Middle Department Notices

HOUSE COMPETITION TIME

This year, we are making the Word of the Week a House competition and would like the children to help choose the words of the week for the year.

Pupils can suggest a word –  it can be a noun, verb, adjective or any other word class but we would like them to try to make it as unique and interesting as possible! The best submissions will be chosen to be Beechwood’s Word of the Week throughout the year – winning words will gain House Points!  Please use this form to submit your words.

Good luck.

From the English Department

Reminders

• If your child isn’t already confident at tying his her/laces, it would be really helpful if you spent a little time practising at home this weekend.  Being able to independently put on trainers or football boots really helps speed up Games sessions!
• A reminder that children should only be entering the school premises from 8am via one of the school gates.  If your child has a music club before school, they are allowed in earlier and can enter via the school’s front door.

This week in Year 3

Year 3 have had another excellent week and are becoming increasingly comfortable moving around the school and making their way to the many clubs and activities with enthusiasm and excitement. 

We have started our spelling sessions on Tuesdays, so all children should be taking their spellings home on Tuesday evening and back in again for the test on the following Tuesday. They have all been set up on Times Tables Rock Stars and their account logins are stuck inside their reading records. Hopefully they will get to learn them so that they can login during their school session with increasing independence. The children should focus on doing Garage sessions which will help us build up their heatmap, which shows the times table they need to focus on. One final reminder to ensure that their reading books and reading records are in school every day. 

3P had a wonderful Forest School session last Friday. The weather was just lovely and it was fantastic to be outside enjoying the last of the summer.

The children have also made some lovely art work in English this week based on their book Flotsam. They thought about what unusual sea creatures the underwater camera in the story may have discovered. You can take a look at their lovely pictures below.

Pupils spent time this week thinking about reflective materials in science and had great fun working by torch light!

Also a huge congratulations goes out to Sasha.  She recently competed in the county level 7 gymnastics competition, she came 1st  on her floor routine, 4th on vault and overall winner on points.  Well done Sasha!

It is always nice to hear about achievements outside school,  so please do share them with us at marketing@beechwoodpark.com

This week in Year 4

Fantastic Fungi!

This week, Year 4 have been exploring the first signs of Autumn during our Forest School sessions.  In particular, children explored the woods in search of different types of fungi.  First, we learnt that while they can be spectacular to look at, we should never pick or touch wild fungi or mushrooms as they can be very poisonous.  We then went on a search, finding examples as tiny as pin heads to those as wide as a football.  We also learnt that even though fungi typically enjoy dark, damp places, they can be found on the ground or high up in the air on tree bark.  Perhaps you could explore what fungi you can find in your local area this weekend?  Can you identify what species it is using a guide?

Take a look at some of our photos below.

Best wishes

The Year 4 Team

This week in Year 5

The Year 5 pupils have made a particularly good start with their history topic this term. They spent some time considering what life in 1065 might have been like for the Anglo-Saxon villagers before learning what we mean by an ANACHRONISM and spotting some glaring chronological errors in a medieval village cartoon! At a time when we are particularly aware of the passing of kingship from mother to son in our own royal family, the pupils have explored why the same smooth transition did not happen upon the death of King Edward the Confessor in January 1066. As you will see in the photo below, our three contenders, and arch rivals, are now lined up ready to fight for the English throne and the pupils are looking forward to learning how events unfolded in that tumultuous year, and also learning how we know so much about events which occurred nearly 1000 years ago.

Thinking of life outside the classroom walls, we would like to say well done to all of our Year 5 pupils who competed in their first Colts and U10 matches this week and also to those who have joined ensembles, choirs and after school activities to make the very most of all of the opportunities on offer at Beechwood.

The Year 5 Pastoral Team

Best wishes

The Year 5 Pastoral Team

From the Middle Department Library

Which Way to Anywhere by Cressida Cowell

Which way to Anywhere is Cressida Cowell’s brand new book and is packed with the trademark engaging line illustrations that readers have grown to love in ‘How to Train your Dragon’ and ‘The Wizards of Once’. It follows K2 O’Hero, a seemingly ordinary boy.  But K2 has a secret gift: he draws maps of worlds that are beyond the wildest of imaginations. Worlds with six hundred moons, burning rivers and dark, twisty jungles alive with plants that hunt by the smell of fear. But what K2 doesn’t know is that the maps he draws are real. When his sister is kidnapped, he must draw upon his powers and work with his siblings to attempt her rescue.

We are aware of a couple of websites which reward schools with free books after parents have purchased.  We thought we would share details below in case this was of interest to you.

https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/our-purpose

https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/

Head’s Commendations

Congratulations to this week’s recipients of Mr Balfour’s Commendations: