Beechwood Lion - Michaelmas Term 2022

THE BEECHWOOD LION MICHAELMAS TERM 2022

Contents

From the Head 4

Farewell to Mr Balfour 5

Message from Mr Bullock, Deputy Head Academic 10

Message from Mrs Clarke, Head of Senior School Admissions 10

Message from Mr Packer, Deputy Head Pastoral 11

Message from Miss MacPherson, Director of Co-curricular 12

New Staff Michaelmas Term 14

Christmas at Beechwood 18

Christmas Productions 20

Michaelmas Term in Woodlands 28

Michaelmas Term in the Junior Department 34

Michaelmas Term in the Middle Department 38

Michaelmas Term in the Senior Department 40

Maths 44

English 46 Classics 51 History 52 Geography 54 TPR 56 Modern Foreign Languages 58 Science 60 DT 62 Art 64 Music 66 Boarding 68 Charity 70 Forest News 72 Sport 74 Catering 80

BPSPA 82 Lent Term 86

Message from the Head

The final assembly, still reverberating in my ears, was a fantastic way to round off this term, which started with the death of Her Majesty the Queen and was quickly followed by a Focused Compliance Inspection before the true business of the term got underway.

There is nothing better than a Beechwood build-up to Christmas; it is magical time of year for our pupils and I am hugely grateful to our staff for the fun that they have put into the celebrations. I have marvelled at Woodlands, Reception, Years 1 and 2 pupils perform so confidently in their Christmas Shows and was blown away by the performance skills of Years 3 and 4 in their glittering Christmas variety show, all of which demonstrate how much confidence our pupils develop as they progress through the School.

Congratulations to our many pupils who have performed so successfully in admissions assessments this term and on the plethora of scholarships and awards that they have achieved. Thanks also to the Bursar and her Estates team for making our complex site safe after the recent snow, to Queen Emily and her catering team for the delicious Christmas meals, and, as ever, to the Senior Leadership Team for coordinating the final frenetic days of term.

At the end of term, we bid farewell to Mrs Lane who, after 17 years at Beechwood, is heading off skiing in her beloved Austria for the winter, Mrs Mann, who has been an excellent Year 3 teacher since January 2017, Mr Ip, who is moving with his family to Cambridge and to Mr Orme with thanks for his term’s cover as Head of Geography.

I wish Mrs Doyle (Year 3 Teacher), Miss Bailey (Year 4 Teacher), Mrs Routledge (Head of Year 4) and Ms Harris (Head of Boarding and Geography) every happiness in their new roles at Beechwood from January.

I also wish Maureen Cussans (Interim Head) every happiness as she steers the Beechwood tiller next term; she is hugely experienced in prep school leadership and Beechwood will continue to thrive under her leadership, I am certain.

And so, in my final newsletter to you all, I fall back on the genius of John Donne;

Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness beat.

Thank you for entrusting your wonderful children to Beechwood, thank you for your outstanding parental support and I wish you all a very happy New Year and future.

May the road rise to meet you all…

Ed Balfour

Listen to our Podcast Team’s interview with Mr Balfour here

Mr Balfour’s Final Assembly

HEAD PUPILS:

Dear Mr Balfour, this is for you. We know you love poems; well we hope that you do! We’re sorry you’re leaving and wish you goodbye But we really don’t want you to break down and cry.

YEAR THREE

We are Year Three and we missed most of school! We stayed home in lockdown and broke every rule. We love being back and assemblies are fun. It's great to sing songs with everyone.

YEAR FOUR

Here come Year Four : the buzzing live wires! We are the bright sparks and really high flyers. We moved and grooved in our Christmas show. To sing loud and proud and make your heart glow.

YEAR FIVE

Year Five are cool dudes. We have a great time. We are so clever - we even use rhyme! We hope you enjoy our humorous verse. Let’s face it. Your dad jokes are even worse!

YEAR

SIX

Listen to us. Year Six is the name. We work hard and play hard but fun is our game. We are a great team but sometimes quite LOUD. We hope we have made you happy and proud.

YEAR SEVEN

We have to say we love your goodwill Miss Trunchbull on wheels or Cruella de Vi! We will never forget your face or your name. Who else will dress up as a pirate or dame ?

TOP FORM

We’re nearing the end. You’ve heard from the rest; So it’s probably time to hear from the best. Good luck at Edge Grove. We just want to say Come back to see us; we’d like you to stay!

ALL PUPILS:

Mr Balfour, our poem has come to its end

It’s time to conclude; you’ve been a great friend. Thanks for the puns, the fun and the cheer.

With thanks to all the pupils for performing this in our final assembly with Mr Balfour, and special thanks to Mrs Beavis for penning this special poem.

There once was a teacher named Ed, Who of Beechwood Park became Head, But now he is gone, And it won’t be such fun, Unless we have snow days instead. We will miss him but things will go on And soon there will be some sun But for now in the snow, With nowhere to go I feel that this poem is done!

Rory Brewer

From day to day, From Assembly to class You’re always so encouraging I wish these days could last

From month to month

From summer to snow You’ve been with us through it all I don’t want you to go

From year to year You kept us safe You’ve inspired us all You’ve been absolutely ace!

SO now the time has come To say a big GOODBYE We wish you well Mr Balfour I think the whole of Beechwood will cry

From here to tomorrow

From school to school

A new adventure waits for you As a headmaster, you’ll always be cool

Olivia Farrow

We had a great headmaster. Ed Balfour was his name. Beechwood Park he nurtured, His very own domain.

He joined us in September The year 2015 Only a few remember During the reign of our dear late Queen.

He dealt with all the parents, And their little superstars. Kiss and Drop worked wonders Even with posh cars.

His impact was terrific, His care was even greater. But now he’s left for warmer climes. Edge Grove! Oh what a traitor!!

You’ve done so well for oh so long You’ll have a great debut And thank you for all your work We will remember you

Davies, Top Form

Joshua

Mr Balfour, your time has come, To reflect on all the work for school you have done. You leave us now at the end of term To help Edge Grove grow and learn.

You taught us how to nurture, engage and inspire, And thankfully these words will never retire. Headmaster’s Commendations were always a joy to get, Especially from you; we will never forget.

Speech Days were sometimes a drag But when you came on stage, we were all glad; To listen to your humorous jokes And endlessly watch “That’s all folks”

A recent memory, planting a tree, With three bright cameras like paparazzi shining on me We stood for hours, posing and smiling, Freezing cold, some of us were whining.

Thank you Mr Balfour for the journey we all share We don’t even know if you are aware Of the impact you have made in our live You have never once caused us grief or strife

And as this poem comes to a close So does your time at Beechwood we know Thank you for everything, Mr Balfour And thank you for making the lion roar.

Audrey Ekpo, Top Form

Mr Balfour inspires us every day All of us wish you could stay We are all sad that you are leaving today You light up the gloomy days in our life When we feel sad you cheer us up with a joke

So we hope you like your new job You were the best headmaster we have ever had.

Todd

We will miss you a lot For all that you have done Don’t ever forget You made Beechwood more fun

All the work you put in Beechwood’s been blessed Caring for us Is what you did best

We’ll never forget All the memories we’ve shared You achieved your mission We are all now prepared

Now for our future, You’ll always be there Teachers come and go But people like you are very rare.

I guess this is it A new chapter for you Time to say goodbye A new mission for us all to pursue

G

Mr Balfour is leaving Beechwood And going to lead a new school We will get a new Head But we will miss Ed And Beechwood will be a little less cool

As you pack up St Giles Think of fun times and smiles And as we say goodbye Promise not to cry Just remember happiness that you spread for miles

Good luck Mr Balfour, as you leave us to go Beechwood will miss you more than you know

Leo Reynolds

Katherine

Thomas

Message from Mr Bullock

The term started with news of our triumph in the national SATIPs Handwriting Competition (see page) and this achievement has set the tone for the term. We introduced the Accelerated Reader Scheme through the Middle Department to target comprehension when reading, providing natural development from the excellent work in the Junior Department. We know that ‘reading for meaning’ is a key skill and hope this will have extremely positive impact.

It is our second year running the through-school mastery approach to Maths and we have seen the positive impact as your children are more familiar with the language and problem-solving focus. As we track results through the end of unit assessment, your children have gained excellent results showing their understanding of the different topics.

Senior school testing is progressively earlier; Years 6 and Top Form prepared through their October trial exams, gaining excellent overall averages. The early results from Senior Schools are particularly encouraging including our first academic scholarships of the year.

We launched a bring your own device pilot scheme with Year 7; there has been great feedback from pupils, staff and parents and we will be undertaking a fuller review next term as we assess if and how to roll this out further.

Thank you to parents who responded to the Parents‘ Meetings survey; the Senior Leadership Team reviewed both the statistics and all feedback as we plan for meetings through the remainder of the academic year.

Looking ahead, we plan to review homework and prep expectations through the school, seeking your feedback next term. Academically, we are always looking for ways to continue to improve to ensure that we are both engaging and inspiring your children to achieve at the highest levels and make the greatest progress possible.

I hope all our pupils and their families enjoyed a peaceful and fun Christmas, and I wish you all a very happy New Year. I look forward to seeing you all soon

Message from Mrs Clarke

Many of our Senior Department pupils have been working incredibly hard this term, preparing for senior school admissions assessments. Those aiming for places at 11+ places at Abbots Hill, Berkhamsted and St Albans High School for Girls, as well as 13+ places at Bradfield, Brighton, Eton, Hurst, Radley, Stowe and Wellington, had to contend with the new style ISEB pre-test. Those with their sights set on Haileybury and Wycombe Abbey had CAT4 tests to wrestle with. Others have had to tackle the CEM Select online test or grapple with even more mysterious assessments devised by the senior schools themselves.

Thanks to their hard work in lessons and their determined use of Planet Bofa, ATOM and Century, our pupils have shown they had nothing to worry about! So far we’ve had results in from Berkhamsted, Brighton, Eton, Haileybury, Queenswood, St Margaret’s and Uppingham, all showing that our pupils have done fantastically well. Particular shout outs go to Ella Rose and Uju who have been awarded Academic Scholarships by Queenswood, and Chloe L who has been awarded a Principal’s Award for Sport. We are so proud of everyone who has received an offer from a senior school so far this year.

Message from Mr Packer

It has been a very busy, successful term at Beechwood. In the midst of our teaching and learning, preparation for all our festivities, matches, concerts, Christmas Fair, we are mindful of the need to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

At Beechwood, in the fortnight of Humility, we have fostered the true spirit and meaning by sharing our own gratitude with those who are not so fortunate. As ever, our pupils and families have given generously to support Herts Welcomes Refugees, the Vineyard Present Appeal and Keech.

Over the holidays, some pupils will have been preparing for entrance exams in January. I have emphasised to pupls the importance of their well-being, and of ensuring they also rest and spend quality time with friends and family, so they can return in January refreshed and ready for the learning ahead.

The holidays are also a time when pupils will have been keeping in touch via social media. It is indeed so important pupils stay in touch, and maintain their friendships either online or when meeting in person. Please continue to support your children in making the right choice to maintain communications which are True, Kind and Necessary. I would also encourage you to read Dr Kathy Weston’s latest Wednesday Wisdom Newsletter.

I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a restful Christmas break and wish you a New Year of health and happiness.

Clan Shield Michaelmas 2022

Congratulations to all members of Stewart House on winning the Clan Shield this term. Position

Well done and thank you to those pupils who have served as House Captains this term - Jacob (Saunders), Millie (Sebright), Will P (Stewart) and Max D (Tudor); and also to staff who lead each House - Ms Begley, Mrs Groeneveld, Mr Darcy and Mr Cook.

Congratulations to those who have been chose to succeed them: Felix (Saunders), Sid (Sebright), Henry (Stewart) and Joshua D (Tudor)

Congratulations too to Millie Gray and Aidan Burger who were appointed Heads of School earlier this term,

Co-Curricular Round Up from Miss Mac

And just like that, another term has flown by! I have a theory that time at Beechwood runs on fast forward, perhaps this is why the weeks go by so quickly but we manage to fit so much in?

School started with a bang (or should I say thud?) with goals scored by the U11 Girls at the Olympic Park Hockey Tournament all those weeks ago. From then on fixtures have come thick and fast in Hockey, Football, Rugby, Netball, Swimming, Skiing, Equestrian and Fencing. Not forgetting our pupils in Year 7 and Top Form who opted to learn Kick Boxing in our Sport for all Programme on a Wednesday. Some fantastic successes across the board but also lots learnt. A closely fought ‘second’ place is quite possibly the best way to learn about the true meaning of teamwork, resilience and humility. Thank you to Mrs Carley and the entire Sports Department for ensuring an extensive range of opportunities for all our pupils. Read Mrs Carley’s Sports Round Up from page 74

The last couple of weeks, have seen Drama a plenty with a myriad of Christmas Shows to pick from. However, at Beechwood, it’s not just about the quantity but most definitely the quality. Feeling under the weather? Check out one of Beechwood’s all singing and dancing, quite literally, Christmas Shows for a dousing of Christmas spirit and merriment. I was warmed from the inside out watching our talented pupils perform with confidence and enthusiasm a plenty. No need for a strong cup of coffee when you start the day watching ‘Lights, Camel and Action’!

Thank you to Mrs Hegarty and all the Form Teachers and Teaching Assistants who ensured that all the festive productions went smoothly ! See pages 20 to 27 for some fabulous photos of our festive productions.

And where there’s Drama, there’s often Music too! Music is a perfect way to bring a community together and we do that often at Beechwood whether in our weekly assemblies, lunch time concerts or the end of term Christmas Concert

You can always hear Music at Beechwood from when you arrive in the morning and hear Big Band rehearsing or during the day when pupils walk back to class singing after a choir rehearsal or when it’s time to leave School and a boarder is doing some practice. Music is everywhere! The musicality of Beechwood was reflected in our recent ABRSM and Trinity exam results - all exams passed and a huge proportion of merits and distinctions, which is a fantastic feat. See page 66 for more details.

Click here to watch the Christmas Concert

Thank you to Mrs Lodge, Mrs Jarvis, Mr Harrington and all the Instrumental Music teachers for all their work this term

DT workshop still wows me every time I go in and it seems to have this effect on pupils too. It has been quite the transformation from gutting the old workshop at the end of the Summer Term, to seeing it in all its glory now.

The creative buzz from the workshop during lunch times when Senior pupils take the opportunity to work on their own inventions pulsates across the courtyard. I love popping into DT lessons as I am always astounded by what the pupils are creating - from flying mythical creatures to desk lanterns to a giant, interactive Christingle!

See page 62 for a round up from Mr Fox about what has been created in the workshop this term...

Similarly, the Art Room is never still. It is always a riot of colour and creation. The kiln has been extra busy this term firing up creations in all year groups. Mrs KB loves a challenge and took on creating Mr Balfour’s portrait alongside the pupils, putting the children at the heart of a child-centred portrait of our headmaster. Two successful Art Trips, to Stowe and Berkhamsted, have inspired the pupils and shown what they can achieve if they continue to study Art and Design as they move onto their next schools.

And what a treat it was to see a variety of children’s artwork brought to life by the Beechwood 2022 Christmas Jumper that Mrs KB put together and then we sold for Charity. I look forward to seeing what the next whole school Art project Mrs KB comes up with!

Read more from Mrs KB on page 64

But let’s not forget the trees! This term has been all about trees, Mrs Le Bas was one of the teachers most effected by remote learning. Is there anything more challenging then teaching Forest School via Zoom?!

Forest School is well and truly back and now with a replanted forest and a new orchard too. Thank you to the entire community who donated trees and their labour - it was such a special day when Beechwood came together to join forces in replenishing our forest for years to come. We now also have our very own Queen Elizabeth Orchard which will in time come to provide us with fruit for many a crumble and jam. A huge thank you to Mrs Le Bas for creating this legacy of which we can all be a part. More from Forest School on page 72

I could go on about the range of trips that we have embarked on from Year 1 visiting Wardown House Museum, to the boarders visiting Bedford Planetarium, or Year 3s quick “trip” to Ancient Egypt but I hope you’ve already heard about all of these adventures from your own children.

I hope your holidays are filled with a variety of co-curricular activities and you have time to take a breath, recoup and recover ready for the excitement of the Lent Term!

Miss Mac Director of Co-Curricular

Staff News - New Staff This Term

In September, we welcomed a number of new staff - read a little bit more about some of them here:

Mr King, Head of Modern Foreign Languages

Before starting at Beechwood in September, Mr King taught Modern Foreign Languages at the Beacon School in Amersham, where he spent seven years.

What was your first impressions of Beechwood Park?

When I first came to visit, I was struck by the warmth of the School as a whole - all the staff I met were very welcoming, and the pupils I saw were kind to each other, and all looked as if they were having lots of fun whilst learning.

What is your favourite part of the School and why?

Of course, the classrooms are fabulous as that is where all the learning happens, and I love the huge open spaces of the Sports facilities, but my favourite place has to be the Great Hall for its sense of history - I love walking through and imagining what it must have been like in the past, and what kind of people might have visited and spent time there. It is awe-inspiring to work in a place with such a long and interesting history.

What is your favourite school meal?

That is a difficult question, as we are fed incredibly well here. I do love the Coconut Chicken Curry though ...

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself I used to live at Hampton Court Palace - you can see where my love of historic buildings started!

Mrs Carley, Director of Sport

What you were doing before you came to Beechwood?

Life before Beechwood was a little warmer! I worked for 8 years at Dulwich College in Singapore It was a wonderful opportunity to live in this incredible country and to travel all over South East Asia. Living abroad and learning about other cultures and traditions is something I would recommend to anyone if you get the chance!

What was your first impression of Beechwood?

My first impression was how stunning the main building is and how friendly everyone was. Space is at a premium in Singapore and my previous school only had one playing field. Beechwood is very lucky to have so much outdoor space to play sport!

What is your favourite part of the school and why? My favourite part of the school is the swimming pool at the moment as it’s so warm in there! I also love eating lunch in the Great Hall, it is bursting with history and I can read all the names of previous Heads of Schools and Scholars. I have yet to visit the Pottery Cellar or the Boarding House, there are still so many places to discover!

What is your favourite school meal? Ooh so many to choose from, I really like the turkey pie, fish and chips and the Sticky Chinese chicken!

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself I have just adopted two black and white kittens called Raffles and Columbus Pickle.

Staff Welcome

Mrs Porter, Year 3 Teacher

Before starting at Beechwood in September, Mrs Porter taught Year 5 at a school in Great Missenden and Year 2 at The Royal Masonic School for Girls.

What were your first impressions of Beechwood?

You cannot fail to be impressed by the amazing grounds at Beechwood, which I have enjoyed exploring with my class. Having taught in a girls’ school before coming here, I have also enjoyed getting back to teaching both boys and girls.

What is your favourite part of the School and why? Of course, the 3P classroom is my favourite place! This is made even better by having a wonderful view of the surrounding area

What is your favourite school meal? Chicken noodles with prawn crackers!

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself I have a golden retriever called Albus, named after the Harry Potter character..

Mr Outson, Year 1 Teacher

Member of his own class, 1O, asked Mr Outson a few questions to get to know him better...

Why did you become a teacher? I studied Sport Science at university, and had been coaching young children to play rugby, so from there decided I wanted to get into teaching, so I could help children with more than just rugby.

What were your first impressions of Beechwood?

Having only just moved down from Newcastle, I am a long way from home, so it was the warm welcome from staff and children that really made the difference to me! It is a very friendly school - especially in 1O, of course! I love the grounds too - it is a fantastic place to be!

If you could meet anyone from history, who would it be? I would love to meet Roald Dahl. I have always loved his books, and I’d love to ask him where he got his ideas from!

What is your favourite part of the School and why? Of course, the 1O classroom is my favourite place!

What was your favourite subject at School? I always loved sport, especially rugby, but also Maths.

Mrs Hunt, Front Desk

What did you do before coming to Beechwood?

I worked as PA to the Deputy Head Academic at Haberdashers’ Boys’ School before joining Beechwood. The reason for my move was to move into semi-retirement to have a shorter working day and commute, and as I live in Markyate, it is ideal.

What were your first impressions of Beechwood?

My first impression was the very welcoming and inclusive atmosphere. Sitting at the Front Desk, I meet lots of people, and everyone always seems to be smiling and happy, even at 0730 each morning!

What is your favourite part of the School?

My favourite parts of the school are the imposing and historical building and front reception, which is where I work, and the grounds.

What is your favourite School meal?

Because I am part time, I only stay for school dinners occasionally but my favourite meal so far has been the turkey pie - delicious!

Romario Antonio, Graduate Teaching Assistant

Before coming to Beechwood, Mr Antonio was at Loughborough University studying for a degree in Social Psychology.

Why did you want to be a GTA?

I wanted to be a GTA at Beechwood as I enjoy working with children and wanted to gain more experience on my journey to becoming an Educational Psychologist. I was also really interested in the nurturing, child-centred approach that Beechwood takes and by the impressive facilities I saw when I visited the School for my interview.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself

I have lived in four different countries - Jamaica, The Turks and Caicos Islands, England and Australia.

What were your first impressions of Beechwood?

My first impressions were WOW! I felt like I was at Hogwarts when I first walked into the Great Hall.

What does a GTA do?

My roles involves working as a teaching assistant during the day to support teaching and learning from the youngest students in Woodlands up to the oldest students in Top Form. During the school day, I do a lot of reading with pupils, as well as supporting them in English, Maths, Science and Games. The variety in lessons and year groups I support in is one of my favourite things. In the evenings I work as part of the Boarding team where we do lots of fun indoor and outdoor activities together, have the most amazing dinners, and occasionally go on trips out of school. I also enjoy being a games coach and the unbeaten streak I had with my brilliant Colts E football team was undoubtedly the highlight of my first term at the School.

What are you looking forward to next term?

The thing I am looking forward to most next term is working with my new rugby team which I’m sure will be a massive success and tons of fun.

What is your favourite school meal? Too many to choose from, but the lasagne is to die for!

Zoe Clarke, Graduate Teaching Assistant

Before starting her job here, Zoe was studying Psychology at the University of Birmingham and working during the holidays as the Manager of the Oxford Active camps at Beechwood.

Why did you want to be a GTA? I’m really enthusiastic about learning and I wanted to get experience of working in a school that doesn’t only care about the academic needs of children, but also their social and emotional needs. As an aspiring educational psychologist, Beechwood’s child-centred and nurturing approach to education aligns with my values. I’d also heard what an amazing school Beechwood is from my mum who works here and my brother who is in Top Form, and I knew that I would get to gain a breadth of experience with children of all ages!

What does my job involve?

There are two main parts to my role. I am a Teaching Assistant during the day, supporting learning in a range of lessons from Maths and Phonics to Science and Latin. I’m very grateful that I get to work throughout the School, all the way from Woodlands to Top Form, and I also work closely with Learning Support. I also assist with co-curricular and after school activities, including games sessions, sports fixtures, COSTA swimming and after school care.

The other main part of being a GTA is living in the boarding house and being part of the team. This involves waking the boarders up in the morning, helping them to complete their prep, helping to run a variety of evening activities, overseeing bedtime, monitoring their well-being, and keeping them happy and safe.

What is your favourite meal at Beechwood? It’s hard to choose a favourite meal at Beechwood because all the food is incredible. If I had to pick it would probably be the sticky chicken and noodles. Chinese and Thai food is my favourite!

What has been your highlight of the term?

It would have to be seeing all the amazing Christmas performances that the children and staff have worked so hard to put on. Seeing the children so passionate and excited about their performances has been very heart-warming! I’m also really looking forward to the Boarders’ Feast on the penultimate day of term. I’m told it involves hilarious sketches, awards, and lots of food!

What am I most looking forward to next term?

This term, I helped in Year 3 maths every day. It’s been great to see the children’s confidence and knowledge grow as the term has progressed. Next term, I’m really looking forward to seeing this development in another year group and a different area of the curriculum, which I believe is going to be Year 4 English.

If you missed the Junior Department’s interview with Mrs McIntosh earlier this term, you can watch it here

Christmas at Beechwood Christmas at Beechwood

In the last few weeks there was a flurry of Christmas activities at School - see the following pages for more photos of the Woodlands, Reception, Year 1,. Year 2 and combined Year 3/4 productions, and page 66 for the Christmas Music events, including the School Carol Service and the Christmas Concert.

Elsewhere we have been raising funds for the Children’s Society via the Year 3 Christingle Service, and for Herts Welcomes Refugees and the Storehouse at the Vineyard Churches in Hemel Hempstead and St Albans with our Christmas Jumper Day. The festive season started with our beautiful Advent Service and the BPSPA Christmas Fayre, and later we took to the grounds for a festive Santa Run, before finally being spoilt by Emily and her wonderful Catering Team with a mouthwatering Christmas Lunch.... Here are just a few highlights of the last weeks of Michaelmas Term 2022

What a performance...! Christmas Productions

Once again, the Woodlands Nursery, Junior Department and Year 3 and 4 Christmas Productions did not disappoint! It is always astonishing to see how everyone - from the very youngest members of the Beechwood family - rises to the occasions and perform so brilliantly for their parents and other adults!

Woodlands shared with us their Nativity with a twist, complete with a host of bugs and insects, Reception shared a touching recreation of the Christmas story - all learning lines, songs and actions beautifully. Year 1’s production this year was “A Miracle in Town”, another traditionally retelling of the Christmas story. Year 2 entertained with their Strictly Come Dancing inspired Lights, Camel, Action, a nativity play with a twist... Year 3 and 4 put on an all singing, all dancing feast of the eyes and ears, with their production of “The Stars come out for Christmas” - well done to everyone an energetic, fun-filled production

Thank you to all members of Woodlands, Junior and Year 3 and 4 staff, as well as Mrs Lodge, Mrs Hegarty and Mrs Jarvis for their hard work, and special thanks to all the children for their energy and enthusiasm!

Michaelmas Term at Woodlands Nursery

I have been reflecting back on the last term in Nursery and realise that we have done so much and that hopefully the children have learnt a lot of new things too.

In September, they were making new friends in their new classes, learning to wash their hands with soap and dry them properly and playing pretend offices using the second hand office equipment. The weather was still lovely and the children were outdoors a lot.

As September went on, they had picnics on the hill by the large sandpits, learnt to use dustpan and brushes and became accustomed to working in their various Story and Rhyme Time and Phonics groups. The days moved on further and we worked hard on naming colours and shades of colours, on digging in the sand and on mixing liquids and powders together.

As the end of September hit us, we realized how much they had grown in independence and that all our children were keen to learn more about animals. We celebrated European languages day in the last week of September and loved watching your videos from home of your families speaking in different languages.

October was suddenly upon us and we focused on cutting skills and more shape work. Then it was time to start practising for our Harvest Assembly. We learnt how to say tiger in French and loads about oats, beans and barley. The children were now well in to the swing of PE lessons, Diversity sessions, Maths and French and had settled well in to Woodlands.

The autumn weather was appearing by now and we enjoyed using lots of natural resources in our learning and play. Mr. Balfour, Mr Bullock and Mrs McIntosh were now coming to see the children weekly and the children looked forward to their visits.

They returned after the half term break and we were straight into fireworks as our focus and all our different areas of learning featured pop, bangs and whizzing!

We learnt how to say tree in French and started enjoying lots of cooking activities. The children were learning how to rhyme and create patterns.

Then suddenly it was time to start learning all about insects and Christmas combined! And thus, our Show which you had the pleasure of witnessing just before the end of term.

Where have those 4 months gone to? How much have your children changed and grown? All I can say is..... we have had a ball!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and joy filled Christmas holiday and on behalf of myself, Donna, Catherine, Sophie, Natalie and Emma, thank you for your support over this term.

See you in 2023 when we welcome new children and Tracy and Ruth, two additional Woodlands teachers to the team.

Shirley Hayman Head of Woodlands Nursery

What have we done this term?

This term, Woodlands pupils have explored, created, learnt and experienced across the whole curriculum.

Insects and mini-beasts have played a big part in our learning; early in the term, the children made ladybirds and had a French lesson based on bumble bees - ask any Green Class child what bee is in French and they are sure to be able to tell you! They also have made spider webs, and later in the term, the whole of Woodlands was transformed into a giant spider’s web! A special bug-related treat was the visit from Wild Fangs, with Rosie the tarantula - who was accompanied by a corn-snake, cockroach and beetle! The children all had lots of questions!

This “bug” theme followed through the term into our very special Nativity production, “The Insects tell out the Good News” - as you probably now know, every year, Woodlands tries to offer a fresh, creative, innovative show for our families, and we hope this year’s effort did not disappoint! Thank you for all your wonderful efforts with the costumes - our forest full of spiders, butterflies and bees looked fabulous! You can see more photos from the production here

Back in September, the children had their first Forest School of the academic year. Mrs Le Bas, Beechwood’s Forest School Leader, explained all the Forest School “Rules” before the children explored the fairy house, dog logs, mud kitchen and more - all great preparation for their regular Forest School sessions when they move into the Junior Department.

Autumn was another fun learning experience for the children, and members of each class showed great interest in the environmental changes happening around Woodlands. Naturally our woodland location lends itself to plenty of outdoor exploration, and the children have explored the school site looking for conkers, acorns and beautifully coloured autumn leaves, creating some wonderful works of art from these natural resources.

As part of their autumn studies, the children also learnt about harvest, and the big excitement was the visit from the local farmer - with his tractor! It was difficult to tell who was more thrilled by this visit, the children, or Mr Balfour! The children all had the opportunity to sit in the tractor’s cabin and they had plenty of questions to ask the farmer! We hope you all enjoyed our special Harvest Assembly too - and a huge thank you for all the Harvest donations.

Amongst a lot of outdoor learning, there has been plenty going on in the classroom too this term! In our phonics sessions, we have explored the rhythm of words by clapping, stamping and playing instruments. There are so many different aspects to being an early reader and the Woodlanders are throwing themselves into developing these skills - with their usual confidence and enthusiasm!

We have also been working on upper body strength as this helps children to develop the fine motor skills needed to be successful writers in the future - staff have worked with the children to develop their “bendy bits” - shoulders, elbows and wrist pivots - to help them make marks more effectively.

We have also been studying the concept of shape, with all the children getting involved in activities to learn about both 2D and 3D shapeslearning how to say all the shape names, as well as more “hands on” activities such as painting and printing with shapes, wrapping shapes up, and even throwing them around! All these different activities help to embed learning and understanding, helping children to identify objects that are the same and those that are different, and so learning the principles of categorising. This is an important science skill that will be explored further as the children move through the School.

Throughout the year, we aim to deliver a wide Early Year experience to our Woodlanders, and Computing is a key part of this. Throughout the term, the children have been introduced to some new learning experiences using bee-bots (which have given the children an early taste of programming their toys), iPads etc. You are never too young - or too old! - to learn something new!

As part of the Early Years curriculum in Woodlands, pupils also learn about the world around them and different cultures and traditions.

This term, the children had the opportunity to learn about Diwali - what it is, and why and how it is celebrated. Thank you to Amita and Shuchi who visited Woodlands and delivered a fascinating session, made all the more special as Woodlanders were joined by the Reception classes as a whole Early Years Department. We love to welcome back last year’s Woodlanders to let us know how they are getting on in Reception, and it is very beneficial for our older Nursery children to get a taste of what is to come in September, when they move to the Junior Department. During the course of the session, the children learnt about Rama and Sita, engaged in a variety of different craft activities - and sampled some delicious Diwali treats!

Of course the highlight of the term for many was Christmas and all the associated celebrations! At Woodlands we enjoyed:

• The spectacular Woodlands Show (more photos here)

• Christmas Carols and Cake

• Christmas Movie Afternoon

• Whole School Christmas Jumper Day

• Christmas Lunch

So after a busy Michaelmas Term, what does Lent Term have in store?! Watch this space!

Turn the page for more photos from this term in Woodlands...

The Term in Pictures

Junior Department - From Mrs McIntosh

An A-Z Poem of the Michaelmas Term in the Junior Department

Assemblies daily in the Junior Hall, Birthday parties for one and all, Christmas productions did enthral.

Donating goods – food-banks to fill, Everyone here is learning a new skill, Fireworks night – what a thrill!

Girls and boys playing – friendship sounds, Hello Yellow – sunshine all around, Illnesses this term abound!

Junior children are sublime, Keeping going – they always shine, Learning, laughing all the time.

Maths mastery – digging deep, Number bonds in our minds we keep Odd Socks because we are all unique.

Power Pets help us find our way, Queen’s funeral, a sad day, Reception settled well – hooray!

Stories read at three fifteen, Trees planted on Orchard Green, Umbrellas were often seen.

Values reinforced all the while, Windsor Castle enjoyed in style, Xmas jumpers made us smile.

Year 1 enjoyed their trip. Now off to the holidays we all skip

Junior Department Highlights of the Term

It has been another very busy term in the Junior Department. Reception pupils have settled into “big school” life brilliantly, Year 1 have adapted to their new more structured approach, and Year 2 pupils are taking on new responsibilities and flourishing in their roles as the oldest children in the Department.

Learning has continued apace, both in the classroom and beyond, and Year 1 and 2 have also managed to get out and about on school trips to Wardown House and Windsor Castle respectively.

We have enjoyed taking part in a number of school-wide activities and events, such as the European Day of Languages, which we celebrated together by learning to greet each other in a wide variety of languages. The children embraced this wholeheartedly and tried to impress teachers with their different greetings as they met each other around the School. This provided an useful opportunity to talk about differences and similarities and the multi-cultural society we live in.

Pupils whose birthdays fall in September, October, November and December have now all attended a birthday party with Mrs McIntosh to mark their special day - of course, those with a birthday in the Lent Term and then Summer Term will be receiving their invitations when their month arrives!

The highlight of the term for many will have been the fabulous Christmas productions that all three year Junior Department year groups put on in the last weeks of term - what a wonderfully festive celebrations they all were.

Here is a round up of some of the activities and lessons that have been taking place in the Junior Department during the Michaelmas Term:

Reception

The first few weeks of term for Reception were spent getting accustomed to their surroundings, routines and teachers. A tour of the School introduced them to many members of the school community, including the school nurses and librarians, and visits to new part of the School such as the Boarding House. Pupils also enjoyed a range of specialist lessons such as Drama, Music, PE and French. Pupils were introduced to Forest School, learning or reminding themselves of the Forest School rules before exploring the woods, playing in the mud kitchen, hunting for conkers and finding the “owls” dotted around. Pupils have also all been enjoying swimming lessons - they all seem to have taken to them like ducks to water!

As well as building on their literacy and maths learning, Reception pupils have been learning how to use iPads, understanding that they are used for so many more things than “just” games and watching films! As pupils move through the School, they become more accustomed and increasingly confident with the use of different forms of computing and technology – this is just the start! So far this term the children have learned the basics of using tablets; this has included using a variety of different apps and websites to work complement classroom maths and literacy skills, developing the children’s fine motor co-ordination, and taking photographs – and we had lots of fun too creating artwork.

Understanding the World is integral to Early Years learning and pupils been explored the natural world, talking about what they can see, hear and feel outside and understanding the changing seasons. As part of this work, Reception have been busy planning for spring! Every pupil has been in the garden to plant a spring flowering bulb such as narcissus, allium, muscari, crocus and tulips. We can’t wait to see our garden transform in the new year!

Year 1

Starting Year 1 spells a change for pupils, with newly created forms, and for those in IO a brand new teacher! They have all settled into the new routines, and are all enjoying no longer being the littlest in the Junior Department!

Year 1 pupils were the first to enjoy a school trip this academic year, and headed to Wardown House where they experienced a day in the life of a Victorian servant.

They tried a number of different chores and tasks, which included lighting the fire and heating the stove, making breakfast, washing and drying clothes, ironing, and sweeping the floors. After all that hard work, they loved looking around the museum and spotted lots of old-fashioned toys as well as some sneaky mice hiding around the house.

One topic Year 1 have been studying is ‘Light and Dark’, and they have read a story called ‘Sparks in the Sky’, which is all about Bonfire Night. This fuelled a discussions about our senses, and pupils then thought of some fantastic adjectives to match to them, which they then used to create an acrostic poem, which they thoroughly enjoyed. To accompany their writing, The children also created a pastel firework display and made model rocket fireworks.

In the final weeks of term, Year 1 put the finishing touches to their fabulous Christmas production, A Miracle in Town. What a fabulous show it was, we hope that parents enjoyed watching it as much as the children enjoyed performing it! You can see more photographs from all the Junior Department productions on pages 20 to 26.

Towards the end of term, Top Form pupils visited Year 1 to talk about how the transition from Reception to Year One went, and if there was anything the School could do to make the experience easier. The children came up with some great ideas, and they are real ly looking forward to working with the Top Formers next term.

See more information about different academic subjects on Pages 44 to 66

As the “senior” children in the Junior Department, Year 2 have taken on some new responsibilities this term and have led an assembly on the subject of responsibility, with one class performing the story of ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper’ during which they talked about different ways they are responsible at school and home. Another class presented “Tough Tortoise and Wise Owl” and talked about how we should never give up introducing the younger Junior Department pupils to the magic word ‘Yet’. This is the idea that just because you can’t do something ‘Yet’ , you should keep persevering and you willget there eventually.

The Year 2 teaching team are extremely proud of the writing progress that the children have made so far this term. Hallowe’en inspired the children to write magical potions filled with descriptive adjectives. If you fancy knowing how to become invisible, need to speed up, go through walls or teleport then you just need to ask Year 2!

Writing isn’t just reserved for our Literacy lessons but features in most of our lessons. Before half term, the children created chatterboxes during their PSHE lesson when they were thinking about mental health well-being. The children had great fun coming up with useful suggestions for when they needed some downtime.

Year 2 also enjoyed a day trip this term, visiting Windsor Castle to complement their topic ‘Celebrate Britain’.Walking through the entrance gate, the children enjoyed spotting the castle features they have learnt about in lessons, including the arrow slits, battlements and the moat.

The pupils thoroughly a session in the castle’s new learning centre called ‘Meet the Monarch’, where they learnt all about King Charles III, including his numerous grand homes and his many roles, including farming, weekly meetings with the Prime Minister and of course spending time with his family. The children enjoyed re-enacting a coronation, a dubbing ceremony and the King inspecting his guards.

As with Reception and Year 1, the end of term brought the excitement of the Christmas production, this year a nativity with a twist as Year 2 performed “Lights, Camel, Action”.

Year 2 pupils also made and decorated some fabulous Christmas cakeswe hope you enjoy eating the fruits of their hard work!

Middle Department - From Mrs Greenwood

And so another Michaelmas Term at Beechwood has drawn to a busy, festive and celebratory end. It has been truly wonderful to see all the children enjoying our traditional Christmas events from the poignant Year 3 Christingle Service, to the fantastic BPSPA Festive Fayre, the fun-filled, yet reflective Year 3 and 4 Christmas production (see page 27), the Carol Service, House Orienteering and our Middle Department Christmas-themed day - all this, plus the snow as the 'icing' on the cake, to create some extra magic and sparkle! Thank you for all your support at these events.

We were all very sad to say farewell to three valued members of the Middle Department teaching team on the last day of term:

Mrs Lane is retiring after 17 years of teaching so many of our Year 3 and 4 pupils, and she will be enjoying the snow in Austria for the new year ski season; Mrs Mann retires after 6 years of teaching in Year 3 where she has helped pave the way for a seamless transition for successive cohorts of children joining the Middle Department; and Mr Ip has moved to Cambridge with his family where he will take up the reins in a Year 4 class in January. We wish them all every happiness and success in the next stage of their lives, and thank them for everything they have brought to the Middle Department; I know I speak on behalf of current and former Middle Department pupils, parents and staff when I say that we will miss them hugely.

The start of Lent Term 2023 therefore brings some changes to the Middle Department Teaching team. We are excited to be welcoming Mrs Sabina Doyle as 3M/3D's new teacher, Mrs Sam Routledge as Head of Year 4 and 4L/4R's new teacher, and Miss Lizette Bailey who many of your will already know as a Music teacher and stalwart of many a brass ensemble, whose role at Beechwood is changing as she becomes 4I/4B's new teacher. We look forward to welcoming all three to the Middle Department in January.

It was lovely to read the children's end of term reports as the term drew to a close and to reflect on their progress and engagement in every area of their learning, and also to marvel at how they embrace so many of the opportunities which come their way - they are truly inspirational - and each and every one of them should feel immensely proud of all they have achieved already in this academic year; I am certainly very proud of them.

It only remains for me to wish you all a wonderful holiday, a peaceful and happy Christmas, and a healthy, happy and fulfilling new year, with so much for us all to look forward to.

With very best wishes, Nicola Greenwood Head of Middle Department

Middle Department Highlights of the Term

Year 5 have been focusing on Communication Skills in their Future Skills lessons this term. They had a fantastic time learning about how motions are debated in Parliament. It was UK Parliament Week last week, and the pupils were very keen to understand more about how decisions that affect our country are made. Their knowledge of current affairs was highly impressive and their assessment of the relative skills of our three most recent Prime Ministers was incisive, if not scathing at times! Here you can see some of the debate motions that the pupils came up with themselves. Even learning how to phrase a motion in order to be contentious was a learning curve! The debates that followed were fascinating. We heard well-considered arguments from the proposers and opposers (who spoke with no notes at all), and lots of ker-ching questions from the floor…. Ask your child to explain!

