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| 11th February 2022 |
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Dear <<First Name>>,
View from the Study
Last Friday’s assembly saw a presentation from the ‘Project Polar Bear’ team; Charlie, Tom, Harry and Laurie. These four Form 2 boys have, under Mr. Pook’s guidance, created a prototype for entry into the annual Raspberry Pi competition.
This year’s theme is ‘Innovations to save the planet’. In their presentation, the boys talked about the challenges that they have had to overcome and the lessons that they have learned: working as a team, time management and budgetary control all providing significant obstacles, not to mention the difficulty of learning the necessary coding language. For more details - please watch this video clip.
Whatever the final result, the process has been extraordinarily positive for this group of young entrepreneurs. They have, I believe, inspired a similar appetite for risk and challenge amongst their fellow pupils.
Learning at Belhaven should be about having the courage to try, and the confidence that, succeed or fail, they do so in a safe environment that recognises their efforts.
Olly Langton |
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| Congratulations to everyone who has been entered for a scholarship or award. Henry pictured. |
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| Scholarship News |
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Many congratulations to all of those who have entered for Scholarships – we have Form 1s aiming for Academic, Sport, Music, Drama, Art and All Round awards at some of the top schools in the UK.
Walter was at Rugby for his music audition recently. Bee (Academic and Art) and James (Academic and Sport) have been at St. Mary’s Ascot and Strathallan this week, so we await news on their endeavours.
George C performed well in the Academic Scholarship at Oundle and has secured his place.
Yesterday we heard the fantastic news that Henry S has been awarded a Music Scholarship and a Drama Scholarship to Loretto – huge congratulations from us all! |
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| Reeling Rite of Passage Returns |
On Saturday, the Tibbermore Band returned to Belhaven for the first time since 2020 to play a set of reels for Forms 1 and 2 and their parents. This wonderful, traditional Belhaven event has become something of a rite of passage. So, the evening was an important one for the children, and, possibly, even more so for their parents!
Hard on the heels of Scotland’s narrow victory over England in the Calcutta Cup, there was a celebratory feel to the whole evening, enhanced by the Belhaven Pipe Band and the first ever performance of the new Belhaven Drum Salute, written by Mr. Henry. It will also be performed at the Mansfield Cup – it is certainly something to anticipate!
Bravo to the catering and domestic team for all of their hard work in preparing for the evening, well done to the children for some excellent reeling. An enormous thank you to Sophy and Alex Campbell and the team of parents who have given so much time and effort in teaching the children how to reel. |
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| Blake is Mastermind Champion! |
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| Mastermind Rebooted |
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Monday 7th February saw the return of the Mastermind Final! A break of two years meant that the majority of the children had not experienced the excitement of the competition.
It was interesting to note the impact on numbers signing up – in microcosm, an indication of the impact of the interruption to routine caused by the pandemic and the negative consequences for confidence as a result.
But the competition surely received the re-boot that it required, courtesy of our six brave finalists from Forms 2 and 3.
See Mrs. Gale’s report on the evening – thank you to her for running a fantastic event - and congratulations to Blake, the Mastermind Champion for 2022. Who will challenge him in 2023 and 2024? |
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| Thistles Trials Selections Success |
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Well done to all those who put themselves forward for the Thistles selection last week.
On Friday afternoon, the boys and girls travelled to St. Mary’s for the trials and some excellent performances were rewarded by the following selections for the representative side:
- Hockey: Harry B, George C, Walter C, Hugo J and James T
- Netball: Hester B, Grace C-B, Eliza J and Alice T
Congratulations and good luck to you all! |
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| Meet Fi Semple, our new Pre-Prep teacher! |
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| Pre-Prep News: Fi Semple Appointed as New Pre-Prep Teacher |
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I am delighted to announce that Mrs. Fi Semple will join Belhaven in April as we launch the Pre-Prep. Here is her brief biography:
Fi Semple will join the launch of the Pre-Prep in April 2022 where she will become the new Form 7 teacher. For the last few years, she has been working at George Watson's College in Edinburgh, both as a Junior School French teacher and as a class teacher.
What she most enjoys about this age group is the children's natural curiosity for the world around them and the rapid pace at which they pick up new skills. She loves making the process of learning as active and engaging as possible and she is looking forward to having even greater opportunities to take learning outside in the beautiful surroundings at Belhaven.
Fi will be relocating to East Lothian in the spring and is looking forward to spending more time at the beach paddle boarding!
See more on Form 6 February Frolics - Patrol Cross Country, Gophin, their Space Topic, Mary Poppins, Computer Science and Star of the Fortnight - by clicking the button below! |
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| Have book. Will read! |
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| Diary Dates |
| Parent Teacher Meetings & Belhaven Book Fair |
...On Friday 4th March:
- Forms 2 and 5 Parent Teacher Meetings – 11.15am-1pm
- Forms 3 and 4 Concert – 11.15am-12noon
- Belhaven Book Fair – 12noon-1pm
The Parent/Teacher meetings will be held in the Dining Rooms and, once you have seen the teachers, you will be able to go to the Book Fair in the Front Hall.
The PTFA have kindly offered to run a book sale in the Front Hall too. This will be a chance to buy and sell some second-hand children’s books and raise money for Can Do East Lothian in the process. If you have any school-age books in good condition that you would like to donate, then please do bring them back at the start of the second half of term and put them in the boxes that will be in the Front Hall. The book sale will be accompanied by a journey breaker cup of tea or coffee.
Thursday 26th May 2022
A date for your diaries – on the evening of 26th May, the PTFA will host a Jubilee Party at Belhaven. This will serve not only to mark the extraordinary milestone achieved by Her Majesty the Queen, but also to kickstart a year of celebrations leading up to the Belhaven Centenary Ball on Saturday 27th May 2023. Further details to follow - please save both dates! |
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| Senior School Meetings |
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If you would like to attend any of the following events, please email the Secretary on secretary@belhavenhill.com :
Friday 25th February – Jonny Hammond-Chambers (Oundle registrar) will visit Belhaven. 1.30 and 2.30pm.
Sunday 27th February – Helen Harrison (Head at Fettes) will be preaching at our Sunday service at Belhaven at 10.30am. There will be coffee afterwards in the drawing room. (The service at St. Anne’s has had to be postponed once again due to their Covid regulations).
Tuesday 1st March – James Shone will be at Belhaven between 12noon and 2pm. There will be a limited number of spaces available. Richard Greed (Radley Senior Master) will be bringing a team to Belhaven in the afternoon to talk to parents and pupils (1-4pm). |
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