The Beech class have worked really hard this week! Here are some of our favourite photos where we are showing off our hard work! We have been very successful learners in lots of different curricular areas. have a look…
Tag: Beech
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Macmillan Fun!
Beech class here! We would like to share with you some of the fun we had this morning at our Macmillan class event! We all made our own snacks this morning and some of them were themed to match our ‘Under the Sea’ topic! We made a biscuit face for a gingerbread man template, a Colin Caterpillar (Beech style) and then we each made an octopus from a marshmallow and a beach scene from a cracker and blue frosting. We had a lovely time and were glad to be supporting such an important cause. We were very responsible citizens as we watched some clips about what cancer is and how Macmillan helps to support different families affected by cancer.
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Well done!
Hi everyone,
It’s hard to believe that this is the final week of term. So many nice things should be happening this week and it makes me really sad that we can’t celebrate the end of a school year the way we should but it makes me even more sad that we cannot say a proper “farewell” to our four leavers the way we normally would. 
However! On a positive note, I want to take this opportunity to say a massive well done to you and your families for how well you have coped over the last few weeks under sometimes very difficult circumstances. I am so proud of you all for all of your achievements this year both in and out of school and I really can’t wait to see you all in August.
Keep an eye out tomorrow and Wednseday for some special visitors with a little surprise for you as an end of term treat!
As always, stay safe and look after each other. Have a great summer – see you all very soon 
– From the Beech ladies.
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Home Learning – Prom Week!
Hi everyone!
This week would have been a very exciting week in Willowbank! Not only would we be looking forward to our annual ‘Power Off, Learn Outdoors’ (POLO) day and our annual prize giving assembly but we would also be hosting our very own Willowbank Prom. Our Prom Committee has worked very hard this year to prepare for our Prom which would have had a Las Vegas theme. I hope very much that you all will still celebrate by creating your own prom at home this Friday 19th June. Remember to send your photos to eanicola.murray@glow.sch.uk
To mark these three occasions, I will list some activities that can be completed throughout the week. As always, these activities are only suggestions and you are under no obligation to do all or any of them.
Have fun and stay safe!
POLO Day
Home Economics 
Explore the garden or local area (if it is safe to do so) and get messy by creating some mud recipes! Here is a link to some ‘Mud Recipes’ that can be created using nature! We have done this activity in school and the young people loved it.
Art 
Don’t waste your mud, why not create some art! All you’ll need are some old pots/tins/cups, a variety of food colouring or liquid watercolour paint, sticks or old paintbrushes, dish soap, paper and mud! Here is a link to the Mud Paint Recipe instructions.
Literacy 
Nature name activity. In class we are exploring letters and letter sounds. I challenge you to find as many leaves, flowers, twigs, petals, pine cones or acorns as you can and try to make some letter shapes using them! Can you make your name using just the items you’ve collected?
Numeracy 
In class we have been exploring numbers and their value as well as trying to use words like ‘bigger’ or ‘smaller’.
- Find 5 leaves
- Order your leaves in order from smallest size to the biggest size.
- Number your leaves from 1-5, 1 being the smallest leaf and 5 being the biggest leaf. You can us paint, a marker or Tippex to number your leaves.
- Now try and find; 1 flower – sit it next to the leaf marked ‘1’, find 2 flowers (maybe of a different colour) and sit them next to the leaf marked ‘2’ and so on.
Prize Giving
This is a lovely and creative idea which will allow you and your family to think about all of your achievements and successes or even good days that you have had during the last few weeks. While there will be a lot of difficult moments or days just now, but it is important that we still recognise the good days and positive moments. Take some time as a family to think of some of the things you have all achieved – there will be more than you think 
Feeling creative? Make a ‘Family Achievement Tree’. You could draw a tree trunk onto paper/card and trace your handprints out of paper/card (coloured if you have some – or why not paint the handprints if you only have white paper) and write a success or achievement on the handprint then stick it onto your tree.
Prom
- Make a prom playlist! Find out the favourite songs of all your family members and make a playlist for Friday night on Youtube (or any other music streaming service)
- Make a shopping list (if applicable) of some snacks and drinks you would like to have at your home prom!
- Make some decorations for your living room – these could be banners, posters or paper chains!
- Practise your moves! Listen to your playlist and have a dance. Did you come up with new cool moves? Why not send a clip of your dancing to eanicola.murray@glow.sch.uk
As always, have fun and stay safe. We miss you all 
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Senses Week Quiz!
As promised, the Beech team are here with an end-of-the-week quiz for you that should finish off our ‘senses’ week’ nicely!
Below is a collage of the Beech ladies each holding an item with a different texture or feeling. We explored our sense of touch!
To help figure out the answers and further explore your sense of touch, why don’t you see if you can find similar items in your house to what we are holding?
- Which Beech lady is holding something squishy?
- Which Beech lady is holding something small, shiny and hard?
