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Middle Department News

This week in Year 3

Egyptian Day

Our long-awaited Egyptian Day finally arrived and, as hoped, it proved to be an excellent adventure. The children and adults in Year 3 all came dressed as Ancient Egyptians or intrepid Egyptologists. We spent the day imagining that we were in the 8th year of the reign of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti. We experienced life in the ancient city of Akhetaten on the day a new high priest to the Aten sun disk was appointed.

We worked on a number of activities in readiness for the ceremony, including: mummification, making canopic jars, carving, tomb painting, ink making and writing, amulet making, bread making, perfume cone making and making shabti dolls. A very hands-on morning!

The afternoon was spent showing the power and majesty of Akhenaten and Nefertiti in the royal court of Amarna. The children broke into different groups to rehearse their roles: in the Royal Court, or as slaves, actors, dancers or priests. We even finished with a feast! It was a wonderful learning opportunity!

Year 3 Egyptian Day November 2021

Year 3 House Matches

Despite the cold, the children were wonderful and had a great afternoon of sport. The Year 3 teachers all came out to support and we were very happy to see parents back again in School supporting Matches. Congratulations to all the Houses!  Scroll down to the Sports section to see photos.

Christingle

This Friday afternoon we celebrated Christingle and were very happy to have the help of Year 3 parents. The children made their Christingles earlier in the day, in preparation for the service. They read and sang beautifully and really put us in a Christmas mood!
Year 3 Christingle Nov 2021
Our fabulous Middle Department Christmas tree is in position and needs decorating! We would like to invite any child in the Middle Department, to help us dress the tree; they may bring in a bauble, suitable for outside use, for a minimum donation of £2 to the charity The Children’s Society. Thank you to those who have already brought in a bauble and made a donation.  Please do continue to bring in your baubles and click here to make your donation.

Year 3 Festive Forest School

We are very lucky to have a Year 3 Forest School morning on Friday 3rd December. Please could you send your child in on that day in their Forest School kits, with their uniforms in their bags to change into afterwards. As it is a festive morning, we would love the children to wear a Christmas hat to help them get into the holiday spirit! Ho! Ho! Ho!

REMINDERS FOR YEAR 3:

COSTUMES FOR CHRISTMAS CRACKER PERFORMANCE

The children are busy rehearsing and can’t wait for the performance. As a reminder, please could you supply the costumes as listed below for your child.  Could we please have the costumes in School on Monday 6th December, in a named bag.  Many thanks. 

As we continue preparations for our forthcoming Christmas Cracker performances. With rehearsals going well, Mrs Hegarty has now turned her attention to costumes. Much of what will be needed will be provided for by the school but in addition to this, please could we ask that your child also has the following for the performances:

3O – Christmas jumper + any colour joggers / leggings + Santa hat & / beard (Mrs Jarvis has lots of beards!!)

3M – Christmas jumper + any colour joggers / leggings

3I – Christmas jumper + any colour joggers / leggings + reindeer antlers / festive hat / festive headwear

For footwear, could all Y3 & Y4 children please wear brightly coloured/Christmas socks and their indoor trainers that they would use in PE.

If you have any questions about costumes, please feel free to email Mrs Hegarty at l.hegarty@beechwoodpark.com


This week in Year 4

A big thank you to all of you who came and braved the cold weather to support the Year 4 children in our House Match tournaments yesterday. The children were amazing and the effort that was displayed by all the players made this one of the most competitive House Match tournaments ever. See the sports section below for a selection of photos from the day.

In English, we have been focusing on developing our ability to write descriptive sentences. Using a short-animated film called ‘El Caminante;’ we have looked at describing settings based upon what can be seen, heard, smelt and felt. Here is just a snippet of the great work we have had the pleasure of reading this week.

“Elegantly circling an old, stone clock tower, a flock of doves tweeted and chirped as the bells chimed.”

“A speeding motorbike zoomed through a grey stone arch leaving behind a trail of toxic fumes in the fresh air.”

“The café started to open with the waft of perfectly cooked bacon coming from the kitchen.

To finish off our unit of work about the human skeleton, Year 4 have this week been busily measuring each other’s arm lengths to find an answer as to whether or not the oldest people in the class have longer arms than those who are the youngest. Next stop – the heart and the journey of blood!

