Belhaven Pre-Prep Sports' and Inaugural Grandparents' Day
including News of what the Pre-Prep has been getting up to so far this term.
Friday, 5th June 2026
Grandparents’ Day
On Wednesday 3rd June we held our very first Belhaven Pre-Prep Grandparents’ Day. This was an incredibly special and heart-warming day. It was wonderful to see the children’s faces when they saw their Grandparents arrive! Quickly, they introduced them to their friends and to all of the exciting things that they get up to at Belhaven.
As we know, being in Scotland means that you really cannot rely on the weather and Wednesday 3 June turned out to be one of those days. Our plan had been for the children to play some cricket and tennis before taking their guests to their classrooms for a tour. However, the heavens opened just as they all arrived!
Fortunately, we had arranged a last-minute wet weather plan: Miss Lloyd, our wonderful music teacher, put together the most fantastic concert which had everyone singing together: the audience were full of smiles and we may have spotted the odd tear! There really is little that beats singing ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ with your Grandparents.
The children loved showing their work in the classrooms, and many of the Grandparents were amazed by how much the delivery of education has changed since their own school days. This was followed by a delicious lunch in the marquee before a fascinating tour of the school with Mr Langton, during which they explored the various Art, DT, and STEM exhibitions and heard about the school’s exciting plans for the future.
Sports Day
On Friday 5th June, we held our Pre-Prep Sports Day, the highlight of our sporting calendar and the final Pre-Prep event of the year. As always, the weather was a concern right up until the morning of the event, but thankfully the sun shone, allowing us to enjoy a fun day of competition and outdoor picnics.
The day began with a performance from the Pipe Band. Feeling suitably inspired, the children headed to the opening events: the 800m and the Long Jump. The 800m produced two thrilling races, with both Rory and Jasper surpassing the previous record of 3 minutes 14 seconds. Rory claimed victory and set a new record of 3 minutes 11 seconds. Meanwhile, the Long Jump showcased some impressive performances, with competitors displaying great focus and determination while enjoying enthusiastic support from parents.
The 400m brought further success, with two new records set. Alice lowered the girls’ record by two seconds, finishing in 1 minute 33 seconds, while Rory broke the boys’ record by an impressive six seconds with a time of 1 minute 21 seconds. A special mention goes to Sandy in Form 8, who completed the entire race with a huge smile on his face. Every runner produced an excellent performance in this famously tough race.
Attention then turned to the High Jump, always one of the most atmospheric events of the day.
The encouragement shown by competitors and spectators alike was wonderful to see. As the competition reached its final stages, Rory and Struan both cleared the height required to equal the existing record. In a tense finish, Struan secured first place and therefore set a new record by successfully clearing 1 metre 10 centimetres.
The final individual events were the 80 metres and the Rounders Ball. While no records fell in the throwing competition, the sprint produced two more record-breaking performances. Both Rory and James bettered the previous mark by almost half a second, with Rory taking first place in a new record time of 13.08 seconds.
The programme then moved on to the ever-popular fun races: the potato and spoon race, skipping race, three-legged race and sack race. These events always bring plenty of laughter and enjoyment, and this year was no exception.
The day concluded with what many consider the most exciting event of all: the Patrol Relay. Every child took part in the two races, and it was fantastic to see such teamwork and determination on display. The Wolves won the first relay, while the Lions claimed victory in the second. Congratulations to all the children for their enthusiasm, effort and sportsmanship throughout a memorable day.
Victor Ludorum:
Winner: Rory
2nd: North
3rd: Struan
Victrix Ludorum:
Winner: Alice
2nd: Scout
3rd: Bella and Beatrice
Patrol:
Winner: Wolves
2nd: Lions
3rd: Owls
4th: Woodies
*****
What the Pre-Prep Forms have been getting up to so far this term:
Form 8/ R
In our topic work this term, both Reception and Form 8 have been learning through our ‘In the Garden’ theme. The children have shown interest in exploring the natural world around them and have been developing their understanding of how living things grow and change. We have been learning about minibeasts and their habitats, discussing what they need to survive and where they might be found in the garden environment. The children have also been learning about where our food comes from, linking this to plants we can grow and harvest. In Science, we have been focusing on identifying and comparing different types of plants and trees, noticing similarities and differences in leaves, stems and overall structure
In Maths, Reception have been developing their confidence with number through practical, hands-on learning experiences. They have been focusing on number bonds to 5 and 10, using objects, games and visual resources to help them build a strong understanding of how numbers can be made in different ways. Form 8 have been extending their learning in multiplication and division. They have been working on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s and applying this knowledge to grouping and sharing activities, helping them to develop a clear understanding of equal groups and early number relationships.
