Hello, friends and families,

Can you believe it? Our year in Beech Class has come to an end! It is incredible to think of the many things that the children have learnt from developing phonic skills to enable super, independent reading, counting to 100 in different patterns, learning to add and subtract, always being curious, creative learners discovering our place in the world through Science, Geography, History and RE to name but a few. Above all, the children have worked as a team, cherishing each other's unique qualities and remembering our school values of Community, Challenge and Care. Beech Class have shared, taken turns, and helped each other every step of the way. We learned about kindness, respect, and how to solve problems together. We celebrated each other’s birthdays and special moments, making our classroom feel like a big, happy family and indeed, our wonderful day trip by train to Exmouth Beach felt like a big family day out! We were blessed with beautiful weather and a wonderful cohort of Mums and Grandad to help on our trip, thank you to you all. It was a very special day and a fitting way to celebrate the end of our academic year together.

I am so proud of everyone in Beech Class: thank you for your creativity, hard work and effort throughout this year. I wish you a wonderfully happy Summer holiday.
​
Miss Lloyd

​Beech Class have had a terrific start to their final half term in Year 1. As well as the excitement of beginning new topics such as Oceans and Seas in Geography, and Living Things in Science, the highlight has undoubtedly been our trip to Stone Lane Gardens! In this beautiful and magical setting, Beech Class discovered more about trees and plants with the wonderful assistance of staff from the gardens and our amazing parent helpers. We could not have asked for better weather nor a more perfect setting. The children were full of curiosity and excitement embracing all the activities including leaf detection, a sensory scavenger hunt and drawing the sculptures that are currently in the gardens as part of a summer exhibition. A huge thank you to everyone who made this day so special for us including Miss Hazeldine who now works at Stone Lane Gardens!

Well done to all of the children in Beech Class for this Summer 1 term of fabulous learning, friendships and achievements.
Wishing you all a very happy half term.

​Miss Lloyd

​Beech Class have been working hard all week and showing all the wonderful learning behaviours that inspire each other in class. This week, Captain Cooperation has abounded with the result that the class have accumulated 25 nuggets and a class treat on Friday! The children chose to bring their favourite teddy into school with a little teddy bear's biscuit picnic in the afternoon. 
 

Beech class have enjoyed a busy end to the Spring Term with an action packed final week. When we reflect back on this academic year, the sponsored whole school walk/run to Meldon Hill, will certainly feature as an incredible highlight. It was amazing to see the grit and determination from every single child to complete as many laps of the cricket pitch as possible within the allotted time. A big thank you to Mel Holyoak, all our parent helpers and to all the children and their sponsors in coming together to raise money for the playground development appeal. In the quieter moments in our final few days of term, the children enjoyed finishing off their DT project, making felt hand puppets. They all showed such resilience in tackling the sewing element coping well with the inevitable challenges of tangled embroidery threads and the like. From all the Year 1 staff, we wish you a very happy Easter and look forward to seeing you next term.
 

This week, Beech Class have been looking at the beautiful story of Dadaji's Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande. Set in a tiny village in India, the story tells of a boy who lives with his grandfather filling the house with paintings and inviting the village children to join in. They didn't have much but they had each other and a loving bond that would always keep them together. Inspired by the watercolour paintings in the book, the class have been learning how to use different watercolour techniques to great effect. In Maths, we have been looking at measurement and mass. The children have been busy experimenting with different units of measurement for example, hand spans, multilink cubes and centimetres and also with mass, weighing, comparing and balancing different objects using balance scales that belonged to my Grandmother and are quite possibly 100 years old!

Another busy week in Beech class enjoying friendships and learning together. The highlight has unquestionably been World Book Day where we had a splendid array of costumes -  various Harry Potter characters, The Hungry Caterpillar, The Runaway Pea, Jesse the Cowgirl, two Darth Vaders and more!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Another busy week in Beech class where the children continue to give their best and work together as a strong classroom community. The children are really enjoying our current story 'Stanley's Stick' and have been making up their own story adventures with new characters, settings and magic sticks. In Maths, the week's focus has been numbers up to 50 and grouping into tens using different manipulatives. In Geography, our topic on Hot and Cold Places has taken us to the Equator, Arctic and Antarctic where we've been researching the different climates, plants and animals that might reside there. The week has been happily topped off with another fabulous Woodland School session where the children were making birds out of the forest fauna. Happy wishes to you all from everyone in Beech.

Happy Summer holidays everyone - have fun and enjoy every minute! Thank you for all your support and for the gift of teaching your children.
With many best wishes
Katharine

What an amazing week Beech have had with 100 per cent attendance! The class has taken part with gusto and enthusiasm in every tremendous performance of Fantastic Mr Fox - well done to you all!
Next Tuesday 11th is our trip to the river and you will find a letter in your child's bag with all the relevant information (an email copy has also been sent to you.)
Have a great weekend.