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Headmaster's Newsletter
20th April, 2010.
Dear Parent,
I hope that you have all had a good break and, in particular, have enjoyed the good spate of sunny weather that has made the last week or so of the holidays all the more pleasant. We are looking forward to the start of the Summer Term and welcoming back the boarders at 5.30pm on Tuesday and the Day Children at 8.30am the following morning. That said, I do appreciate that we will be several children short for the start of term – as several families have been stranded abroad by the volcanic ash that has blighted air travel, including two members of staff, Lucy and Noel Curry who have been stranded in Rome but are trying desperately to catch trains north to the Channel!
As ever, the Summer Term promises to be a busy and action packed twelve weeks. No sooner do we arrive back at school then we have Form 4 visiting York for the Friday and Saturday, a group of children taking part in the ‘Farr Out’ Challenge at St. Mary’s, Melrose, on the Saturday, and the Orchestra taking part in an orchestral day at Fettes on the Sunday. This first week accordingly sets the tone for the remainder of the term with plenty of excursions and opportunities to suit all pupils’ tastes, culminating in the Form 1 trip to Biggar and the Form 2 trip to the Lakes. There are a good number of sporting matches - Cricket, Rounders, Tennis and Athletics - that parents can attend throughout the term, and it is encouraging to see a greater number of Saturday fixtures on the cricket front for Dads to watch! The musicians will equally be as be busy as many of them work towards their Music Exams mid-term. I look forward very much to hearing our musicians perform, not only in the School Summer Concert, but a number of recitals that are planned throughout the term, as well as the choir who will continue to sing in our Sunday services at school.. May I draw your attention to the ‘Yanomamo Concert’ on Saturday, May 8th, followed by a Quiz Night. I do hope that many of you will be able to join us for the concert and then stay on for an enjoyable occasion thereafter. I believe you have already received details of the evening from Mike Gale, although if you have misplaced them and require a new copy, please feel free to contact Mike. Finally, we also wish our Scholarship and Common Entrance candidates the best of luck in what, for them, will be an especially exciting and nerve wracking term!
Whilst talking of the term’s events, I should add that a copy of the provisional term diary can be downloaded from the school website. Click on ‘Parents’ and then from ‘Downloads’ select ‘Calendar’. In addition to various reports on events and other school related information, I should also point out that directions to schools can also be downloaded using the same web page, while we have also added a recommended Reading List for those parents who are always looking for something for their children to read while at home; it covers all age ranges and comes with a guide as to the book’s level and suitability.
This term sees us welcoming Richard Greed, a Radley Housemaster, to Belhaven, whilst Sandy and I are booked in to visit St. Mary’s (Ascot), Eton, Harrow, Radley, Loretto and Stewart Melville’s. On the subject of Public Schools, I know a number of parents have been intrigued as to who the new Head of Harrow might be. I have now been informed that it is Mr. Jim Hawkins, currently Headmaster at Norwich School.
The mention of appointments brings me round to the various decisions that have been made with regard to next September at Belhaven. I am delighted to announce that David Peek and his wife, Jacqui, are to take on the Boys’ House, whilst Emma Rawson takes over the reins in the Girls’ House. In the classroom I will take on the senior History - a welcome return to my first love - whilst Naomi Farrell has been appointed as Head of French to replace Michel Rulliere. Following a national search for a suitable replacement, it became evident that we actually had the best candidate in the school already, in the shape of Naomi who has a French degree. As many of you already know, she is an excellent classroom practitioner, who is looking forward to the opportunity to return to teaching her Degree subject. It also provides us with the ideal situation in that she can work alongside Michel in his last term to ensure that the ‘baton’ is handed over smoothly, with minimal disruption for the following term. Interviews for Naomi’s replacement as a Classroom Teacher will take place early this term, but we are already inundated with a number of impressive candidates. We have also appointed Mrs Caroline Burton to teach senior Maths and Science. Caroline has recently returned to teaching after a short break to bring up her young family. She is currently teaching at George Watsons having been previously at Loretto(where her husband is Director of Sport). She comes very highly recommended, is a keen sportswoman and is eager to get involved in all that Belhaven offers.
These appointments also mean that from next September it will be possible to ‘set’ senior classes in the core subjects, as opposed to ‘streaming’ them, as we currently do, for all subjects. Such a system will allow children to work to their strengths whilst also ensuring that any weaknesses can be addressed and basics, if necessary, consolidated. This will ensure, for example, that a good Mathematician will not be held back because they are weak at English, and vice versa. This will also see a review of our current timetable, to ensure that such a system for Form 1 and 2 – and possibly Form 3 - can be successfully introduced. This will also create time in our working day for more flexibility as regards lectures, PSHE, ‘subject clinics’, etc. The logistics of implementing such a system in a small school presents many hurdles, but ones which we hope are not insurmountable. I will keep you informed as to how we are progressing later in the term, along with one or two other planned innovations in the pipeline for September, which we hope will further improve the education that Belhaven provides.
In the meantime I wish you all well and look forward to greeting many of you this week.
Yours sincerely,
Innes MacAskill
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