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 5th year at Barley Close and I think it's about my 17th 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 5 and 6. 

   It's really important to me that everyone who is in my class enjoys coming to school and thinks that classtime 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 as important to laugh, smile and have a good time!

  We are lucky enough to have Mrs Harris and Mrs Kenny in class with us as well - Mrs Harris will be with us every morning and Mrs Kenny will be in all day.  Mrs Harris will also 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 ring or email the office, or you can message me via class dojo (if you need me to re-invite you, then let me know).

Miss Beard 

PE

In Term 5, PE will be on a Wednesday and a Friday. All of our PE lessons will be outside, so please dress appropriately! Long hair should be tied back, earrings should be removed and no branded sportswear should be worn. 

Reading

From Term 5, 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. Books will be quarantined for 48 hours, before being cleaned and returned to the shelves for others to borrow them.

 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!

In addition to this, children can also continue to use Reading Eggs at home. I will be monitoring this every week, but reading from 'real books' will now become the focus.  If you need log in details for Reading Eggs, please let me know. 

Spellings

Spellings will be posted here every Friday, to be tested the following Friday. Children will be given their spellings in school, but will be unable to bring their book home. 

TTRS

All children have been given a TTRS log in, which they can access from either the app or the TTRS website. 

Spellings to be tested: Friday 23rd April

instance

distance

hesitance

clearance

guidance

abundance

perseverance

tolerance

assistance

resistance

Reading Book Update - please see the changes to reading in the block above. Reading books will be coming home again in Term 5! 

PE will continue to be on Wednesday and Friday in Term 5... 

Thursday 1st April

Well we made to the end of term AND survived all the April Fools Pranks as well!!! It has been so lovely to have all the Giraffes back together for four weeks - they have worked hard and also really enjoyed spending time together. 

    I hope you all have a fabulous holiday and I'll see you all on April 19th! 

      Miss B 

Spellings to be tested: Thursday 1st April

usual

attention

science

disappear

believe

inconceivable

descendant

vague

typical

happened

Friday 26th March

Well we've ended the week in a chilled out manner, but it's massively deserved as every single member of Giraffe Class has worked REALLY hard!! We have completed our first set of tests in 2021 - even though the KS2 SATs have been cancelled, we still need to assess the children to see where they are and I will also use the information to plan the lessons for the rest of the school year. Everyone gave it their best and it was great to see them try so hard!

   We have also written 100 word mini-sagas that we are entering into a competition. Successful writers will have their work published in a book which you will have the chance to buy. I will be posting them on my way home tonight, so fingers crossed we do well! 

  Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Grace and Moreno

Reading Star - Moreno

Raffle Ticket Winners  - Shylah, Marcella and Cassius

TTRS Rock Legend - Yvie.

Well done to Max, Callum, Thomas and Moreno who have completed 45 minutes of Reading Eggs this week. This is the school expectation and it would be great to have a longer list next week. As secondary school moves ever closer, it is important to try and get into good habits with home learning, as the amount of work needed to be completed in Year 7 will definitely be more than we set. 

Next week in English, our focus will be Grammar and Punctuation and in Maths, we will be doing a little bit of everything! We will be making Easter Cards and on Wednesday afternoon we have an online safety course about keeping safe near railway lines. 

Hope you have a lovely weekend

Miss B

Spellings to be tested: Friday 26th March

heard

herd

brake

break

peace

piece

scene

seen

morning

mourning

Friday 19th March

Another amazing week in Giraffe Class! 

In English we worked hard to produce flashback stories that centred on an air raid attack in the Second World War.  What was produced was amazing - the vocabulary and the detail that the children included was of a very high standard! Our Maths work centred on all manner of calculations and word problems and it is great to see so many of them making great progress. We also talked quite a lot about the census - so apologies if they came home badgering you to fill it in! 

    Congratulations to:

      Pupils of the Week - Aimee and Chloe C

      Reading Star - Callum

      Raffle Ticket Winners - Lucy, Callum, Harvey

      TTRS Rock Legend - Marcella.

Well done to Veronica and Callum, who read for 45+ minutes on Reading Eggs. A reminder that the expectation is that 45 minutes of reading should be completed every week. 

Next week we will be writing stories in English, to enter into a competition. We will be returning to our topic on World War 2 and hoping the weather stays good to make sure we get lots of outside play! 

Spellings to be tested Friday 19th March

whether

weather

through

threw

aloud

allowed

father

farther

who's 

whose

Friday 12th March

Week 1 of 'normal' school in 2021 complete!!! It has been so lovely to have all the Giraffes back together and they have had a great week catching up with each other and adjusting to life back at school.  When I asked them earlier what they had enjoyed most about coming back together, most people said seeing their friends - but there were also a few who had liked 'getting out of the house' and 'getting back into a routine'!!

    This week in our English lessons, we have been revising use of adjectives in our writing, to make it more exciting. Maths has been concentrated on calculating (both with whole numbers and fractions) and we have spent most of our afternoons doing art, which has brightened up the cloakroom walls no end! 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Summer and Georgia

Reading Star - Max

Raffle Ticket Winners - Shylah, Lanie and Aimee

Well done to Max and Chloe B who completed the expected reading of 45 minutes this week.

Next week in English we will be writing a story about an air raid and in Maths we will continue to consolidate our calculation knowledge. We will be spending many of our afternoons doing work linked to the Census - so if they come home reminding you to complete it on the 21st, that is why! 

A reminder that Monday is Class photo day (children will need their regular Barley Close jumper. cardigan, fleece NOT their leavers hoodie) and also that children should be completing 45 minutes of Reading Eggspress every week. 

Friday 5th March

Like Mrs Welch says below, the end of an era - let's hope this is the last lockdown we have to go through at school! Home learners and teachers, you have been absolutely amazing!!! You may have mixed emotions about Monday, but all of those emotions are allowed and need to be embraced. Personally, I am VERYYYYYYYYYYY excited about welcoming all the Giraffes back, although Gebra Class have been absolutely fabulous and I will miss that as well. 

     It's Friday and there's no home learning - kick back, relax and enjoy it.