Year 3 Christingle Service

What a wonderful start to our Christmas celebrations! The Christingle service was a beautiful way to remind ourselves of the importance of thinking of others in this busy time. The Year 3 children performed with confidence and evident enjoyment. An enormous thank you to Mr Bullock for his excellent Chaplaincy duties and to Edna for making a surprise appearance. Thank you, too, to Mr Fox for coming to our rescue when Mrs Oatham’s large Christingle imploded on her. He quickly stepped in and created a very striking and modern looking 3D orange with red LED lights! Thank you to Mrs Jarvis for preparing the children and giving them the confidence to sing so beautifully and to Mr Balfour and to Mrs Greenwood for their support with the service. You can view more photos here

Outdoor Learning - Year 5 Forest School Day

Whilst Year 3 and 4 have regular timetabled Forest School sessions, Year 5 have less frequent but longer sessions, enabling them to engage with a whole host of different activities. With the rain kindly holding off, each activity group got stuck into the carousel of fun learning activities that were on offer. In one session the children displayed their creative sides by making their own mud masks, inspired by Mrs KB’s amazing gargoyle pictures, using the items they found during the scavenger hunt. Following on from the skills they had developed in Year 4, the pupils also had the chance to use palm drilling skills with Mrs Le Bas – and designed and then created some eye-catching pieces! Finally, they were set the challenge of protecting the precious cargo of an egg. Using the materials from the forest, they had to design the ‘protective’ landing zone which would allow our egg to be dropped from height and (fingers crossed!) still be in one piece when it landed. As you can probably guess, not all the eggs made it! A big thank you to Mrs le Bas for her organisation and inspiration and to all of the teachers who came out to help as well. We can’t wait for next term’s Forest School session! Have a look at our photos here

Senior Department - From Mrs Wright

Christmas is such a beautiful time at Beechwood; with the tree in Great Hall; festoon lights decorating the courtyard; and echoes of the Carol Service and Christmas Concert gently ringing in our ears. It is truly the most festive atmosphere and pupils can barely contain their excitement about the upcoming ‘Big Day’. While caught up in the moment, it can be difficult to find time to pause and reflect. Yet, it is also this time of year when it is important to do just that. To take a beat and think of all that has happened since we arrived back in school in September.

We have worn yellow to support World Mental Health Day; worked together using Pupil Voice to develop leadership roles in Top Form; celebrated the life and reign of our Queen; donated to food banks; prepared for next school entrance exams; taken part in trips and competitions (both co-curricular and academic); performed in lunchtime concerts and drama rehearsals; appointed new Heads of School; crushed it in Barvember; planted trees; had s’mores, den-building and singing in our well-being in the woods sessions (more of those to come); been entertained by stellar assemblies ably led by our Top Form pupils; oh, and enjoyed an enviable breadth and depth of learning in our lessons.

Phew. It’s no wonder we are all ready to rest and re-set over the Christmas break!

I wish you all a wonderful time with your families this Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year for an even more exciting Lent term.

Marion Wright Head of Senior Department

Senior Department Credits

So many of our pupils in the Senior Department are regularly awarded credits for recognition of their efforts to uphold the Beechwood values as well as to nurture one another; engage in their learning; and inspire their peers.

Here are the top five pupils in each Senior Department year group for the Michaelmas term:

Year 6

Year 7

Top Form

First Ivie R Ramsay M Felix M

Second

War Horse Dioramas

Year 7 have created some wonderful dioramas to complement their study of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse. Pupils chose a scene, thought carefully about the language used by Morpurgo and created a 3D version of the scene in a box.

Pupils were as creative as ever, using a range of materials including sponge, Lego, steel wool and springs - what fabulous imaginations!

You can see more of Year 7’s creations here

Arabella H Oscar B Millie G

Paddy G Diego A-S Will W

William R Harry G Lucci F

Jasmine E, Archie L, Alex R Matthew F Tommy H

Top Form Well-being in the Woods

As the temperatures plummet and the afternoons grow darker, we are all in need of a little well-being boost. Lucky for Top Form that we have our own Forest School expert, Mrs Le Bas, on site to spend some time outdoors with them in our wonderful woods.

The entire Top Form team spent the last Friday afternoon of term taking part in a “Well-being in the Woods” session. This involved a variety of team-building activities such as den building; singing Christmas songs around the camp-fire; and, as Beechwood tradition dictates, tucking into some deliciously gooey melting s'mores!

Pupils and staff were even entertained by our cross-country runners, some staff included, who raced past at regular intervals and were cheered along by our happy bunch of Top Formers.

The afternoon was so popular that we will be arranging similar events for other Senior year groups in the Lent and Summer terms.

Remember, just 20 minutes outdoors is enough to give you a blast of mood-boosting endorphins (and the s'mores will definitely put a smile on your face!)

Debating Success

Hello, we are Tommy, Aidan and Josh. We recently won the first round of the Youth Speaks Debating Competition, which took place at Aldwickbury Golf Club.

This win means that we have qualified for the next round, which will be held in Hatfield in February. If we win there, we progress on to the next round, until hopefully, we reach the national finals! We worked incredibly hard with Mrs Beavis and would like to share our experiences in the hopes of inspiring next year’s debaters, and many more after that.

For the debate, Mrs Beavis got us three together a couple of months in advance. We decided on the topic ‘This house believes that the Monarchy should be abolished.’ Tommy was the Proposer. Josh was the opposer and Aidan was our Chairman.

After a week or two we had the foundations of our speeches. We just needed to perfect them. After many days and many nights of changing and editing our speeches, we thought they were just right. For the competition itself, we were not allowed to have our speeches in front of us, so we made flash cards and learned them.

In the few days before the competition, we performed for Years 6, 7, and the rest of Top Form as practice in front of an audience. There were a few hiccups along the way, but it definitely helped us to feel more confident before the competition itself. We were grateful for the feedback and everyone was supportive; we were ready to win!

When we got to the golf course, there were three other teams at the competition - one from Aldwickbury and two from Katherine Warrington School. They were terrified. They knew WE were there to win. Technically we were only competing against Aldwickbury as they were the only ones in our age bracket, but we tend not to tell people that…

Despite this, it was quite a challenging competition, and the standard was high - we are very happy to come away with the trophy!

We would also like to thank Mrs Beavis for the enthusiastic support along the way - she has helped us with some tips and tricks and even some witty jokes!

Tommy H, Josh D and Aidan B. Top Form Debating Team

During what has now become an end of term tradition, Years 6, 7 and Top had a great time solving a Christmas-themed Escape Room Challenge.

This time, Santa needed help rounding up his hidden reindeer and our pupils needed no persuading to rise to the challenge. The lure of chocolate and lollies in the final locked treasure chest may have had something to do with it! This year’s fastest team was Alex R, James G, James F and Tom K from 6A but there were lots of others hot on their heels this year.

Top Form Tree Planting

As their legacy gift to the School, this year’s Top Formers and their families have donated a number of trees to Beechwood, ensuring that this cohort of boys and girls will never be forgotten. Despite the cold temperatures in the last weeks of term, with the help of the Estates Team and under the watchful eye of our resident tree expert, Mrs Le Bas, Top Form gathered to plant their cedar tree, close to the large one that towers over Woodlands Nursery.

Well done, everyone! Click here to see more photos.

Mrs Clarke

Maths - Highlights of the Term

Barvember

It has been a bumper term of Maths. As in previous years, the School, and more specifically the Maths Department, has embraced Barvember with joy!

What is Barvember?

Barvember is organised by White Rose Maths to encourage everyone to use the bar model. White Rose Maths believe that the Bar Model is a useful tool for helping children visualise and then solve maths problems. Even some of the most complex problems can be seen much easier when represented visually.

Throughout the month of November, White Rose sets daily Maths problems, suitable for primary and secondary aged children - these Maths problems are still available if you’d like to give them a go?! Click here to see them!

Maths Week England

Maths Week England was set up 2019 with the goal of ensuring that no children miss out on the opportunities that being a confident competent mathematician can give them. In 2021 it became the largest national maths festival in the world!

During Maths Week, as a school we have puzzled over how long it takes a dog; cat; panda and chicken to cross a bridge (https://vimeo.com/768254411); taken part in the Times Table Rock Stars Competition (more to come on that...); and considered how many times you need to fold a piece of paper before it would reach the moon...

Year 7 Mathematical Challenge at Merchant Taylors School

This term, four fervent mathematicians headed of to Merchant Taylors’ School to take part in their annual Year 7 mathematical challenge. Isaac Garricks; Benedict Barrow; Wilfred Okines and Ally McLean, accompanied by our own Maths whizz, Mr Lambert, battled wits with some fantastic mathematicians from a range of other schools in an effort to solve the puzzles (and not get lost at the same time!)

The pupils involved said: On Friday we went to MTS, the first Maths challenge was a mix between orienteering and Maths puzzles. Afterwards we tucked into some doughnuts and drinks to prepare us for the final challenge which included some really complex Maths equations!

Maths around the School this term

Here is just a snapshot of what the different year groups have been focussing on in their Maths lessons this term...

Year 1

In preparation for this weekend’s Christmas Festive Fayre, we spent a few lessons learning about money in Maths. We were able to recognise coins, sort them into pounds and pence and make different amounts, using a variety of coins. We put all of our learning into practice, when we visited ‘Year One’s Superstore’. In order to buy anything, we had to make sure we had the correct change. Luckily, we were money experts and everyone bought an item or two.

Year 2

In Maths, pupils have been building their mental addition and subtraction skills, enabling them to do both operations crossing a 10s boundary.

We used manipulatives such as tens frames with counters to build our confidence. We progressed to using Base 10 equipment to exchange 1 ten for 10 ones.

Finally, we practised using the part whole model to partition the number we were adding or subtracting, allowing us to calculate the answers in our head.

Year 3

Year 3 have been learning about Place Value from which they moved onto Addition and Subtraction; the children have enjoyed active (and interactive) hands-on problem solving maths sessions, working with their partners and moving around the classroom, solving puzzles as they went.

Teachers reinforced the need to read the question carefully, and pupils were able to use lots of resources to support their problem solving

Year 4

Year 4 have been working on multiplication and division this term, using what are known as arrays. Arrays - arrangements of objects, number or pictures in columns or rows - are a fantastic way of actually ‘seeing’ multiplication and division. They can help children with their times tables learning and to explain the relationship between multiplication and division. By considering how dots are arranged in rows or columns suddenly the answers become clear and they are a fantastic way to visualise what can be an abstract concept to many.

Year 5

The Year 5 pupils have made strong mathematical progress so far this term, developing effective strategies in a wide range of place value, addition and subtraction challenges. The Maths team uses a variety of puzzles and tasks each week to help the children build reasoning and problem-solving skills which are the key to success in Maths. It is always exciting to hear a ‘maths argument’ in the classroom: where pupils try to convince each other that their solution or idea is the right one!

English - Highlights of the Term

Another busy term for the Beechwood English Department. Thank you to all our pupils who have engaged in a wide range of activities and initiatives across the School. Senior Department pupils in both Year 7 and Top Form were treated to a live theatre performance at School when Redheart Theatre came to perform Gothic Tales (Top Form) and Mr Owen’s Pocketbook (Year 7). You can read more about these two performances below:

Mr Owen’s Pocketbook

On Remembrance Day this year, Year 7 pupils were treated to a one man show exploring Wilfred Owen’s experience of the First World War through his poetry and the poetry of his contemporaries.

“Mr Owen’s Pocket Book” performed by acclaimed actor Rupert Mason from Redheart Theatre Company, tells the story of an officer travelling from Allied HQ to the Western Front, one week before the Armistice. On this journey, he discovers the pocket book of a young lieutenant killed that day, and, through hearing the contents of the book, the audience is taken on a journey through the poetry of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and other war poets. This was a powerful performance, which thoroughly engaged Beechwood’s Year 7 pupils and staff alike. Once the performance had finished, pupils had a chance to ask Rupert plenty of questions both about his career and his favourite plays and poems, and his thoughts on the poetry of Wilfred Owen and other poets of the Great War.

Gothic Tales

On Halloween itself, Rupert Mason came to Beechwood to perform two thrilling Gothic tales for his Top Form audience; “The Red Room” by HG Wells, and “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. Pupils had previously studied these stories in their English lessons, so it was wonderful for them to see the tales brought to life on stage.

‘The Red Room’ tells the tale of a naive young man who spends the night in the Red Room at Lorraine Castle. Many believe the Red Room to be haunted but this does not faze the narrator until he starts to sense a presence in the room and his candlelight is extinguished. He takes a fall in the night, and when he wakes with concussion the following morning, he understands what truly haunts the room: Fear itself.

In the story, the old man with whom the narrator lives has a clouded, pale, blue “vulture-like” eye. It distresses the narrator so much so that he plots to murder the old man. For seven nights, the narrator opens the door of the old man’s room to shine a sliver of light from his lantern onto the evil eye. On the eighth night, death is in the air. Has he finally done the deed? Pupils and staff all thoroughly enjoyed the performance and there were plenty of spine-chilling moments, which had us on the edge of our seats. It was a spooktacular Halloween treat!

Performing Shakespeare

This term, year 7 pupils began to practise their Shakespearean monologues for the Performing Shakespeare Competition 2023. They will be learning and perfecting them over Christmas, ready for the school final in January. We can’t wait to watch their performances! Here are some of our Top Form in action....

National Poetry Day

On 6 October, the English Department celebrated National Poetry Day. This year’s theme was the environment.

During the course of the day, pupils worked on identifying great lines from famous poems and unscrambling clue words to reveal well-known poets. Pupils were then invited to write a simile or metaphor poem to describe the Earth and their comparisons were really quite impressive with beautiful use of language.

