Beech Tree Class Blog 2023-2024
Beech Tree Blog
Weekly Update-9/1/26
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
The children have settled back in really well this week, which has been lovely to see.
In reading, we have started to read our new class novel which is called The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. We had a lovely lesson making predictions about the story based on what we could see on the front cover and what the title of the story is. We have also read the first chapter together, discussing the meaning of any tricky vocabulary as we read and we have also completed a retrieval and inference comprehension task based on the first chapter. We have also continued to read our story time book, which the children have been really enjoying.
In maths, we are continuing our unit of work on multiplication and division. This week, the focus has been on understanding what factors are and identifying factor pairs. The children have also been learning about how to use factor pairs to break down trickier multiplication calculations and solve them more easily using their factor knowledge. We have also started looking at multiplying by 10 and understanding what is happening to a number when it is multiplied by 10. We have also been using place value charts to show which way the digits move and how many places when a number becomes ten times bigger. The children have been working very hard and it’s lovely to see their confidence increasing so much.
In writing, we are focusing on a recount piece of writing based around the children’s Christmas holidays. Together, we have read a WAGOLL piece and identified the different features that have gone into it to make it work so successfully. We then created a mind map of all the wonderful different things that the children did over the break and then the children were tasked with creating a six-part storyboard about their Christmas holidays. The children have worked really hard on these and it’s been so lovely to find out all the wonderful things that they got up to over the break.
In PSHE, our lesson was based around out Mind Mate assembly which was all about coping with change. The children gave lots of really good examples of changes that have occurred within their lives, however big or small, and we discussed how they felt during those changes and how they dealt with it. Then, together as a class, through a really lovely discussion, we created a top tips poster about strategies that individuals can use to cope with changes in their lives more effectively.
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou
Weekly Update 19/12/25
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
This week, the children performed their LKS2 Anglo-Saxon and Viking themed Christmas performance. Every single child performed brilliantly, and they were all an absolute joy to watch. Well done, everyone!
For our final two-part art lesson, the children were looking at the work of Anish Kapoor and how he explores the different senses within his sculptural work. The children were then tasked with designing and creating their own sensory boxes with the focus being on the different senses. They then used a range of different materials within them, which were applied with the different senses in mind. The materials that the children used included: mirrors, feathers, paint, coloured rice, paper straws, felt and a range of other materials within their sensory boxes.
The children also made some lovely Christmas cards, which they really enjoyed making!
We also had our Christmas class party, and we played lots of different games which the children had lots of fun taking part in and it was lovely to see just how much they enjoyed it! We finished it off with some delicious party food, which the children loved!
We have also been continuing to read our new story time book, which called I Swapped My Brother on the Internet by Jo Simmons. The children are loving the story so far, which is very funny and really different to anything else that we have read so far this year.
I hope you all have a lovely break and a wonderful Christmas with your families!
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou
Weekly Update-12/12/25
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
This week, for our writing, the children have published their Kenning poems, performed them for each other in class and then performed them for other classes.
In reading, we had a lot of a fun of going through every chapter of our completed class novel, summarising each chapter and then creating titles to go with each chapter which are originally just numbered chapters. The children came up with some brilliant and creative new titles which worked really well and a few that also made us all giggle. We also wrote a book review for Thorfinn the Nicest Viking and the Terrible Treasure where we wrote a brief summary of the story, without giving away too many details, we also wrote who the main characters were, what our favourite parts of the story were, we gave it a rating and then finally drew an image to match our favourite part of the story. It was so lovely to hear how much the children enjoyed the story, and we all shared our favourite parts of the story with each other and explained why we chose those bits.
In maths, the children have been learning to multiply 3 numbers in the most efficient ways which allows them to apply their times table knowledge to solve the calculations. As a class, we have also gone through weaker areas that were identified in their maths assessments and gone through how to solve those problems. The children have also had time to practise their times tables for the MTC and it's great to see the progress that the children have made with it.
We have also had plenty of rehearsal time for our Christmas performance, which is coming together really well and the children are sounding more confident with each run through that we do. We’ve also really enjoyed seeing the dress rehearsals for other year groups earlier in the week, which were lovely to watch.
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou