Junior Department News

‘May then is the month, if not of fulfillment, at least of promise.’ 

John Henry Newman 

Welcome back to the Summer Term, surely everyone’s favourite, with longer days and warmer weather (well, soon hopefully!). Hard to believe that I have already nearly done a full year at Beechwood.  

The term is fully underway despite only having been in for seven school days, with lots of fantastic and interesting learning already taking place. I have been delighted to visit each classroom and see what the pupils are learning and how much they are engaged in it already. Reception have been busy growing things, Year 1 have been relishing their Roald Dahl stories and Year 2 have been comparing life in the past with our lives now. 

In a couple of weeks’ time all our year groups will be going on their trips or having their curriculum enrichment day in the same week!! This will be a very busy time for all so do keep an eye out for the letters that will be winging their way to you very soon with all the arrangements. Also, I encourage you to keep checking on the live iSAMS0 calendar on the Parent Portal. as this will help you plan for key events this term that I am certain you won’t want to miss.  

Our new additions to the Junior Department have started brilliantly. The Gardening Club has already weeded, dug and planted, and the Early Morning Drop Off is proving very popular – with parents and children alike! 

On this note, if you have any feedback or suggestions, positive or negative, about our wrap-around care and After School Activities for the Junior Department children, then I am happy to hear them. It is important that we continue to listen to our parent body and seek to improve our provision where we can.  

Enjoy the Coronation Weekend and another Bank Holiday! 

Mrs McIntosh 

This Week in Reception

Reception have fully embraced the pomp and glory around the Coronation of King Charles III.

They made very good kings and queens in the outdoor classroom where they were anointed and crowned! Listening to stories about kings and queens has given the pupils some insight into royal life (some of them would be quite keen to join the royal family!).

The story of The King’s Pyjamas inspired the children to create their own designs for king’s pyjamas. Story writing based on another story, The King’s Hat, was another fun activity alongside making crowns and bunting.

We are all looking forward to the next couple of days of fun and celebration and will certainly remember this momentous occasion in years to come.

This Week in Year 1

Year 1 have loved learning more about King Charles III and his upcoming Coronation this week.

After watching Year 2’s fantastic Coronation assembly and finding out more about him in History lessons, we were able to remember lots of facts. In Art, we used collage materials to decorate the profile of King Charles in red, white and blue.

We have enjoyed practising the vocabulary in games of ‘Coronation Bingo’ and imagining how we would rule if we were King or Queen for a day!

This Week in Year 2

Year 2 kicked off Coronation Week by performing an ‘Ignite’ assembly to the Junior Department where they explained what a Coronation is and why it is happening. You can see photos here

Our work this week was inspired by Charles as a King and his love of the outdoors. Year 2 investigated the effects of climate change with the ice cap challenge.

Linked to ‘The Big Help Out’ we donned our gardening gloves to improve the Beechwood environment by creating a habitat for bees and butterflies in the Junior Department courtyard. The children drew bees and butterflies to brighten up the area whilst we are waiting for the wildflower seeds to germinate and grow. Luckily for us the presenters of Newsround were unavailable to present this week’s bulletin about the Coronation so Year 2 stepped in and even wrote their own scripts.

The week ended with crown-making ready for the weekend celebrations. None of the children forgot about the BPSPA tea party because they wrote and took home an individual invite. What an amazing and thoroughly royal week!

This week in pictures…

From the Junior Library

The 13-Storey Treehouse (Full Colour) by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

The 13-Storey Treehouse series is a must for newly confident readers. Being light on text and packed with comedy adventure, it is perfect for tempting new readers into a love of books.

Fittingly it’s 13 years since the first level of the treehouse was created and it’s now been released in full colour, making it even more appealing to young eyes.