Hello!

It is my great pleasure to be the teacher of Giraffe Class again this year and I am very much looking forward to the year ahead! Unbelievably, this is going to be my 10th year at Barley Close and I think it's my 22nd year of teaching. I've taught in every year group during my time as a teacher, but recently, most of my experience has been in Year 6. 

   It's really important to me, that everyone who is in my class enjoys coming to school and thinks that class time is fun. Yes we have lots of learning to do - but when you think about how many hours of our lives we spend at school, it's really important to make time to  laugh, smile and have a good time!

  We are lucky enough to have Mrs Selway and Mrs Clifford in class with us as well.  Mrs G will be teaching you on Monday afternoons. 

  I will post regular updates here, so please check back to see what has been happening in class. I will also post spellings here on a weekly basis. If you need to contact me, please email me on karen.beard@barleyclose.org.uk.

Miss Beard 

PE

In Term 2, PE will be on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Children wear their PE kit to school (black leggings/jogging bottoms, plain white or house colour t-shirt and Barley Close jumper/hoodie/fleece) - no branded sportswear should be worn. Long hair needs to be tied up and earrings should be removed on  PE days.

Reading

Children will be bringing home a school reading book. The reading books will need to be sent into school every Friday, so that they can be changed. 

 Children will also need to bring in their reading records on the same day, as we will be checking that they have read 5 times at home. This expectation is in line with local primary schools and is also good preparation for Year 7 when they will be expected to read regularly. Parents/carers need to sign the reading record 5 times - either to say the child has read to them, or that they have seen the child reading independently. Although children often protest that 'they are too old to read to an adult', they certainly always enjoy it in school and it's a nice calming activity to do together in a busy world!

Spellings

Children will be given new spellings every Friday (to be tested the following Friday). These are also displayed below, if spelling books are left in school or lost!

Maths Homework

All children will be given a TTRS log in, which they can access from either the app or the TTRS website.  The expectation is that children will complete at least 25 minutes a week on TTRS. 

Children will also be given a MyMaths log in and will be expected to complete at least two activities a week. Both of these things will be monitored by me. 

Friday 24th October

We have made it to the end of Term 1! I have thoroughly enjoyed the first part of our year 6 journey together and after speaking to the children, I think they have as well! We have worked hard, smiled and laughed and it has been fabulous.

I hope you all have a great half term - see you on Monday 3rd November.

Congratulations and Well Done:

Adult Pupil of the Term: Kyron

Pupil Pupil of the Term: Theo

Sports Superstar: Henry

Raffle Ticket Winners: Erik, Gabi, Hana, Holly and Maisie

Spellings to be tested: Friday 24th October

precious

delicious

atrocious

suspicious

ambitious

cautious

nutritious

conscientious

familiar

recognise

Friday 17th October

We have had a fabulous week in Giraffe Class - even though it's been our first test week of the year! I've been really impressed with how positively the children have approached all the tests and they have smashed it. 

   In History, we learnt about the remarkable acts of Harriet Tubman and in Science, we learnt about the components of blood. We completed our activism work in Art and in PE, we worked on our badminton skills. In our swimming lesson today, all the children that swam were assessed and the coaches were really impressed with the progress that everyone had made. 

Congratulations and Well Done to:

Pupil of the Week: Maisie

Wicked Writer: Hana

Raffle Ticket Winners: Holly, Erik, Sonny, Cody, Fabian

Spellings to be tested: Friday 17th October

refer

prefer

referred

preferred

transferred

referral

reference

parliament

suggest

shoulder

Thursday 9th October

We might of only been in school for 4 days this week, but we have packed a lot in! Our English lessons saw us begin a new unit on balanced discussion - so far this week we have talked about whether Year 6 children should be allowed to have their phones at breaktime and lunchtime and whether Camp Green Lake should remain open. In Maths, we have continued finding missing angles across a range of shapes and also working on our understanding of finding percentages. In History, we learnt about the auctions that enslaved Africans were subjected to and in Science, we did an investigation to discover how exercise affects our heart rate. 

Congratulations and well done to:

Pupil of the Week: Aimee

Creative Champion: Jude

Raffle Ticket Winners: Mason, Teddy, Aimee, Hana and Gabriela

Spellings to be tested: Thursday 9th October

horrible

terrible

possible

sensible

adorable

forgivable

valuable

disposable

committee

government

Friday 3rd October

This week has flown by and we have been really busy! In English, the children have written amazing non-chronological reports about yellow-spotted lizards and in Maths, we have been reminding ourselves how to use protractors and find missing angles. We have designed Christmas cards, completed some graffiti art and also thoroughly enjoyed our well-deserved class reward!

