Belhaven Hill School

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Dear <<First Name>>,

View from the Study

Whilst, sadly, there is no escaping the fact that COVID has once again tried to take centre stage over the past few weeks, I would once again like to focus on what we have managed to achieve thanks to the heroic efforts of the whole Belhaven community – staff, parents and children.

Trips have taken place, hybrid lessons have been taught, interview practices held, money has been raised for charity, plans for sustainability made...!

I sincerely hope that half term will act as something of a ‘circuit breaker’ and then we can look forward to a second half of term full of face-to-face lessons, matches with spectators and a festive atmosphere as we approach Christmas - I remain optimistic!

Enjoy a well earned break over half term.

Olly Langton

The Eagle's Eye

Thank you everyone for your heroic efforts over the last two weeks!

COPPS1

Belhaven helps local primary schools & Scottish prep schools build on COP26

We are excited to announce our intention to host the inaugural Community of Primary and Prep Schools on 17th March 2022.

Inspired by the impetus that we all anticipate will be provided by COP26 next month in Glasgow, we are inviting local primary schools and every prep school in Scotland to send a delegation of pupils to present on an environmental topic of their choice.

We have our Eco group already working towards this event and will dedicate time after this term’s exams to the production of the 3 Ps – a Poster, Presentation and a Product or Plan - for an initiative or charity. This will be judged by a panel of experts and keynote speakers on the day. All schools will be asked to focus their attention on developing their own 3 Ps.

This is a three-term project that involves preparation this term. the event itself in March and then, hopefully, a Scottish primary and prep schools charity event in the Summer term.

If you would like to be involved at any stage, please do let me know!

Ghosts, Dungeons and Cannons at Bamburgh Castle

On Friday 8th October, Form 4 headed south to the impressive Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland to continue their study of castles. Here are some of their ghoulish impressions:

“I loved Bamburgh Castle because its location is on a huge rocky hill next to the sea. It had amazing battlements and crenellations and the dungeons were dark and creepy. Mrs Townshend suggested leaving some of us there!”

“Our trip to Bamburgh Castle was fun because Jim, our tour guide, told us ghost stories. The dungeon was my favourite part – they had people holding mice!”

“One ghost story involved a boy who was looking for his father years ago. Apparently the boy still appears in the castle as a ghost – we didn’t see him.”

“I really liked all of the cannons and the weapons – there were long guns which had knives at the top. The armour was amazing.”

“The castle is still inhabited by the Armstrong family and you can actually get married there or book into one of the holiday apartments. The great hall was very impressive with huge portraits hung from the walls.”

Interview Practice Added to the Curriculum

Another event on Friday 8th was the visit of the former Headmaster of Beaudesert Park Prep School, James Womersley. Mr. Womersley offers interview practice to prep school aged children around the country, and this is an integral part of our plan to introduce more structure to our preparation for senior school entry.

He very much enjoyed his day, despite Covid playing fast and loose with his timetable. This will now become an annual fixture that will sit alongside our new access to the Atom learning platform, to which all children have access.

It was wonderful to welcome such an experienced Prep School Head to Belhaven and to show him around for the first time – he was hugely impressed by the children’s friendly and open attitude.

Spoken English Final Postponed

Owing to the number of pupils currently away from school, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the Spoken English final, due to take place today. We hope to be able to confirm a new date and time early next week.

Hopefully, this will allow us to welcome parents back to school for an indoor event for the first time in a long time! The children have all put an enormous amount of effort into their speeches and it will be a great treat to hear them live.

Watch the Jak Purkiss Interview

Meet Mr. Purkiss

Mr. Purkiss has joined us from London this term and has already made a great impression in the English, History and TPR departments.

He is also inspiring a rapid improvement in our football and has made significant progress in encouraging both boys and girls to play in a more structured way!

We are hoping to line up some football fixtures and build on the excitement that he has created – welcome to you and Izzy, Mr. P!

Watch Interview

Form 6 explore Lochend Woods during Outdoor Education.

Form 6 – Be Courageous, Be Creative, Be Courteous

Exploring our School Values

At the heart of Belhaven are our three school values; Courage, Courtesy and Creativity. These values are what makes Belhaven such a special place to be. We're having a look at how Form 6 have incorporated these values into their daily learning over the past fortnight:

Meet the Teacher Event: Form 6 welcomed their parents into the classroom for the first time, then took them on a tour around the classrooms to show them their wonderful work.

Sport & Outdoor Education: the children have continued to work on their hockey and rugby skills. They also enjoyed a trip to explore Lochend Woods during Outdoor Education.

Adventurous Amy: The tales of Adventurous Amy have continued as she left school for an exciting weekend down in the Borders.

Walled Garden Activity Club: This has been very popular,

Art and DT: The children have created story board ideas in DT for their animation about Scottish inventors.