Pre-Prep: November Begins with a Bang!
The second half of term started with a bang, quite literally, as we celebrated Bonfire Night at Belhaven. The Pre-Prep children loved their hot dog dinner around the ‘campfire’, and devoured their toffee apples as they watched the impressive display of fireworks (watch our Instagram Reel)! There’s been a buzz in Pre-Prep since the announcement of our Christmas Nativity, and we’re now fully in the swing of rehearsals. We can’t wait to perform to family and friends in just a few short weeks!
Read on to find out more about the past fortnight in Pre-Prep....
Reception & Form 8
Since the last Eagles’s Eye, we have had a fantastic trip to Balgone Pumpkin Patch! The children enjoyed a spooky walk around the lake, and each chose their very own pumpkin from the patch. It was a wonderful day out, filled with excitement and autumn fun.
In Science, we have finished our topic on The Human Body, where we learned all about the five senses. Our next topic will focus on Weather, Seasons, and Seasonal Changes – perfect timing as we move further into autumn.
In Literacy, we have been exploring nouns and adjectives through our class book, Ivy and the Lonely Raincloud, as well as continuing to learn our Set 1 or Set 2 sounds. In Numeracy, we are beginning to explore addition and subtraction using Numicon, ten frames, and our very own class adding machine. The hands-on activities are helping everyone build strong number sense and confidence.
Our Seven Challenge Stations have been full of creativity, fine motor and problem-solving opportunities, from making our own poppies, and balancing the scales, to building a Numicon City, playing snakes and ladders, and creating colourful chalk firework drawings.
Our role play area is undergoing an exciting transformation – it is changing from an autumn cafe into a Post Office! We can’t wait to see it come to life as we learn through play.
Mrs Hutchison
Form 7In our literacy lessons, the children have been learning about non-fiction texts. They can now identify the features of a non-fiction book, including the contents page, index, subheadings and diagrams. In the coming weeks, we will put this knowledge to good use whilst writing and illustrating our own fact books to document our learning about The Great Fire of London.
In numeracy, we have started to explore addition and subtraction. The children have been revisiting number bonds to 10, then using related facts to solve more complex problems, for example, if 6+4=10 then 60+40=100. The children have been learning to add three 1-digit numbers together by spotting the number bond, for example 2+8+7 should be added by making 10 first, then adding the extra 7. We have been using lots of concrete materials to aid our learning which has helped us to visualise the numbers in our heads.
In Science, the children have become experts at identifying the needs for survival of different animal groups. Over the next few weeks, they’ll expand on this learning by looking at animal habitats and diets, with a particular focus on food chains.
In our topic lessons, we’ve started learning about our next disaster – the sinking of the Titanic. We’ll be trying to work out why this seemingly ‘unsinkable’ ship met its demise, and who was to blame? Whilst learning about the Great Fire of London, the children made fantastic comparisons between life then and now, so I’m looking forward to helping them identify the changes that have come about as a result of this maritime disaster!
Miss Birrell
Form 6
Above: Form 6 exploring in Outdoor Education – see Mrs Lang's account below.
In Literacy, Form 6 have been working on developing their descriptive language to help tell a story. This has included using expanded noun phrases and beginning to challenge ourselves to use inverted commas within our writing. We have begun to plan our own stories relating Stone Age Boy, thinking carefully about our ideas and how to organise our work. Soon, we will begin to write these stories using all the skills and techniques we have learnt over this term. We have also been developing our dictionary and thesaurus skills and how we can use this to edit and improve our writing.
Above left: Using concrete materials to help with addition and subtraction. Above right: planning a story using our writing frame.
In Numeracy, we have started to develop our understanding of addition and subtraction. We have revisited number bonds, recognising patterns and how this can help us with larger numbers. The children are using their mental maths skills and quick recall to tackle different problems. We have been exploring how adding and subtracting 1s, 10s and 100s impacts the place value of each digit, applying our knowledge from the beginning of term. We will begin to look at a variety of strategies to help us solve 3-digit problems with some challenging themselves with 4-digit numbers.
During Science lessons, we have continued to explore the human skeleton and how bones are connected by joints. We have been learning to recognise different types of joints and how to tell which are hinge joints and which are ball-and-socket joints. From there, we will begin to look at how we move, identifying different muscles and understanding when they relax and contract.
Castle life has been the focus of Topic lessons – identifying features of a castle and the different roles within them. We will begin to look at this more closely by learning the history of Tantallon Castle and what life was like in the 14th century. We will also research an important Scottish figure, Robert the Bruce, and his impact on Scotland during The Middle Ages.
Form 6 practising for their Nativity 'Pre-show Performance'
Miss Masterton
Outdoor Education
As the days shorten and the woolly hats make an appearance we, as always, have been embracing this new season with great enthusiasm!
The pre-prep classes have been learning how our wild Belhaven hedgehogs prepare for winter whilst exploring, documenting and identifying the grubs they feast on in our surrounds! We have helped by preparing good areas for them to shelter and potentially hibernate.
With the abundance of colourful leaves on the ground we have been channeling Andy Goldsworthy and creating wonderful leaf art. We are so lucky to have the space to really embrace the changing seasons and follow them in real time.
To this end, we have put our waterproofs to the test and enjoyed an exploration theme in all corners of the school grounds, learning what it is to work together in the wilderness.
As part of this survival theme, and woven very much into this time of year, we have also been working on fire safety and how to successfully build a campfire...in order to roast marshies! The Form 7s and were transported back to 1666 and tasked with helping our friend Mr Tom the baker to get his loaves in the oven on Pudding Lane, London. Unfortunately the wind was up, and our buckets too small, and we were therefore responsible for the very greatest fire of London. Majority of the city went up in flames. What a spectacle!
Luckily, this tied into their curriculum and so we used it as a learning opportunity and coined our newest phrase; 'When life gives you fire, you roast marshmallows'. What happy tummies! What happy Pre-Preppers!
Mrs Lang