Congratulations and Well Done to:

Pupil of the Week: Theo

Reading Ambassador: Siyana

Raffle Ticket Winners: Siyana, Blake, Sonny, Nevaeh and Cody

Spellings to be tested: Friday 3rd October

deceive

conceive

receive

perceive

ceiling

receipt

conceit

criticise

correspond

appreciate

Friday 26th September

What an amazing week it has been in Giraffe Class! In English, we have started our next unit from the book 'Holes' - writing a non-chronological report about those dreaded yellow-spotted lizards! Our Maths work has centred around calculating with fractions. In History, we learnt about the appalling conditions experienced by enslaved Africans as they travelled across the Atlantic Ocean and in Science we very successfully showed how blood is pumped around the body, using straws, a balloon and a glass jar! We had a great swimming lesson and practised our badminton skills in PE.

Congratulations and Well Done to:

Pupil of the Week: Jude

Worldly Wonder: Bobbie

Raffle Ticket Winners: Seb, Nevaeh, Aroush, Huxley and Jude

Spellings to be tested: Friday 26th September

ought

bought

fought

tough

enough

although

bough

bargain

persuade

embarrass

Friday 19th September 

It's been another fab week in Giraffe Class! In English, the children have completed their first long piece of writing - a retelling of the opening of the book 'Holes'. In Maths, we have been calculating, ordering and finding equivalent fractions. Our History lesson was all about the goods and people that were part of the Atlantic Slave Trade and in Science we learnt all about the different parts of the heart. 

Congratulations to Aimee and Mason who were elected our class Young Leaders.

Congratulations and Well Done to:

Pupil of the Week: Aroush

Raffle Ticket Winners: Blake, Erik, Bobbie, Theo and Gabi.

Spellings to be tested: Friday 19th September

bruise

occupy

queue

desperate

harass

identity

aggressive

controversy

determined

foreign

Friday 12th September

Well the first full week of Term 1 has been fabulous! We have been really busy and the children are all settling into life in Year 6 really well. In English, we have been revising our knowledge of expanded noun phrases, adverbial phrases and prepositional phrases. Our Maths lessons have been all about calculation strategies and I've been really impressed with their abilities. In History, we learnt about why the Atlantic Slave Trade began and in PE, we played benchball and other team games.

Congratulations and Well Done to:

Pupil of the Week: Kayden

Super Scientist: Gabriela

Raffle Ticket Winners: Holly, Aimee, Sonny, Adeyan and Aroush. 

Spellings to be tested: Friday 12th September

believe

different

disappear

favourite

heard

interest

minute

probably

quarter

separate

Friday 5th September

Well what an amazing week! I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the new Year 6 children and they have been fabulous - they have worked really hard and lots of people have commented on how grown up they all are!

  We have been revising our knowledge of punctuation in English and in Maths, we have been looking at place value. In Humanities we reminded ourselves about continents, oceans and countries, in preparation for the start of our History Topic 'The Atlantic Slave Trade) next week. We have also had a great PE lesson where we played benchball and the first swimming lesson of the term was very successful!

Congratulations and Well Done to:

Pupil of the Week: Cody

Marvellous Mathematician: Amari

Raffle Ticket Winners: Blake, George, Jude, Theo, Henry

Date for your diary

Meet the teacher is on Thursday 2nd October and Tuesday 7th October between 3.30 and 4.30. Please come along to the classroom to say hello and ask any questions you may have. 

The circus is coming to Barley Close!!

Please share with your family and friends- all VERY welcome

Roll up, Roll up Happy's Circus is coming to Barley Close school!  🤡🎪

Join us in the Big Top on Friday 12th September 2025 for 2 1/2 hour show (including interval) packed full of Acrobats, Aerialists, Speciality Acts, Magic & fun for all of the family!

Early Bird Ticket Offer - £10 per person  (increases to £12 from August)

Under 2s free (must be on adults lap).  They only require a ticket if they need a separate seat. 

Gates open at 4.30pm for refreshments.

Big Top opens at 5.30pm and the show starts at 6pm

Sorry no pushchairs are allowed in the Big Top

Book your tickets here! 

https://www.pta-events.co.uk/fobc/?event=event&eventId=98548

Tickets are non-refundable.