Thank you, Margaret! It was a privilege to share your memories.

On Tuesday, we were delighted to welcome Margaret, who came to share her experience as an evacuee during the Second World War with us. Margaret is 90 years old and her memory is as sharp as ever. We asked Margaret many questions about the host family she stayed with in Wales. Despite having no running water or electricity, Margaret had happy memories of her time in the countryside staying with Mr. and Mrs. Brown – milking cows, collecting eggs from the chickens, growing vegetables and making new friends. We had many questions about how the evacuees found a host family to stay with. Margaret recounted waiting in the village hall upon arrival in Wales whilst couples came to ‘look the evacuees over’. If they liked the look of you, you went home with them – that was that!’ She regaled us with stories of gas mask drills at school and scary nights spent in an Anderson shelter taking cover from the enemy planes overhead. Margaret also brought her identity card and a cookery book from the war to share with us. What a truly wonderful experience to be able to learn about the past from someone who has lived it! A huge thank you to Margaret for bring History to life. We had a wonderful afternoon listening to your memories and learning from you, Margaret! Thank you also to Bella’s mum for helping to arrange this visit.

Some of us took part in the HfL Year 6 Maths Challenge this week. We competed against other Year 6 pupils across the county. There were four different rounds including an estimation round. All rounds were strictly timed and the questions required plenty of team work and perseverance. We absolutely loved it! We look forward to receiving the results after half term.

In Art, we practised drawing faces using using the proportion skills we have previously learned. We used the work of mid-20th Century artist L.S.Lowry to study the proportions of the face. Some impressive initial sketches…

In PE, we held our own mini hockey tournament, putting the skills learnt over the past few weeks into practice. We dribbled, defended, attacked, and marked our opponents showing improved skills and communication. Well done to all the teams! A fun way to conclude our hockey lessons for this half term!

This week we celebrated poetry as we took part in this term’s ‘Poetry By Heart’ event. Each class learnt a poem by heart and performed their poem in front of the whole school. We performed ‘Television’ by Roald Dahl. We spoke with clarity and performed brilliantly. Learning a poem by heart allowed us to manage pace and timing to powerful effect. We learnt how to hold a silence, eye contact, body language and gesture. We also had a lot of fun learning the poem. we thoroughly enjoyed listening to the poems performed by the other classes too, including ‘Invictus’, ‘Mr. Nobody’, ‘Walking with my Iguana’ and ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’. You can enjoy listening to a recording of ‘Television’ by Roald Dahl by clicking the link below.

Television by Roald Dahl

What better way to bring this half term to a close than by having a super Golden Morning of enrichment activities! From circus skills to miniature gardens to autumnal craft to sewing pumpkins to baking, there really was something for everyone. We welcomed Henry (Bella’s older brother) back to Little Hadham Primary for Golden Morning. He expertly lead one of the activities – watercolour pictures with a scary twist! Henry was brilliant, showing us how to create different effects and sharing his expertise with us. Henry is a  talented artist and it was a pleasure to have him back with us. Thank you, Henry!

Our next Learning Together Morning will be Thursday 7th November, 8.45am. We hope you can join us and share in our learning.

Thank you for your support this half term. Have a wonderful half term break. We look forward to seeing you back in school on Monday 4th November.

Basketball Team Shines!

A massive well done to our Year 5 and 6 basketballers who showed incredible teamwork and determination in a recent tournament! Competing against much bigger schools, they played with such heart and skill, securing an impressive 3rd place!

Who knows, maybe we’ve got some future England players in the making? The way they passed, defended, and shot those hoops was nothing short of amazing!

A huge thank you to Ms Goodger for organising and cheering them on all the way and our parent helpers for the lifts—what a fantastic day!

24.10.2024 Performing, creating, learning!

Last week, in Maple class, the children worked in their groups so that they can deliver an expressive performance of the poem ‘Mr Nobody’ by Anonymous. This week, during a fantastic poetry performance, they articulated the poem with clarity and confidence, projecting their voices,  while incorporating dynamic actions to bring the poem to life.