In English lessons, pupils were also given the opportunity to experiment with haiku poetry. Haiku is a traditional, Japanese from of poetry with a very fixed structure. The poem has to be three lines in length. The first line has to have 5 syllables, the second line has to have 7 syllables, and the third line has to have 5 syllables. Haikus are usually about nature or some aspect of geography. Pupils in Year 7 wrote haikus on the topic of the environment and engaged thoughtfully with the theme

Accelerated Reader Scheme

Pupils from Year 3 to Year 6(c) were introduced to a new reading scheme called Accelerated Reader. As a school community we have read a staggering 14,262,721 words this term

House Points

Stewart 510.6

Saunders 468.0

Sebright 357.6

Tudor 292.2

Who will be victorious in the Lent Term and will we have our first Millionaire reader?

SATIPS Handwriting Competition 2022

Over the years, Beechwood has enjoyed considerable success in the SATIPS National Handwriting Competition, and this year again was no exception!

At the beginning of this term, we found out that Beechwood had been awarded joint first place in the SATIPS Handwriting Competition. You can find out more about the competition here

Well done to all who took part; but a particular well done to Lila N and Amelia B, who came joint first and second in the age 7 category; to Charlotte R, who came second in the age 11 category; and also to 2022 Top Form leavers Maggie D and Kai Y-P, who came first and second in the age 12 category.

Read for Good 2022

Pupils from Woodlands to Top Form took part in this year’s Read for Good Readathon and raised £2231.30 for charity.

Read for Good’s mission is to improve the outcomes for all children in the UK by encouraging and enabling children to develop a love of reading.

The Readathon Sponsored Read has been running in schools across the UK since 1984. It was, and remains, a simple idea. Pupils are motivated to read what they love, and at the same time raise money to help seriously ill children, and they earn free book vouchers for their school at the same time.

The hospital programme provides brand-new, carefully chosen books and regular professional storyteller sessions to the UK’s 30 major children’s hospitals. Read for Good’s specially made, colourful mobile bookcases can travel right up to a child’s bedside, offering an enticing display of lovely new books to read and often keep for ever. Read for Good’s service supports seriously ill children’s disrupted learning, and gives them and their families precious distraction and comfort at a time when it’s needed the most.

Beechwood is delighted to have been able to support this charity once more - thank you to everyone for their support. You can read more about the work of Read for Good here

Scrooge’s Diaries by Year 6

Year 6 have been getting creative with their work on A Christmas Carol, producing some truly excellent diary entries by Scrooge. Not only have they managed to capture Scrooge’s character and tone in these pieces of work, but they also look fabulous, having been aged with tea.

You can see more examples of the pupils’ work here

A Christmas Tree Speaks

Year 5 pupils took inspiration from the Christmas tree in the Entrance Hall to pen these lovely poems - you can read more here:

Spotlight on Year 4 English

Having trouble with an international criminal? Being terrorised by an out-of-control alien species? Crazed cyborg stealing your precious and ever increasing-in-value home energy? Fear not, Year 4 may just have the answer!

As part of our English unit looking at character descriptions, Year 4 have been designing our very own superheroes. Such heroes as The Flame, Moon Knight, Glitch and The Infinity have been carefully created thinking about attributes and typical features of superheroes.

Children considered special powers, weaknesses, origins, outfits and much more to ensure you can sleep easy tonight.

You can read more about our superheroes here

Year 4 Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Most of us, apparently. For as long as stories and folktales have been told, the wolf has appeared as a villain or monstrous foe. Year 4 took this enduring image and used it to inspire their character descriptions involving an encounter with a wolf.

The children worked hard to consider what well-chosen adjectives and phrases would work best to describe a wolf’s movement, appearance and sound as well as the atmosphere created in its presence.

You can read more here

Christmas Holiday Reading

We hope that you have enjoyed reading books recommended on the Beechwood Holiday Reading Lists for Woodlands, Junior Middle and Senior Departments, - don’t forget to share with the School Librarians which books you have enjoyed this Christmas!

Classics - Highlights of the Term

It has been wonderful to see incredible levels of engagement across senior year groups as they further their knowledge of Latin grammar. There may be people out there who question, “why learn Latin?”. Latin provides a key to the Romance languages, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese etc. Latin is the universal language of western civilization. Actually, Latin provides the blueprint for any language we may be learning later in life: German, Russian, Chinese, or any other one.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the learning of complex grammatical points would be quite “dry” - perhaps your own memories of learning Latin, if you did so at School, have led to this impression. For those that think that, you just need to step inside the Latin classroom and Beechwood and sit in one of Mrs Anderson’s lessons to realise that “dry” is not what lessons are like!

At Beechwood, Latin is distinctly different, with ingenious and engaging methods being used to illustrate the finer grammatical points on a daily basis.

For example, 6A have been getting to grips with the imperfect tense (i.e. ‘was/were’ + ‘-ing). In Latin, verb endings in this tense all start with the letters “-ba” as follows:

-bam I -bamus we -bas you (singular) -batis you (plural) -bat he/she/it -bant they

So how do Year 6 pupils remember this? Mrs Anderson has them all chanting “ba ba ba for the pa pa past” This then developed into a variety of “designer sheep” to help the pupils to remember this important grammatical point - some brilliant examples below, and more here:

Every bit as creative, 7A have been creating comic strips to aid their study of the imperative; Mrs Anderson has been so impressed not only with their creativity but also their exemplary use of the plurals imperative forms and the accusative case, with special mention to Matthew F for his fabulous retelling of the Trojan vs Greeks war in Latin!

Latin is far from being at “dead” language at Beechwood...

Mrs Anderson is now safe in the knowledge that they ALL remember their imperfect verb endings now!

History - Highlights of the Term

Someone far cleverer than me once said that ‘historians are like rowers - they look backwards to go forwards,’ and certainly events of the last couple of years and the challenges with which we enter 2023 have left many of us searching the history books for answers....

This term has, as always, been a busy one in the History Department and as we seek to provide an increasingly broad ranging and diverse history curriculum. The term has seen our pupils engage in a variety of different studies and activities:

• In the Senior Department, Top Form pupils have been looking at the beginnings of colonisation in America and the campaign for women’s suffrage in Britain;

• Year 7 have been learning about the early Tudors with the ‘Winter King’ Henry VII, and the galloping inflation of the sixteenth century, something with which we can all sympathise, I’m sure!

• Year 6 have been studying the Crusades and considering some of the key lessons to be learned based around the Fundamental British Values of tolerance and mutual respect.

• Year 5 have been learning about William the Conqueror and completed some wonderful historical fiction writing based around the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 .

Middle Department History

Year 5

The Year 5 pupils have made a particularly good start with their history topic this term. They spent some time considering what life in 1065 might have been like for the Anglo-Saxon villagers before learning what we mean by an ANACHRONISM and spotting some glaring chronological errors in a medieval village cartoon!

At a time when we are particularly aware of the passing of kingship from mother to son in our own royal family, the pupils have explored why the same smooth transition did not happen upon the death of King Edward the Confessor in January 1066.

As you will see in the photo, our three contenders, and arch rivals, are now lined up ready to fight for the English throne and the pupils are looking forward to learning how events unfolded in that tumultuous year, and also learning how we know so much about events which occurred nearly 1000 years ago.

You can see more examples of Year 5’s historical fiction here

Year 4

Year 4 having also been studying matters closer to home with the Anglo-Saxons. To begin their topic, Year 4 considered what challenges the Anglo- Saxons might have faced when settling in Britannia during the early Middle Ages.

To aid their learning they played a game where children were either tribe members of the Angles, South and East Saxons, Frisians or Jutes. Competitive natures bubbled to surface as tribes fought for control of land! With a bit of luck children fought of the Picts, avoided plagues of disease or defeated a Pagan king to claim land and become the dominant Anglo-Saxon tribe!

The pupils then moved on to look at the treasures found in Suffolk at the Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Sutton Hoo. Children had the opportunity find, examine images and make predictions about the amazing artefacts found by archaeologists in 1938.

Pupils have been working on their research projects based on everyday aspects of Anglo-Saxon life. After deciding on a topic the children, working in pairs, came up with keys questions they would like answered. For example, ‘What were Anglo-Saxon Homes made from?‘ or ‘How did the Anglo-Saxons hunt and catch their food?’. After using the internet and information books to find the answers, children have started to create presentations using Google Slides or PowerPoint.

Year 3

Year 3 have been learning about Ancient Egypt. Year 3 In our History Topic on Ancient Egyptians, pupils had enormous fun designing their own Egyptian Pharaoh heads and learning about mummification ahead of the highlight of their term - Egyptian Day!

The day began with pupils, teachers and parent volunteers arriving at School in a fantastic array of outfits! Everyone looked fabulous and the School was buzzing with Pharaohs, Cleopatras and mummies, and the odd archaeologist too. Not forgetting - how could you? - Miss Stredwick’s fabulous pyramid costumer! Transporting themselves back in time with the aid of History of the Page, the children were treated to a potted history of the Ancient Egyptians, which included enough wars and battles to entertain everyone. They then took part in a variety of creative activities, ate a traditional feast and then took part in a procession! A fun day of learning for everyone!

Here are just a few photographs from the day - you can view more here

Geography Highlights of the Term

I have thoroughly enjoyed my term covering the Head of Geography position at Beechwood, and have been impressed with the level of engagement across the year groups in all things geographic at Beechwood. Whilst some year groups have been studying subjects further afield, a particular highlight for me this term has been Top Form’s investigations into micro climates on our own school site.

Top Form Field Work and Micro climates

This term in Geography pupils in the Top Form have been investigating and writing up individual fieldwork projects on micro climates which they researched from around the school grounds.

Working in small groups pupils measured various aspects of the weather at different sites including the back field, Orchard Green and the Astro. They compared these results to readings taken from the roof top weather station over the same period.

Pupils used their knowledge of micro climates to formulate hypotheses, such as that the North Courtyard would be less windy owing to it being surrounded by buildings, or that a rain gauge located in the woods would receive less rainfall because the vegetation canopy intercepts the rainfall.

Impressively, most pupils predictions were proved correct by their data and the school grounds were found to have very different micro-climates with marked variations of temperature, wind speed, and rainfall readings at each of the sites. Great care was taken over the methods of data collection to ensure the validity of pupils’ results and the accuracy of their conclusions.

Pupils showed excellent responsibility and team working skills when collecting data, and great perseverance when writing up their projects.

This experience gave pupils a taste of the fieldwork enquiry process and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Top Form Ecology

Top Form Geographers additionally took time out from their Global Location revision to learn about urban greening and the ecological importance of planting trees at the tree planting event this term.

What is Urban Greening?

It has been defined as “public landscaping and urban forestry projects that create mutually beneficial relationships between city dwellers and their environments”. In short, it’s making urban spaces green. And whilst Beechwood is not considered “urban”, this was an interesting exercise for pupils - and staff - to explore the importance of trees in all environments.

Pupils were led on a tour of the Woods by Forest School Teacher, Mrs Le Bas, followed by planting out some young saplings. This experience helped their awareness of the important role of trees in regulating temperatures through providing shade, attracting wildlife, reducing noise, visual screening and lowering the risk of flood risk particularly in built up areas. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the unusual opportunity to create their own legacy; it is hoped they will be able to return to the school to see the tree they planted well into the future.

Other year groups have impressed me hugely with their work in Geography - Year 5’s global location knowledge is developing brilliantly through their study of the countries of Europe - including locations, capital cities and the relative shapes of different countries, as well as a perennial favourite - flags! Thank you to Year 5 teachers for developing a love of Geography in the pupils!

Mr Orme

TPR Highlights of the Term

The Theology, Philosophy and Religion topic this term, for the Middle and Senior School has been Theol-

Year 3 pupils have looked at the early life of Jesus and some of the stories he told. They finished the term making a collaborative collage of The Annunciation of Jesus to Mary.

Year 4 have covered the Creation story through to Noah’s Ark. Their final creative piece of work is to make their very own ‘Rocking’ Noah’s Ark.

Year 5 have studied the life of Abraham and his descendants, up to Joseph. They very much enjoyed watching the musical ‘Joseph and his amazing Technicolor dream coat’ – some are still humming it....

In the Senior Department, Year 6 have studied six stories of Jesus in detail. They have examined the differences between stories and parables and were amazed at how the least likely people ended up trusting in Jesus.

Pupils were challenged to be as creative as possible and produce a letter, diary entry, first-person account, or a newspaper article. There were some amazing efforts across the year including diary entries by characters in the stories.

A Head’s Commendation was awarded to Charlotte F for her stop motion Lego movie of Zacchaeus, which displayed great technical know-how and humour, as well as a knowledge of the subject - you can watch again here

Year 7 have begun their analysis of Old Testament stories and have begun their essay writing journey. They have discussed the dilemma of punishment versus forgiveness and made some startling observations of how these are still issues today in the 21st Century.

They have ended the term looking at the very thorny problem of the awesome responsibility our leaders and modern day ‘celebrities’ have in setting a good role model for others.

Top Formers have been analyzing the world changing work of Dr. Martin Luther King and stories from the Old testament, applying what they have learnt in response to some very challenging Common Entrance essays.

They wrapped up the year with their own interpretation of the story of the Prodigal Son with literally a couple of ‘raps’ from some pupils!! Watch Felix and Luca’s retelling of the BIble story of the lost son here

Theology, Philosophy and Religion in the Junior Department

In our TPR lessons over this term Year One have been learning about different festivals and celebrations from around the world. These have included the Christian Harvest Festival, the Jewish Sukkot Festival, Diwali – the festival of light – and the story of Rama and Sita.

Towards the end of term, focus shifted onto the Christmas story, ahead of the Year One Nativity performance. We discussed why Christmas is important to Christians and any similarities to other religions.

This term Year 2 have been learning about signs and symbols in the world around us and in different religions. Pupils did a brilliant job of matching symbols and places of worship from six world religions.

In the last few weeks, Year 2 have moved on to study of Islam in greater depth, exploring a range of artefacts and evolving ideas about what they signified and what they all might be used for.

Pupils enjoyed a virtual tour of the London Central Mosque and listened to the call to prayer, and then labelled the main features of a mosque. Mrs Bullock even brought in a travel prayer mat which can fold up into a pocket and has a builtin compass so we can locate Mecca! Pupils learnt about the Five Pillars of Islam and some key facts about prayer. Finally, we considered some of the incredible range of beautiful prayer mats and had a go at designing our own. We really impressed ourselves with the level of detail we included and our neat colouring - have a look at the final designs here

Modern Foreign Languages

Beechwood linguists have had a great term working on their foreign language skills, and it has been a pleasure to witness their enthusiasm.

The school year started with a celebration of the European Day of Languages. Pupils throughout the School enjoyed discussions about how languages open up doors to many exciting opportunities, allow you to meet and get to know different people, and enable you to have a better understanding of a country’s culture and traditions. During our focus on the European Day of Languages, several pupils treated us to video clips of them speaking in their native language, and it was certainly a revelation for many to become aware of the range of languages spoken in the Beechwood community. You can watch the video again here

In November, Year 2 enjoyed their annual French Day, which was wonderfully organised by Mrs Fairburn and the Junior Department class teachers and Teaching Assistants. Various members of staff from the Middle and Senior Departments also made guest appearances, and all were impressed by the confidence and ability of the pupils to converse in French. Read more about this below.

Further up the School, classes have explored a wide variety of topics and grammar points while trying out activities including Sentence Bingo, Connect 4, Battleships, One pen, one dice, Telepathy and Sentence Stealers. Pupils have also produced a large number of excellent paragraphs, posters, videos and essays, highlighting their commitment and proficiency.

Un grand merci to my colleagues in the Modern Foreign Languages Department, Miss Burton, Mr Packer and Mrs Fairburn, for their support this term.

Mr King Head of Modern Foreign Languages

Year 2 French Experience Day

Year 2 packed their cases on Tuesday for a virtual trip to France. We started the day by completing a passport ready to travel, followed by a postcard once we had settled in.

Upon arrival in “France”, the children sampled ‘ une glace’ which they thoroughly enjoyed! Ready for their shopping experience, they played a shopping trolley game identifying groceries in French.

In the afternoon our French shopping and café experience was ‘fantastique’ (as Barnaby Bear would say!) – especially the croissant, sold by the friendly “boulanger” Monsieur Packer!

Each child also made a tricolour bracelet to commemorate the day although the highlight had to the be the Eiffel Tower Challenge where pupils worked in teams to recreate the iconic landmark.

Thank you to Madame Fairburn and her assistants – the Middle and Senior Department French teachers Monsieur Packer, Madame Balfour and Mlle Burton – who made it all possible. Tres Bien Year 2!

You can view more photos of the day here

La Journée de Neige - Year 7 Snow Poems

The snow day in the last week of term was used as inspiration for some wintry French poetry by Year 7have a read of their poems below:

Aujourd’hui il a neigé donc M. Balfour a fermé l’école C’est pourquoi je suis resté à maison.

Ce matin j’ai promené mon chien. J’ai lancé des boules de neige sur mon frère. J’ai joué dans la neige, dans le jardin avec mon frère.

J’ai couru avec mon chien qui adore la neige. J’ai construit un bonhomme de neige, c’était très grand.

Ensuite j’ai fait mes devoirs. Après ça, j’ai déjeuné ; c’était délicieux.

J’ai fait de la luge, c’était amusant ! J’aime la neige parce que c’est beau et amusant.

Plus tard dans la journée, j’ai bu du chocolat chaud.

Après, j’ai regardé un film de Noël avec ma famille.

Après le film, j’ai joué avec mon chien.

Dylan

Pendant la nuit, il a neigé à Studham et à Markyate.

J'ai fait du vélo dans la neige ce matin, c'était glissant et froid.

J'ai fait un bonhomme de neige avec ma sœur et mon frère le soir.

J'ai joué dans la neige, dans le jardin avec ma sœur et mon chien.

J'ai fait de la luge dans le parc ; c'était amusant. :)

Nous avons joué dans la neige avec mon chien et ma sœur et moi avons fait des boules de neige.

Ce matin il a neigé ; j’ai vu la neige pour la deuxième fois!

Ensuite, moi et ma mère avons construit un bonhomme de neige.

Cet après-midi nous avons fait une promenade.

Mon voisin a fait de la luge. Ensuite je suis resté à la maison. J’ai déjeuné.

J’ai fait une boule de neige.

J’ai fait un ange de neige.

Après ça, j’ai joué un jeu vidéo.

Daniel C

Pendant la nuit, il a neigé à Redbourn. Je suis resté à la maison parce que c'était très dangereux dans la voiture.

J'ai joué dans la neige, dans le jardin avec ma sœur, Georgia.

J'ai construit trois grands ballons de neige.

Ma mère m’a chanté une chanson: Il neige, il neige De gros flocons blancs Il neige il neige Pour tous les enfants Will L

Maximus

Science - Highlights of the Term

Throughout the School it has been a busy term of Science, both in the classrooms and labs and also using the grounds to put theoretical learning into practice.

Senior Department scientists have been busy with some fabulous hands on learning in the labs this term. Year 6 have been exploring and investigating absorbency and diffusion, and also working on their accuracy in collecting and recording results of experiments; Year 7 have been experimenting with the extension of springs and furthering their knowledge of densityScience and Maths definitely collided when they learnt how to calculate the density of different shaped objects Top Form thoroughly enjoyed the colourful reactions of zinc and sulphur, and have also been studying respiration, and in particular, how exercise impacts our breathing rate.

In

A highlight was certainly the Jelly Investigation: pupils once again donned disposable aprons, rolled up their sleeves and pitted their chopstick skills against one another as they have battled to move cubes of jelly from one plate to another, while being thwarted by the stickiness and friction! It is always very special hearing the pupils making connections and sharing their understanding of the wider world. All of the Year 5 pupils have enjoyed an exciting term in the labs and, as we brought our study of forces to a close with some investigations into magnetism, we look forward to our topics of light and sound next term.

the Middle Department, Year 5’s Science topic went off with a bang (or rather a push, a pull and a twist) as the children start to investigate forces and their effects. Most of our science lessons are based in the labs and the hands on nature of the learning makes for an exciting year..

Year 4 have been learning about the major organs of the human body. Using the wonders of modern technology, children used augmented reality to ‘view’ inside each other’s bodies. Children could locate, zoom in and even dissect various organs (virtually, of course!) through the use of specially coded t-shirts and an iPad.

They have also been testing their measuring skills while collecting data for their investigation into arm lengths. Children discussed the concept of fair testing and the importance of accurate measuring. Having studied the human skeleton, Year 4 undertook an investigation to see what we could learn by collecting data on arm lengths. Do boys have longer arms than girls? Does being older mean you’ll have longer arm bones? With the data safely recorded, children were taught how to graph the data to help spot patterns. Presenting the data did help answers our questions but also helped guide discussions around the importance of having a large sample and diverse range of date to make accurate and truly scientific findings.

Year 3 used string to great effect and hilarity to demonstrate how light travels when it is reflected off a mirror. Great hands-on learning and a really memorable lesson!

Year 2 dived into new Science topic of materials with an ‘ignite’ session where we made sensible predictions of what could be inside a range of test tubes and boxes! Other activities included a materials hunt - including a visit to the Science Lab - and beginning to think about why different materials are suited to their use. As a culmination of their work on materials, the children investigated the most suitable material to make a waterproof umbrella for a gingerbread man. They made careful predictions and then tested different materials; they then picked the best material for the gingerbread man’s umbrella. Using careful observation skills, they recorded each stage of the investigation using our scientific vocabulary including absorbent, flexible, disintegrate and tough. The final umbrella was tested and if the gingerbread man survived he was eaten!

Year 1 pupils have been learning all about their senses, and have discovered all five of them! They started by focussing on their sense of taste and enjoying trying a range of fruits. Everyone thought carefully about the taste and texture of each one, and then discussed favourites – apple and watermelon were the clear winners across the year group. They then moved onto investigating light sources and reflection. They focused on the skill of predicting, based on what they have already learnt. Pupils chose different materials for their investigation, and used torches to see which materials reflected light, then compared the results to their earlier predictions. To make sure the investigation was accurate, pupils set up the ‘dark den’ in the classroom., and once the investigation was complete, decided that the shiny, gold paper was the most reflective.

DT - Highlights of the Term

How wonderful to return after the Summer Holidays to our spectacular newly refurbished DT Workshop! It has been the setting for lots of creative endeavours from Year 4 to Top Form this term...

Top Form have been combining traditional woodwork techniques with CAD design to create these RGB LED desk lanterns.

Year 7 have been working on architectural modelling using mixed materials and a range of construction techniques, including 3D printing and lasercut pieces. They used AI image generation to create inspiration for new types of architectural styles.

Year 6 have been working on the tricky subject of moving mechanisms, learning about cranks, cams and linkages. They built a mythical creature that flapped its wings via a crank mechanism.

Year 5 have been working on electrical circuits and have built a whole range of different mini builds, culminating in a crawling slow robot!

Year 4 have been working on 3D card construction techniques by building their own miniature buildings. After just a few lessons of technique, their imagination took over as to what was possible and some amazing designs resulted!

Art - Highlights of the Term

As ever, it has been a busy term in the Art Department and in the Pottery Cellar, with pupils brimming with creativity, innovation and fun. Here are just a few of Mrs Kelway-Bambers highlights of the term...

Well done to Year 5 who produced these fabulous pumpkins, inspired by the work of Kate Malone. Pupils worked hard to improve their pottery skills such as scoring, using slip, blending and glazing.

Top Form have been looking at Rust and Decay, learning the multi-layer technique known as reduction and abstracting. – and zooming in to capture fine details. . The designs are loosely based on drawings completed earlier in the term. They will be learning to cut lino and print in layers and as they cut the lino away between each layer they will be begin to create their image.

Year 2 have been busy creating self-portraits using pastels. We were blown away by the children’s skills and concentration and we are really proud of the finished pieces.

Year 4 have been busy in the Pottery Cellar, finishing off their Hundertwasser themed clay tiles, whilst Year 3 have created some beautiful ‘Under the Sea’ work in their sketch books and Year 5 have been having fun learning to paint like Van Gogh

In September, to mark the death of Her Majesty The Queen, the School came together, as it had to mark the Platinum Jubilee just months earlier, to create a collaborative piece of art.

Pupils from Year 1 upwards designed an array of colourful stamps during an interactive assembly, and then Mrs Kelway-Bamber combined them to create one enormous |commemorative stamp.

Each stamp holds pupils’ individual memories of and thoughts about the Queen.

This masterpiece can be seen hanging in the Great Hall.

Last but not least, whatever is happening in the Art Room or in the Pottery Cellar, you can be sure that Bruce, the School Well-being Dog, isn’t far away...

Michaelmas Term in the Music Department

Music Exams

44 pupils from years 4 to Top Form worked hard for their music exams this term - either with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, or with Trinity Board.

Pupils took exams ranging from Initial Grade up to Grade 5, on nine different instruments - string, brass, percussion and woodwind -, plus voice (both Singing and Singing for Musical Theatre), illustrating the depth of musical talent at Beechwood. Well done to the following pupils:

Jovan, Emily B, Madeleine F, James F, Simran G, Olivia W, Jasmine E, Eleanor I, Harry R, Joseph S, Anastasia W, Luke M, Josie D, Viola G, Marcus H, Kai K, Charlotte L, Evelyn M, Adhya R, Samuel S, Sebastian T, William H, Joe P, Serena R, Jonas S, Jinxuan C, Aria D, Frank H, Jonah H, Lochan K, Easher S, Sevi P, Samuel B, Idris C, Aeron C, Henry F, Miles H, Isaac C, Elliott F, Ismail W, Yiqian G, Kasper LB, and Alex R

All pupils passed with 11 gaining a Pass, 22 with a Merit and 11 gaining Distinction. Both visiting examiners commented on how well the pupils conducted themselves in their exams and how much they enjoyed visiting Beechwood!

Beechwood Musicians and Singers in the Community

75% of Music Exam entrants this term gained a Merit or Distinction

Congratulations to members of Beechwood Chamber Choir who sang at Flamstead Church in the run up to Christmas. Well done also to Reuben, Top Form, who played The Last Post so beautifully at our own Armistice Assembly and then played again on Remembrance Sunday at the Remembrance Service at Markyate Cenotaph You can listen to him play here

Despite the best efforts of the weather to derail our Christmas Concert, the show must definitely went on! This was the musical highlight of thet term and congratulations go to ALL our performers, from Year 3 to Top Form who entertained us on brass, string, woodwind and percussion instruments. For some it was the very first time to perform in front of an audience, so special well done to them. If you were unable to attend the rescheduled concert, you can click on the link below to view a recording

Beechwood Boarding

Michaelmas 2022 has been a fantastic term in boarding, with record numbers of pupils staying in the boarding house!. We have had 55 boarders including 18 new boarders, all of whom have successfully settled into boarding life. Well done to all of them. It has also been wonderful to welcome some Year 5 pupils back to boarding. We have also seen an increase in the number of boarders who are staying all four nights of the week, and the average number of nights has increased from two to three nights - across one week, that can mean that there are 150 boarders in the House. You can imagine what that means for our tuck supplies.....

As well as supporting boarders with prep, music practice and after school activities, there has also been time for plenty of fun this term. Pupils and staff donned their wellies for the Chip Shop Hike, managed NOT to set any trees on fire at their giant bonfire, and welcomed back some old Beechwood favourites - Lions and Sock Wrestling. Thanks also to Emily in the Catering Department for running a fun Christmas biscuit decorating session in the run up to the end of term.

