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EspañolTHE NEW BEACON PREPARATORY SCHOOL
The 'New Beacon Preparatory School' is a fee-paying preparatory school, or prep school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, United Kingdom, which caters both for day-boys and boarders.
The school was founded in 1882 at St John's hill in Sevenoaks and was known as the Beacon. In 1900 it was relocated to its current location on Britains lane and renamed the New Beacon.
The New Beacon is situated in 21 acres of gardens and playing fields. Upon starting at The New Beacon, pupils are put into one of four Companies; Nelson (blue), Drake (Yellow), Marlborough (green) and Wellington (red). There is a strong company tradition at New Beacon, with competition between the companies ranging from Company Rugby to Company Cross Country. There are also Company shooting, cricket, football and quiz competitions. At lunch time Boys eat in the main dining room which contains the scholarship boards from 1886. Boys eat on their company tables and are punished for sitting on other company tables. On entering their fianl year, all boys are made seniors (increased responsibilities and power to punish younger arrogant boys.). A few boys are made Prefects (their job to make sure the Seniors do not flex their power unfairly.) Each year two boys are ultimately made Head boy.
Boarding to use to be popular at the New Beacon, with dormitories know as Kent, Sussex, Oxford and Brighton.
Sport plays a large role at the New Beacon with teams ranging from Under 9 Es to the 1stxv. School colours are awarded for different teams above Colts B level. The School's 1stXV rugby team wear a Red, gold and blue striped jersey. After playing for a season at 1stxv level, the members are allowed to keep their shirts.
Punishments at the New Beacon have lessened over the years in severity. Common punishments involve lines, detentions (after school on Saturdays, although these were scrapped as no-one ever turned up), laps around the school, standing on one's company table during lunch and having to clear the dining room up after lunch. The worst punishment is known as a "minus". This is used for disciplinary action. The boy(s) have to knock on the common room door and ask for the minus book. Their name is then entered into the book whereupon it will be read out by the Headmaster in Chapel. The boy is then force to stand up and walk down the aisle on his own and proceed to the Headmaster's office where he will receive a severe telling off. He then missees all break times for a week and is force to do oddjobs. Teachers have given minuses out over a wide range of offenses (ranging from breathing too loudly to trying to stab another boy)
There are many traditions at the school dating back to its foundation. Leavers of the school during their final few years sign their names on the walls of a hidden passage way linking the backstage of the theatre to Room 4. The woods bordering the lower playing fields have always being out of bounds although pupils still enjoy spending breaktimes running around the woods whilst being pursued by Seniors. Boarders have always enjoyed undertaking "death runs" around the grounds of the school during the early hours. Punishment is severe if caught although more fear being locked out and spending the night camped outside as a hobo boy. During breaktimes it is obligatory under rule 6 of the Beaconian handbook for pupils to change into football boots before playing on the fields. Every break a handful of pupils who have forgotten football boots or who refuse to go outside are lined up outside the sportshall before being forced to sit on the green benches. Every Summer an evening barbecue was held. This was however disbanded due to constant anti-social misbehaviour (including water gun fights, boxing and letting stink bombs off in the Head of Sports Office). Company Cross Country has always formed an integral part of Company team competitions although popularity of running around the fields has never being particuarly high. Latin has always being regarded as a highly enriching and academic subject by pupils who have learnt for the last 30 years from the "Ecce Romani" series taught by Ian Funnel - a.k.a. Funky - in room 21, the longest serving teacher at the school and a former old boy.
The school's principle function is to prepare boys for the Common Entrance examination, used by British public schools to select pupils, and each year many of the school's pupils succeed in gaining places either at Sevenoaks School or Tonbridge School - both consistenty ranked amongst the top fee-paying secondary schools in the country in terms of A-Level/IB performance and Oxbridge entrance. Over the years ex-Beacon Boys have gone on to attend some of the country's oldest and most famous public schools, including Eton College, Harrow School, Winchester College and Westminster School.
Siegfried Sassoon First World War poet
Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence (second husband of Anne, Princess Royal)
Lord Mayhew of Twysden Former Political advisor for Northern Ireland.
London-based old-boys club which meets on Wednesday afternoons.