In English, in our grammar lesson, the children reviewed previously taught grammatical concepts. They collaborated with their partners to complete exercises together, requiring them to explain the grammatical terms clearly.

In Art, inspired by Kandinsky’s abstract style, the children experimented with overlapping geometric shapes, vibrant colours, patterns and lines to create their own unique compositions. After completing their artwork, they added titles to their beautiful creations. During a class discussion, the children shared the emotions and ideas their art evoked, describing how the combination of shapes and colours made them feel and what their artwork represented to them personally.

 

In History, the children learned about ancient Greek scholars and philosophers. The ancient Greeks were a forward-thinking civilization, encouraging innovation and progress. As a result, many scholars and philosophers emerged during this period, developing theories on subjects such as mathematics, science, and how society should be organized. Their ideas continue to influence the way we think today. In small groups, the children explored the lives and contributions of six scholars and philosophers. Working with their learning partners, they crafted acrostic poems to help them remember the interesting facts they discovered.

Hope you have a lovely break with your families.

 

From performance poetry to golden morning

What an exciting and productive half-term it’s been in Beech Class! The children have worked incredibly hard and made fantastic progress across all areas of learning.

A highlight of this week was the children’s performance of Walking My Iguana. The children not only memorised the poem beautifully but also delivered it with expression and enthusiasm. Their performance was truly impressive!

In Maths, our Year 1 children have been focusing on the concept of equality, using balance scales to explore making equal numbers. They’ve enjoyed hands-on activities to develop their understanding of this important concept. Meanwhile, our Year 2 children have been working on partitioning two-digit numbers to help them add more efficiently. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow with these skills.

In English, the Year 2 children have been getting creative with their writing, composing detailed instructions for making pond weed sandwiches. They used expanded noun phrases to make their writing clear and descriptive. The Year 1 children have been busy coming up with thoughtful questions for the Gingerbread Man, sparking some great discussions in class!

Golden Morning has also been a big hit this week. The children have loved participating in a variety of activities, from circus skills to sewing, allowing them to explore their creativity and learn new skills in a fun and relaxed environment.

As we head into the half-term break, I want to remind everyone of the importance of continuing to read regularly. Keeping up with reading over the break will help maintain all the progress they’ve made this term and keep their love of books alive!

Thank you all for your continued support, and we look forward to another fantastic half-term after the break.

Have a wonderful and restful half-term!
Beech Class Team

Poetry by Heart Assembly – A Triumph of Talent! ✨

 

A huge thank you to Mrs Tweedale for organising such a brilliant event! Today’s Poetry by Heart assembly was an absolute triumph, with our talented children amazing us all with their heartfelt performances. It was wonderful to witness the effort and passion each child brought to the stage.

As part of celebrating our love of poetry across the school, every class chose a poem to learn by heart. So this morning, we gathered to listen, share, and celebrate the beauty of language through our poems. The room was alive with rhythm, emotion, and the power of words.

Why Poetry Matters in Our Curriculum

Poetry is one of the most treasured forms of expression. It allows children to articulate their feelings and emotions, helping them develop a sense of empathy and understanding. Through poetry, children are introduced to new vocabulary, as well as diverse rhythms and patterns of language, which enriches their linguistic skills.

Beyond language, poetry nurtures creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Understanding a poem often requires careful thought and interpretation, and it’s not uncommon for children to read and reflect multiple times to truly grasp its meaning. This process helps them think critically and approach challenges with curiosity.

Learning to recite poems by heart also improves memory and retention of new words and phrases. As children progress through the years, they’ll build a collection of poems they’ve learned and performed, creating a personal anthology to carry with them when they leave our school.

