Pre-Prep: Little Angels Get their Wings!

The second half of term has been a bit of a blur in Pre-Prep! We’ve been embracing all things Christmas, with the festivities kicking off with our wonderful Nativity, 'Little Angel Gets His Wings'. We’ve had Christmas Jumper Day, our delicious Christmas Lunch followed by Scottish reels, and we’ve ended the year on a high by joining the whole school Carol Concert in Belhaven Church. Impressively, we’ve also managed to squeeze in lots of learning in amongst all that fun!

Classwork

Reception / Form 8 – In Literacy, Reception have now learnt 16 sounds and have been working hard to blend these sounds to read simple words. In Form 8, we have now completed our class book, 'Ivy and the Lonely Raincloud' and have been working on including finger spaces, full stops and capital letters in our independent writing.

In Numeracy, the children have been practising addition and subtraction within 10, as well as naming and identifying 2D and 3D shapes. Next term, we will continue to develop our addition and subtraction skills and begin exploring length and height.

In Science, we have finished our topic on seasonal changes, learning about the key differences across the four seasons and how day length varies throughout the year. Our next topic will focus on materials, including wood, glass, plastic and metal. The children will learn to compare and group materials based on their simple physical properties.

Our seven station challenges have been full of festive fun including decorating the Christmas tree with pegs, making paper chains, exploring fake snow, and engaging in a range of Christmas counting and writing activities.

Form 7 – In our Literacy lessons, we’ve concluded our unit of learning which was inspired by our class text, 'Toby and the Great Fire of London'. In recent weeks, the children put to good use their learning about non-fiction books to create their own Great Fire of London books. Impressively, the children managed to include a front cover, subheadings, diagrams and even a contents page! It was so pleasing to see the children incorporate their prior learning into their books, with evidence of expanded noun phrases, adverbs, conjunctions and appropriate punctuation to be seen throughout.

Above: Form 7 planning their Great Fire of London stories and then sharing them with Form 3 who, in turn, read their own short stories.

In our Numeracy lessons, the children have been learning to add and subtract 2 and 3-digit numbers (with some children even learning to exchange)! Using 'maths manipulatives', the children have learnt to make concrete representations of the problem before finding the answer by following methodical steps. Each and every child has experienced success during these lessons! In maths, the children have been learning to identify and describe 2D and 3D shapes using mathematical vocabulary such as sides, faces, edges and vertices.

Above: Identifying 'vertices', 'edges' and 'faces' on 3D shapes and learning about oceans and continents, connected to their topic on the Titanic.

In Science, the children have been learning to identify if a plant, animal or object is living, dead or never alive. They know to look for certain criteria, such as does it need food, water or air, can it move, or can it grow? This learning prompted some interesting class debates, with the children arguing over whether a wooden table was dead or never alive...

Form 6 – Form 6 have now completed their writing unit surrounding our class novel 'Stone Age Boy'. The children created their own story based on Stone Age Boy with their main character travelling back in time. The children explored the key events and characters before planning their own versions. We used lots of pictures and visuals to help plan and organise our ideas before beginning our writing.

In their stories, the pupils practised writing in clear paragraphs whilst also including expanded noun phrases to add further detail. We focused on using accurate speech marks to show dialogue between characters. The children enjoyed experimenting with different vocabulary and developing their storytelling voices. It was great to see their creativity and their enjoyment when creating their own story.

In Numeracy, we have been focussing on addition and subtraction. The pupils have been learning to solve problems using column addition, both with and without exchange. We have used concrete materials to show this visually and physically throughout different columns. This has been a tricky topic, but the children have coped brilliantly! It is great to see their confidence grow when using different strategies.

We have just started our new science topic of nutrition. This involves looking at different food groups whilst understanding what it means to have a ‘balanced diet’. From here, we have sorted different foods into each food group. As we move through this topic, we will develop our understanding on the effects each group has on our bodies whilst comparing human and animal diets.

Above: Lots of focus and fine motor skills on display as Form 6 thread bird feeders in Outdoor Ed.

Music

Pre-Prep have come on in leaps and bounds with their singing, both in their technical abilities, and in their ability to memorise lyrics and actions. While these are useful musicianship skills, they are also skills which impact cognitive development across the board. This serves a reminder that school music doesn’t have to be about creating little musicians, but better, happier, healthier learners.

The Nativity gave lots of children the chance to sing solos or in small groups, which is a testament to this cohort’s courage. Well done to everyone who sang. I am very proud of you all. The Carol Service on the last day of term offered the Pre-Prep the opportunity to sing in a lovely big venue, and to experience singing in harmony for the first time, thanks to our song The Tree of Light when Pre Prep Choir were joined by the Chamber Choir. It was a wonderful opportunity for our the youngest pupils to be part of such a big sound, and for them to make music with our oldest pupils, to whom the Pre-Prep look up. These supportive and encouraging connections across year groups is part of what makes Belhaven so special.

Nativity – Little Angel Gets His Wings

Read Mr Langton's review of the Pre-Prep Nativity...

'The Pre-Prep Nativity was held on Friday 5 December. There were many, many highlights – I thought that the camels and stars were particularly excellent and the finger clicking that accompanied one of the songs was expertly executed – but there is no doubt that the ‘Wow’ moments were all musical.

The ambition of the ensemble pieces, with several different sections working in perfect harmony and an astonishing range of competent soloists (a couple of whom were standing in for friends who were sadly ill on the day) showed just what a high level of attainment can be achieved with brilliant teaching and encouragement.

Thanks to the PTFA, we now have a wonderful new sound system, with roving microphones and reliable speakers, and they amplified a brilliant performance from these little actors! Well done to all in the Pre-Prep, staff and children, but particular thanks to Miss Birrell and Miss Lloyd for creating such a wonderful ensemble.'

Pre-Prep Nativity 2025

After School Club – Christmas Creativity

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in After School Club! Pre-Prep having been getting their decorations ready and baking delicious festive treats. It was wonderful to see the origami trees, paper chains and wreaths decorating the dining room for their Christmas lunch.