We also had a trip to visit Bedford Planetarium and Observatory, got (very) competitive in the Colditz Championship and finished the term on a high with the Boarders’ Christmas Feast - you can see more photos of this highlight of the boarding calendar here.

As you know, Miss Harris joins Beechwood in January 2023 from St Albans High School, as Head of Boarding (and Head of Geography). She has already visited Beechwood a number of times, attending the Boarders’ Feast and also making herself available to meet with parents on the last day of term.

If you have not yet had a chance to watch her video introduction, you can do so here

We have another action-packed term planned for Boarding next term, but in the meantime Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Boarding team ��

Mr Griffiths Acting Head of Boarding

Charity at Beechwood

Michaelmas Term has been a very charitable one at Beechwood, and as ever, we are incredibly appreciative of the generosity of our community.

Keech Hospice Care

The big news of the term was surpassing £250,000 raised for Keech Hospice Care. Members of the Fundraising Team from Keech came to present Mr Balfour and the BPSPA with an award for being a top fundraiser for the charity.

We are very proud of this achievement, and look forward to many more years of association with this remarkable charity. You can read more about the award and presentation here

#HelloYellow for Young Minds

In October we supported the Young Minds #HelloYellow initiative for World Mental Health Day To mark the day, pupils accessorised their school uniform with a splash of yellow - sock, scarves, hair accessories etc Thanks to the generous donations of the Beechwood community together we raised over £1100.

Beechwood Poppy Appeal

Many thanks to the children, staff and parents who bought all of our stock for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal this year.

Tommy H and James H ran the mini-stall at break times to great effect, I think we have a couple of ‘Del-boys’ in the making! Collectively we raised a fantastic £434.33!

Once more, Beechwood Park families donated very generously during Harvest. In School, Mr Bullock reminded us all of the messages behind our harvest collection in a series of assemblies across year groups and this year the we have collected an amazing amount of food for the Harpenden Food Bank.

Two truckloads of food made their way to the Trussell Trust, Harpenden Foodbank. Behind the scenes many of Top Formers helped collect bags of food from the collect points, in the Junior and Middle Departments.

In the Chapel, James H. And Tommy H., Top Formers with charity responsibility, then helped to sort the hundreds of items into groups, ready for loading. They then helped load the truck for its first run to the Foodbank, where they were gratefully received and unloaded by the Trussell Trust volunteers.

Harvest Donations Donated to Trussell Trust Foodbank

Harpenden Food Bank has been running for six years. When they started they helped on average, around 100 people but since the Pandemic and with rising food prices, it has shot up dramatically to the point that over 3350 packages have been given out from April this year! These packages contain enough food for three days, for each member of a household.

Our Charity Ambassador, Tommy, created this wonderful poster detailing exactly what we raised, it is just fantastic to be able to help and support so many local families.

Woodlands families also generously donated their Harvest offerings to Keech Hospice Care

Thank you to everyone in the Beechwood community who has given so generously – do please continue to donate at your local super market, so that together we can continue to help our local communities.

Odd Socks Day

Beechwood also supported the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s Odd Socks Day in November Odd Socks Day in November marks the start of Anti-Bullying Week, and is designed to be fun!

It’s an opportunity to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique!

Christmas Fundraising

In the last week of term, Beechwood once again celebrated Christmas Jumper Day, raising money to be split between three local charities:

• Herts Welcomes Refugees

• Children’s Storehouses (Vineyard Church Hemel Hempstead)

• Children’s Storehouse (Vineyard Church St Albans).

Reverse Advent Calendar

Thank you to the BPSPA for organising this year’s “Reverse Advent Calendar” - the Beechwood community donated over 500kg of food at toiletries to the Trussell Trust.

Young Enterprise at the BPSPA Christmas Fayre

Thanks to our Young Enterprise stalls at the Christmas Fayre, pupils raised around £1,850 to purchase gifts from Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity’s Amazon Wishlists.

This term has seen a huge amount of activity in our grounds with numerous trees being planted! Alongside Mr Balfour’s and Top Formers’ leaving gift to the School, we have also planted in excess of 400 other trees!

Plant a Tree for the Jubilee

Pupils, staff and parents of Beechwood Park School in Hertfordshire were delighted to take part in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative by planting in excess of 400 trees in the School grounds.

The Queen’s Green Canopy is a nationwide initiative created to mark HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Originally due to conclude in December, the end of the Jubilee year, the project is now continuing until March 2023, to include the full UK tree plant ing season which runs from October to March.

The mission for the Queen’s Green Canopy is to create a living legacy with over a million trees planted in Her Majesty’s name which will serve as a lasting tribute to Her Majesty’s extraordinary service to her country and her people.

There is an interactive map which showcases the planting projects across the United Kingdom, giving people and organisations an opportunity to be part of this special legacy.

Through The Woodland Trust’s Free Trees for Schools and Communities scheme, Beechwood was the recipient of 415 hazel, cherry, silver birch, dogwood, hawthorn, oak and rowan saplings, to complement our existing woodland. Under the stewardship of Forest School Leader Mrs Le Bas, the Beechwood woodland is a much used and much loved resource, being used for weekly outdoor learning sessions for pre prep and prep school pupils, as well as the setting for other subject lessons such as Science, Music and Art. Cross-country running and boarding activities also take place in the woods providing a fantastic setting for both fitness and fun.

On Friday 18 November, the School community – pupils, staff and parents – came together to plant the saplings in designated areas of our woodland.

We were delighted to be joined by Dacorum’s Deputy Mayor Alan Johnson and his wife Anne, who got stuck in and helped our planting efforts. They are pictured here with Mr Balfour, Mrs Le Bas and Head of School Aidan with pupils Serena, Ellie and William.

Mrs Le Bas said “I am absolutely delighted to be a part of such a worthwhile project. Trees provide us with innumerable benefits from their environmental impact to the provision of wildlife habitats. Well-being is another enormous asset given to us by trees; I cannot underestimate how much both staff and pupils alike enjoy the positive impact when they are in the woods. I would like to say a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped to make this project possible from the parents, staff and pupils who planted the saplings to the people behind the scenes making the event run smoothly.

I hope you all enjoy watching these trees flourish and grow whilst you remain a part of the current Beechwood community and as visitors in the future – please do come back and see them!”

Mr Balfour added “It was an honour both to welcome the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress,to Beechwood last week to help the children plant the saplings, and to be part of this wonderful legacy project to commemorate the exemplary reign of our late Queen. I am proud of our outstanding Outdoor Learning provision at Beechwood, and am immensely grateful to Mrs Le Bas for all the work that she has put into establishing a tree-planting culture at Beechwood for future generations of pupils. With an indigenous deciduous tree as part of our name, we have always been, and will continue to be, committed to outdoor education and Forest School as a key aspect of our learning culture”. Find out more about The Queen’s Green Canopy here

An enormous thank you to pupils, parents and staff for donating to our new orchard. Each year group has its own tree and we have a lovely varied collection from the more traditional plum, pear, apple and cherry to some less well-known varieties such as mulberry and gage, we even have a plumcot, cherrycot and mirabelle which are a hybrid of two fruits!

All year groups from Top Form to Woodlands were involved in planting the trees. We are delighted to have done something for the environment, taken the opportunity to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and honour Queen Elizabeth II, recreated a little Beechwood history and have the excitement of looking forward to our fruit trees cropping.

Thank you in advance to Gardening Club who are going to underplant the Orchard with some spring flowering bulbs and wildflower seed.

We can’t wait to sit in the orchard and enjoy the fruits of our labour!

Sport Update

My first term at Beechwood Park has flown by! It has been wonderful to see all the sport on offer here and how our pupils engage and push themselves to learn and improve.

We have had a super busy term with the main sports being football and hockey. We must also acknowledge our skiers, ice skaters, fencers, swimmers, gymnasts and equestrians, who have all had much success this term.

HOCKEY

The hockey term got off to a fun start with pre-season training before returning to school in September.

On the first Friday back, the U11A team were exceptionally lucky, getting the opportunity to train, play and watch a game at the Olympic Park. It was a tough start, however Beechwood kept their heads, finished strong in the last game and were well and truly inspired and determined for the season ahead.

The team continued to develop over the term, with some improved results at the Kingshott Festival, undefeated at the Orley Farm tournament and then some great play at IAPS regional tournament. The team performance surprised everyone, with two wins and three draws against tough opposition to top their group, without conceding a single goal - the first time ever. Unfortunately, with seconds to go in the quarter-final Bancrofts got the decisive goal. A great season, with lots of progress nonetheless and it has been brilliant to see so many enjoying Friday night's mixed hockey club.

The U11Bs and U11Cs found the scoring sticks towards the end of the season and both teams finished stronglyeven enjoying their last games in the rain! As well as building on their outdoor hockey skills, the U10A team enjoyed learning indoor hockey this term and playing at the Haileybury tournament was a highlight. All the U10 teams enjoyed their hockey and made great progress, as a second block of fixtures against Chesham proved, converting several losses into wins.

The U8s and U9s enjoyed lots of small sided games this season, enabling them all more time on the ball and to develop their skills. It has been great to see them applying the rules and working so well together. They have really enjoyed their hockey fixtures this term, especially the U8s who took part in their first ever fixtures.

Our U13 teams got straight into action at the Haileybury tournament and the County Cup with the A team getting off to a great start. All our Y7 & Top Form girls will be continuing their hockey next term as we look forward to a term of mixed hockey with the boys.

Well done to Anna & Eloise W (Top Form) who have also been playing County hockey for Hertfordshire, where they have also been joined by some former Beechwood pupils. Hockey ASAs continue next term, as does club hockey outside of School, so we look forward to more fun and more hockey progress next term.

FOOTBALL

The success of the England women's football team at the Euros in the summer inspired us all and pupils were itching to get out on the pitches at the start of term.

The pupils have enjoyed the opportunity for numerous matches. In total we played 76 football matches, winning 34, drawing 17 and losing 25. Congratulations to the mighty U11D team, coached by Mr Robinson, who won five out of their six games and scored a whopping 35 goals while conceding only eight all season! This was closely followed by the U11B team who won 5 games, drew 1 and lost 1, scoring 25 goals and only conceding 9 all season. Fantastic results!

A highlight of the term was the weekend trip to the home of English football at St. George's Park, where our 1st XI squad had the opportunity to experience what it is like to be an international footballer, by training and playing on the England pitches and even sleeping in the team's hotel.

The U8's enjoyed their first ever fixtures and represented Beechwood with pride. They showed respect to the opposition, played fairly and enjoyed some friendly competition.

SKIING

On the slopes, we congratulate Aidan B (Top Form) and William S (Y5) on their skiing success. Following on from winning bronze medals at the NSSA Indoor Open South Ski Championships in October, both were selected for the National Schools' Alpine Ski Squad 22/23; a fantastic achievement. In November the boys got to attend a team building and orientation day in Manchester. They had an action-packed day of skateboarding, scootering, climbing and trampolining. Both are now looking forward to attending a ski camp abroad with the squad. We can't wait to hear more about their skiing and trips in due course.

Also, well done to all the Beechwood Ski team who have been keeping up their Friday training outdoors at Welwyn. They even seem to have had some actual ski weather recently!

Miss Hamilton

We have been busy in the pool, developing our swimming strokes and enjoyed taking part in various galas.

We have some very strong swimmers at Beechwood and we look forward to taking a small squad to the IAPS competition next term. We will keep you posted with these results.

FENCING

Fencing is one of our most popular after-school clubs and some of these pupils go on to represent Beechwood in competitions. Most recently, some of our dedicated pupils were selected for the Hertfordshire School Championships. I'm pleased to announce that the Year 3 team won gold, the Year 4 team won bronze, the Year 5 and 6 team won gold, with the Year 7 and 8 team bringing home the bronze. With 8 schools competing at this event, Beechwood Park came first overall and can be named best in Hertfordshire!

EQUESTRIAN

Beechwood's Equestrian NSEA squad is currently larger than it has ever been. These children are truly dedicated to this sport, not only is it time competing and training but also the time spent looking after their horses. Leo R, John G, Guy G, Florence D, Chloe I, Nicole I, Rory L, Eleanor P must all be congratulated for their team and individual success at the two competitions they've attended this term. They've also competed in the combined event, dressage and show jumping for the first time. We wish them luck in their winter training in preparation for the Combined Training Championships will be held at Hickstead next year.

We ended the term with a festive Santa Team Run and a House Orienteering Competition (more on this on the next page!). It has been a very chilly end to the term and unfortunately our hockey and football house matches had to be cancelled, but we look forward to rescheduling them early in the New Year.

We hope many of you sign up to the pre-season rugby and netball days in January, led by Saracens and Mavericks, a great opportunity to get prepared for the term ahead. The Sports Department wishes to thank everyone who has represented the School and all the wonderful supporters, for a fabulous term of sport and we look forward to seeing you again in January.

Do remember to follow us on Twitter @BWPSport, for updates, match reports and results and photos.

Merry Christmas to you all,

Mrs N Carley Director of Sport

House Orienteering

Sports Awards

Colts Boys - Most Improved Footballer - James Lynch

James has shown superb progress this term. He started the season in the Colts C team and quickly moved up to the B team. Starting the first couple of games for the B team as a substitute he went on to become a key player in this very successful team. His passing, game understanding and ball control have really developed and have allowed him to establish his position so strongly in the team.

Colts Boys - Outstanding Contribution for Football - Finley Sellers

Finley confidently took on a different position than his preferred in the Colts A team this season. He consistently performed brilliantly for the team in matches and was regularly stand out. He played in defence showing excellence in his positioning off the ball. He took the opportunity when in attack and scored some fantastic goals as well.

Senior Dept. Girls - Most Improved Hockey Player - Chloe Lucas

Chloe has made lots of improvement, especially in the second half of the season. She has proved to be great in the D, scoring several goals when the chance arose. Her attacking play and movement into space on the pitch has developed greatly. Her commitment and desire to improve has been stand out.

