Edition 18 - Special Thanks - Video from Mr Fisk

Edition 17 - Baking, Bouncing, and Brilliant Sports Days

Hello and welcome back to Beeches Connect. Last week, I asked how many metres should all children be able to swim by the end of Year 6. The answer is 25 metres!

This week has been filled with joy and excitement here at The Beeches, with several standout events making it truly memorable.

First and foremost, our 'New to Reception Starters' event was a massive success. We welcomed our newest and youngest students with open arms as they came in for play sessions. It was heartwarming to see their faces light up as they explored their new surroundings, met their teachers, and began making new friends. The parents also had a chance to interact with the teachers and other parents, making the transition smoother for everyone involved. We're thrilled to have them join our Beeches family and look forward to watching them grow and thrive.

Our annual Sports Days were another highlight. Across different year groups, the children displayed incredible athleticism, sportsmanship, and team spirit. Whether it was the sprints, relays, or the ever-popular beanbag race, every event was filled with enthusiasm and energy. Congratulations to all the participants and especially to our winners, who have set a fantastic example of perseverance and teamwork.

In addition to these exciting events, we hosted a wonderful bake sale and bouncy castle fundraiser. The community came together to support the school, enjoying delicious homemade treats and lots of bouncing fun. The funds raised will go towards enhancing our school facilities and resources, ensuring that our students continue to have the best learning environment possible. A huge thank you to all the parents, students, and staff who contributed their time and effort to make this event a success.

 

As always, our core values were at the forefront this week. Congratulations to our Stars of the Week for being Excellent. These students have truly embodied this core value and set a high standard for their peers.

Looking ahead, we have more exciting activities and learning opportunities planned. The transition process remains a priority, ensuring that all children feel settled and ready for the new school year. Parents will have received your child’s school report today. Inside will be their attainment levels and a description of how well your child has progressed this year. I have read every single report, and it has genuinely made me so proud to be the Headteacher at The Beeches.

Finally, my question for you this week is about Sports Day. How many different events were held during our Sports Days this year?

Good luck and have a wonderful final week in school.

Mr. Fisk

Edition 16 - Transition Triumphs and Articulate Achievements

 

Hello and welcome back to Beeches Connect. Last week, I asked what football position Mr. Butcher plays. The answer is goalkeeper!

This week has been all about successful transitions here at The Beeches. Our children have been busy meeting their new teachers and exploring their new classrooms. It's always a mix of excitement and nerves, but I'm thrilled to report that every child embraced the experience with enthusiasm and curiosity. It's wonderful to see how quickly they adapt and start feeling at home in their new environments.

A huge part of our successful transition was welcoming 3 and 4-year-olds that will join our school in EYFS. They came to join us for some play sessions. It was lovely to get to know our new children and parents as their educational journey begins at The Beeches.

A special highlight of the week was our Year 4 trip to the Lido for swimming lessons. The children had an amazing time splashing around and honing their swimming skills. It was a refreshing break from the classroom and a fantastic opportunity for them to build confidence in the water. The feedback from both students and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive.

As always, our core values guide us through these transitions. This week, we focused on being articulate. It's a joy to hear our students express themselves clearly and confidently, whether they are asking questions, sharing their thoughts, or simply introducing themselves to their new classmates and teachers. Their ability to communicate effectively is something we are incredibly proud of.

A huge congratulations to our Stars of the Week for being articulate:

RJF- Safa       RDVS- Aroz       RSS- Hawa

1HK- Mustafa     1TC- Leah       1MW- Dylan

2SB- Hiba      2MZ- Felantaine     2SB- Rayyan

3CB- Madia     3AB- Ismail      3HH- Yasemin

4DF- Joshua      4SJ- Eduard      4DS- Jennifer

5RH- Noora     5DC- Elsie       5TC- Mohamed

6AB- Maksymilian     6SW- Liutik      6FJ- Basham

These students have truly embodied the core value of the week and set a great example for their peers.

Also this week, some children from Year 3 and Year 4 represented the school at cricket. We managed to win 3 out of 4 games. Well done to Samuel, Eisa, Damian, Musa, Rayyan, Castro, Danish, and Afnan.

Looking ahead, we have many more exciting activities and learning opportunities planned. The transition process will continue to be a priority, ensuring that all children feel settled and ready for the new school year. Parents can look forward to receiving their child’s school report which celebrates their success and identifies what they will improve on next year.

Finally, my question for you this week is about swimming. How many metres should all children be able to swim by the end of Year 6?

 

Good luck and have another great week.

 

 

Edition 15- Transitions and Farewells

Hello and welcome back to Beeches Connect. Last week, I asked how many players make up a volleyball team. The answer is 6.

This week has flown by. It is the time of year when teachers and children are busy completing end-of-year assessments and going over those areas of the curriculum that the children found tricky. Despite the heat in classrooms, everyone has shown great resilience to continue to strive for the very best. Well done everyone! And particularly, well done to these Stars of the Week for being resilient:

RSS- Deen

RJF- Mohammad & Harlan

1TC- Adina

1MW- James

1HK- Miroslava

2SB- Khalil

2RS- Gautham

2MZ- Airis

3CB- Folajimi

3HH- Divinegift & Zayyan

4DS- Abdul

4SJ- Aya

4DF- Yasmin

5DC- Santiago

5RH- Muhammad

5TC- Ameena

6FJ- Royce

6SW- Denas

Normally, my blog is upbeat and full of positivity. However, this week has a tinge of sadness. On Thursday we said goodbye to Mr Butcher, who is leaving our school to take up a teaching position elsewhere. Mr Butcher joined our school 12 years ago as a sports coach. His outstanding commitment to sport and developing all our children will forever be in my memory. He has helped develop our staff to feel confident teaching PE too. I know that everyone will agree that he will be sadly missed by everyone at The Beeches, particularly by his class in Year 3. We wish him the best of luck in his new school.

Looking ahead to next week, all the children will spend some time in their new classroom with their new teacher. This can be both an exciting and anxious time for children. Please rest assured that we have made lots of arrangements to ensure all children settle quickly. Some parents may receive a transition booklet too. Our oldest children will head off to secondary school and have already had many meetings about what to expect. I am sure they will stand out as some of the most articulate, well-behaved children.

Finally, my question for you this week is about Mr Butcher. What football position does he play in?

Good luck and have another great week.

Mr Fisk

 

Edition 14 - Teamwork Triumphs

Hello and welcome back to Beeches Connect. Last week, I asked you, how many people are believed to celebrate Eid in the world? The answer is 1.8 billion. I hope all our families enjoyed their weekend celebrations and an additional day with the family on Monday.

This week in school, our focus has been on collaboration. When we work together with our friends and classmates, we can solve problems more easily, share great ideas, and learn from each other. Everyone has their own special skills, and when we combine them, we can achieve great things. Working collaboratively makes The Beeches a community that helps us all succeed together!

Well done to these children for outstanding work this week:

RJF- Asenso

RDVS- Sulaiman

RSS- Juvencia

1HK Leticia & Israa

1TC- Eshal

2RS- Aisha

2SB- Muhammad

2MZ- Henry & Sufiyan

3CB- Madia

3HH- Winner & Natalia & Yusuf

3AB- Maryam

4DS- David

4DF- Francisca & Leja

4SJ- Inamullah & Kevin & David

5DC- Boys and Girls Cricket Club

5RH- Gustavo

6AB- David

6SW Inaya & Bia

6FJ- Dominion

Also this week, some Year 3 children visited the farm, learning about local agriculture. At our school, we value first-hand learning as we believe this helps children learn more and remember more over time. I have heard reports of some excellent collaboration and behaviour. Well done Year 3.

Another key opportunity for our children to develop collaborative values is through sport. We are lucky to have a dedicated team of staff who spend lots of time preparing and taking children to the competitions. This week, we had two cricket tournaments. Well done to our children for their excellent teamwork in these events. Thank you to Mr Challis, Miss Dunstone and Mr Butcher for their efforts in organising these events.  The girls’ cricket team got to the Peterborough final, narrowly losing to Barnack. Despite having a Year 5/6 team made up of mainly Year 5 players, our boys’ team finished top of their group, and third overall. Well done to both teams.

As I write my blog, I notice that we only have a few weeks left of term. The next few weeks will see many exciting opportunities to collaborate further. The children will spend time in their new classes, compete in Sports Day, and take part in various activities in class. It’s an exciting time of year and we really don’t want any children to miss out on these important events. Please try to make sure your child is at school every day until the end of term. Attendance at this time of year is really important: it will allow your child to feel prepared for September.

Finally, my quiz question relates to collaboration and sport this week. Football, cricket, and hockey have teams of 11, but how many players make up a volleyball team?

Good luck and have a great weekend.

Mr Fisk

Edition 13 - Excellence in Every Note: Our School's Musical Showcase

Hello and welcome back to Beeches Connect. Last week, I asked you how many countries are there in Europe. The answer is 50. Well done to those of you who dusted off the globes to count them up. Lots of our children are using a game called Globle. It is a fantastic app that improves your geography skills by working out a different country every day. Why not try this at home?

Some weeks when I write my blog, I have to think long and hard about the theme. We have such a brilliant range of work happening across the school, which sometimes makes it feel impossible to write about only one thing. However, this week has been easy. My blog is all about excellence! This is one of our most important core values because it gives us something to strive towards in every piece of work.

I will begin by talking about music. Music has long been a passion of mine.  When I was aged 10 I learnt to play the drum kit. Since then, I have been in many bands and have learnt to play the guitar. All my children can play instruments too. This is such fun but a bit noisy at times!

This week, our school has been showcasing our excellent musical talents. On Tuesday afternoon, we welcomed many parents, carers, and governors to school to enjoy a show packed with wonders.  There were recorders, a djembe ensemble, violins, trumpets, young voices, and our choir. The final song, called ‘proud’ was a fitting way to end our first concert. I couldn’t have been prouder to be the Headteacher having witnessed these outstanding performances. A special thanks to Miss Castel-Evans and Mr Little for organising this.

Also this week, I have seen some excellent work from our Y1 children, completing their phonics assessment, and our Y4 children completing their times table tests. We have some excellent results and the children and staff deserve enormous credit.

Last week, I told you that we were installing our new library for our youngest children. A massive thank you to Mrs Fowler and Miss Wood who have been working tirelessly to make this new space a place of warmth and excitement. It is such a lovely space; I even caught the teachers having a read after school!

It will be no surprise that our Star of the Week awards went to children for being excellent this week. Well done to the following children:

RJf- Maya

RDVS- Grace

RSS- Usmaan

1MW- all of class

1TC- all of class

1HK- all of class

2RS- Armani

2SB- Hiba

2MZ- Sumaya

3HH- Lamar

3CB- Jason

3AB- Calais

4SJ- Jeffry

4SJ- Liliana

4DF- Gabriel

4DS- Mohammad

5DC- Aahil

5TC- Aarush

5RH- Jack

6AB- Eshal

6SW- Michaela 

Finally, as I look forward to an excellent performance from England on Sunday, I must remind you that there is no school on Monday 17^th June. We have a teacher training day instead and the school is closed to children. Many of our families will be celebrating Eid this weekend – our best wishes are with you at this special time. My quiz question is, how many people are believed to celebrate Eid in the world? Good luck and enjoy the weekend.

Mr Fisk

Edition 12 - Showing Kindness and Care: Our Week of Compassion at Beeches

Hello and welcome back to Beeches Connect. What a lovely first week back we have had in our final term of the 2023/2024 academic year. Last week I asked: according to Guinness World Records, what size is the longest cake? The answer is 5,300m! I’m not sure how that was even possible! Look at the photo of it being made in India…

This week, the theme of the blog, and indeed the theme of our whole school learning has been about showing compassion. This links to our core value of ‘Caring’. Having spoken to our children and staff, I have heard some wonderful examples of compassion this week. In lessons, children have been helping each other when they have found tasks tricky. On the playground, children look after each other when they fall over or are hurt. They have been making an effort to make sure all of their friends are included in the games we play. Finally, I have seen children support our new children who have arrived in recent weeks. We have so many children joining our school at different points in the year and it’s incredible how quickly they settle and make new friends. This is all down to our caring ethos at The Beeches. Well done to all the following children, who were awarded Star of the Week for being caring:

RJF- Dominion

RSS- Luana

1HK- Israel

1TC- Victoria

1MW- Aratrika

2SB- Esmee-Ann

2MZ- Khadija

2RS- Zidaan

3CB-  Damira

3HH- Sonia

3AB- Damian

4DF- Summer

4DS- Amjid

4SJ- Patrik

5RH- Muhammed

5DC- Skaiste

5TC- Annija

6AB- Humaira

6SW- Ayaan

6FJ- Subhaan

Also this week, children in Y4 have started their national testing for times tables. I have seen for myself what a nervous experience it is. Despite this, the children have shown real determination and have achieved well. For those children who have not completed the test yet, please continue to practice this weekend! Next week our younger children will be completing their phonics screening too. I wish the teachers and children in Year 1 the very best of luck next week.

In 7 days, one of my favorite events begins - the Euros! I love football and can’t wait to see how England perform. In our school, we will have lots of teams to support. In fact, we have children from most European countries playing in the competition! My quiz question this week is, how many countries are there in Europe?

Good luck and enjoy the weekend.

Mr Fisk

Edition 11 – Hola! - Unveiling Exciting News

 

Hello and welcome back to my weekly blog, or should I say “Hola y bienvenido de nuevo”. I just can’t stop speaking in Spanish this week! This is because of the incredible language work I have been hearing about across the school. Mrs Bowell has been sharing with me how amazingly our KS2 children have adapted to our new, exciting curriculum. I must say, I was shocked at how much all our children have learned since September – keep up the good work!

Last week, I gave you clues to a famous person. The answer was Julia Donaldson.

This week brings us to the end of another busy half-term. Our year 6 children enjoyed a lovely day at The Lido after a very tiring SATs week. The next half-term is looking even more action-packed for our children. We will have Sports Days, trips, assemblies, parent events, school reports, move-up-day and much more.

I have some exciting news to share with you: this week has seen the installation of our EYFS and Year 1 library. It is a wonderful place just for our children! It's filled with wonderful books that will take them on amazing adventures to far-off lands, introduce them to funny characters, and teach them exciting new things. They will be able to find picture books with beautiful illustrations, easy-to-read stories perfect for their age, and cosy little corners where they can sit and read with friends or quietly by themselves. Reading is a huge passion of mine, and I hope this space will develop children’s curiosity of books and help them to become creative writers. Talking of creativity, this week we awarded the Star of the Week to these extremely creative children:

RJF- Ibrahim

RDVS- Harini

RSS- Jermaine

1HK- Lilana

2RS- Arzyo

2MZ- Ayeyi

2SB- Darius

3CB- Benwin

3HH- Hisham

3AB- Calais

4DF- Milan

4DS- Anna

4SJ- Rachel

5RH- Sefin

5DC- Hamza

5TC- Kajus

6SW- Dawud

6FJ- Dominion

6AB- Mark

Before I wish you a happy holiday, I would like to say thank you to our Friends of Beeches and our staff, who organised a non-uniform day and bake sale. I will update you after the holiday with how much money we raised. My question this week is: according to Guinness World Records, what size is the longest cake? A little clue, the answer is over 1000m.

Thank you to all our teachers, children, and families for your efforts during what has proved to be a very busy half-term. I’d like to wish you all a restful (and sunny) week.

Mr Fisk

Edition 10 – Perseverance and Poetry

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the weekly Headteacher Blog. Before telling you all about the week at The Beeches, I will begin with our quiz answer from last week's edition. It is estimated that 1.9 billion trees are planted every year.

This week's blog title sums up my week. As you might know, Year 6 have been doing their SATs and I have been really impressed with their resilience and hard work. All their efforts have clearly paid off as they confidently tackled some very challenging papers. I have been involved in working in Year 6 for over 20 years, and I have never met such a determined group of children. I must take this opportunity to extend my thanks to our dedicated Year 6 teaching team: Mr Burgess, Mrs Wright, Mrs Jhamillah and Mrs Bowell, who have taught the children brilliantly all year, and it was obvious to me that they were very well-prepared to take on the tests without fear or hesitation. A special thanks also to Miss McFarland, Mrs Iqbal, Mrs Rafiq, Mrs Bhabha, Mrs Bi, Mr Siddique and Ms Lowman-Saran for their efforts in supporting our children. Also a big thank you to Mrs Stevenette and Mrs Wass for their amazing administration skills.

On Tuesday afternoon, I needed a slight break from delivering test papers and I was delighted to be able to go and watch the Year 5 poetry event. Thank you to the Year 5 team and the many parents that attended. The show had a range of poems performed by the children, some of which they had even written themselves. What a creative bunch! I am very thankful I did not have to judge this one as they were all amazing. Well done Year 5 and all the winners.

On Friday, we had the pleasure of rewarding a child in each class for outstanding reading. There was a variety of reasons across the school: some children have made exceptional progress in phonics and others have improved in the weekly AR quizzes. What was clear to me is that we have a lot of ‘bookworms’ at The Beeches. Well done to the following children:

RJF- Zakriah 

RDVS- Flourish 

RSS- Orhan

1HK- Mohamed

1TC- Ayaan

1MW- Kimberly

2RS- Aliyah 

2MZ- Suyash

2SB- Muhammad

3HH- Antarip 

3AB- Habibah

3CB- Francisco

4DF- Joshua

4DS- Adaora

4SJ- Zainab

5RH- Shanvi

5DC- Mohammed

5TC- Mohamed

6FJ- Felica

6SW- Ourania

6AB- Muhammed 

Finally, here is your ‘slightly different’ weekly quiz question. I will give you 3 clues and you need to work out who it is.

1. This person loves reading and writing books
2. She was born in 1948
3. You might want to ask her about her broom in her room

Good luck.

Mr Fisk

Edition 9 – Outdoor Learning Adventures: Exploring Nature's Classroom at The Beeches

Welcome back to Beeches Connect. The answer to my quiz question this week is: according to the Shakespeare Library, 38 plays were written by the playwright. I hope you all enjoyed a shorter week than normal and have been taking advantage of the lovely weather. It is a joy to see our flowers blooming in the gardens and the children enjoying our outdoor learning spaces. Year 2 have created these beautiful observational drawings with stunning results. Well done Year 2 - I know you and your teachers have been busy this week with lots of tests and you’ve done us proud – as always!

