Sue Grant - Celebrating 35 Years at Beechwood

35 years ago, Sue Grant joined Beechwood as a cleaner when she married the then Groundsman, Allan Grant. They lived in a flat above the old stables, part of what is now the Recording Studio and iMac suite.

Sue moved into a TA role, focusing her love of children and desire to support both pupil and teacher across years one and two. At the time, she was the only TA in Years 1 and 2.

In September 1991 Allan and Sue welcomed their baby daughter, Chloe to Beechwood. The family continued to live in the flat, along with the school cat.

Over the next few years, Sue decided that she would like to formalise her role and qualify as a TA. She did this though Herts, under the mentorship of Gill Starkins and Helen Dalkin back at Beechwood. She successfully gained this qualification and Helen went to the award ceremony in St Albans.

Sue really enjoyed everything about Early Years and her work at Beechwood became focused on Reception. Allan and Sue moved out of Beechwood in 2016; Allan retired, but Sue remained as a full time Reception TA.

Sue then decided that she needed to dedicate more time to her life away from school; she resigned from her TA role and took on the role of Leader of After School Care for a year, after which she moved to covering as a TA one day a week for a member of staff who was taking a qualification, and additional hours providing targeted support. Sue has continued to work as a part time TA in the Junior Department.

And this year, we celebrated Sue’s long-term service to Beechwood, always with a smile, always with compassion and always a support for both parents and staff.

The Lent Term has finished which means we'll only have 11 weeks left with your children once the Summer Term starts. I always feel that by the time we get to this point of the academic year, the Woodlanders are secure and confident in the Nursery and understand the routine of their week, have found some friends and are feeling like they belong. We teachers are so delighted by the visible progress they have made, their energy and positivity towards Nursery and their behaviour.

Let me just look back on some of my own highlights of this past term:

Green Class's love of singing, acting and role play: Their skill at using Alexa and joining in with their football anthems and pop songs! Their excellent table manners and their super listening skills, making them so easy to teach. Their independence and confidence. Well done, Green Class and their amazing teachers.

Orange class's passion for joining up all the various areas of their class with Sellotape and masking tape! Their love of cleaning and using spray bottles with at least 30 cloths per day! Their drive and subsequently high-level skills for creating wonderful structures, models and vehicles out of foam bricks and magnetic tiles. And, their excitement at having their nails painted and arms covered in tattoos! Plus of course, their wonderful, expressive language - they talk a lot about all kinds of interesting things. Well done Orange Class and their inspirational teachers.

We have covered so much this term, both in terms of planned content and thanks to our 'In The Moment' philosophy in Woodlands where we allow our children's passions, interests and questions to steer the learning and activities. You only have to look back over your Tapestry accounts for the last term to remind yourself of how much your children have experienced and learnt.

Thank you for your support with resources, photos and everything else you have provided each time we have asked. You are a really supportive group of parents.

As your children's teachers in Woodlands, we can't stop ourselves discussing the HUGE amount of progress we are seeing in all our children as the Lent Term finishes. We are so proud of them all and one of the things we are most impressed by, is how much they learn from one another.

We have noticed our N2 children helping our N1 children to do up their coats or encouraging them gently to try and do it for themselves. We have also seen our N1 children teaching the N2 children the words of a song from the new Matilda film and both our year groups interacting in such a beneficial way with each other. The advantages of teaching the N1 and the N2 groups together, truly shines through at this time of year.

The younger children admire and look up to the older children and they are so motivated to learn as many skills as they can from their older friends. They also benefit from picking up language skills and new play ideas. The N1 children are now brimming with confidence and it has been wonderful watching them create fantastic murals together with their N2 counterparts, in our Artists Gallery in Orange Class, this final week of term.

Our older N2’s relish the opportunity to teach their younger friends and when they are doing this, they are embedding their own knowledge and skills. Explaining how to complete a skill really helps them to master their own learning. Just this week, we have seen an N2 child teaching others how to fold paper to cut a circle, (eye holes) in a mask and others reading stories to their friends, whilst pretending to be a teacher. Just recently, our N1's and N2's, completed a jigsaw puzzle together, each child offering their particular input and helping each other along the way, until the puzzle was completed. What great team work and negotiating skills they were developing during this.

Our mixture of N1 and N2 age groups also more closely reflects a real family. A learning environment where everyone belongs and feels secure. We are a family at Woodlands Nursery and all our wonderful Woodlanders are growing up, developing in confidence, and learning so much from each other.

Another facet of the education we strive to deliver in Woodlands is to offer the children daily opportunities to express themselves, whether this be through art, craft, talk, acting or dance.

