Pre-Prep:
A happy hum on the breeze has been the soundtrack to the last couple of weeks as the children have been making the most of the spring-like weather and longer days. The polytunnel and vegetable patches are looking spick and span as all 3 Forms have worked with great energy and enthusiasm in Outdoor Education to clear the way for spring planting. There has also been the excitement of some eagerly-anticipated events in the calendar...read on!
World Book Day 2025 saw a beautifully warm and sunny day at Belhaven, allowing the children to really revel in their costumes – and what a fantastic array of characters we met! After a photo shoot in the sunshine, the children all came together to discuss and present their costume choices. We followed this with some paired reading where all the children were mixed across the Forms. Our next creative activity was looking at illustrations. We watched the latest video from author and illustrator Corrina Campbell and the children all took part in creating their own characters. We finished off with a story from our Head of English in the Prep School, Mr Purkiss.
Earlier in the week, Mrs Baillie very kindly come into the Pre-Prep to make some delicious crêpes with us for Shrove Tuesday. As she prepared the pancakes, she talked to the children about Lent and the reason that pancakes are made before it begins. The children had lots of ideas about what they might give up, including chocolate and TV.
Another highlight since half term has been the Belhaven Cross-Country Championships. Since September, the children have been working hard on their running every Thursday and, this year, we had 4 children in the Pre-Prep representing the School in the U9 team. They were: Jasper (Form 7) Rory, Rufus and Harris (Form 6). The boys ran with great courage on Sunday and did themselves proud!
Outdoor Education
Prior to celebrating the arrival of spring and all the fabulous colour appearing around the grounds, the Pre-Prep were also taking care of their flighted friends, whilst the frost still lay, by making bird feeders. All three classes made and hung fat balls using pine cones and bird seed. We had undertaken an experiment last term to determine the very best spot to hang the feeders and, their chosen spots – protected, hidden yet accessible to small birds – did not disappoint! We had to top up the feeders within a week as they were so popular!
Mrs Lang
After School Club
In 'After School Thread Skills', we have been learning the art of cross stitch! It requires such focus as it combines so many fiddly new skills. We test our fine motor skills, precision, mathematics and creativity, and yet the session feels so relaxed! It is an utter joy to be amongst this group in which the most wonderful conversation takes place – watch this space as their projects take shape...!
Mrs Lang
Classwork
Form 8
In Form 8 we have continued with our book 'The Boy Who Sailed Around the World ' and have been having a go at using conjunctions such as 'and' and 'but' in our writing. In non-fiction we have been learning the features of information texts, such as the title and subheadings through reading a piece on Amelia Earhart.
In Maths, some have continued to work on place value up to 20, while others have been working on multiplication. We have all been looking at measuring capacity and volume.
In our Games lessons we are learning all about netball. We have started with throwing and catching a bean bag. Some were even able to throw the beanbag up and clap before catching it again. Next, we will move on to throwing and catching using the netballs.
In our Science lessons, we have been looking at the features of carnivores and herbivores. Alongside this we continue to study dinosaurs in our topic lessons and have been learning about palaeontologists. We have looked at fossils and learnt about the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. I wonder if Form 8 can remember the names of the seven continents. We have been learning a very catchy song!
Mrs Hutchison
Form 7
In our English lessons, we have been using the Little People Big Dreams book about Amelia Earhart to inspire some wonderful pieces of writing. The children have been learning about open and closed questions, as well as rhetorical questions, and have used their new skills to write a magazine article all about Earhart’s record-breaking achievements. They started off by writing open questions to ask Amelia Earhart, then used their best acting skills to answer as if they were Amelia Earhart!
In Maths, the children are nearing the end of their learning on multiplication and division. We have been focussing on using facts from the 2, 5 and 10 times tables to solve complex problems. The children have learnt to use arrays, number lines and concrete materials to represent and solve problems. We’ve also looked closely at doubling and halving and how this relates to the 2 times table. At home, the children should continue to consolidate their rapid recall of multiplication and division facts. They can also use Times Tables Rockstars to support.
In Topic, the children have been hooked on learning about the history of flight. They’ve learnt all about the achievements of key individuals such as The Montgolfier Brothers, The Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart and Yuri Garagin, to name a few. This area of learning has inspired our Spoken English, and the children are now working hard to prepare their speeches!
In Science, we have just started learning about plants. We’ve started of this unit by focussing on the parts of a plant as well as what plants need to survive. Next, we’ll be carrying out a series of investigations to find out in what conditions plants thrive!
Miss Birrell
Form 6
In our literacy lessons we have continued to work on our writing using the book, ‘The Tunnel’. We have been learning about a range of features to help build suspense. The first feature involves using short, snappy sentences and the second feature has been using ‘show, don’t tell’ – this technique involves showing what someone is feeling rather than stating the name of the feeling. For example, ‘Her heart started to beat hard in her chest’. This is more engaging for the reader and creates a stronger visual image. We are now working towards our third technique; metaphors and personification.
We are now getting closer to our Spoken English Competition and the children have chosen their topics. We have planned their talks using spider diagrams and working out subheadings to help maintain a good structure throughout. Next week we will finish them off and type them up ready to start learning delivery techniques.
In Maths we have been focussing on multiplication and division. One of the key concepts is that multiplication and division are strongly connected, something children often forget. If you know your times tables, division will be much easier. We are currently working on our 3-, 4- and 8-times tables. Lots of practice and repetition is needed to consolidate this.
In Science we finished off our rocks topic by testing them for hardness, sinking and floating and reaction to acid. The children learned the importance of a fair test and what you change and keep the same in each test. They also had to neatly and carefully record their results in a table and make observations.
We have now moved onto fossils and learning about the different types as well as the fossilisation process. We have been looking at the misconception that fossils are bones and that they can form in 50-100 years. The idea that this process takes thousands of years can be quite hard to grasp. This is often a fun topic as everyone seems to be fascinated by dinosaurs!
Mrs Johnstone