 

This week has been a very sporty week in school. I have enjoyed seeing the range of PE lessons happening every day, with children learning cricket, rounders, and athletics outdoors. We have also continued to learn dances in Year 1 and Year 5. In our Forest School lessons, children have loved making burgers and chips with Ms Marsden, as they continue to learn about all the amazing things you can do in our natural environment. Our environment has been the focus of our work this week, with all of these children showing exceptional attitudes towards sustainability. Well done to our Stars of the Week:

1HK- Abdul

1MW - Shana

1TC- Junior

2RS- Meeran

2MZ- Preslav

2SB- Umaimah

3CB- Relia

3HH- Benyamin

3AB- Eesa

4DF- Yasmin

4DS- All of Class

4SJ- Ayaan

5RH- Jonathan

5DC- Hussein

5TC- Denilson

6AB- Zimal

6SW- Zain

6FJ-  Zarah

More outdoor learning saw Year 4 complete a practical lesson on the digestive system. It was lovely to hear the excitement as they replicated the entire process.

I am a big believer in learning outside the classroom. Outdoor learning lets you break free from textbooks, and discover real-life lessons in nature's classroom, where you can learn about plants, animals, and the environment while feeling more connected to the world around you. Plus, being outside boosts your mood and helps you focus better, making learning even more exciting and memorable. This is happening day in, and day out at The Beeches.

My quiz question is, how many trees were planted in the world last year?

Have a great week.

Mr Fisk

Edition 8 - Midsummer Reflections

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Beeches Connect.

Firstly, I will begin with your quiz answer. There are 206 bones in the human body. Well done to all of the children that got that correct. Did you know that you have 26 bones in each foot? I was shocked when one of the children told me that fact this week!

This week has been a busy week in school. Our staff have been working incredibly hard (as always) preparing for many exciting weeks ahead. In the coming weeks, we have important tests happening for Year 2, Year 4, and Year 6 as well as the phonics screening in Year 1. We are extremely proud of the progress our children have made and I am sure they will show their normal excellence and resilience over the coming weeks. We also have a parent event for some of our families on Tuesday, where teachers will discuss specific plans to support some children in their learning. Then, before you know it, we will be enjoying sports days, Lido trips, and many fun summer activities.

This week, Y5 had a very exciting Shakespeare experience. They enjoyed a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I can’t wait to read the writing they produce from this fantastic experience.

 

Our year 5 children will need to be reflective and remember all the ways they can engage the reader. As it happens, our stars this week have shown reflective attitudes. This might be a behaviour change, improving their work or thinking about others. A huge well done to the following:

RDVS- Alvin

RSS- Karina-Rachel

RJF-Liam

1MW-  Jomarje

1HK- Miquela

1TC- Leah

2RS- Lavinia

2SB- Eshal

2MZ- Mally

3CB- Melquior

3HH- Selena

3AB Jo Jo

4SJ- Liliana

4DS- Ali

4DF- Affan and Zainab

5RH- Alesha

5DC- Santiago

5TC-  Jasmina

6FJ- Lena and Royce

6AB- Abdullah

6SW- Taja

Another exciting event this week saw our Reception children visit Bowthorpe Park Farm. I have had some reports of excellent behaviour and questions from our youngest children.

My quiz question this week is about Shakespeare: According to the Shakespeare Library, how many plays did he produce? This got me thinking about my favourite quote. This was hard because there are so many famous quotes but I went for: “Be great in act, as you have been in thought”. I like this because it encourages you to dream big and then act on it. I see our children being ambitious every day and trying new things. This is a lesson for all of us.

Have a lovely LONG weekend. Enjoy the bank holiday; let’s hope the sun shines!

Mr Fisk.

Edition 7 - Earthly Endeavors

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Beeches Connect, a unique Headteacher blog where you can stay up-to-date with all the latest news and events in school.

Last week, I asked how much of the body was made up of water. I have been challenged by some of the children on this, as they rightly point out that it is different for men and women. Men are 60% on average, and women are 55%. This week, the blog continues the science theme. I have been incredibly impressed by the knowledge learned in lessons and how much the children can recall from their learning.

In the last week or so, children in Year 4 have been learning about the digestive system and the different functions of the teeth. I popped into a lesson and was astonished at the technical vocabulary they were using; I can’t wait to read their explanations next week.  Here is some of their work so far....

When I was chatting with some Year 5 children, I was amazed by some of the interesting facts they found when comparing animals. I learned that an elephant is dependent on its mother for 5 years!