    Finally, a massive thank you to Mrs Welch who has done an amazing job putting together all the videos for the home learning and putting up with my silly questions from school. 

   Happy Friday everyone!

      Miss B

Friday 5th March 2021

It feels as if we have reached an end of an era today as we have our final day of home learning. Some of you feel sad about that, some of you feel happy. Whatever you feel is completely O.K. and I will be ready to greet you and help you on Monday. 

Learning today - there is none! Well not unless you want to anyway. I have put a fun activity sheet in the 'Everything else folder', under LAST DAY HOME LEARNING and there is a video talking through this sheet, in the resource centre.  

I will be clearing a lot of the other work and video, as well as MyMaths. 

N*B THE FUN FRIDAY GAMES, WELL SOME OF THEM, RELY ON FLASH ADOBE AND IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT THEY NO LONGER WORK! I WILL SORT THIS IN THE NEXT HALF HOUR AND GIVE SOME MORE LINKS TO SOME GAMES YOU CAN ACCESS ONLINE (FREE OF CHARGE). 

Thursday 4th March

Today is World Book Day - so use the day to read, watch films that have been adapted from books or anything else book-related.....  or there are lots of activities that Mrs Welch has set below. Keep busy and happy!

 Have a good day everyone,

    Miss B

Wednesday 3rd March

The countdown continues - the return to school is getting closer! Hopefully you are all excited about coming back, but I'm sure there might be some nerves as well - normal coming to school things as well as covid-related things. For instance, it will be strange being in a room with so many people - but it's nothing we haven't done before and I'm sure by the end of Monday, it will feel like you've never been away! 

     Well done to everyone who is continuing with their home learning - you are all being amazing! 

       Enjoy your day!

         Miss B

Tuesday 2nd March

It's Tuesday! 4 more days of home learning left! I know some of you may be feeling nervous about coming back to school next week - but it will be just the same as it was when you left in December... the same routines, the same bad jokes and the same silly old teacher! Make sure you know where your school uniform is (and that it still fits) and try and think about what you are looking forward to most about being back. If you've spent 8 weeks not getting up very early, maybe this week is a good time to try and get used to those alarm calls, so that Monday doesn't come as a complete shock! The children who have been in class since January are definitely looking forward to seeing you all and are looking forward to sharing some new Just Dances we have discovered! 

     Well done to everyone who is keeping up with their online learning this week - I promise it will help your brain next week!

     Enjoy your day,

        Miss B

Monday 1st March

Happy Monday, Happy first day of Spring and Happy St David's Day!

5 more days of home learning to go - this time next week, it will be time to come back to school!!! Yay!!! Mrs Welch has uploaded some tasks into the folders above - and I'm still looking for Chapter 4 of Island Survival, as I've only had one entry so far! I will extend the deadline until the end of school today. Max has worked really hard on this, so it would be great if some of you could contribute to the story.

    Enjoy your day,

      Miss B

Friday 26th February - part 2!

A massive well done to everyone who contributed to the TTRS battle this week. Year 6 were victorious and Giraffe Class came third. It was definitely a team effort, but special well done to Max, Thomas and Alfie at home and Shylah, Lanie and Chloe B at school.

        Callum, Max and Thomas continue to be home learner superstars and everyone in school has been lovely and worked really hard.

   Enjoy the sunshine this weekend and I'll be back on Monday - to launch the final week of home schooling!! Yay!!

   Miss B

Friday 26th February

Hello!

If you only do two bits of home learning today, please can I ask that you do the following...

1) Write Chapter 4 of Max's story, as I haven't had any entries in yet and the closing date is today.

2) Go on TTRS so that we can be victorious in the Battle against Year 5!!! We need you all to spend some time on there, as every point counts! Thomas, Max and Alfie are our top 3 contributors so far - everyone has done well, but we need one last big push!! 

    Thank you!!

      Enjoy your day!

        Miss B

Thursday 25th February

Happy Thursday! 

The weekend is in sight and there are only 7 days of home learning left - whoop whoop!!!!

Enjoy your day - do some learning, do some chilling - but make sure you play on TTRS!! We need to win the Battle!! 

   Miss B

Wednesday 24th February

Wow it's windy out there!! But it's not raining and the sun was shining just now, so we have to be grateful for that! I hope your week is going well - thank you to the people who are continuing to access the home learning things that we are setting. The children in school are completing the same lessons, so when we are all reunited on the 8th March, hopefully it will be a seamless transition! Although I think what everyone is looking forward to most is just seeing everyone - and obviously hearing my bad jokes and seeing my dodgy dancing every morning!

   Enjoy your day - don't forget the TTRS battle.... 

     Miss B

Tuesday 23rd February

Happy Tuesday! The countdown can begin - 9 days of home learning left before everyone can come back to school..... YAY!!!!!!!

   In school, we are loving the fact it has got warmer and the sun has been shining. The good thing about having the doors and windows open is that we can hear all the birds singing, which is definitely a good thing!

   Max has written the third chapter of his story and I've put it above. Write the fourth chapter by 1.15pm on Friday 26th February and send it to me - you could be the winner!

   Enjoy your day,

     Miss B

P.S - Keep going with the TTRS Battle of the Bands!!!! Year 6 are leading at the moment... 

Monday 22nd February

Hello and welcome to Term 4! I hope you all enjoyed your half-term break and managed to get out and about on fab walks, and do things inside that make you happy. Another week of home learning dawns, but hopefully there won't be too many more of them and you have to remember that you are all doing brilliantly! 

  Mrs Welch has set up some work for today and it can be found in all the folders above. She has had a tidy up of the folders and the video resource centre, so don't worry if things that were there before half term have disappeared! 

   Enjoy your Monday,

    Miss B

Friday 12th February

You made it!!!!!!!!!!

It's Frrrrriiiiiddddaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! And it's half term!

Well done to you all - school learners have been amazing and I have enjoyed every minute of this term... even 'Beep'beep I'm a sheep!'. Thank you for working so hard, laughing at my jokes and putting up with the cold! Home learners - well done to every single one of you who has done some form of home learning. Lots of you have been really busy - and if you haven't, well don't worry, there will be another term along shortly! Special shout out to Thomas and Callum who have completed masses of work every single day. 

   Lastly.... parents.... I know this term will have been tough in so many ways - but always remember you have done the absolute best you can and your children will appreciate it (even if they don't always show it!). You are all 'teacher of the term'. Enjoy 'just' being parents over half term!

   Thank you all for being so fabulous - I'll be back here on Monday 22nd February.

Happy Half term!

    Miss B

Thursday 11th February

Hello!

It's even colder outside today than it has been! Mrs Welch has set some work for you to do and as she has said - there won't be any work set tomorrow, as lots of you have been working incredibly hard all term and we think you deserve the day off!! 

    Whatever you do today, enjoy it. 

      Miss B

Wednesday 10th February

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well. Max has chosen the winner of the MBB Writing Competition and I will post the winner later today.

Enjoy your day - wrap up warm when you go outside!

Miss B

Tuesday 9th February

Hello lovely Giraffe home learners! 

So we have some great letters that are going to be written in English today. We have Harry Potter writing to Voldemort; Lucius Malfoy writing to Voldemort; Olive (from Letters from the Lighthouse) writing to Sukie and Stanley (from Holes) writing to his Mum. Which book character are you going to be writing about? If you have no clue what I'm on about, then head to the English resources folder above to find out!

    Even if the days aren't getting warmer, spring is definitely on it's way. The birds are singing more, the flowers and bulbs are starting to grow and the days are getting longer. It's important to try and be thankful for the little things - they will make a difference to how you feel - well they do for me anyway!

   Have a good Tuesday!

     Miss B

Monday 8th February

Mrs Welch is right - we can do this!!!

Five more school days until half term - it's going to be cold but hopefully dry. I hope you are finding lots of cool things to do to fill your time - and more importantly, staying happy and warm!! 

  Enjoy your day!

    Miss B

Friday 5th February - part 2!

It's the weekend everyone - you can relax, another week of home learning is behind you!

Congratulations to all the Year 6 children who have been in school this week - they have worked hard writing letters to Mrs Williams, played lots of bulldog and netball, practised their rounding and place value skills and completed the second part of the Resilience Lab.

Congratulations to all the home learners - especially Thomas, Max, Grace, Alfie, Macey and Callum. Every single one of you who has completed some learning at home are complete superstars. We are missing you very much and are really looking forward to getting back together when it is safe to do. 

It's going to be nippy, but enjoy your weekend - and the good news is that next week is the last week of Term 3 - yay!!!

See you on Monday

Miss B

Friday 5th February

Yep - you've guessed it - it's Friday again!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

The birds are singing (I guess that's the good thing about having the doors and windows open in February), the sky is blue and the weekend is in touching distance!! I know the days may be blending into one, but if you can make sure you do different things at the weekend, to the things that you doing during the week, you may find it's easier to remember what day of the week it is! Obviously the big clue is that there isn't any school work to do!!!

   Enjoy your Friday - I'll be back later with my regular celebration post!

    Miss B

   p.s - thanks to those people who have sent in Chapter 2 of Max's story. You have until Monday to get your entries in! 

Thursday 4th February

Hello! Ooops - I almost forgot this - I thought I'd done it earlier!

As I type this, it is pouring with rain. I guess we haven't had any rain for a couple of days, so it makes a change. Watching raindrops run down the window can be quite soothing, so that ties in with Mental Health Awareness week! 

  Nearly the weekend and February is bringing with it positive sights like spring flowers and longer days. All we need now is for the weather to warm up a bit and then we will REALLY know that spring is on its way!

  Enjoy your Thursday,

    Miss B 

Wednesday 3rd February

Hello! It definitely wasn't as dark when I was walking to school this morning - and it was warm enough for me to undo my coat! Spring is definitely on it's way! Now thinking about the sad news that Captain Tom Moore passed away yesterday, I'm going to set you a Wednesday task.... Today, try and do something for someone else.. it could be as big or as small as you like! I'm sure most of you do things for other people every single day - but today be extra specially nice to others in memory of Captain Tom! 

  Enjoy your day,

   Miss B

Tuesday 2nd February

Well the technology gremlins seem to have moved on! I hope the first day of February was good to you - it was certainly nippy!

   So Tuesday has dawned and it seems to be a lot warmer, which I for one am very glad for! I saw some lovely daffodils on my way home from school which made me realise than spring is definitely on its way! I hope you are finding lots of things to keep you busy - have a good day! 

Miss B 

Monday 1st February

Technical gremlins mean I can't get onto the school website from school so I'm doing this on my phone! It's February - a new month where things will start to grow and the days will get longer! Yay! 

Have a good day

Miss B 

Friday 29th January - part 2!

It is officially the weekend - we did it!!

Congratulations to all the school learners, who have worked hard, laughed lots and put up with me and Mrs Harris being silly! Special shout out to Aimee for great maths, Spencer for great writing and Shylah for great netball skills!

Congratulations to all the home learners, especially Thomas, Max, Megan, Archie, Callum, Macey, Moreno, Summer and Taylor.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you on Monday - in a manner of speaking! 

Miss B

Friday 29th January

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it's the last school day of January!!!! Yay!!!!!

The children in school took part in a resilience workshop yesterday afternoon (it is in the video resource centre if you fancy checking it out) and one of the ideas we were told about, to improve our mood, is to think about what we are grateful for. It can be the tiniest things that have made a positive impact on your day. For me yesterday, it was laughing with Mrs Harris; seeing my best friend (in a socially distant way obvs) and seeing the sun shine (it was very brief).

What were you grateful for? It really can work wonders to take a second to pause and think about the good things in your day, that we are sometimes to busy to notice. 

Enjoy your day,

Miss B

Thursday 28th January

Morning everyone! 

Today is National Lego day! So if you have some at home, surely that's an excuse to do lots of building! Whatever you get up I hope you enjoy it! 

Miss B

Wednesday 27th January

It's warming up!!!! Your face won't feel like it is going to freeze off when you go outside today!

Hope you are all having a good week, finding lots of interesting things to do, to pass the time. You are all doing a fabulous job! It's going to be a grey old day today, so you might want to look at holiday photos of years gone by, to remind yourself that the sun does shine and that there is a world beyond Bristol!!

 Enjoy your day

Miss B

Tuesday 26th January

It's warming up - ever so slightly!!! Mrs Welch has put lots of work on the website - but remember you don't have to do all of it today! I was listening to the radio on the way to school this morning and they were talking about all the cool stuff that is on BBC Bitesize - lots of it doesn't even sound like learning!! Saying that, I know I keep saying it, but you REALLY don't need to put pressure on yourself parents to be completing hours and hours of work! Also remember, everyone is finding this tricky and we will get back to 'normal' at some point!

  Whatever you decide to do, enjoy it and be happy! 

Miss B

Monday 25th January

Happy Monday! Well the snow was lovely, but it all seems to have disappeared now!

Have a good day - although there has been talk in the news about schools returning, nothing is certain yet. Rest assured as soon as we have definite news we will let you know. The media know no more than we do - and sometimes just like to guess what will happen!

   Keep doing bits and pieces of work  - keep chilling - keep getting fresh air -  keep smiling!

Miss B

Friday 22nd January - part 2!

It's now the weekend! We are halfway through the term and EVERYONE has done a fabulous job so far!

Congratulations to all the children who have been in school this week - they have done lots of writing, worked hard on area and perimeter and also had lots of energetic games of Bulldog at playtime.

Congratulations to all the home learners, especially Thomas, Callum, Max, Yvie, Marcella, Grace, Summer, Macey and Alfie. I know it's hard working from home, but every bit of effort is worth it I promise! 

Massive well done to all the parents who are home schooling, working hard at their 'proper jobs' and also making sure tea is cooked and there are clean pants available!

Even though there is much to 'go out and do' over the weekend, I hope you all enjoy it and I'll see you back here bright and early(ish) on Monday!

Miss B

Friday 22nd January

Happy Friyay!!!!!

Another week of home schooling is almost behind us and we're all still surviving! After talking to a couple of you, I just need to say again, that we are legally obligated to set all the work we are setting - but you are not legally obligated to teach it all! Pick and choose as much or as little as is right for you and take each day as it comes! I'm checking in with all the online things we have and most of you are logging in regularly which is great to see. I know lots of you are completing the work that is being uploaded here and that's also amazing. The most important thing of all is that you don't give yourself a hard time about what you are not doing! A little bit of learning everyday will help fill the time - but you should also be doing things that make you happy... 

Enjoy your day - it is cold, but dry which makes a nice change!

Miss B

Thursday 21st January

Well I got soaked walking to school today, so I guess I'll be recommending you listen to something by Wet, Wet, Wet! Yes, that really is how bad my jokes are - ask the children! Hopefully the sun will shine later and the puddles will dry out a little bit. 

Enjoy your day, whatever the weather does!

Miss B

Wednesday 20th January

Wet and windy today folks!! So hunker down, get some good tunes blaring out, get your home learning out the way, enjoy PE with Joe and then chill out - preferably with cake and a good film! 

So many people I've spoken to this week are finding everything a bit hard at the moment; especially the home schooling part of life (and this includes people that have been teaching for MANY years). Remember that you're not in this on your own and it's important to be doing what is right for your situation, NOT doing 4 hours of learning because that's what the government say. You are all doing a brilliant job!!

  Enjoy your day!

    Miss B

Tuesday 19th March

Morning everyone! It's a bit wet and windy out there - definitely a day to stay in pjs a bit longer and maybe eat a bit of cake! Or you could dress accordingly and get outside and splash in puddles. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy it! 

Have a good day,

Miss B

Monday 18th January

It's the start of another week - the weather forecast says we are going to get a lot of rain, but I reckon that's just an excuse to put on suitable footwear and go out and splash in puddles! It has been lovely hearing from so many of you over the last couple of weeks - remember there are no rules for home learning, do what is best for you. Try and get into a routine and that will help your day feel more organised - and make sure you are doing things you enjoy. 

Enjoy your day

Miss B

Friday 15th - part 2!

It's offcially the weekend now!

Congratulations to all the school learners this week, who have worked hard, laughed lots and made me smile everyday. Thank you very much everyone!

Congratulations to all the home learners who have accessed some form of home learning this week, especially Thomas, Callum, Max, Megan, Georgia and Grace.

Enjoy whatever you get up to over the weekend,

I'll be back on Monday! 

Miss B

Friday 15th January

It's Friday and you  have completed your second week of home learning!! You are all doing an amazing job! It's been lovely to see and hear about the work you've been doing and I know Mrs Harris really enjoyed talking to some of you on the phone this week. Those of us that are in school are missing you all, but we know we will be reunited at some point and that will feel brilliant! Remember to take time to chill out over the weekend and also help each other out by being kind. 

Enjoy your day,

Miss B

Thursday 14th January

It's Thursday and it's raining - but hopefully it won't rain all day and at least it's warmer! I hope you are managing to find lots to keep you busy - Mrs Welch has been busy uploading lots of activities and lessons and obviously you can find your own learning from other websites. Also, it's important to chill and do things you enjoy! In school we are doing the same lessons that you are doing and also discussing the important things, like whether it is better to have red sauce or brown sauce on an all day breakfast! 

   Have a good day, make someone smile and stay safe.

    Miss B

Wednesday 13th January

Happy Wednesday everyone! The week is well underway and we are heading towards the weekend! I hope you are all managing to find a good balance between chilling and learning - and that you are managing to get out and about in the warmer weather! 

   Mrs Harris will be busy making phone calls to you all this morning, so if you get an unknown number come up, it may well be her and she is excited about talking to you!

 Have a good day,

Miss B

Tuesday 12th January

The good news is that it is warmer - but it's also wetter! Which surely means an excuse to get your wellies on and splash in puddles! Hopefully you are finding lots of things to do to keep you busy - I can certainly see from looking at log in details and from the work I am receiving, that lots of you are completing lots of work in the morning and then relaxing in the afternoon. You have to find a way that suits you and your family - the important thing is to find what works and keep happy.