- Which Beech lady is holding something that feels rough?
- Which Beech lady is holding something white and soft?
- Which Beech lady is holding something crunchy and crinkly?
How many did you get right? Let us know by leaving a comment!
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Weekly Home Learning (8)
Hi everyone! 
This week we are focusing on all things sensory. We will explore all our senses through a variety of activities and experiences. As always, these activities are only suggestions and you are under no obligation to do all or any of them. Have fun and stay safe.
Sight 
‘Eye spy’ is a great game that can be played anywhere and with limited resouces, it also helps us to explore letter sounds and words. I challenge you to make a sensory ‘eye spy’ bottle with an adult. The bottle can be made using anything small enough to fit inside along with either water (with food colouring and glitter!), sand or rice so that we have to move the bottle around to find all our hidden items. Here is an example of a sensory bottle for your reference.
Hearing 
Listen to this sensory story and have a chat about all the different sounds you hear! Could you read a story with an adult and create some sound effects to go along with it?
Your hearing challenge is to go on a ‘senses hunt’ either in your garden or while you’re out a walk. Takes some time to just stand safely in an outdoor space and listen hard for any sounds you can hear. How many sounds did you hear? Did you know what all of them were? Have a think as well about what you can see and smell and touch along the way!
Taste 
This is a very funny video of celebrities taking a taste test which should introduce your taste challenge well! Your challenge is to wear a blindfold and try five different foods. How many foods did you try and how many did you guess correctly?
Want to make the challenge more interesting? Take away another sense. Simply put headphones on as well as a blindfold and try the challenge again. Was it trickier?
Smell 
Your smell challenge has an arty flare! You are going to create bubble art with different smells and colours. For this challenge you will need; Bubble mixture/fairy liquid, a bubble blower wand, food colouring/coloured paints, cups/tubs to dip your wand into and white sheets of paper. This activity should be completed outdoors
Simply mix a colour and a drop of something smelly (shampoo, vanilla extract, sauces, shower gel) into a cup/tub filled with bubble mixture and then blow your bubbles in the direction of the paper! Watch the colours mix and smell the different scents mix together! (If you don’t have a bubble wand, sellotape plastic straws together!)
Touch 
Sensory writing. For this activity, simply fill a tray with any dispersible product such as rice, lentils, foam, sand or salt and practise finger writing. Try a range of products one after the other and see which texture you prefer. If you want to get creative here are some recipes for creating special sensory writing trays:
- Fairy Dust – https://theimaginationtree.com/sensory-writing-in-fairy-dust-literacy-activity/
- Moon Dust – https://theimaginationtree.com/moon-dust-sensory-writing-tray/
The lesser known internal senses…
Vestibular 
“…The sensory system that provides the leading contribution to the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating movement with balance.”
Yoga is a fantastic and calming way to develop balance and muscle control and coordination. Cosmic Yoga is favourite with our young people – check them out on Youtube.
I have included a link that will take you to a Harry Potter themed session for the Beech Harry Potter fans!
Proprioception 
“Proprioception is the unconscious awareness of body position. It tells us about the position of our body parts, their relation to each other, and their relation to other people and objects”
Chores that will provide proprioceptive input:
- Lifting the laundry basket
- Hovering
- Gardening
- Taking the bin out
- Tidying toys (!)
- Lifting shopping bags
- Unload the washing machine and the dryer
Try to help with at least one physical chore a day
Keep an eye out for our end-of-the-week staff quiz!
Hope you are all staying safe and looking after each other, missing you all lots. 
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Horsing Around
Here we have a great photo of this young lady getting her daily exercise by exercising her horse. It looks like you are having lots of fun! Thank you for sharing your photo.
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Weekly Home Learning (7)
Sports Week! 
Hi everyone,
In honour of Sports Day, I thought it would be fun to have a sport themed week of home learning! Here are some suggestions of some fun activities…
Starter Activity: Online Game
Literacy 
- Story time! This is a story all about a very famous basketball player called LeBron James and his love for Basketball. The story is an uplifting tale of how we can overcome anything if we just put our mind to it.
- Can you find items around the house starting with all the letters in the word ‘SPORT’? For example, see how many items you can find that begin with the letter ‘S’, how many items can you find that begin with the letter ‘P’ and so on. Can you put all your items in the correct order to spell out ‘sport’?
- Develop your fine motor skills by creating a ball-shaped lacing activity. Simply draw the shape and pattern of a sports ball and use a sharp pencil (use blue tack/a rubber/dough underneath to protect fingers and tables) to poke some holes. Use a lace from a shoe to thread in and out the holes.
Numeracy
- Take part in a sports themed scavenger hunt! Kindly ask an adult to find as many sports related items as possible can and hide them around the house. E.g. Trainers, sports tops, laces, balls, trophies/medals, football scarves, shorts, sweat bands, skittles… etc. count how many items you managed to find within a given time! In class we were working on matching numbers to items we have counted. Why not, with some help, write out the numbers 1 – 10 on ten bits of paper and match up the items to the correct number? g. if you found three pairs of shorts, match and sit the shorts next to the number 3.
- Remember to think about ordinal numbers throughout this week. Every time you play a game, have a think and talk about who or what came first, second and third! This helps us to develop our understanding of numbers, their order and their value.
Art and Design: Sustainable Development 
Your design challenge Is to design and create either an up-cycled medal or up-cycled trophy using only old or recycled household items. Below is an example of what could be made using toilet roll tubes or plastic cups, ribbon or material, colouring pens or paint and card or cardboard.
Science: Family Blow Race 
For this activity you will need; drinking straws, make-shift start and finishing lines and a variety of small ball shapes made from household items. E.g. tinfoil, paper, play dough, cotton balls, crafts pompoms, small balloon.
The aim is to predict which ball will reach the finish line first or in the quickest time by blowing it from the start line to the finish line using the straw! Make your hypothesis, complete the test and observe your results – which one made it across in the quickest time? Who make the correct prediction?
Had fun with that? Try this!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/makes/presenters-blow-football
To finish off your week , why not test you knowledge by taking this fun quiz 
with your family
Remember to keep an eye on the school app and this blog for details about our virtual sports day video!
As always, have fun and don’t stress about doing these activities. They are only suggestions. I will be in contact with you all over the next couple of days to check-in. Take care!
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A Special Beech Birthday..
A massive happy 18th birthday to our Beech girl, Skye!!!! We hope you have the best day ever!
Lots of love and best wishes from the Beech team and all of your Willowbank family. 
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Weekly Home Learning (6)
Hi everyone,
Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week. Given the extraordinary circumstances in which we find ourselves at the minute, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to address this topic. Below is a list of suggested activities that I found, which focus on recognising and experiencing emotions, mindfulness and kindness. There are lots of ideas, this is so that hopefully there is at least one suggestion that will be suitable or fun for you 
Here is a touching story to introduce the topic of emotions. It’s called ‘Lucy’s Blue Day.’
If you have the Pixar film ‘Inside Out’ give it a watch or take a look at this Youtube clip. Some of the task suggestions are based around the colourful characters within this film.
- Make a healthy ‘Inside Out’ themed snack! I suggest a fruit kebab. Help to pick out some fruits that are the same colour as; joy, sadness, disgust, fear and anger. With the help of an adult, dice the fruit and choose the order you would like them to appear on the plate or skewer. Enjoy! (Which feeling was the best flavour?)
- P.E/Drama Game. Watch this clip of film and do these actions every time you see…
Joy: Star jumps or wave you hands in the air.
Sadness: Curl up into a ball or hide your face
Anger: Stomp your feet and shout out!
Fear: Make a scary face or run away!
Disgust: Make a yucky face and wave your arms in a disgusted way
- Make sensory boxes – Fill up a box with things that make you feel happy, sad, angry, excited or worried.
- If you have or can obtain the following resources, make a sensory stress ball! Resources: Red, green, blue, yellow and purple balloons (you need 3 or more of each colour), scissors, Flour, plastic bottle, funnel, black sharpie/marker. Click here to find out how to make your own stress ball.
- Practice mindfulness. This is something that we were slowly starting to incorporate to class routines as a way of encouraging us to slow things down and just ‘be’ when things get a bit too much. Here is a video of a familiar furry friend teaching us how to belly breathe – a key relaxation technique.
Here is a link to a range of senses-based activities where the focus is to concentrate on a particular sound or feeling which almost tricks your body into relaxing! In class, we really respond to lying on our backs on the floor and watching feathers fall slowly from a height, the classroom would become so peaceful.
- Beech Team challenge: Guess which emotion we are all representing in our #stayathome collage! Who is sleepy? Who is sadness? Who is representing fear? Who is feeling happy?
- Create a ‘Things to Look Forward To’ jar. Here is a link to a nice craft activity that focuses on positive thinking by encouraging us to think about all the things we are looking forward to doing when lockdown restrictions are safely lifted. It helps us to remain goal orientated. Link here.
- The theme of Mental Health Awareness Week this year is kindness. Take some time this week to think of someone you would like to cheer up or simply make smile. What could you do for them? This could be something as simple as making a picture for them or phoning them for a chat. You decide on your socially distanced random act of kindness! If you need some ideas HERE is a link with some suggestions.
- Quiz Time with Murray! How much have you learned about our emotions? Take this quiz to find out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxfJicfyCdg
Digidabble Time!
In school, this week would have been Diggidabble week. I have highlighted all the activities which incorporate ICT above for your information. Below is a short list of apps that focus on health and well being and are designed for children and young people.
- Breathe, Think, Do, with Sesame
- Mindful Powers
- Children’s Bedtime Meditations for Sleep & Calm
Take care and stay safe