 

 

October is here

This week in Lime Class, we’ve had a full schedule of exciting and enriching activities across all subjects! In English, our main focus has been on writing non-chronological reports. We’ve spent time analyzing structure, identifying key features, and creating our own reports. Alongside this, we’ve been exploring poetry by Laura Mucha, a poet we had the opportunity to meet online as part of our attempt at a Guinness World Record. Her work has inspired us to write and respond creatively, deepening our appreciation for poetry.

In Maths, we’ve been working hard to complete our topic on place value. This week, we’ve focused on rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100, and beyond, as well as diving into the concept of negative numbers. Everyone made great progress, particularly with understanding how negative numbers work in different real-life contexts, such as temperature.

Our history lessons have been both fascinating and impactful, as we’ve been learning about the Windrush generation. We’ve discussed their contributions to British society, the challenges they faced, and how their legacy continues to shape modern Britain. These discussions have helped us develop a deeper understanding of diversity and migration in history.

In Science, we took our learning outdoors! We explored the school grounds to investigate how biodiverse our environment is. We observed plants, insects, and other forms of wildlife, identifying different species and discussing what factors influence biodiversity. It was a hands-on and enjoyable way to connect our scientific knowledge with the world around us.

Finally, in PSHE, we revisited the topic of bullying, looking at the different forms it can take and how we can recognize and prevent it. We also had an in-depth discussion about influences and pressures we might encounter in our lives. This tied into our computing lessons, where we learned about the influences we face online, and how to distinguish between facts and opinions. This week has given us valuable tools to navigate both our digital and real-world environments thoughtfully and responsibly.

Great Teamwork and Sharing

Early Years were lucky to have a visitor this week. Liz, our class governor, came to visit the children and talk to them about how to look after guinea pigs. The children helped her to clip the guinea pigs nails and they learnt a lot about what is good to feed guinea pigs and how we should stroke and handle them. They also weighed the guinea pigs to check they were a healthy weight.

The children are really enjoying their dance lessons. They are stretching their bodies and thinking of different ways they can move, as well as learning new dance moves from their teacher. In PE, Ash and Saplings are continuing to work on their ball skills. They have started working in partners, throwing and catching to each other and we can see a real improvement already with their hand-eye co-ordination. They have even been able to practise kicking the footballs to a target.

During choosing time, the children have had great fun in the newly refreshed digging pit (thank you Mr Trundle!), using spades and a wheelbarrow. This is a super activity to enhance gross motor skills, along with communication and speaking. Plus the children love getting muddy! We have been really impressed at the turn taking and sharing that has been going on with the new wheelbarrow!

In Forest school, Ash and Saplings have been learning to tie knots in string, around sticks and branches. They were very busy making swings, dens and homes incorporating this new skill they had learnt.

We are continuing to look at the story of So Much in Literacy, with a link to Black History Month. We discussed how the book is set in the Caribbean and the children looked at a map of the islands as well as images. We shared ideas about how different it is to Little Hadham. The children had some excellent suggestions of differences, including the types of trees, beaches and weather. We then listened to and sang a nursery rhyme from the Caribbean, called Tree Fell Down. It was great fun to sing along with and fall over to!

During our Maths sessions, we have been thinking about sizes. The children have been sorting objects into boxes, according to their size. They were able to put small objects in small boxes and larger objects into larger boxes. They could explain why an object couldn’t fit into a specific box, describing it as too big. We also tried out a few boxes to see if they could fit a child into, and we managed to find one! Although Mrs Webb was very disappointed as she was too tall to fit into the box. The children had great fun seeing if they could fit in the box, as well as playing inside it after the lesson had finished, as their learning continued into choosing time.

In Friday’s forest session with Connor he had a new hammock for us to try out. First the children helped him find somewhere suitable to put it and then after Connor had tested it out they wowed us yet again with their patience and turn taking without any fuss. The class really have been superstars this week!

Medusa’s Myth and the Clash of Cultures

In our English lessons, the children have been learning to make their writing more vivid by using the five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch—as well as similes, which are comparisons using ‘like’ or ‘as’.  This week, they practiced describing what it would be like to meet Medusa. They imagined the look of her snake-filled hair, the sound of hissing, and even the cold, eerie atmosphere of her lair. They used similes like “her gaze was as sharp as a knife” to make their writing even more engaging.

In our recent history lessons, the children have been learning about the differences between Athens and Sparta. This week, they imagined visiting one of these ancient cities and wrote about their experiences in a postcard.  For example, one child who ‘visited’ Athens wrote, ‘Athens is amazing! I saw the giant Parthenon and watched people talking about new ideas. I even visited a school where boys were learning to read and write!’  Another child who ‘visited’ Sparta wrote, “Sparta is so different! I watched kids my age training to be soldiers. They don’t have much free time because they are always practicing fighting and working hard to be strong.”

In our yoga session, the children moved through a series of activities designed to help them focus, connect with their bodies, and improve their mindfulness. We began by flowing through the sun sequence, which helped us warm up, prepare our bodies, and focus our minds for the rest of the session.  Next, we played a game called Sharks, where the children moved around the room before returning to their mats, grounding themselves in the tree pose. This game not only encouraged body awareness but also helped them practice balance and calmness after movement.  Following that, we played the Rain stick Game. In this game, the children focused on the sounds of the rain stick, listening carefully as the gentle noise moved closer to them. This exercise helped improve their listening skills and sharpen their focus on the present moment.  We ended the session with the Ladybird Relaxation. In this relaxation, the children listened to a story about a ladybird’s journey. As the ladybird ‘landed’ on different parts of their body—nose, knees, toes, and thumbs—it guided them to focus on and relax each part in turn. This story helped them release tension and improve body awareness in a calming and fun way.

This week in maths, we’ve been learning to add 4 and 5 digit numbers using place value and exchanging. Children  break numbers into thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones, and when a column adds up to more than 9, they ‘exchange’ or carry the extra to the next column. We used pictures to help students visualise this process, making it easier to understand how larger numbers are added.

This week in hockey, the children worked on key skills like dribbling, ball control, and quick passing. They focused on keeping the ball close to their feet and making fast, accurate passes. In groups of three, two attackers and one defender, they practised passing three times without the defender intercepting to earn points.

 

Shh! Top secret mission for Year 6…

What an incredible day we had at Bletchley Park! Our recent trip was perfectly timed with our learning journey about World War Two and the remarkable codebreakers, including the brilliant Alan Turing. We were buzzing with excitement as we stepped into the secretive world of espionage and cryptography.

Our first stop was the iconic huts where the skilled codebreakers worked tirelessly, translating crucial messages from German into English. It was fascinating to see the Bombe machine that Alan Turing and his team masterminded – a real marvel of ingenuity that played a vital role in the war effort.

During our guided tour, we had the opportunity to assume the different roles of those who worked at Bletchley Park. The children experienced how they would have been welcomed, signing the Official Secrets Act before embarking on their important missions. This interactive experience truly brought the history to life and highlighted the importance of secrecy in their work.

The Manor House offered a splendid glimpse into the lives of those who contributed to this monumental undertaking. Hearing stories from former employees added a personal touch that made history come alive for us. We were captivated!

In the afternoon, we had the chance to get hands-on experience with a genuine Enigma machine, just like the one used in the film Imitation Game featuring Benedict Cumberbatch! We eagerly took turns attempting to crack codes, and celebrated each time we succeeded.

All in all, our visit to Bletchley Park was not only educational but also tremendously fun! We left feeling inspired by the incredible legacy of the codebreakers and the pivotal role they played in shaping the future. We can’t wait to share more about this fascinating chapter in history in the classroom!

In other news this week, we tested the strength of our Anderson shelters.  With some nervousness  we tried out different weights on top of our shelters. We were absolutely delighted to find that our shelters could easily hold over 1kg. Our choice to include strengthening supports in the design of the roof was a truly successful aspect of our scale models. We evaluated our Anderson shelters, identifying other successes and ways we might adapt our design in the future.