  I hope that you all have a good day,

Miss B

Monday 11th January

Hello! You'll see I've had a bit of a tidy up and all the work for home learning will now be put into the folders above - hopefully it will make it easier to find everything. The videos are still being uploaded onto the video resource centre, as they can't be uploaded here (for some technical reason I don't understand). Please take time to read the newsletter above, as it will shed some light on what we are providing for you this week. 

   BBC Bitesize also launches its second set of lockdown programme today - so if you don't find anything above that interests you, then check it out! Also Joe Wicks starts his online PE lessons again today. 

   Remember, as a school we are legally obligated to provide at least 3 hours of learning every day - but you aren't legally obligated to teach for that length of time! Do what is right for you and your family... what works one day, might not work the next. Just know that you are all being brilliant!

Have a good day,

Miss B

Friday 8th January - part 2!

It's the weekend - we've made it!

As we couldn't have our regular class celebration today, I am going to do an online version!

Congratulations to our in-school Giraffes:

Chloe B, Shylah, Aimee, Veronica, Cassius, Louis, Spencer and Chloe C who have made my week very special and who have made Jack and Isaac from Zebra class feel very welcome. 

Congratulations to the out-of-school-Giraffes who have completed online learning or shared work with me:

Thomas, Max, Grace, Summer, Yvie, Alfie, Macey, Marcella, Megan, Callum, Moreno and Taylor.

Welcome to our new member of Giraffe Class: Georgia, who joins us at a very strange time -  we will be excited to meet you when this is all over.

Thank you to everyone for messages and support this week. Our first week is done and next week will feel less strange. Know that you are all amazing and that we will come through this period of separation excited to see each other and thankful for what we have.

Enjoy your weekend - stay safe and keep smiling.

Miss B

Friday 8th January

We've made it - it's Friday! It has been a memorable week and not the one I thought we were getting when I was sat at home on Sunday afternoon! But you have all been amazing and we have survived! Thank you for putting up with all our technical difficulties as we adjust to remote learning - Mrs Welch has done a stirling job getting as much uploaded as she has. Hopefully next week the technology gremlins will leave us alone!

   Although there is an expectation that children will complete some level of home learning every day please make sure this is working for your family situation. The most important thing is that everyone is happy - pick and choose the activities that your child likes most and try to achieve a broad balance of subjects throughout the week, as there is more to life than just English and Maths! 

  Enjoy your day,

   Miss B 

Thursday 7th January

Hello! Well our day at school started without internet - but it's back and so our day can continue! Hope you are all doing okay - whilst it's good for children to be doing some element of home learning, remember it doesn't do anyone good to get stressed out! The children are always capable of doing more than they think they are - and nothing we are doing so far in English and Maths is completely new... despite what they might say! 

Have a good day,

Miss B

Wednesday 6th January

Hello! Happy Wednesday to you!

Mrs Welch will be uploading work later today, in the meantime, you can keep yourself busy on TTRS, MyMaths and Reading Eggs. I have set TTRS so you have to do 10 minutes on garage before you can play any other games - but that doesn't mean you only have to do 10 minutes! 

Enjoy your day,

Miss B

Lockdown Learning Update!

So day one is complete and you have all been amazing!  Mrs Welch and I have been able to make some plans for the rest of the week - once we have those under our belt, we will look to the next few weeks!

   I will be in school everyday teaching the Year 6 children that are in  and Mrs Welch is going to be organising all the home learning. She will upload activities and resources to this page and any videos will be uploaded to the Video Resource Centre (which you can find if you click on the Children tab of the website). We are trying to get a 'Year 6' folder created there - if not, the videos will be in either Giraffe or Zebra folder - I will confirm this when I know. I will also be putting videos on there - I will be reading some of our class book and anything else that might be useful. This work should all start appearing from Wednesday 6th January. The lessons will cover English, Reading Inference, Arithmetic, Maths, Science, Topic and RE - and are the same as what I will be teaching in class, so hopefully when we all get to come back together everyone will have had access to the same learning. 

  As well as the above activities, children should be accessing TTRS (10 -  15 minutes minimum) and Reading Eggs (20 - 30 minutes minimum) daily - I am able to see who is logging in and will be checking. MyMaths is also available and I have set activities for everyone to  complete. 

  I completely understand that home learning can bring stresses and strains to all members of the household - please do what is right for your family. We will try and give as much information as possible to help the children be independent learners - they all know so much more than they think they do, I know they will be brilliant! 

  Please share completed work with me via class dojo - I may not respond instantly if I am teaching, but I will look at everything as soon as I can. 

Sorry for such a long message and thank you all for being so supportive and fabulous.

Miss B

Lockdown Learning!

Tuesday 5th January 2021

Here we are again then! We've come through it before and we will get through it again. There are some maths activities below to keep you busy for a bit today. Going forward, there will be videos with the activities to help with understanding - you are not alone! Once I have got organised, I will be able to give you more information about where work will be located and how you can share completed work with me. There will be English and Maths activities provided every day and also some topic and Science as well. Please get in touch via dojo or by emailing me (karen.beard@barleyclose.org.uk)  if there is anything I can do to help. As I am teaching in school, the reply might not be instant, but I will get back to you as soon as I can!

 Miss B

December 17th

Well here we are then, we have all made it the end of Term 2! We have spent some time this morning talking about all the things we know now, that we didn't know on September 2nd - it involved a lot of talk about fractions and percentages and Slavery and also some mentions of how coming back to school wasn't as scary as they thought it would be! 

  I know that Mrs Harris and Mrs Kenny have enjoyed being in class as much as I have; we feel very lucky that we get to spend our working days with such amazing children. It has been truly amazing to see how they have adapted to all the changes and rules and they have shown great understanding about the importance of keeping to the rules to keep us all safe. 

  I hope you all have an amazing holiday season, even with all the current restrictions and that you all find time to do things that you enjoy. School reopens on Tuesday January 5th.

Happy Christmas,

Miss Beard 

December 11th

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The children have been busy in our English lessons, writing an explanation text about What Santa does. In Maths, we have been making our heads hurt, working with percentages and in Topic, we learnt about the abolishment of slavery and how slavery still impacts on life in 2020. 

Congratulations to:

TTRS Rock Legend - Izzie

Pupils of the Week - Yvie and Callum

Raffle Ticket Winners - Marcella, Alfie and Maddie

Reading Star - Max

Reading

Well done to Alfie, Macey, Callum, Aimee, Seren, Max, Fredrica and Chloe B who have all read for the 45 minutes that is expected of them (and most have read for considerable more than that).

Next week in Maths, we will be looking at shape. Our Science lessons will involve looking at living things and we will also be completing some Christmas activities. There are no new spellings to learn, as we have a shorter school week next week AND they've all worked so hard this term, they deserve a week off!  

December 4th

Another brilliant week in Giraffe Class! In English, we have been learning about explanation texts - including one about how to be a teacher... apparently it involves eating biscuits and drinking coffee and having a great death stare! Our Maths lessons saw us revising knowledge of fractions and decimals and in Topic, we learnt about the role the Underground Railroad played in helping enslaved Africans escape to freedom in the USA. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the class reward this afternoon and it was richly deserved.

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Izzie and Spencer

TTRS Rock Legend - Max

Raffle Ticket winners - Harvey, Fredrica and Izzie

Reading Star - Fredrica

Reading

Chloe B, Callum, Fredrica and Aimee all completed the 45 minutes of reading that was expected of them. Several others have been using Reading Eggspress and just need to up the amount of time they are going on there.

Next week, we will be looking at calculating percentages of amounts in Maths and in English we will be writing a Christmas inspired explanation text. Friday 11th December is Christmas Jumper Day. 

November 27th

Yet again, the children have continued to impress me with their positive attitude towards completing mock-KS2 tests. We've sat another set this week - everyone tried really hard and thoroughly deserved the scores they earned. Lots of the children chose to write down their scores and bring them home - please contact me on dojo if you need any help understanding what they tell you.

  As well as sitting tests, in English the children wrote amazing poems about slavery. Our Maths work centred around statistics and in Topic, we learnt about Harriet Tubman. Everyone has coped very well with the fall in temperature and coats have been put on where necessary! 

  Thank you to you all for putting up with the muddy state many of them are coming home in! I know the mud isn't the best thing to see at the end of the day, but giving the children the chance to run off some of their energy on the field is the best thing for them to be doing - although I understand it's easy for me to say that when I don't have to do the washing! We will continue to monitor it throughout the winter - if it gets very wet and boggy underfoot then we may well limit the amount of time we use the field. 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Aimee and Louis

TTRS Rock Legend - Summer

Raffle ticket winners - Grace, Chloe B and Harvey

Reading Star - Seren

Reading

Well done to Fredrica, Callum, Aimee, Thomas, Veronica, Max, Chloe B, Seren and Alfie who have all completed the necessary 45 minutes reading - and some have done considerably more than 45 minutes!!

Next week in maths, we will be revising our knowledge of fractions and in English, we will be looking at explanation texts. Our Topic lesson will be about the underground railroad. 

Spellings to be tested: Friday 27th November

forty

occur

vehicle

vegetable

develop

amateur

available

individual

lightning

opportunity

November 20th

Another fantabulous week in Giraffe Class! In Maths, we learnt lots about angles and how to calculate missing ones and in English we looked at poems and started thinking about writing our own that contained extended metaphors. Our Topic lesson was all about daily life for enslaved Africans on a plantation and in PE it was, of course more netball - even though the rain tried to put us off! Our computing lesson focused on self-regulation of screen time and everyone made a pledge to try and take more breaks or not spend quite so much time looking at a screen.

    However the most exciting news of the week was the arrival of the leavers hoodies!!!!!!! It was nice to see something 'normal' happening in the crazy times we currently find ourselves in!

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week: Harvey and Chloe C

TTRS Rock Legend: Grace

Raffle Ticket Winners: Aimee, Lanie and Lucy

Reading Star: Summer

Reading

Well done to Aimee, Alfie, Macey, Marcella, Summer, Callum, Thomas, Shylah, Chloe B, Max and Veronica, who have all completed the 45 minutes of reading that is expected of them.

Next week, we will be learning about Harriet Tubman in Topic, continuing our work on poetry in English and looking at time and statistics in Maths. 

Spellings to be tested: Friday 20th November

according

average

recommend

symbol

excellent

community

guarantee

neighbour

sacrifice

soldier

November 13th

Another week has flown by and we have learnt lots and laughed lots! In English, we planned and wrote AMAZING diary entries, about life as an enslaved African. The work that was produced was a real pleasure to read. In Maths, we have spent the work concentrating on Shape - identifying, drawing, comparing and classifying them. Our Topic work was about the auction of enslaved Africans and in Computing, everyone was very enthusiastic about using Natterhub - an online programme that teaches us about being safe when we are 'surfing the net'. 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week: Max and Seren

TTRS Rock Legend: Spencer

Reading Star: Thomas

Raffle Ticket Winners: Louis, Fredrica and Aimee

Reading

Well done to Aimee, Meg, Yvie, Thomas, Veronica, Max, Shylah, Chloe B and Callum who have all read for the required time this week. 

Next week, in English, we will be starting a unit on poetry and in Maths, we will be continuing with more work on shape (angles and properties of rectangles) and also revising our knowledge of time. We will continue to use Natterhub in Computing and in Topic, we will be looking at life on plantations, during the slave trade. 

Spellings to be tested Friday November 13th

advice

device

practise

licence

cereal

advise

devise

practice

licensed

serial

November 6th

A very positive start to Term 2 in Giraffe Class! In English, we have been thinking about life for the enslaved Africans on the slave ships and the children have been writing some amazing diary entries, using adverbial phrases. Our Maths lessons centred on rounding and negative numbers (and we listened to some dodgy songs to help us learn about prime numbers and multiples) and in Topic we learnt about slave ships. We tried a new teaching tool in computing called Natterhub, which everyone enjoyed and in PE, we had another great game of netball. PE lessons are a bit tricky because of all the restrictions, but everyone is definitely enjoying netball! 

