Baker’s Beacon Blog – Week 23

Dear Parents,

I’d like to think this column is a breezy, light touch narrative on the world of The Beacon.  It’s unashamedly jingoistic at times and whilst I might send up myself (and family members) on occasion, there won’t be a bad word said about the School, nor would you expect there to be when there is so much to celebrate here.  This, however, was not an emotion felt by a Headteacher in Southampton this week when he chose to use his weekly commentary to criticise, very publicly, the quality of the school food.  I can’t think for a minute he intended to end up on the front page of the BBC website, but that’s where he landed and a reminder to us all that any rogue comment intended for a limited audience may turn into a national issue – something I found out myself in 2014 when I wrote what I thought was a perfectly reasonable and rational reminder of the importance of manners and ended up on Daily Mail online and being called up by Vanessa Feltz.

His school food did though, look pretty lamentable and you could sense the frustration.  No such worries here of course, where our food is consistently excellent; in fact we have recently signed a new agreement with our contractor Wilson Vale following a formal procurement process to get the best value and provision for our School.  The sole complaint from the boys seems to be that they “can’t have thirds” and speaking to a parent yesterday, she told me that she was ever so slightly offended when her son declared that her Shepherd’s Pie “was not as good as Chef Dino’s”.   If that wasn’t enough, he even claims that the Heinz Tomato Ketchup was better at The Beacon…now even for Dino, that’s quite some trick…

Have a good weekend,

Nick Baker

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