In our Green Class this term, the children have relished being expressive in every way possible! They have been mark-making, dancing to the Conga and George Ezra and been role playing at being "Mums" and "Dads". We observe lovely friendships blossom through doing these things together and they have become a solid, "team" Green in recent weeks.

We have also been encouraging the children to express themselves in dance whilst responding to Mozart's music. As the session developed, we saw some wonderful. creative body shapes, movements and stretches from these 3 and 4 year olds. Afterwards they verbally expressed their feelings of happiness, excitement and enjoyment. Mrs McIntosh explorws the feeling of 'anger', through talk, a balloon and a story book.

Next term, Tracy, one of our Green Class teachers and a Mindfulness Practitioner, is going to run a whole week for the Woodlanders exploring Mindfulness and emotions - something new and inspirational for us all to look forward to.

Whilst we openly state that we work with the Woodlanders on their Phonics, Maths and writing skills which we believe are important, so much of what we do with your children is to build their confidence, self-esteem, understanding of themselves and social skills and all the time we weave in fun, movement, laughter, respect and kindness. A perfect recipe in my book!

Happy Easter to every Woodlander and their family and we will see you, along with eight new pupils at the end of April.

Shirley Hayman Head of Woodlands Nursery

As the last Easter hat disappears down the drive, scattering fluffy feathers and losing eggs of all shapes and sizes along the way it is difficult to remember the start of the Lent Term back in January.

Thinking back though there have been some amazing highlights to reflect on this term. Our Reception children embarked on their very first school trip as soon as we returned after the school holidays.

They were fascinated by the materials all around them in St. Albans Abbey and having observed and felt the different tiles found in the nave, they made their own beautiful clay tiles adorned with an array of religious symbols to bring back to school to paint with lustrous colour.

Staying with the theme of trips and visits, Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed their day out at Kew Gardens learning about how plants adapt to various climates.

The treetop walkway and children’s garden were other firm favourites, even though some children (and adults) had to be ‘tough tortoises’ to overcome their reservations and fears.

This was a new trip for our Year 2 children and their teachers and one that was thoroughly enjoyed by all and will definitely be repeated!

For Year 1 the excitement came to them in the form of an African drumming workshop. Concentration and determination were written all over their faces as they mastered different rhythms and built up to a brilliant finale.

Our Maths Day in February was another first for the Junior Department. The curriculum was collapsed for the day with other subjects being sidelined in favour of an immersive Maths experience. The children arrived at school to find all sorts of changes and out of the ordinary activities. Reception’s corridor and outdoor classroom was full of circles, Year 1 had a mysterious quest to go on to recover a chest full of coins and Year 2 had length and height challenges galore. The excitement was palpable. The fun and learning continued apace both inside and out throughout the day and I am sure the children had a day they won’t forget for a while.

Year 1 have all performed a class assembly to the children and teachers in the Junior Department. Their confidence, enthusiasm and enjoyment have been wonderful to see. 1W kicked us off with their assembly all about dinosaurs. The stand-out moment was the performance poem with some huge roars. 1O were next imparting all that they had learnt about Africa. They loved singing the continents song and getting us to guess which African animal they were describing. Finally, 1J delighted us with an assembly all about time, including the days of the week and months of the year. They had some line dancing that brought a smile to the audience’s faces.

Monthly birthday parties, Forest School, World Book Day, Children’s Mental Health Week are all a well-established part of the Beechwood calendar but still important, nonetheless. These are occasions for celebration and give us the opportunity to get to know the children as individuals a little better and see them in a different light.

Our Reception children have had their first taste of the amazing activities programme Beechwood offers with a lunchtime 1st Kicks Soccer Club. The coach, Daniel, not only works on their Messi insides and touches to control the ball with different parts of the foot, he also helps them improve their balance and co-ordination, their listening and cognitive skills and makes them more aware of their bodies and the benefits of exercise. All that in a 40-minute lunchtime club!

Another exciting activities event was the Junior Choir performing in our Choirs’ Concert. Seeing and hearing the children sing was very special and they showed that age should not hinder what we can achieve.

Finally, it has been so lovely to be able to invite our parents into the classrooms once more for our Open Classrooms Morning after a long hiatus. The pride with which our youngest children showed their adults around all the Junior classrooms and far beyond it seems, told us how important sharing what they get up to each day is to them and to you! We look forward to many more happy, family events in the future.

Wishing all our Junior Department families a wonderful Easter break, and we all look forward to seeing your children back at School for what is going to be an action-packed Summer Term.

