Middle Department News

This week in Year 3

The highlight of this week has been the Wellyboot Camp. We hope your children have had a fantastic time and we are sure there will be plenty of sleepy heads tonight.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Year 3 Team

This week in Year 4

Compared to others weeks, this was quite a relatively ‘normal’ week in Year 4. However, there was still plenty going on! 

In Science, we have come back down to Earth and have started our new topic of ‘Materials’. The children have been looking at the properties of materials and thinking about why certain objects are made from specific materials. There were some enlightening discussions about why mattresses are not made of concrete and why cardboard is not the best material to make a hammer with! 

Over in CS, the children are continuing to develop their computer programming skills by using the software ‘Logo’ 

National Numeracy Day 

To help celebrate National Numeracy Day, which was on Wednesday, Mrs Groeneveld and Mrs Wright’s maths groups joined in with the rest of the nation as they took part in the Times Tables Rockstars ‘Rocking and Rolling Times Tables Chant’ as they attempted to be break a world record at having the biggest audience ever tuned into a rolling numbers livestream.

You’ll be proud to know that they smashed the world record with over 5000 classes joining in on the live stream. Well done Year 4 World Record Holders! 

In Geography, we have now begun our new unit of work about rainforests.

Alongside exploring where the rainforests are the world are located, we have also been investigating similarities and differences between the country we live in and those where rainforests are found. The children have been fascinated by some of the wonderful and more unusual plants that can be found in rainforests. 

Forest School with 4K

Finally, just to remind you that we are having our annual Viking Day workshop on Friday June 10th. Details can be found in the Google Classroom. For those of you who are keen to make your own outfits, there are also some idea sheets in the Google Classroom. Or, if you would prefer an easier approach, feel free to search Amazon! 

2B Come to visit!

During the week 2B came up to 4K for a chat about space! Using their knowledge from the recent unit of work they had completed in Science, some of 4K shared their science preps with 2B to help kick start their new topic off with a bang!

Google Access – please can we ask that you make sure you child knows their login details so they can access their Google Schools account. We are beginning to introduce some new learning platforms this coming term and there still quite a few children who are not aware of what their password is for their accounts. 

Have a lovely weekend!

The Year 4 Team

This Week in Year 5

Anticipation for the Button Box performances has been building in Year 5 this week as rails of colourful costumes have appeared outside the Performance Hall and the performers spent a full afternoon on Thursday rehearsing their scenes and finding out the different elements fit together! We can’t wait to see the finished results after Half Term. In the classrooms, the children have impressed us with the calm way in which they have approached their revision tasks in lessons and preps. They understand that it is much better to learn how to take tests in a relaxed classroom atmosphere rather than face 11+ school entry exams without any experience of a test situation.

Thank you to all parents for helping to reinforce our message of taking the tests in their stride.

In Maths we were able to celebrate National Numeracy Day in a rather unusual way on Wednesday. We were part of the official attempt at the Guinness World Record’s title for the most viewers of a rolling numbers livestream, hosted by Times Tables Rock Stars. Well done to the Beechwood Maths classes on helping to smash the existing record!

Thank you for sending in the completed Aylmerton forms, envelopes of pocket money and medication to the Form Teachers; we are busy getting organised for this exciting week away together. We would be very grateful to receive any outstanding paperwork, money and medicine by Monday 23^rd May if at all possible, please.

Wishing you all a happy, sunny weekend.

From the Middle Department Library

Ajay and the Mumbai Sun by Varsha Shah

Abandoned on the Mumbai railways, Ajay has grown up with nothing but a burning wish to be a journalist. Finding an abandoned printing press, he and his friends Saif, Vinod, Yasmin and Jai create their own newspaper: The Mumbai Sun.

As they hunt down stories for their paper, the children uncover corruption, fight for justice and battle to save their slum from bulldozers.

But against some of the most powerful forces in the city, can Ajay and his friends really succeed in bringing the truth to light? Not to mention win the most important cricket match ever …

Ms Messent and Mrs Lott

Head’s Commendations

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