★ Official website
| Contents |
| Overview |
| Sport |
| Discipline |
| Tradition |
| Results |
| Famous Alumni |
| The Half-Day Wednesday Club |
| External links |
Overview
The school was founded in 1882 at St John's hill in Sevenoaks and was known as the Beacon. In 1900 it was relocated to its current location on Britains lane and renamed the New Beacon.
The New Beacon is situated in 21 acres of gardens and playing fields. Upon starting at The New Beacon, pupils are put into one of four Companies; Nelson (blue), Drake (Yellow), Marlborough (green) and Wellington (red). There is a strong company tradition at New Beacon, with competition between the companies ranging from Company Rugby to Company Cross Country. There are also Company shooting, cricket, football and quiz competitions. At lunch time Boys eat in the main dining room which contains the scholarship boards from 1886. Boys eat on their company tables and are punished for sitting on other company tables. On entering their fianl year, all boys are made seniors (increased responsibilities and power to punish younger arrogant boys.). A few boys are made Prefects (their job to make sure the Seniors do not flex their power unfairly.) Each year two boys are ultimately made Head boy.
Boarding to use to be popular at the New Beacon, with dormitories know as Kent, Sussex, Oxford and Brighton.
Sport
Sport plays a large role at the New Beacon with teams ranging from Under 9 Es to the 1stxv. School colours are awarded for different teams above Colts B level. The School's 1stXV rugby team wear a Red, gold and blue striped jersey. After playing for a season at 1stxv level, the members are allowed to keep their shirts.
Discipline
Punishments at the New Beacon have lessened over the years in severity. Common punishments involve lines, detentions (after school on Saturdays, although these were scrapped as no-one ever turned up), laps around the school, standing on one's company table during lunch and having to clear the dining room up after lunch. The worst punishment is known as a "minus". This is used for disciplinary action. The boy(s) have to knock on the common room door and ask for the minus book. Their name is then entered into the book whereupon it will be read out by the Headmaster in Chapel. The boy is then force to stand up and walk down the aisle on his own and proceed to the Headmaster's office where he will receive a severe telling off. He then missees all break times for a week and is force to do oddjobs. Teachers have given minuses out over a wide range of offenses (ranging from breathing too loudly to trying to stab another boy)
Tradition
There are many traditions at the school dating back to its foundation. Leavers of the school during their final few years sign their names on the walls of a hidden passage way linking the backstage of the theatre to Room 4. The woods bordering the lower playing fields have always being out of bounds although pupils still enjoy spending breaktimes running around the woods whilst being pursued by Seniors. Boarders have always enjoyed undertaking "death runs" around the grounds of the school during the early hours. Punishment is severe if caught although more fear being locked out and spending the night camped outside as a hobo boy. During breaktimes it is obligatory under rule 6 of the Beaconian handbook for pupils to change into football boots before playing on the fields. Every break a handful of pupils who have forgotten football boots or who refuse to go outside are lined up outside the sportshall before being forced to sit on the green benches. Every Summer an evening barbecue was held. This was however disbanded due to constant anti-social misbehaviour (including water gun fights, boxing and letting stink bombs off in the Head of Sports Office). Company Cross Country has always formed an integral part of Company team competitions although popularity of running around the fields has never being particuarly high. Latin has always being regarded as a highly enriching and academic subject by pupils who have learnt for the last 30 years from the "Ecce Romani" series taught by Ian Funnel - a.k.a. Funky - in room 21, the longest serving teacher at the school and a former old boy.
Results
The school's principle function is to prepare boys for the Common Entrance examination, used by British public schools to select pupils, and each year many of the school's pupils succeed in gaining places either at Sevenoaks School or Tonbridge School - both consistenty ranked amongst the top fee-paying secondary schools in the country in terms of A-Level/IB performance and Oxbridge entrance. Over the years ex-Beacon Boys have gone on to attend some of the country's oldest and most famous public schools, including Eton College, Harrow School, Winchester College and Westminster School.
Famous Alumni
Siegfried Sassoon First World War poet
Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence (second husband of Anne, Princess Royal)
Lord Mayhew of Twysden Former Political advisor for Northern Ireland.
The Half-Day Wednesday Club
London-based old-boys club which meets on Wednesday afternoons.
External links
★ Official website
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