Senior Department News 26 May 2023

Year 6 Forest School Afternoon

As a reward for their Herculean efforts with exams this week, Year 6 were able to enjoy a Forest School afternoon, outside in the sunshine! They enjoyed ‘egg drop’ and ‘mud masks’ activities – we were also delighted to be able to finally enjoy smores around the campfire (after rain stopped play on our trip to PACCAR

Woodland Writing

Year 6 also used their visit to the woods this week to inspire their writing as they begin the annual WOODLAND WRITING project.

Armed with these guidelines, the pupils will be busy writing their mini novels after half term, culminating in the Beechwood Booker Prize Award ceremony on Thursday 30 June, when the authors of the two best books in each English class will receive a prize. All the books will be on display in the School Library on Speech Day so do make sure you come and take a look!

It was a wonderful way to end to a fantastic half term; I wish all Senior Department families a happy and peaceful half term break, and look forward to seeing everyone back at School for an action-packed final half term of the academic year.

Mrs Wright

Year 7 Music and Drama

Year 7 having been working hard in their Drama and Music lessons over the last few months and have produced some superb adverts for Beechwood. Teachers provided them with the video footage, and then pupils have worked together compose the music, write the words, record their voiceovers and edit everything together to produce the final videos.

Have a look at a selection below:

The Barrows: https://youtu.be/wMjv6MLiH_w

Isaac and Felix: https://youtu.be/vQ2Jeaqf0l4

Hector and Leo: https://youtu.be/jNckSCweme4

Junior Maths Challenge

We are delighted to share the remarkable achievements of our talented pupils in the Junior Maths Challenge! Their dedication, perseverance, and passion for mathematics have truly paid off, earning them well-deserved recognition.

This year’s challenge proved to be a formidable test, but our students rose to the occasion with impressive results. Through their commitment to excellence and problem-solving skills, they have shown us the immense potential within our educational community.

We would like to extend our congratulations to each and every pupil who participated in the Junior Maths Challenge, we had 27 entrants this year achieving 5 Bronze awards, 6 Silver awards and 13 Gold. Special congratulations to Wilfred O for achieving the best result in Year 7, Luca F and Josh L achieving the best in Top Form and Tommy H the highest overall in School.

See how you would fare with a typical Junior Maths Challenge question here!

Mr Lambert

Year 6 English

Persuasive Literature

Year 6 have been studying persuasive literature this term. This culminated in the exam where they had to write a leaflet encouraging friends and family to save the environment. They have enjoyed class debates as well as written work. These have included: school uniform, use of mobile phones and whether the monarchy should be abolished in the UK! The pupils have proved to be engaged, vocal and extremely passionate! They have incorporated a variety of rhetorical devices in their work using the acronym DAFOREST (click here for an explanation!) to help them remember these techniques. The pupils’ task was to produce a persuasive leaflet for an attraction in the UK; here is a selection of their persuasive work – see if you can spot DAFOREST in these stunning examples:

From the Sports Department

Sport for All – Paddleboarding

On Wednesday the Top form Sport for All members had the opportunity to try something different at Willen Lake. They spent a happy afternoon in the sunshine paddle boarding. After a short lesson by the instructors they all looked like professional’s. It was quite a physical activity and by the end of the afternoon they all went home happy but very tired.

IAPS Golf Championships – Minchinhampton Golf Club – 11/5/23

Jack W represented Beechwood Park at Minchinhampton Golf Club in the IAPS National Golf Championships. Jack was competing in the U11 competition and performed brilliantly on a new course to him. Whilst the course was long it was a good test of golf for the competitors. Jack played solid golf throughout, making very few mistakes and ended up with 30 points which left him finishing joint 5^th place in the U11 competition. An excellent effort.

ISGA Junior Stableford –Sunningdale Heath Golf Club – 18/5/23

Jack was joined by his younger brother Luke in the 2-man team for this event. Luke, 9 years old, I believe, was the youngest competitor in this U13 field, with fantastic golfers from some of the biggest golfing schools across the UK.

Jack won this tournament last year and put in another excellent performance to try and defend his title. Unfortunately, despite scoring 38 points (off a handicap of 16) it wasn’t enough, but he did secure a 9^th place finish. Luke can be extremely proud of his performance in his first school golf tournament. He scored 29 points and finished in 36^th place in a field of 52 children, all of whom were older than him. Their combined results meant that the Beechwood Park team finished an excellent 10^th out of 26 teams. Well done Team Wilkins!

From the Senior Department Library

The Way of Dog by Zana Fraillon

Written in verse by Carnegie Medal shortlist Fraillon, The Way of Dog is a simple read and yet has surprising depth. It is a book that could probably be read in a single sitting but whose impact will be much longer lasting.

Presented from the point of view of the Scruffity who initially lives with the increasingly brutal GrowlManJim. Scruffity worries he’ll end up in the DeadDogBin. Luckily he gets the taste of the good life with ManPup but could it be short lived?

Cleverly written as a series of poems varying in mood, rhythm and length. Right from the first page, the rhythms grab you, immediately drawing you into the trauma and drama of Scruffity’s life. Expect tears and elation, and perhaps a new appreciation of poetry.