 

 

 

 

 

Elsewhere in the curriculum, Year 4 have been continuing their ‘Structures’ topic in DT by building houses with card and joining them together using tabs.
Year 4 DT - Structures

Rob Schilling, Director of Sport at Haileybury came to Beechwood on Monday to train the girls in their Games hockey lesson. Rob has played in World Cups for the USA, and has starred in Premier League hockey in recent years for Southgate, Surbiton and East Grinstead. He is a superb player and even better coach!
Year 4 Hockey Coaching with Rob Schilling, November 2021

Reminders for Year 4: 

Costumes for Christmas Cracker Performance

4L – Christmas jumpers + brightly coloured joggers / leggings.

4K – Comedy Snowmen – light grey joggers + white t-shirts.

Jugglers – Christmas jumpers + brightly coloured joggers / legging.

4B –  Joseph & Neddy – Christmas jumpers + brightly coloured joggers / leggings.

Crew of Stable Animals – Animal onesies (please ask your child what animal they have selected as they may not need a onesie or will have a costume provided for by the school) + plain joggers/top.

For footwear, could all children wear brightly coloured/Christmas socks and their indoor trainers that they would use in PE.

Named costumes should be brought into School in a named bag on Monday 6th December.

If you have any questions about costumes, please feel free to email Mrs Hegarty at l.hegarty@beechwoodpark.com

Aylmerton Residential

We are really looking forward to our Year 4 residential trip which will take place between 22nd March and the 25th March 2022. We will be visiting Aylmerton Field Study Centre which is near Cromer, Norfolk. We would like to invite you all to a short information presentation which will be held on Wednesday, 19th January 2022 between 4:30 and 5:30pm. Further details will follow nearer the time.

 


This week in Year 5

This week, the Year 5 boys enjoyed the first training session of the rugby season and the girls are already looking forward to netball.  Lots of creativity this week…everyone has enjoyed finishing off their superb robots in DT and the Van Gogh recreations carried out in art are stunning (see more below)!  Pupils always return from art and DT sessions buzzing!

Many members of Year 5 are in ensembles and are currently hard at work preparing for the end of term music (don’t forget to add the Christmas Concert to your diaries). It seems to be a very musical year group and 5B even take out their instruments and serenade each other in the 5B classroom!

Year 5 Debating

Inspired by UK Parliament Week earlier this month, Year 5 are learning how to communicate clearly through debates in Future Skills lessons. They had a healthy exchange of views on the topics shown in the speech bubbles below.

 

Year 5 Drama

The pupils have been working to develop their vocal & physical skills to perform the scene when Lucy meets Mr Tumnus in Narnia. What confident and expressive performances!


Please note that if your Middle Department child is part of Big Band, that they will be required to stay for their performance at the start of the Senior Department Concert.


Middle Department Art

Year 3

Look at this wonderful double page in Penelope B’s sketchbook. On the right is her collagraph plate – a collection of textured material, and on the left is the print we have made using different coloured inks and the press.

Year 4

 

And a super fruit still life from Daisy P.

 

 

 

 

Year 5 have had the challenge of recreating these sections from Van Gogh’s paintings…

Using these colour palettes.  The results are stunning!

Year 5 Art - Recreating Van Gogh, November 2021


Sport News

Year 3 & 4 House Matches (Football and Hockey)

Year 3 and 4 House Hockey and Football, November 2021

Year 5 (&6) House Matches

Year 5 and 6 House Hockey November 2021


Head’s Commendations

Well done to this week’s recipients of Head’s Commendations:

Nurture – Year 4 Scarlett B

Engage – Year 4 Annay D, Clemmie O, Katherine T

Inspire – Year 4 Kasper LB, George M, Clara S; Year 5 Uju O, Riley T, Jasmine E x 5, Joe K x 5, Alex R


This Week’s Library Recommendation

This Week’s Library Recommendation is ‘The Christmas Carrolls’ by Mel Taylor-Bessent

Nine-year-old Holly Carroll and her family live the merriest of lives in a house with year-round fairy lights and Christmas trees, a carol-singing toilet and a diva donkey who thinks he’s a reindeer. But when Holly goes to a new school with a singing Santa backpack and first day Christmas cards (during a heatwave in September!), she realises not everyone shares her enthusiasm for spreading cheer. In fact, when the neighbours try to remove the Carrolls from the street and Holly discovers a group of children that may not get a Christmas at all, her snowglobe world begins to crack. Is the world’s most Christmassy girl about to lose her Christmas spirit?
The Christmas Carrolls is a heartwarming, hilarious and inclusive tale about the power of spreading cheer, the magic of friendship and what really matters at this most wonderful time of the year.
Funny festive tale from the founder of Authorfy, perfect for fans of Matt Haig, Ben Miller, Sibeal Pounder’s Tinsel, and the Nativity! films