Congratulations:

Pupils of the Week - Fredrica and Macey

Raffle Ticket Winners - Louis, Daniel, Grace

Reading Star - Shylah

TTRS Rock Legend - Alfie

Reading

Well done to Aimee, Maddie, Max, Shylah, Meg and Callum, who have all read over the 45 minutes that is expected of them. Everyone has been reminded about the need to use reading eggspress or read actual books, so that I don't have to start contacting parents!

Next week in Maths, we will be looking at 2d shapes - identifying, drawing and classifying them. Our English work will continue to build towards writing a long diary entry about life on board a slave ship and in Computing, we will be using Natterhub again, to think about how we can be kind when we are communicating with others online. 

October 23rd

Stop the clock! We made it to the end of Term 1!!

We spent our last week in quite a chilled out way - in English, we wrote character descriptions of Stanley and Mrs Daniel and Mrs Drake were VERY impressed when they came in to read them. Our Maths learning centred around symmetry and co-ordinates and I think most people felt more confident in both areas by the end of the week. We had a class reward on Tuesday afternoon (and another one on Wednesday as the children are so lush) and generally laughed a lot!

  Children were given the test papers they had completed the previous week. Some were pleased, some were proud and some were upset. But I stressed that they had all done a great job just by completing them and that we still have a lot of learning to do before we sit the 'real' tests in May. 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week: Marcella and Chloe B

TTRS Rock Legend: Aimee

Reading Star: Lanie

Raffle Ticket Winners: Max, Macey and Fredrica

Reading Ambassador - Term 1: Aimee

Reading

Well done to Max, Thomas, Veronica and Aimee who read over the 45 minutes that is expected.

   I hope you have a great half term and stay well. I really can't stress enough just how much I have LOVED getting to know the children this term - they have made me laugh, smile and feel proud in so many different ways. I feel very lucky to be their class teacher - they are a funny, enthusiastic, inspiring bunch and I am already looking forward to Term 2! 

October 16th

Well I've known since September 2nd how amazing the children of Giraffe Class are - but this week, they have shown that amazing just isn't a big enough word to describe how amazing they are! I am so proud of everything they have achieved this week!

          First of all, we have had our first 'mock' SATs test week of the year. Most of them were excited when I told them this was happening on Monday, and after we had completed the first test everyone agreed that they weren't as hard as they thought they would be! We complete a set of mocks every term - it gives Mrs Welch and I a great indicator of where the gaps in learning are and more importantly, sets the children's minds at ease as to what the 'SATs Tests' actually look like. The children will get their papers given back to them next week, so they can see their scores.... We make it clear that it isn't about comparing scores with the person sat next to them, but about the progress they make throughout the year. 

     Then we had to prepare our first 'online only' class assembly. The children worked really hard writing and rehearsing their scripts for their roles plays and also enjoyed watching the finished video. It is available to watch on this website. Click on the 'children' tab on the home page and then look in the video resource centre.

    Funnily enough, we haven't had time for Topic or Science lessons this week, because of preparing for the assembly - we will get back to those next week!

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week: Thomas and Veronica

Reading Star: Chloe B

Raffle Ticket Winners: Alfie, Max and Veronica

TTRS Rock Legend: Chloe C

Reading

Well done to Callum, Max, Shylah, Chloe B, Thomas, Marcella, Aimee, Meg and Veronica who have all done the required amount of reading for the week. 

Next week, we will be looking at symmetry and co-ordinates in Maths, in Science we will be launching our parachutes that we made a couple of weeks ago and we will also be doing more description work in English.

Spellings to be tested: October 22nd (Thursday, as Friday is an inset day)

suggest

shoulder

familiar

recognise

thorough

nuisance

awkward

disastrous

equipment

language

Spellings to be tested October 16th

precious

delicious

atrocious

suspicious

spacious

ambitious

infectious

cautious

nutritious

conscientious

October 9th

Another amazing week in Giraffe Class! In English, we have been writing descriptions about the desert, in Maths we have been working on our division and multiplication skills and in Topic we learnt about the Atlantic Slave Triangle! We have made parachutes in Science (and will test their air resistance over the next couple of weeks) and in PE, we have played netball and team games. 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week: Aimee and Summer

Raffle Prize Winners: Alfie, Macey and Marcella

Reading Star: Veronica

TTRS Rock Legend: Shylah

Reading

Well Done to Callum, Veronica, Max, Yvie, Thomas, Alfie, Chloe B, Marcella, Megan and Aimee who have all comepleted their reading this week. 

Next week in English, we will be looking at what 'year 6 writing' looks like and how we need to improve and in Maths, we will be ordering, comparing and +/- with fractions. We will also be busy writing, rehearsing and filiming our class assembly, which will be available to watch on the school website from Friday afternoon.

Spellings to be tested October 9th

refer

prefer

transfer

referred

preferred

transferred

transferring

referral

preference

reference

October 2nd

Well it has bit of a soggy week and the children have missed out on both of their outside PE slots, but there hasn't been one word of complaint! They really are superstars!! This afternoon, they have also achieved their first class reward of the year and we will decide what we are going to do soon. 

    In English, they worked hard to write amazing fables, based on our work on the book 'Holes'. In Maths, they showed great resilience when tackling multiplication and division and in Science we looked at gravity. Our Topic lesson saw us looking at why the Atlantic Slave Trade began. 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Lucy and Maddie

TTRS Rock Legend - Maddie

Raffle Ticket Winners - Shylah, Spencer and Harvey

Reading Star - Max

Well done to the following people who have all read for at least 45 minutes:

Max, Callum, Thomas, Yvie, Shylah, Veronica, Megan, Marcella, Chloe B and Aimee. 

Next week, we will be continuing our work on multiplication and division in Maths and in English, we will start looking at the features of a balanced argument. Our Science lesson will involve an experiment looking at air resistance and in Topic, we will continue to look at the Slave Trade. 

As the weather gets colder and wetter, please make sure your child comes to school with a coat and suitable shoes. We are going outside when it is raining slightly, so that they all get the chance to move around a bit and some of them are feeling the cold!

September 25th

The end of Week 4! Well it has got colder outside, but the children are still being amazing putting up with open doors and windows! They have all worked hard this week and we have also found time to have fun and laugh lots! They have written some great descriptions in English and also improved their understanding of expanded noun phrases. In Maths, we have spent the week improving their addition and subtraction confidence.

