Day

Day Children 

“The location for us was key, not just being right alongside a beautiful beach and very accessible to everything that East Lothian and Edinburgh has to offer, but the size of the school and the grounds itself; it has a really lovely feeling.” (Andrew, Day Parent)

Why be a Day Pupil?

Belhaven is very popular with day children who benefit from the school’s action-packed, all-round education. Most of our 4 to 8 year-olds (in the Pre-Prep) and some older children (in the Prep School) are day pupils.

As a leading boarding and day Prep School for 4 to 13-year-olds, day pupils have more time and opportunities for sport, music and art & design.  Everyone benefits from the success of our 100 year-old, all-round education ethos. 

We have built a holistic curriculum which is centred around exciting, varied topics that blend traditional and modern education, indoors and outdoors, natural and digital. This ensures the children are fully engaged and love school.

We also operate daily minibus services to Haddington, North Berwick and Berwick-Upon-Tweed (see timetables).

Key ingredients of a day pupil education at Belhaven

• A safe parkland campus and beaches to run, play and be children.
• An Outdoor Education programme that builds resilience and supports mental wellbeing.
• A solid foundation in computers, computational thinking and problem solving.
• Small class sizes and outstanding Learning Support, ensuring real individual attention and academic results that exceed expectations.
• Opportunities to play sport and practice art, music and drama, supported by specialist teachers.
• Diverse and exciting extra-curricular activities to ‘have a go’ without fear of failure.
• A friendly, family ambience which develops happy, confident children.

Choose boarding when you want to

Children can opt into boarding at any time to gain the full benefit of the school’s wealth of activities.  We offer 'Taster boarding' experiences (typically Thursday to Sunday mornings) and 'Transition to boarding' – a longer, phased approach to full boarding, arranged to suit individual family circumstances.

Find out more about Boarding at Belhaven

Seeing the grins on the pupils' faces at evening pick-up - both those going home and the majority who are heading in for supper ... To know one's child is part of such a happy school is a real joy.

(Parent, Form 4)

Day Pupil Timings

Every 2 weeks the school has a 'Weekend Out', which means that we will finish at 1pm on the Friday.  If possible, we encourage Pre-Prep children to be picked up at 12.45.

Pastoral Care

Whether you choose day or boarding, the happiness and welfare of your children is of the utmost importance to us all: pastoral care is at the heart of everything that we do at Belhaven.

This is why we have a dedicated and multi-layered pastoral team, including our Assistant Pastoral Lead and Wellbeing Lead under the guidance of the Deputy Head (Systems and Welfare). This ensures that we are able to discuss and address any concerns and resolve them via our internal support network or to make referrals to a growing number of external partner providers.

The school is divided into four Patrols, each one led by a member of staff. They are aided by a boy and a girl Patrol Leader in their final year and Junior Patrol Captains in Form 3 who are responsible for looking out for the other members of their patrol.

Forms 1, 2 and 3 have a choice of Form Tutor who they meet daily to discuss co-curricular commitments, ongoing academic progress and any concerns.

Pupils in Forms 4 and 5 are taught and looked after by their Form Teachers who can be approached by a child with any concerns or worries. Again, they meet daily.

Children in the Pre-Prep are taught and looked after by their Form Teachers and a member of the Child Protection team is designated to support the staff in resolving any concerns.

There is a strong network of other staff throughout the school with whom the children can talk, including other subject staff, Houseparents, the Matrons or the Headmaster and his wife. The relationship between staff and pupils is of fundamental importance at Belhaven and is based around a framework of mutual respect.

Our excellent team of a Nurse, Wellbeing Lead, Pupil Support and 5 matrons ensure the physical welfare of each child.