This weekend might be the perfect opportunity to get creative and make your Easter Hat ready for our Junior Department competition that is fast approaching! Hats can be any size or shape but must be based around the theme of Easter or Spring.
Please do not send these in before the week beginning 20 March as we won’t have space to store them all.
Have fun creating!
Children are naturally inquisitive about the world around them and they learn through questioning and exploring. The teaching of science allows this to happen in (and out of) the classroom.
Whether it be gaining knowledge about plants or animals, including ourselves, the seasons and weather, or how materials are used and behave, the lightbulb moment watching children recalling and linking their learning is magical. It could happen on a walk armed with clipboards to identify materials, during an investigation to test the best materials to create a waterproof umbrella for a gingerbread man or simply through diving into books to search out knowledge (when a visit to the African plains is simply not possible).
Forest School supports much of our learning about the natural world and as a Year 2 teacher I feel especially privileged to experience the cumulative knowledge the sessions provide. With wellies on and hats pulled down low, my last session started with the usual awe and wonder at the first signs of spring, as the children spotted a sea of snowdrops and early daffodils, and the first leaves on an elder tree.
A red kite majestically flew over us just as we were classifying pictures of birds collected during a hunt and Mrs Le Bas explained about their local reintroduction. The children in turn impressed Mrs Le Bas with their knowledge of snowy owls, who out of necessity are diurnal not nocturnal, and construct their nest on the ground. During our session groups used their knowledge to build bird nests, scavenging natural materials and in many cases adding in defence mechanisms to offset their height limitations! I’m not sure the children realised how much learning had taken place.
As we also thought about International Women’s Day this week, I thought I’d share this quote from the inspirational scientist Marie Curie…Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
Never stop answering those ‘Why?’ questions that your children are so good at asking. Perhaps this is my favourite part of teaching science. I’m never afraid to say that I don’t know all of the answers but I encourage the children to use their existing knowledge to predict possibilities (and always have Google at hand to answer the really tricky ones together!)
Mrs Bloomfield
In ‘Understanding the World’ this week Reception have been looking at the changes in seasons, Winter to Spring.
Year 1 are carrying out different investigations to help us learn that Sound is created when something vibrates and sends waves of energy (vibrations) into our ears.
In Year 2 we sorted animals into habitats linked to climate and created food chains, introducing the scientific language of producer, consumer and apex predator.We looked more closely at why a camel is so well adapted to living in the desert. Do ask us what a camel stores in its hump.
Mrs Lynch brought in her Mexican tortoises, Tortilla and Tank. We handled or stroked them and learned that they are well adapted to live in Mexico as they eat cacti and succulent plants. We opened up some leaves to investigate the liquid inside. Take a look at their photos below.
Congratulations to Sasha who had a successful weekend at a gymnastics competition, coming 3rd out 35 children and winning the special artistry award. She has now qualified for the national pre-level six grade which will take place in sometime in September in Essex! You can view Sasha in action here
The Science Department used last week’s World Book Day as a warm up for Science Week, which starts today and runs through until next Friday (17 March).
Members of the department dressed up as detectives ready for our theme of Forensic Science which will also support Arts Week and the play Emil and the Detectives.
Keep following the Science Department Twitter account next week, and you will see plenty of photos of all the exciting activities taking place in lessons.
We will also have our annual egg hatching event taking place.
Pi day is coming back to Beechwood and we are so excited – watch this video to get in the mood for Pi
| Nurture | Engage | Inspire | |
| Year 1 | Eloise FC | Sephy D, Haoyu G | - |
| Year 2 | - | Robert VT, Gracie F, Evie M | Akio N |
AdventureMice is the brand new series from one of our favourite author/illustrator combinations; Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre (Pugs of the Frozen North, Cakes in Space). The series is packed with colour illustration and a larger font making it perfect for newly independent readers. With both a slightly smaller book size and also slightly less pages, readers can soon gain a sense of achievement as they chip through the pages.
In this first instalment, the formidable Pedro is introduced. He attempts to locate Mouse Islands, where the AdventureMice carry out daring rescues and brave feats, using their fleet of boats, submarines, seaplanes and helicopters. Enough to tempt any new reader, with the only disappointment likely to be the wait until the second instalment is released.
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