Michaelmas Term in the Senior Department

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:

First Year 6 Ivie R Year 7

Top Form Ramsay M Felix M

Second Third Fourth Fifth Arabella H Oscar B Millie G

Paddy G William R Jasmine E, Archie L, Alex R Diego A-S Will W

Harry G

Lucci F Matthew F Tommy H

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

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!)

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.

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

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.