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Middle Department News
This week in Year 3
After a week of illness, the Year 3 team are all now in School and loving being back in the classrooms with the children. The Year 3s were so wonderfully supported in our absence, due to the excellent coordination skills of Mrs Greenwood and the dream team of Mrs Savage, Mrs Brown and Miss Stredwick as well as a host of others. We would like to thank everyone who ensured that the Year 3s continued to learn and thrive without their regular teachers.
Pi Day
Monday 14 March was Pi Day around the world and Beechwood was no exception. Year 3 spent time understanding what Pi represented and proving it for themselves by measuring anything circular that didn’t move! We then created our own Pi City Skyscapes using the digits of Pi. Many of the children had a go at reciting the digits of Pi, with Olivia C managing an amazing 100 digits – a spectacular feat for a Year 3 pupil – you can watch the recording of her feat here.
Support for Ukraine
On Wednesday, the whole School showed their support for the people of Ukraine by wearing the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag. The colours in the classroom and in the corridors around the School were a wonderful symbol of solidarity and the money collected demonstrated the generosity of our School community. 3O were taught a little Ukrainian by Alex, and in turn were able to teach Mr Balfour and Mrs Greenwood how to say ‘Good Morning’ in Ukrainian
St Patrick’s Day
The Year 3s also had the opportunity to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on Thursday.
They worked out their Leprechaun name, based on their own name and their birth month, which was lots of fun. We learnt about the life of St Patrick then used our knowledge of grammar and punctuation to solve a ‘The Mystery of the Missing Shamrock’ and uncover the culprit!
We also had a celebrity appearance in Year 3 from none other than Tiny the Tortoise from White Rose Maths! The children were all very excited about Tiny and each class will have the chance for Tiny to spend time with them, helping them when their encounter tricky maths problems. Tiny was even given his own Leprechaun name: Timid O’Lucky, which really suited him!
Forest School
It was 3O’s turn to make fairy ladders (or perhaps they were Leprechaun ladders?). They learnt how to make knots and improve their dexterity. A glorious morning!
Have a look at our photos below:
Please note: there will be no Forest School next week, but we will be resuming our adventures next term.
House Matches
Next week, we have an exciting afternoon of House Matches on Thursday 24 March, from 1500 until about 1620. We would love to see as many parents as possible watch the House Matches. You may collect your children after match tea. Almost all after School Activities are still running, although Cross Country and Fitness on 24 is cancelled (due to trips).
Please send the children in to School in their games kits. They do not need their uniforms.
Have a lovely weekend,
The Year 3 Team
To celebrate International Pi Day, which took place on Monday, children throughout the school took part in a number of different ‘Pi’ related activities in their maths lessons today. 
We are now into the final stretch of our Aylmerton countdown and all our plans are going smoothly. You should have received an email yesterday outlining all the final details for our Aylmerton trip next week. In case you did not receive it, there is a copy in your child’s Google Classroom.
Having spoken to a lot of the children, it would seem that many are packed already—great organisational skills Year 4! Please can I remind you that it is important that, if possible, the bag the children bring is squash-able and that they can carry it. The weather forecast is looking to be kind to us, however it is still essential that all the children bring warm, waterproof clothing and footwear.
Don’t forget, if your child does anything ‘Wow!’ over the Easter holidays, please do let us know and we can add it to our ‘WOW’ Wall. They can also bring it in and add it to their Beechwood Park Achievement Award book which we will be continuing with next term. 
This week, in English, 5A wrote some lovely poems about George and the dragon. Charlotte F and Uju have written their unique interpretation of the dragon. Jasmine and Jane have used interesting words and rhyming to explain the story of George and the dragon. I hope you enjoy it. Keep the good work up girls!
On Wednesday we were invited to wear something blue and yellow to stand for peace and to show our support and care for the people of Ukraine. Thank you to all Year 5 families who took this opportunity to donate.
A team of Year 5 Girls travelled to York House on Wednesday for a Rugby coaching session and then played some touch rugby. The weather was atrocious but the girls gave it their all and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Awesomely Austin by Jane Austin (Retold: various authors)
Following on from the success of the Senior Schools Information Evening Zooms, lots of parents have asked me how they can start preparing children for entrance exams early. We provide pupils with a Planet Bofa account from Year 5 and we start to use ATOM Prime in School too.