As a whole school, we celebrated Earth Day. This is an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection. This year's theme was Planet vs Plastics, with the goal to reduce the production of plastics by 60% in 2040 and ultimately build a plastic-free future. This is something we are trying to do in school as we play our part in this commitment. Doing this will require hard work and dedication. I have seen a lot of that this week as the children have been working hard on our core value of resilience. Well done to these children for showing exceptional resilience this week:

RJF-Whole Class

RSS- Abdul

RDVS- Whole class

1TC-  Tetiana

1MW- Subhan

1HK- Esther

2RS- Milena

2SB -Zayyan and Meta

2MZ- Husayn

3AB-leonardo

3HH- Sumayyah

3CB- Benwin

4DF- Saira

4DS- Alesia

4SJ- Marcos

5DC- Layla

5RH-  Ibrahim

5TC- Nikko

6FJ-Yee Ching

6AB Malvina

6SW- Alexandra

Finally, as it has been a science-based blog, I feel like I need to give another science quiz question this week. How many bones are in the human body? Good luck counting those!

As always, enjoy a restful weekend and I look forward to another week of learning at The Beeches.

Mr Fisk

 

Edition 6 – Lunchtime Success

Welcome back to my first Blog of the Summer Term.

The answer to the previous blog question was that 11 teams have United in their name. I hope you enjoyed challenging your brain with that question over the holiday. Thank you to all the children who completed the reading challenge too. Please bring in your sheet and place it in the grey box outside my room to be entered into the prize draw.

This week, I have been pleased with the efforts of our whole school in improving our lunchtime dining hall experience. We have established some new rules so that everyone can eat their dinner in a calm environment. I have been delighted that we have reduced food waste by 50% this week! This is an incredible achievement and is supporting our mission to become a sustainable school.

This week's core value focus was on collaboration. Collaboration is like teamwork in school. It means working together with teachers, friends, and other grown-ups to make our school better and help each other learn and grow. When we all work as a team, we can do amazing things. I have heard some lovely examples of teamwork this week and we were delighted to award Star of the Week to the following children:

RJF- Liam and Safa-Noor

RDVS-  Zayan and Mussa

RSS- Deen

1HK: Zayan

1MW: Ionut

1TC: Arbish

2RS- Muhammad

2SB- Irene

2MZ- Leon

3AB- Jan

3CB- Abdullah and Ruqayya and Madeen

3HH- Musa

4DF- Mohammed

4DS- Abdul  and Yeshua

4SJ- Keylah D'Almeida

5RH- Lenny, Shammuwel and Sarah

5DC- Zuriel Williams and Markuss

5TC- Aishah

6AB- Jomiloju

6SW- Jazaan

6FJ- Ibtsaam & Kamile

As we start the summer term, the weather is likely to improve (hopefully). Please may I remind all of our families that the children should bring a reusable water bottle to school every day so that they stay hydrated. My quiz question this week is related to water. What percentage of the body is water?

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mr Fisk

Edition 5 - Unified Achievements

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents, children, and staff for their efforts over the last term at The Beeches. It has been an action-packed period with many successes.

Last week, I asked how many breeds of dog can be found in the UK. The answer is 222.  Did you know, there are 8 factors in the number 222? They are: 1, 2, 3, 6, 37, 74, 111, 222. The reason I mention this is because I have seen some excellent use of factors in school recently. I even heard that the Y4 children were impressing their parents with their times tables knowledge in the MTC Café on Tuesday. Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended.

This week saw us draw the term to a close with our Star of the Term assembly. Being selected for this award is a huge achievement. Our Stars have shown all our Beeches values over the whole term and thoroughly deserve this special recognition. A massive congratulations to:

RJF Aliyah

RSS Muhammad

RDVS Dareen

1TC Shania

1MW Shana

1HK Sarah

2SB Zayyan

2MZ Elija

2RS Ashar

3HH Mario-Daniel

3AB Ahmed

3CB Sami

4DF Leo

4SJ Eduard

4DS Abraham

5RH Shanvi & Vanisha

5DC Darasimi

5TC Izumi

6AB David

6FJ Sahil

6SW Charlie

As we finish the term, we all look forward to spending quality time with our families. I am looking forward to having more time enjoying one of my favourite hobbies, football. I will be watching, coaching, and playing over the holiday. My quiz question for you this week is, how many professional football teams in England have the word ‘United’ in their name?

Talking of united, I would like to finish this week's blog by expressing how delighted I have been with how well our children have adopted our new vision this year. Every day, I see One School, One World, United in action. I see our children thinking carefully about their role in the world as we develop our core value of sustainability; I see collaboration at the heart of learning; and I see many more parents/carers enjoying our cafés and events, uniting together as a family community.  

I hope everyone has a restful Easter break, full of fun times and happiness. For our Muslim families, I warmly wish you a blessed Eid filled with love, happiness, and countless blessings.

Best wishes,

Mr Fisk

Edition 4 – Paws and Pages

Good afternoon and welcome to the latest edition of Beeches Connect. I hope my title of ‘Paws and Pages’ will become apparent as you read on.