Mrs McIntosh Head of Junior Department

Message from Mrs Greenwood

It seems hardly any time ago that I was wishing you all a very happy Christmas and new year, and here we are with Easter approaching rapidly too!

As I write this, I am away in Aylmerton in North Norfolk, with our wonderful Year 4 children and an equally wonderful staff team; we have all had a brilliant time, and I know that the very special Aylmerton magic the children have experienced will live with them forever and they will always remember it fondly. They have been wonderful company, they have learned a lot about themselves and each other, whilst visibly growing in confidence and stature as the week has progressed, rising to every challenge which has come their way.

Whilst we have been away, Year 3 have held their postponed Christmas Market, when Year 1 children joined them to spend some money which is such a useful life skill for both the buyers and the sellers. Once again, a good time was had by all, and a lot of practical maths happened as well!

Many of the Year 5 children have performed with commitment, poise and enjoyment in ‘Emil and the Detectives’, and Year 5 also held a very special Forest School session in the penultimate week of term, during which Mrs Balfour was able to say a very fond farewell to all the children in Year 5.

Mrs Balfour has been both an inspirational Head of Year 5 and champion of each and every one of the children, but alongside this, she has been a truly wonderful colleague who we will all miss so very much. We wish her every success as she leaves Beechwood to join Mr Balfour at Edge Grove. Thank you, Mrs Balfour, for quite simply being ‘Wonderful You’!

The Middle Department teaching team and I wish you all the happiest of holidays, safe travels and lots of very special family time over the Easter period.

Nicola Greenwood Head of Middle Department

SUMMER TERM NOTE FOR YEAR 3 Analogue Time in the Summer

Year 3 will be doing a unit on analogue time during the Summer Term. They are much more used to digital time, as we use it for timetables and many of them have digital watches. Analogue time is trickier to learn and can take some time to master. We would really appreciate your help to prepare your children for this unit. Please could you ensure that they have an analogue watch and that they wear it in school whenever they can. On days that they have a music lesson they may need to wear their digital watch to ensure that they get to the Music Department on time. Please could they get used to wearing their analogue watches over the Easter break and could you ask them the time and help them read it. If they are confident, they could progress onto answering questions about future times “What will be the time in an hour..10 minutes..20 minutes?” “How else could you say 15 minutes past/to?” Any opportunity for pre-learning would really benefit their learning. Thank you in advance for your support!

Year 4 on Tour - Aylmerton 2023

Year 4 had the most wonderful time away at Aylmerton Field Study Centre in Cromer, Norfolk. It is always a gamble going away this early in the year, but luckily, this year the weather was kind and we didn’t get rained on at all - although it was just a little bit windy at times. We even managed too have our lunch on the beach!

Pupils and teachers alike participated in many activities including team building, den building, a twilight walk (carefully avoiding treading on lots of frogs!), listening to a story telling, seeing loads of seals on a beach, rock hunting, rock pooling, stroking birds, insects and reptiles, zip lining, bushcraft, high ropes,... oh and a Monster Trail! We had a fantastic time with lots of fun and it was a pleasure to see the children grow in confidence and independence.

Here is what the children said about our time away:

• “It was fun because I really liked the fact that there wasn’t a big break in between activities, it was constant games and activities!” – Amelia

• “I liked the teachers, they always made teaching fun and I liked their names! I liked it how they made funny noises in the Monster Trail when they came out of the bushes.” – Henry

• “I really liked the fact that we got to make new friends and I liked being outdoors!” – Emily

• “I liked when they told us about the day at breakfast time and I liked being outside.”- Mariia

• “I really enjoyed going to Aylmerton. I wish I could go there again!”-Sienna

• “It was really cool that we got to have our own dorms and make new friends.”-Abbey

• “The Aylmerton staff were really nice and looked after us brilliantly.”- Will

• “In Aylmerton we took on new challenges and always overcame them” - Penelope

• “I’ll never forget Aylmerton, it will always stay in my heart” - Simran

Thank you so much to all the staff who gave up their time to spend with the Year 4 children and made this trip happen.

Year 3 Easter Treasure Hunt

At the end of term Year 3 took part in an Easter themed treasure hunt as part of their end of term activities. Each class was given a riddle which then led to a further riddle clue, these clues were hidden around the school and linked to our English focus on riddle writing. Each Year 3 class worked well together to decipher the clues and found their final prize – A golden ticket that awarded them 15 minutes extra golden time! A stellar effort from all classes and a lot of fun that certainly cheered up a very rainy day.