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Zak and Shylah

Reading Star - Thomas

TTRS Rock Legend - Megan

Raffle ticket winners - Macey, Alfie and Max

Reading

Well done to the following people, who have all read for at least 45 minutes.

Marcella, Megan, Aimee, Callum, Thomas, Shylah, Fredrica and Veronica. 

Next week in Maths, we will be looking at multiplication and division and in English, we will rewriting part of the 'Holes' book. Our Topic lesson will be an introduction to slavery (learning about it, not actually being slaves) and in PE we will continue with team games and netball. 

Spellings to be tested Friday 2nd October

horrible

terrible

possible

edible

sensible

adorable

forgivable

valuable

identifiable

disposable

Hoodie link yesterday was incorrect. Use this one!!

http://www.initiallyyours.co.uk/schools/barley_close_primary_school/leaver_hoodies.htm

September 18th

Another completed week in Giraffe Class - and we have been very busy! In English, we wrote non-chronological reports about Yellow Spotted Lizards and in Maths we have been revising our knowledge of rounding numbers and using negative numbers. We had another great game of netball in the sun on Wednesday and played team games on Friday morning! 

   We've also taken full advantage of the glorious weather and spent lots of time out on the field enjoying ourselves - we are making the most of the sunshine!! It really has been a great pleasure to be with the whole class this week and the resilience and enthusiasm they are all showing for their learning is truly amazing - it's like they've never been away from school!

 Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Megan and Daniel.

Reading Eggspress Star - Shylah

TTRS Rock Legend - Cassius

Raffle Ticket Winners - Veronica, Megan and Callum. 

Reading

Well done to the following children who have all spent at least 45 minutes (the school expectation) on Reading Eggspress. 

Fredrica, Shylah, Callum, Summer, Thomas, Louis, Max, Marcella, Moreno, Chloe C, Daniel and Megan. 

Spellings to be tested on Friday 25th September

bargain

persuade

embarrass

criticise

correspond

appreciate

committee

government

parliament

conscience

IMPORTANT HOODIE NEWS!!!!!

A message from the parents who are organising the leaver's hoodies this year! 

Hi all year 6 parents,
As our children are now in their last year of primary school we are arranging leavers hoodies. 

The hoodies will be blue to match the staff hoodies, on the back of the hoodies will be the numbers ‘21’, within these numbers will be the first name of each child in year 6. If you DO NOT 

want your child’s name on the hoodies please can you inform the class teacher by next week.
The children will be able to wear the hoodies to school on PE days.
Details of how to order the hoodies from Initially Yours will follow shortly.
Any questions please feel free to ask.
Many thanks
Pam (Max B's Mum)
PS we also have set up a messenger group for arranging activities/hoodies for the year 6 

leavers. There is no pressure to help you can join just to stay up to date, if you would like to 

join the group please let me know.

September 11th

Our first full week completed! Whoop Whoop!!

Everyone in Giraffe Class (including the adults) has coped really well with a whole week of 'proper' lessons. In English, we have been looking at embedded clauses in preparation for writing a non-chronological report about a yellow-spotted lizard next week, Our Maths work has concentrated on place value work and we re-started Arithmetic and TTRS.  The children had a great whole-class game of netball on Wednesday afternoon (they even kept going through the rain!) and it was great to see them working together and having fun!

    Thanks to everyone who has signed up to Class dojo - I will send out paper copies of the log in details to those people who haven't yet signed up. 

Congratulations to:

Pupils of the Week - Moreno and Alfie

Reading Eggspress Star - Callum

Raffle Ticket Winners - Megan, Moreno and Macey

Reading

Well done to the following people who have logged into Reading Eggspress this week.

Callum, Chloe B, Max, Alfie, Shylah, Thomas, Veronica, Macey, Fredrica, Chloe C, Lanie, Marcella, Cassius and Spencer.

From next week, the expectation will be that every child spends at least 45 minutes on the programme during the week. They can do this is small blocks or two blocks or one massive block - whichever they prefer! 

Spellings

Children have been given their first set of spellings today, which they have stuck into their spelling book, which will stay in school. I will post them here every week and also stick them up in the classroom window. The test will happen on Friday 18th September. 

This week's words are:

bruise

occupy

queue

desperate

harass

identity

aggressive

controversy

determined

foreign

September 5th

Week 1 completed!!

Well I think Giraffe Class have had a great few days together. We have spent time getting to know each other, talking about our families and hopes and dreams and also got used to the new rules! It has been lovely to see the children socialising and catching up on their news and everyone seemed VERY happy to be back - let's hope that continues!

    I will be posting an update here every week, to let you know what we have been up to. I will post spellings here every Friday (the first set will land on September 10th) and also celebrate our Pupils of the Week, Raffle Ticket Winners, Reading Eggs star and TTRs Rock Legend. 

  Congratulations to Grace and Lanie, our first Pupils of the Week! Unfortunately, certificates can't be brought home at the moment, but we will keep them safe in class and they will be brought home one day! 

   Well done to everyone who remembered PE kit on Friday - I have reminded the children that they are now old enough to remember this sort of information for themselves and that blaming Mums and Dads isn't really fair! Our lessons will all have to be outside, so please make sure they are dressed warmly with trainers that are allowed to get wet and muddy. As the weather gets colder, it might even be worth sending in a spare pair of trainers and socks to keep feet dry! 

    Thank you to everyone who has been following all the new systems around school. Please can I remind you to drop off and pick up at the time you have been asked and not to hang around either before or after your child comes into class. I know it is really hard, but it is important for everyone's safety that we all follow the government guidelines. 

   Next week, we will be starting work on our book 'Holes' in English and looking at place value in Maths. We will be revising our knowledge of school learning gems in PSHE and also logging into all our online learning accounts in Computing.

   If you need to speak to me, please contact me via class dojo. I have sent out two invites to the emails that we have recorded at school. I will send out paper copies of the log in information this week. Dojo is an app that is a great way to communicate with each other, especially as children become more independent and want to travel to and from school on their own!

  Have a great weekend,

    Miss Beard