Firstly, the answer to last week's question is: Articulate was released in 1992. Well done to those who managed to find out the answer. I enjoyed playing this at the weekend, but I must confess, I was on the losing team!

It has been another action-packed week in school. On Wednesday we had two special events. The first was a visit from our Local Authority advisors. They looked around the classes and spoke to several children and staff. They were extremely impressed with the learning behaviours in classrooms, as well as the work we are doing to support all children in our school.

The second event was one of our weekly assemblies. Every Wednesday, one of our talented teachers records an assembly for the children to enjoy in classrooms. This week, we learned about different religious festivals in the month of March. We learn about Holi, celebrated by Hindus; Easter, celebrated by Christians; Ramadan, celebrated by Muslims and Vaisakhi, celebrated by Sikhs. Religious education and understanding the heritage and beliefs of all of our children are a big part of our school values.

This week our teachers selected a ‘Reading Champion’ for each class. There are many different reasons for children winning this award. We had a number of children chosen for regular reading at home and many children making excellent progress in lessons. Well done to all of our Reading Champions:

RDVS - Alexandra

RJF-Nomaan

RSS- Vakaris

1HK- Petronela

1TC- Anayah

1MW- James

2SB- Ayansh

2MZ- Sumaya

2RS- Tiana

3HH- David

3CB- Madeen

3AB- Samuel

4SJ- Keylah 

4DF- Siena 

4DS- Aizah

5DC- Skaiste

5RH- Shanvi

5TC- Amelija

6FJ- Bia

6SW- Hadiqa

6AB- Emilis

We are keen for all children to keep up the reading momentum during the holiday. On Thursday, we sent out an Easter Reading Challenge. Please encourage your child to take part. I am looking forward to doing the final challenge on the journey… reading to an animal – although I am not sure how my dog will feel about that! Here is Honey, my dog. 

 

Finally, as always, I have a new question for you. According to The UK Kennel Club, how many breeds of dog are there in the UK?

Have a great weekend everyone.

Mr Fisk

Edition 3 – Articulate Minds

Good afternoon everyone,

Your answer to last week’s quiz question was…. 49 books were published by Roald Dahl.

This week the blog is called ‘Articulate Minds’ because talking and communication has been our focus. We have been concentrating on our core value of Articulate.

Just a week ago, I visited Year 3 to listen to some very articulate children. They shared their latest piece of writing with me. I was invited to each class to listen to their persuasive speeches about whether I should buy a house in Yaxley or Peterborough. The children in Year 3 had recently visited Yaxley and included some fantastic points in their arguments, such as the “delectable fish and chip shop”, “the quaint, thatched cottages” and the “long, picturesque walks”. Faran in 3HH argued that I would enjoy the “delicious restaurants” and my children would “love the ice rink” in Peterborough.  I thought it was very impressive that they had not only thought about the most suitable location for my house but also what my children would enjoy. Well done Year 3!

One way that we ensure children develop good language and communication skills is through our weekly oracy lessons. This happens every Tuesday in every class across the school. The children have many opportunities to read with expression, take part in debates and develop the skills of presenting to an audience. This week, Year 1 children learnt how to ask a good question. Some of their ideas were amazing!

On Wednesday, we were visited by leaders from other schools. They watched some lessons and spoke to lots of children. They were extremely impressed by how clearly and articulately our children could explain their work. They spoke with passion and enthusiasm about our wonderful school.

Next week, our Year 3 children will be showing off their articulation with a performance to parents on Monday 18^th March, at 2.30 pm. I hope the year 3 parents can come along to see some excellent poetry.

Well done to all the articulate minds across The Beeches this week. Our Star of the Week certificates were awarded to:

RJF- Amelia 

RSS- Muhammad

RDVS- Holan

1MW- Hassnain 

1TC- Ebube

1HK- Safaa

2SB- Biana

2RS- Ayesha

2MZ- Mard 

3HH- Zakariya

3CB- Mohammad 

3AB - Damian 

4DF- Rayyan

4DS- Abraham

4SJ- Aarifah 

5DC- Armaan 

5TC- Bryan

5RH - Coraline 

6FJ- Ibtsaam 

6SW- Reda

6AB- Sufyan

Finally, all this talk of being articulate has reminded me of one of my favourite games to play with my family. I will definitely have a game of Articulate this weekend! The quiz question is, in what year was this board game released?

Have a great week. Remember being articulate is an essential life skill and is something we have plenty of opportunities to practice, wherever we are.

Mr Fisk

 

Edition 2 – Read all about it….

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next edition of Beeches Connect, a place on our website where parents and children can stay up-to-date with our latest news.