Message from Mrs Wright

What a fabulous term we have had in the Senior Department. The Lent Term is always a special one for me as we emerge from Winter and look forward to the Spring; the grounds are changing, the days are lighter and the pupils are settled into the school year. This is when we really hit our stride.

Year 6 have navigated the change of pace that occurs in the Michaelmas Term and their confidence as Senior Department pupils continues to grow. They have shown real ownership of the Senior Department and were excellent tour guides for visiting prospective parents this term. They also opened the doors of their co-curricular classrooms and welcomed in their parents to show them, with deserved pride, what they had been getting up to in Art, DT, Drama and Music.

Last week we waved Year 7 off on their long-awaited trip to Bawdsey Manor; we followed their escapades with delight on our social media feeds.

The Top Form Pupil Leadership Team was appointed this term and we also have newly formed Peer Mentor and Year 5 Transition Groups (more on this soon). I have been incredibly impressed with them so far in all they have done. I am a firm believer in giving our pupils meaningful leadership roles in their Top Form year; the additional responsibilities enable them to grow and prepare for their transition to senior school.

A number of pupils across different year groups stepped up their studies this term in preparation for next school assessments: attending after school activities; lunchtime drop-ins and making use of our different online learning platforms. There has certainly been an air of purpose in all that they have done this term. Do you think you could do the work (and under time pressure) that they do? Why not try some papers and put yourself in their shoes...

In Senior Department assemblies we have celebrated neurodiversity; kindness; and explored the power of words. In lessons I continue to be impressed by the creativity of my colleagues and the wonderful attitude to learning demonstrated by our pupils. From World Book Day, Lego Competitions, Pi Day and Science Week (including the arrival of some fluffy friends), there is never a dull moment at Beechwood!

And, of course, we have had the school production. The cast and crew of Emil and the Detectives were absolutely amazing and a true testimony to what the Beechwood community can achieve when we come together. It continues to be a pleasure to be Head of the Senior Department and I look forward to seeing what we achieve together in the Summer Term.

In the meantime, enjoy a restful break and have a Happy Easter.

Mrs Wright Head of Senior Department

In recognition of their effort and engagement in lessons and their contribution to school life this term, Mrs Cussans invited a number of Year 6 pupils to a special lunch on Thursday. The pupils enjoyed “waiter service” at the specially laid table in the Boarders’ Common Room, and spent the occasion discussing a variety of topics important to their year group.

Congratulations to the following pupils on their presence at the launch of the “Credit Club” – the name chosen by the pupils:

Well done to :

George F, Ivie R, Archie L, Charlotte F, Elliot F, Riley T, Holly C, Elliot M, Joe K, William R, Alex R, and Arabella H

Mrs Wright’s Recognition Awards

Congratulations to the following Senior Department pupils who have received recognition awards from Mrs Wright this term:

Year 6 Year 7 Top Form

Zoe A, Ella Rose A-K, Holly C (2), Jane C Florence C Bertie C (2), Mathew D , Jasmine E, George F, Paddy G (2) Alex H, Arabella

H (2), Rose H, Elsie K, Archie L, Kaede L, Chloe L Anjola O, Sasha

PH, Ivie R., William R (2) Evie R, Finlay S Carla S, Jack W (2)

Diego AS, Benedict B, Oscar B

Matthew F, Harry G, Hector G, Chloe I, Nicole I, Chris LM

Ramsay M, Charlie N, Wilfred O

Thomas P, Felix R, Arthur S

Arisa T, Jamie W-S

Congratulations to our Top Form Debating Team who have reached the national finals of the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition 2023.

Having battled their way through local and district rounds, the Beechwood Team, comprised of Top Formers Aidan B, Tommy H and Joshua D, accompanied by Team Manager Mrs Beavis, headed to the Perse School. Cambridge for the East Regional Finals last weekend.

The team was debating against predominantly Year 9 pupils in the Intermediate Category, from Grays Convent Hight School, Essex, St Joseph’s College, Ipswich and Wellington College, Berkshire.

Topics of debate included the following:

• The Monarchy should be abolished (Beechwood)

• Is school the only route for education of over 14 year olds? (Grays Convent High School)

• Climate change – should we REALLY worry about it? (St Joseph’s College)

• Social Media and technology are ruining our friendships (Wellington College)

Aidan (Chairman), Tommy (Proposer) and Joshua (Opposer) were exceptionally well-prepared but also displayed the key skill of seasoned debaters – the ability to think on their feet – and the quality of both the content and structure of their arguments, and their fabulous sense of humour made them the incredibly worthy – and happy – winners. This win means that Beechwood has entered uncharted territory, and will be competing at the National Finals next month.