Senior Dept. Girls - Outstanding Contribution for Hockey - Kaede Lee

Kaede has had a fantastic season in the U11A team. She has been instrumental in the team's success using her skills to control the middle of the pitch. She has attacked with flair and always gets back to defend. On top of this, she has improved greatly and is always willing to learn.

Senior Boys - Most Improved Footballer - Josh Davies

Josh constantly asked and looked for ways to improve his understanding and knowledge of the game of Football this term. He has shown great commitment in defence and always organised the team formation in defence very well. He is always a positive influence and a great team player.

Senior Boys - Outstanding Contribution for Football - William Pearson

Will has consistently been a high flyer in terms of his performance this season. They have continued to lead by example with the way to play sport. He has regularly contributed to some of the best plays in each match and always drove the team forward throughout attacking play. This award is therefore very thoroughly deserved.

Catering Corner

After a restful Summer break, we started what we knew would be a busy term with Parent Welcome evenings, Breakfast Club, and of course the small matter of feeding 600+ hungry mouths every lunchtime! The Catering Team had a visit from Molly Wisbey and Anna Johnson from Holroyd Howe - working together to create a bespoke experience for Beechwood Park pupils, we created a pop up in the Great Hall to talk, taste and guess all things Nutrition and Sustainability. We are really focused on giving the pupils knowledge around these important areas. You may be surprised to learn that the school’s weekly “plate waste” can be as high as 82kg - the equivalent of 205 meals in the bin and at a cost of £273.45. The Team is committed to working with pupils and staff to reduce this figure over the coming terms.

The term had barely started and events were upon us, the first being the BPSPA Curry and Quiz Night This was a huge success, catering for over 120 guests. The Spicy Ginger Chicken Curry was a big hit and was enjoyed by everyone. We celebrated Beechwood Park’s 58th Anniversary with a birthday party style lunch, we lots of love and laughter; the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the buffet style spread and of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday without a slice of birthday cake!

Just before the half term break, we were happy to support the School’s Termly Open Morning with catering for a large number of visitors; did someone say Apple Scones?

Straight after half term, we came back to a Halloween themed Lunch, turning our Dining Room into The Beechwood Haunted House, the graveyard dessert pots were great fun. The BPSPA Firework Night was a spectacular show, serving over 400 hot dogs, mulled wine, hot chocolate and so much more.

We finish a very busy term with all things Christmas, Shows, Carols you name it, we did it! It was lovely to feel the Christmas buzz around Beechwood. Christmas Lunch was a huge success and I hope you all enjoyed the festive spread... even the sprouts!

Catering Team News

The Beechwood Park Catering Team renewed our Coeliac Accreditation, still being the only School within Holroyd Howe to hold this accreditation. After an intense Coeliac Audit, we scored 100% (Grade A), about which we were all delighted - the whole team takes immense pride in the menus that we develop, taking into account a wide range of differing allergies, intolerance and preferences, and it was heart-warming to have our work recognised in this way.

The Catering Team welcomed Adam Chamberlain, our new Head Chef, Adam is an exceptional Chef who has worked in the hospitality industry for 21 years. Adam’s first impression of Beechwood was “Beechwood Park School is a really warm and welcoming community, The pupils are well-mannered, I have certainly heard lots of pleases and thank yous at meal times. The reason I decided to change sector from Hospitality to Education was because the high quality of food and service provided at independent schools and

especially at Beechwood Park. I cannot wait to put my spin onto the Beechwood Park Catering”

Adam plans on building relationships with all our local suppliers, ensuring the freshest and seasonal fruit and vegetables. Adam’s favourite fruit is rhubarb and plans to create dishes with different fruit and vegetables .... keep your eyes peeled.

Holroyd Howe’s annual People Awards were held in November. The People Awards is a event to recognise individuals or teams within the business who go above and beyond to improve not only the nurseries, Schools or colleges in which they work but also Holroyd Howe. Emily and her team were thrilled to have been nominated for this award - nominations are made according to the following criteria:

The team must be seen

• To display a consistent spirit of teamwork and cooperation within their location and/or area.

• To have shown an impeccable work ethic, which reflects dedication, loyalty, and consistent standards of excellence in all areas

• To have delivered value to Holroyd Howe, clients, and students.

• To have created or developed an innovative solution resulting in a significant improvement for the school, facility, or department

There were over 83 nominations for the award with five making it through to the final, where Beechwood emerged as winners! Holroyd Howe explained why the Beechwood team had been chosen as winners:

“Beechwood team have amazing teamwork, determination, and devotion to our business, working extremely hard to go above and beyond and exceed company standards. They live by our values and those of the School, and team members clearly love their role and are willing to share their skills with the school and the wider region. They work hand in glove with their school community and their Head Teacher will be very proud. Beechwood works had to develop young children’s palates, and are recent winners of Independent School of the Year Award for Healthy Eating. The are also the only Holroyd Howe school to have achieved Coeliac Accreditation which is no mean feat. I am proud and delighted to announce the winner of the Team of the Year is Beechwood Park.”

On behalf of the whole Catering Team, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year. May 2023 be filled with love, joy, health and happiness.

Henry Catering Manager

Emily

What a term! Early in the Michaelmas Term, we had an epic Quiz Night, with the Performance Hall packed out for a fun evening of questions and curry. Next up was our colourful Fireworks Night, which sold out quickly and got a big thumbs up from those that could come along. Most recently, we have had our Christmas Festive Fayre, which was a hive of festive cheer. It was amazing to have the fayre back again after a three-year absence.

If that wasn’t enough, we’ve also had a sold-out wreath-making event, the Christmas card project for children who wanted to design their own cards plus a Reverse Advent Calendar, where many of you have kindly donated products for local food banks. We were pleased to support tree planting at School too. And we continue to run the brilliant online BPSPA shop –get your jute bags, bobble hats, Beechwood water bottles and more at https://www.bpspa.shop/!

On the fundraising front, Pippa Ridout and I were honoured to represent the BPSPA at a fundraising award presentation, where Keech Hospice Care thanked the whole of Beechwood for its incredible support in raising a cumulative total of £252,316 over 14 years. Since then, we’ve transferred an additional £13,000 to Keech from funds raised at the Summer Ball, with more to go to Keech soon from proceeds of the Christmas Fayre.

Young Enterprise raised over £2,500 for Luton & Dunstable Children’s Christmas Wish List. And we have transferred £13,000 to Ukrainian charities from Ball fundraising too. Plus we’ll be putting some money towards new school projects soon.

It’s easier for you to raise funds for the BPSPA now too. Just register via Easy fundraising here to sign up and/ or select us on Amazon Smile under ‘Beechwood Park School Limited’ if you ever buy something on Amazon.

We’re keen to promote more sustainable behaviours too. Do support the Dressing Up Box (https://www. bpspa.shop/product/dressing-up-box-donation/98), a chance to recycle children’s costumes for key school dressing-up events. Thank you to the Second Hand Uniform Shop for continuing to kindly donate its profits to the BPSPA – do please use it, reducing environmental impact and saving money! For information about the Second Hand Uniform Shop please contact Pippa Peel via email secondhanduniform@beechwoodpark.com

Next term, BPSPA activities will include a disco for children in Junior Department, Middle Department and Year 6, which will take place in the afternoon/ early evening of Friday 20 January. We will also be sending round a survey next term to ask what you want from the BPSPA. Please take time to share your thoughts.

And looking further ahead, the all-new BPSPA Dog Show will take place on Saturday 20 May – please can all dog-lovers save the date now!. We are also hoping to hold Fun Night and Beechfest in the Summer Term, and maybe the Picnic on the Lawn (outdoor cinema) too, provided we can encourage some volunteers to come forward to organise them..

Thank you to our amazing Committee for hitting the ground running in our first term together and for their hard work already. Thanks too to Miss Macpherson for being school liaison extraordinaire, to the parent Class Representatives for your support and to all parents/ guardians and staff that have helped this term,

including those who have invested time and energy organising events.

A final special thanks to Mr Balfour for all his support of the BPSPA over the years.

There are lots of ways to get involved. Please organise an event, volunteer to help on the day, be a rep next year (at least one male rep per year group would be amazing) and consider joining the Committee in future. Please do get involved. We can’t do it without you! Chat to any of the Committee or get in touch via BPSPA@beechwoodpark.com. Our first BPSPA meeting of next term will be 9am on 23rd January, in the Drawing Room or via Zoom - please join us.

After the (enjoyable) whirlwind of this term, wishing you all a happy and peaceful festive period.

Dan Crossley BPSPA Chair

Meet the BPSPA Committee

Dan Crossley, Chair 2022

Dan Crossley is dad of Isaac (Year 7) and Sam (Year 5), husband to Cecilia and current Chair of the BPSPA. Dan would love to see lots of new and old (!) faces getting involved in BPSPA activities, helping organise events like fun night and the festive fayre, having fun and fundraising for charity in the process. His other missions are to reduce our environmental impact and to get at least one male rep in every year by 2023/24!

For a job, Dan runs an organisation focused on food ethics, that brings people together to find long-term solutions to contentious issues. These vary from ‘how do we move away from a reliance on food banks’ to ‘should we eat lab-grown meat in the future’? Outside of the world of food, Dan loves bad puns and is an armchair sports fan (including being a Norwich City supporter).

He’s also a fair weather cyclist, culminating each year in the Duchenne Dash - a charity bike ride, cycling from London to Paris in 24 hours, in aid of Duchenne UK.

Pippa Ridout, Secretary

pa Ridout is mum of Felix (yr 7), wife to Nick and current Secretary of the BPSPA. In this role Pippa is the author of the BPSPA Minutes and prides herself on never splitting an infinitive nor using a grocer’s apostrophe.

She is the former Communications Director of a major Swiss company, so can often be found running a gimlet eye over any form of written material emanating from Beechwood. Pippa gave up the Corporate world after having Felix but now devotes some of her time to Beechwood, having been a Class Rep and/or on the BPSPA Committee for the past 7 years.

She is a keen cook and general foodie - a passion closely followed by unquenchable desire to book holidays.

Julia Innig, Communication

Julia Innig is mum to Arthur in Woodlands and 18 months old Laura, married to Lukas. Julia shares the Communications Officer role at the BPSPA and is passionate about our Beechwood community. Julia organises weekly BPSPA newsletter updates in the Beechwood Lion and is keen on initiatives to streamline our Communications. She would also like to pass on knowledge to future volunteers.

In her work life, Julia works in a bank in Client Engagement. Julia loves watching stars with Arthur and his jokes, clothes shopping with Laura, getting absorbed in a book while pretending she did not hear that the Lego tower is| broken again, and sometimes writing own stories which she hopes to finish some day when her children are able to cook their own breakfast.

Suzi shares the Communications officer on the BPSPA with Julia. She has one child at Beechwood and lives in St Albans. Suzi works in research management, having a PhD in low carbon energy systems.

She enjoys spending lots of time outdoors and exploring the beautiful woodlands of Hertfordshire and surrounds. She is on the Board of Governors at a local primary school and has a personal interest in diversity and inclusion.

Jessica Roberts, Treasurer

Jessica Roberts is the mother of William (year 6), wife of Sam and current treasurer of the BPSPA. Jessica would love to see more new joiners getting involved in BPSPA activities as it has been a great way for her to meet other parents since her son joined the School halfway through Year 5. J

Jessica works locally as a secondary school teacher and especially enjoys teaching further maths. An avid animal lover, Jessica loves spending time with her two spoiled cats and has enjoyed spending many years working with horses as a volunteer for Riding for the Disabled. Originally from upstate New York, she has lived in the UK for over 15 years.

Renata Woodhams, Events

Renata Woodhams is mum to William in Year 2 and shares the role of events coordinator for the BPSPA.

She is a vet by profession, however since having William, she is studying clinical nutrition. - .this time in humans! When she is not working or trialling her latest nutrition research on her husband Tony or friends, she is usually outdoors, in the gym or experimenting in the kitchen.

Kate Hart, Events

Kate is mum with Kitty in Year 1, and Della who has just turned two. She joined the committee this year, and is sharing the events role with Renata.

Kate works for a regeneration consultancy in London, leading their communications and events. When not juggling life in a style akin to Julia from Motherland, Kate enjoys travelling, reading and cooking.

Suzi Alexander, Communication

Key Dates for Next Term

Date Event

Monday 9 January Term Starts

Thursday 12 January Reception trip to St Albans Abbey Flu Vaccinations - Senior Department

Monday 16 - Friday 20 January School Exam Week Years 5 and 7

Tuesday 17 January LAMDA Exams

Thursday 19 January LAMDA Performance to Parents

Friday 20 January Woodlands Chinese New Year Celebration LAMDA Performance to Parents

Monday 23 January BPSPA Meeting

Thursday 2 February Year 7 Curricular Meeting for Parents and Pupils

Saturday 4 February Hertfordshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Verulamium Park St Albans

Tuesday 7 February Year 3 trip to Hindu Temple

Friday 10 February Open Morning

Monday 13 - Friday 17 February

Half Term

Tuesday 21 February Shrove Tuesday Pancake Races Lego Engineering Competition

Wednesday 22 February Ash Wednesday Assembly Year 1 African Drumming Workshop

Thursday 2 March World Book Day

Monday 6 March BPSPA Committee Meeting

Thursday 9 March Year 6 Trip to The Globe

Friday 10 March Rugby Sevens Festival

Tuesday 14 March Choirs Concert

Wednesday 15 March Year 2 to Kew Gardens

Thursday 16 March House Rugby and Netball Matches

Tuesday 21 - Friday 24 March Year 4 Residential Trip to Aylmerton

Thursday 23 March School Production Emil and the Detectives

Friday 24 March School Production Emil and the Detectives

Monday 27 March Junior Department Easter Parade Year 7 to Bawdsey Manor

Thursday 30 March End of Term

HAPPY NEW YEAR