In maths, we have been learning how to use long division. We learnt two different methods and then solved problems using long division. At first it was really tricky, but we soon became long division experts and feel ready to tackle more complex calculations applying what we have learnt.

World Record Breakers…we hope! Last Thursday was National Poetry Day. During the morning, we worked with poet Laura Mucha and 60,000+ primary aged pupils from across the country to co-write a poem about ‘what counts’ and break a Guinness World Records title for the largest poetry lesson! We were joined by Lime Class for this exciting event. In preparation for the lesson, we had collected ideas about ‘what counts’ and ‘what matters’ to us. Our ideas included ‘the right to be respected’, ‘the power of hugs’, ‘my family’, ‘feeling safe from harm’, ‘a peaceful world to live in’. We sent our ideas to Laura Mucha for her to include in the collaborative poem.

During the ‘largest poetry lesson’, we then voted with other children from across the country and made decisions about what to include in our poem. Laura Mucha then had the task of putting all our ideas and suggestions into a finished poem. The poem is to be displays all over the country, on the children’s Poetry Archive, on billboards, buildings, in newspapers and will be made into a poster! We had a great time during the lesson and are excited to share the finished poem with you soon. We are equally excited to receive news from the people at Guinness World Records to confirm we are World Record Breakers! Words really do have power!

And finally, in Science we learnt about switches. Our task was to create an innovative switch that can control two circuits so we can have each lamp lit separately or both lit together. We used our knowledge of conductors and insulators and of simple circuits to complete this challenging task. There was much problem solving to be done but there are some budding electrical engineers amongst us as we managed to successfully complete the task!

From bandaging animals to exploring local geographical features

What a busy and exciting week we’ve had in Beech Class!

We were incredibly lucky to have Mrs. Groot, Francis’s mummy, who is a vet, come in to give us a special talk, along with Liz Lloyd Williams and her lovely dog. The Year 1 children were thrilled to meet the dog, and they even got to feed it! They learned about the foods dogs shouldn’t eat, which is so important for keeping our furry friends healthy. The children also practiced their bandaging skills, listened to the dog’s heartbeat, and had a fascinating look at some x-rays! It was such a great hands-on experience, and everyone learned a lot about animal care.

On top of that, the whole class has been buzzing with excitement as we’ve been chosen to have our class name, Beech Class, included on the David Attenborough Voyage to the Arctic! The ship leaves from Harwich this Sunday, and we’ve been eagerly following the route, imagining the adventure ahead. The children have been learning about what kinds of clothing are needed for such a cold, snowy place. We discussed how explorers need to dress warmly with special gear like thick coats, boots, and gloves to protect them from the freezing temperatures in the Arctic.

Our Year 2 children have been busy with science experiments! This week, they explored the idea of floating and sinking by testing different objects to see which ones stay afloat and which ones sink to the bottom. They made predictions and then tested their ideas using water trays. It was exciting to see their reactions when their predictions were correct – or when they were surprised! They learned that objects float or sink depending on their density and what they’re made of. It’s amazing how science can teach us about the world around us in fun, hands-on ways!

Reading continues to be a big focus in Beech Class, and it’s clear that all the children are really enjoying it. They’ve been reading both independently and with their friends. We’ve talked about how important reading is—not just for learning new things but also for opening up whole new worlds through stories. The more we read, the better we become at understanding and using words, and it helps build our imaginations too!

In music, the children have been exploring their creative side by making their own musical compositions! They’ve been using cut-out notes to create patterns and rhythms, which has been such a fun way to learn about how music is made. They’ve been working together to build tunes and then playing them back. It’s wonderful to see them discovering how music is all about combining sounds to create something unique.

And later today, we’ll be heading out on our local geographical walk, where we’ll be exploring the features of our local area. A big thank you to Mrs. Battle and Mrs. Elicott for coming along and helping us on this adventure!

What a week we’ve had—and there’s more to come! Stay tuned for more exciting updates from Beech Class.

 

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