Mrs Beavis said of the boys “All three performed with their usual poise, panache and charm, and were truly outstanding in this fiercely competitive round against incredibly able public speakers. Debating is not simply turning up and speaking – the boys were quick to think, paced their delivery beautifully, and made wonderful use of pauses to really engage with their audience. I am beyond thrilled for them that they have achieved so much, and cannot wait to accompany them to Rugby for the next round in April”

Interim Head, Maureen Cussans, added “We are all so proud of Tommy, Aidan and Josh’s performance at the Youth Speaks Competition, and wish them all the luck in the world as they move through the National Finals. I would also like to thank and congratulate Helen Beavis for her commitment to Beechwood Debating – there is a long history of success in this competition, with the Beechwood team reaching regional finals last year too. Her unstinting support and hard work have been, and continue to be, much appreciated by the teams and the School as a whole”

The team will be competing at Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby on Sunday 23 April – we look forward to sharing how they get on with you.

It’s hard to pick out highlights from Boarding at Beechwood when it feels like every week there has been something fun and exciting going on in Boarding! Boarding is such a joyful part of school-life; I don’t know whether it’s the family feel of dinner in the Great Hall, or the energy of the Boarders’ Games Room or the calm familiarity of the bedtime routine … it’s easy to find something to celebrate in each evening.

From decorating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, to Swimming Pool Games Night and our final night of term Easter Egg Hunt we’ve had a blast! Laser tag was another real highlight of this term, despite the mud and rain. The Summer Term Boarding Activities promise lots of fun, too, and it’ll be a pleasure to make the most of the lighter evenings and better weather and really get to play outside.

A huge thank you to the fantastic team of Boarding Staff!

Ms Harris Head of Boarding

We have had a fabulous term in maths at Beechwood, with continued effort and engagement from pupils who are keen to learn and make excellent progress. We have also had lots of fun in the process.

One of the highlights this term was when we came together as a maths team to celebrate Pi Day! Every year on 14th March, maths enthusiasts like to take the opportunity to talk about Pi; eat pie; recite the digits of Pi. Anything to do with Pi really. So far Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As it is an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. Pi is the most studied number in mathematics, and is an integral part of many calculations.

Five Fun Facts about Pi

Here are some facts you can impress people with:

• Pi is part of Egyptian mythology. People in Egypt believed that the pyramids of Giza were built on the principles of Pi. The vertical height of the pyramids have the same relationship with the perimeter of their base as the relationship between a circle’s radius and its circumference!

• There is an entire writing style based on the number Pi. The number of letters in the successive words must be the same as the digits of Pi.

• A crop circle was found in 2008 that showed a coded image of the first ten digits of Pi.

• Albert Einstein was born on Pi day! And so was Mr Darcy!

• The Greek letter π is the first letter of the words periphery and perimeter. And as well all know, Pi is the ratio of a circle’s periphery to its diameter.

Some of the ways we celebrated Pi Day:

Making Pi Day paper chains: By having each digit represented by a colour and pupils writing the digits on the loop themselves. In Year 5 Mrs Balfour’s group created a PIper chain with over 200 links, by designating a colour for every digit and reserving the one and only black paper link for the decimal point!

Digits of Pi memory competition: Lots of pupils from the Junior, Middle and Senior departments took part in this year's annual competition. This year's winner was Ismail W in Year 5 with 180 digits,. Well done, Ismail! Well done also to James in Year 3 who recited an impressive 166 digits

Pi Day Skyline Pictures:: Pi Day gives us the opportunity to get creative with circles; art and maths. Can you spot the connection between the heights of the buildings and the first digits of Pi?

Calculating relationships of measurements

Mr Reading’s Year 5 group headed outside as they paced out semicircles on the tennis courts and then the radius of their semicircle and then headed back inside to calculate the relationship between the measurements.

Freehand Circle Drawing

Competition:

Who can draw the perfect freehand circle? This was what the painter Giotto said he could do! This activity allowed pupils (and Mrs G!) to demonstrate their mastery of properties of circles while having a bit of fun! Try it yourself here

We are a bit sad the Pi Day celebration are all over for another year, and the Maths Department staff are already thinking that we might have to celebrate Tau Day just so that we can continue the circle fun!

Tau Day is a celebration of the circle constant C/r = 6.283185..........

Founded in 2010, Tau Day takes place annually on June 28 (6.28 in the Americal calendar system) and gives us a brand-new number to learn!

Mrs Wright Head of Maths