this blog has been a huge highlight too! Thank you to the whole blog team for shining a light on the positives.  I can't wait to spend time with my friends who I have missed terribly. We're planning a camping trip over the summer - let's hope it's sunny.  Author:  Kate Marrill

🌼 🌼 TEAM BEACON, SUMMER IS HERE 🌼 🌼 Thank you so much to all the fantastic blog administrators and to the staff who made us laugh, made us cry and made us feel connected to one another throughout all the madness with their fantastic posts. The blog will be going on  holiday (unlike most of us) but will return in a reduced capacity in September when the fun begins again.   I wish you all a safe, happy, restful break and I look forward to seeing you all in person in September. Take Care, Karen

My biggest memory of lockdown is my first virtual dinner party with the friends we always see on a Saturday night.  I sent out a menu and some activities and we all set the table beautifully like it was Christmas, dressed for dinner and treated it like a major event. It was lovely.  I made desserts which I delivered to their front gardens and it made the lockdown a bit more bearable.  We did it for 8 weeks and truthfully, by the end of it all I was over it. We then moved on to meeting them in Nonsuch Park for a gin and a picnic.  Thankfully now we are back to meeting in person again but I will remember it fondly. I am mostly looking forward to having a bit of headspace from school.  These weeks have been incredibly challenging and The Beacon staff should be very proud of all that we have done to keep the engines turning but everyone of us needs a chunk of the holiday where we do things for ourselves.  September will be here in a moment, so I will be decorating my kitchen, reading

Many of you will have seen the exhibition of our lovely talented bunch of Year 11 and 13 Artists and Photographers. Yet there is so much that you will have missed as many of our Year 11's have well and truly signed off and will not have picked up our calls for Art work. So for those of you who have missed it, here is the link to the fantastic exhibition, put together by Alison as well as a few more gems from this year's cohort and some familiar faces! Enjoy! The Art and Photography Department GCSE and A Level Virtual Exhibition 2020 GCSE Art Amber Banks Amy Gilday Brianna Harrison Connie Williams Izzy Yardley Kaiya Jacobs Tom Glanfield Zac Emberson

Coronavirus - An outbreak of Creativity

Had a lovely surprise on my doorstep yesterday! Thanks Sam. I love it!

Random Act Of Art I do love a surprise in the post and I’m so  thankful for this! Wise words that resonate so powerfully with me and maybe you too. Can you guess the beautiful person who created this?  Author:  Joanna Joannou

My biggest memory from lockdown  Has been spending quality time with my two children making memories that we may not have had the time to do if the world was normal. We have laughed, we have cried, we have sang and danced and we have made each other laugh beyond words. To top it off I added a new little fur baby to the mix with our new little Teddy.  During the summer I am looking forward to   Seeing family and friends that I have been kept from due to the lockdown. I also need to re paint my hall way (the paint has been sat here since February so I guess I better get it done).  I hope you all have a lovely summer break. I can’t wait to see all your faces in September. I have really missed you all. Author:  Chelsea Taylor

I thought I'd share a poem that I wrote as my reflections of lockdown.  I've kept a creative journal as a way of trying to make sense of this surreal journey we've all found ourselves on.  This Blog has been a great space to connect and share, to be creative and playful.  Have a great summer everyone. Reflections Sharp peaks of the highs reflect the lows, At first erratic and variable, But for now, a gently ebbing wave Balancing out like the fall and rise Of my own living breath. The force of life is felt keenly as A sharp intake of breath is Balanced by a sigh. The pain and fear of dying, A life nearly spent. I brace myself, buckling in for the ride And pause to reflect on this act Of self-protection. What is to come? I see vivid, crystal blue water then My eyes dive down, into the depths, Dark and murky for a while. My eyes adjust and shadows become outlines, Lines that connect, making sense Of the tangle of contagious

The thing I have most enjoyed in lockdown: Spending time with my family; achieving the Couch to 5K App; working with fantastic staff to ensure our students receive the best level of education and care. Most looking forward to in the summer: Family outings, leisurely lunches, planning for my new role. Author:  Justine Sheehan

What I will miss from lockdown: Salads for lunch in the garden with birdsong and sunshine.  Quite the opposite to lunch duty here on a wet day. What I look forward to this summer: Seeing more friends and returning to my walks around London Author:  Paul Cuthbert

No matter how much we love our jobs we are all ready for a break! So with only a few more days to go, what are you most looking forward to? My top 3 are: 1 - Lie ins (or the parent version which involves lying in bed listening to them downstairs until a sibling war raises me from my bed!) 2 - Not using my dinning table as a desk 3 - Day trips out - we are Merlin Theme Parks pass holders and use them well, we already have prebooked slots for Legoland, Chessington, Warwick Castle and Alton Towers! We also have Royal Historic Palaces membership which means Hampton Court and Tower of London too. (I do get some rest but tiring out my 2 during the day makes for a much quieter evening!)

It was so lovely and sunny yesterday afternoon, that my two dogs decided to join us in the garden. This is Rodney sprawled out on the decking This is Denzil, who just decided he wanted a seat of his own This is Denzil again taking in the evening air in our garden down the end where the fish pond is, you can see it in the background Author:  Trace Mann