In Literacy, we have been reading ‘The Secret Sky Garden’ and using the text as inspiration for our own creative work. The children have enjoyed exploring the story and thinking about the idea of transforming an empty space into something beautiful. They have designed and described their own sky gardens, using their senses to bring their ideas to life. The children have been encouraged to think carefully about what they might see, hear, feel and smell in their gardens, helping them to build imaginative descriptions.
Form 7
Our recent Literacy lessons have focussed on writing for persuasive purposes. The children recently listened to a captivating story, ‘There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom’, about an orphaned orangutan who had lost his home due to deforestation. In our topic lessons, the children learnt about the palm oil industry and how palm oil can be found in many of our household products. This just wasn’t acceptable in the eyes of our passionate Form 7 children, who are currently in the process of writing to ‘Chocolate Company Bosses’, ‘Loggers’ and ‘Palm Oil Companies’ to encourage them to make better choices! Our learning in Literacy this term has made this project possible.
The children are using powerful statements, thought-provoking questions, provocative exclamations and bossy commands to really make these industries think about their actions. It’s so pleasing to see how the children’s skills are coming together!
In Maths, the children having been getting to grips with telling the time. Having mastered o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to, they’ve recently moved onto telling the time in 5-minute intervals. We’ve looked at the symmetry of a clock, and how if its ‘10 past’ on one side, then it must be ‘10 to’ on the other, and so on. This is certainly proving to be a challenge for some of our learners, but they are showing remarkable resilience and problem-solving skills as we power through this challenging unit of learning.
In Science, our learning about life cycles has reached an exciting point – our class caterpillars have moved into their chrysalises! The children have been learning about how animals and humans change over time. They’ve looked closely at males and females, considering how their bodies differ as they grow. The children have approached this topic with impressive maturity, asking thoughtful questions and using lots of new ‘scientific’ vocabulary.
Form 6
In Literacy we have finished our information texts and have started to look at writing a diary in character. In order to do this, it was important to fully know their own story about how they discovered their mythical creature and what happened when they brought them home to their bedroom. We then interviewed each other in character, asking all sorts of questions such as ‘What were you doing when you found the fruit?’, ‘How did the creature wake you up?’ and ‘What was the first thing that your creature did after hatching?’. This will help to structure our final diary entry. We have started writing descriptions using stylistic devices to enhance their writing. Our main focus has been on similes, metaphors, personification and alliteration.
In Maths we have continued with our multiplication and division topic focusing on linking the two together using inverse operations. We then moved on to dividing using flexible partitioning, for example, 52 divided by 4. We split the 50 into 40 and 12 so that each part can be divided perfectly by 4. Finally, we looked at division with remainders using lollipop sticks to create shapes depending on what we were dividing by. For example, 17 divided by 4 - you can make squares and see how many don’t fit into a square and 17 divided by 3 you can make triangles and so on.
We have now started fractions, and we are recapping over vocabulary such as numerator, denominator and unit fractions.
In Science we have been monitoring the growth of our plants. Sadly, we did not quite get the results we expected and some which were only meant to have 2 seeds somehow had 6! It prompted good discussions about fair tests and ensuring we follow the instructions for the experiments carefully. We have talked about water transport in plants and used a celery stick to demonstrate this. We split the bottom part in two and put one half in red water and the other in blue water. When we came in the next morning, we could see that the food colouring had made its way all the way to the top of the celery. We then moved on to the parts of flowering plants, pollination and seed dispersal.
The children have really enjoyed this and have been brilliant at discussing and explaining these different processes.
In Topic we have started to discuss National Parks in the UK, focusing on the Cairngorms and the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Parks. We have looked at the problems that occur in them and discussed ways that we could help improve them.