Thank you to everyone who read the blog last week. I am told by my statistician that we had over 200 views! The answer to the quiz question was:  David Attenborough is 97 years old.

This week our school focus was on creativity (one of our Core Values). I have been blown away by the creativity in the work around school, and particularly the homework that continues to pour in. I have enjoyed playing a home-made version of table football and Ball Run. Well done Henry and Cataleya!

You might be wondering why this edition is call “Read all about it…” Well, this is because I have lots of news to share, and of course, it has been World Book Day. There have been lots of exciting reading activities going on but I was most impressed by our community reading event on Tuesday. I was delighted to welcome over 60 families into school to read a range of stories across different ‘worlds’ in our story-telling event.  Thank you to our talented staff for their enthusiasm and effort. Thank you also to our parents and children for attending; I hope you enjoyed it!

If you visited the “Space’ world in Y5, this was the picture of the alien you were trying to draw from Mr Challis’s clues:

 

In other news, our football teams continued to do us proud. The girls had an afternoon of playing against many other teams across the city. Well done to Kotryna, Keylah, Taybah , Rukayah, Valeriia, JoJo, Malaika and Zofia.

Also, congratulations to the boys’ team, who finished top of the group with a respectful 2-2 draw with TDA. Go Team Beeches!

With an abundance of creativity on display, we were delighted to award Star of the Week to:

RJF- Carolina

RDVS- Dareen

RSS- Karina

1MW- Larissa

1TC- Marinela

1HK- Darling

2RS- Barbora

2MZ- Khadijah

2SB- Eliezer

3AB- Jo-Jo

3HH- Maria

3CB- Yasmin & Nufaysah

4SJ- Henry

4DF- Castro

4DS- Ayushmaan & Cataleya & Aria

5DC- Elsie

5RH- Mohammed

5TC- Ameena

6SW- Mia

6AB- Rihannah

6FJ- Atene & Gabriele

Finally, as it is World Book Day at The Beeches, I wanted to share my favourite Roald Dahl book. Without a doubt, it has to be Danny the Champion of the World. Your quiz question this week is about Roald Dahl. How many of his books were published? If anyone would like to put a list in the blue box, I would love to remind myself of his wonderful novels that enriched my childhood.

Have a great weekend. Remember, reading is not just for World Book Day - it’s for life!

Mr Fisk

____________________________________

Edition 1 - Going Green

Hello parents, carers and children.

Welcome to my first blog as Headteacher. You will notice it’s called ‘BEECHES CONNECT’. It was named by Aratrika in 1MW. I chose this name because I really loved the word CONNECT. This blog is all about connecting with everyone in our school community, so you know what’s going on in our wonderful school.

Even though I have been a keen writer all my life, I have never written a blog. So here goes! It might be a bit longer today as it's my first ever go…

Firstly, I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate our fantastic OFSTED report where the school was graded as GOOD in all areas. This is a wonderful achievement which we should all be very proud of.

What a busy first week back we have had!
On Monday, we launched our new Core Value for Sustainability! This is something very important to me. I want my children and all the children at The Beeches to grow up in a world that has addressed the issues of climate change and made the changes needed to sustain our natural planet. I've already seen a difference in school! Lights are being turned off, paper is being reused more efficiently and I have even had some board games made from reusable materials, which we can use during wet play times. Please keep them coming!

Ms Marsden and I were delighted to award Star of the Week to children who had gone that extra mile in being sustainable. We had children recycling, others walking to school more often and even children growing their own fruit and vegetables!

Here are all our winners:

RJF Fabio 

RSS - Kevin

RDVS- Roanda

1MW - Fatimah

1HK- Mustafa

1TC- David

2MZ- Dimitri

2SB- Ester 

2RS- Sajjal 

3CB Romeemah 

3HH- Antarip & Auxiliadora 

3AB - Malaika

4DF Nicole

4DS Florina 

4SJ - Taybah

5RH -Abiha

5DC Muhammad

5TC  Leon

6FJ Ranya

6AB- Amelia 

6SW- Liutik

Just when you thought we could not be any more sustainable, I awarded our Bikeabilty Crew their certificates and badges for learning how to ride safely on the roads. What an important life skill! And of course, it reduces cars on the road too.

As the weather improves, I am looking forward to the gardening club growing some vegetables in our patch.  Talking of growing... I was walking to the dining hall next to what I thought was a year 2 class. After a second glance, I noticed it was our Reception children! I was so impressed with their behaviour and how they have started their education at our school.

Well that's about all this week. I have decided I will always end my blog on a quiz question (I love quizzes). The answer will be in next week's edition so please come back to read it. 
Question: How old is climate champion David Attenborough? No googling allowed!

Have a great weekend. Look after yourself, your family, and, of course, our planet.

Mr Fisk