Spring and Summer Terms 2021
Above all else, the academic success and personal development of the Fettes Prep School children gives us all, as parents and teachers, the greatest sense of fulfilment and reward. That we were able to continue to achieve this throughout the Lockdown, is something to be truly celebrated. However, it has been with immense joy that we have been able to welcome the children back. The happiness of the children has shone through; it seems to come naturally to them when they are here. At the end of the Spring Term, first M Form and then the rest of the children bounced back into face-to-face learning. Our glorious environment has lifted the spirits of all of us, but, even as we return to a form of welcome normality, I hope that we will treasure the camaraderie, energy and sense of joy that is so vividly recorded in this edition of the Busy Bee. Adam Edwards Headmaster, Fettes Prep School
A Note from the Editor
This edition of Busy Bee brings the story of the Spring and Summer Terms together. From the sudden lockdown of January, through some dark and chilly days to the gradual return of our pupils in February and March, the Spring Term culminated in a celebratory week back at school. We were delighted to be in each other’s company, learning and laughing together again. Summer Term started with a return to relative normality and whilst it was true that we hadn’t been able to enjoy our usual programme of events, trips, and fixtures, we made up for this with classroom adventures, outdoor performances, and fun and games on the sports pitches. We revelled in the sunshine and the longer, lighter days and the entire community showed their determination to make the absolute best of the circumstances. www.fettes.com www.fettes.com/FettesPrep www.twitter.com/Fettes_College www.flickr.com/Fettes_College www.facebook.com/FettesCollegeFettesPrep www.instagram.com/fettes.college
LIFE
Around the World
Once again, we were spread far and wide at the start of lockdown. Despite the geographical divide, we had plenty of opportunities to get together including Tutor Time, live PE lessons and individual music sessions. Our subject learning timetable consisted of four scheduled lessons each day, and an increasing number of these took place live as the term progressed.
Tutor Time
Wherever we were in the world, our tutors were available to give us extra support and guidance. Hannah joined her tutor group from Hong Kong so breakfast pancakes for some were a late afternoon treat for her!
Chinese New Year There may not have been the usual fanfare for special events, but we were still able to enjoy them. On February 12th we celebrated Chinese New Year, welcoming the Year of the Ox. Oliver was based in Nanjing and kindly shared photographs and information about the traditions and celebrations that mark this important time in the Chinese calendar.
Burns Supper Burns Supper is always a big occasion in the Prep School calendar with the older pupils enjoying an evening of delicious food, traditional speeches, and a lively ceilidh. This year Mr Mill was our lone piper and some of us wore tartan to our lessons to mark the day! A wonderful evening’s entertainment was organised for the few boarders in school.
Let it Snow!
A spell of blue skies and sparkling snow bought a much-needed change of scene and plenty of fun for us all. Whether we were out on our daily walk, making ambitious snow sculptures, sledging, or throwing snowballs we all benefitted from the sunny blue-sky days.
M Form Back to School Monday 22nd February was a red-letter day. Our youngest pupils were the first to return to school and their arrival was cause for much celebration. The rest of the school had to wait for their recall, so M Form had buildings and playgrounds to themselves! It was a delight to see the pleasure they took in learning and playing together again.
Bonnets We put our creative skills to use decorating Easter bonnets!
Spring into Spring Celebrating the arrival of spring flowers and some much-welcomed warm weather we dressed in the cheeriest colours we could find.
Whole School Return As the lockdown rules gradually began to ease, we were so excited to learn that most of us were going to be back together again for the last week of the Spring Term. We returned to the now familiar routines of handwashing, mask wearing and social distancing, with year groups remaining in their bubbles. It was a joy to spend our school day together and as a trial run for our full return in the Summer Term this was an opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the pace and routines of school.
Head Girl, Izzy, ready for her first day back since December 2020.
Break time was a chance to catch up with friends in our year group.
All our older pupils wore face masks when moving around buildings or walking over to their games sessions.
Community Service Rory’s Challenge During a cold and wet January, Rory was looking for a challenge. He discovered Child Bereavement UK’s ‘Jog on January’ campaign, to run a marathon during the month of January. CBUK had helped Rory and his family since the first day of the loss of his father, six years ago. “I enjoy running and CBUK have helped me, my younger brother and my mummy, so their ‘Jog on January’ challenge was an easy choice.” Rory experienced running in snow and ice and found plenty of new routes in the process. The last mile of his challenge was completed with a special guest, Scottish Rugby 7’s player, Ross McCann. Rory also received a visit from Stuart McInally, Scotland Rugby player and captain of Edinburgh Rugby, who was passing on his congratulations as well as leaving a few mementos to Rory’s absolute delight. Altogether, Rory ran 27.24 miles and, at the close of his campaign, had raised the incredible total of £19,123.72. Rory was an inspiration to us all and Angus, Archie and Simon joined the 26.2-mile challenge in support of his campaign.
Environmental Support Elizabeth and Maillie were determined to maintain their fitness levels during lockdown, so they agreed to exercise together for at least an hour each day. Whilst they were in the local park, they noticed litter strewn around the pond and they set about clearing this up. The girls went back numerous times to carry on their efforts and removed pieces of plastic as well as food and drink wrappers and cups.
LEARNING
Learning from Home Once the second lockdown was announced, we quickly organised ourselves to deliver our Learning from Home programme with some tweaks and additions from the previous Summer Term. Learning was centred on Teams this time around and as soon as we could, we started incorporating live lessons into our day.
My Day Diary Some of our pupils shared the story of their day with us.
Author Visit
S and T Forms welcomed author, Abi Elphinstone, to their virtual classroom. Abi gave our pupils some fantastic advice for writing exceptional stories, including tips for using original ideas and experiences from adventures near and far. Abi pointed out that it took 7 years, 3 failed books and 96 rejections before her first book was published, so story telling requires plenty of perseverance! Martha said “I enjoyed Abi telling us how to write a good story and hearing about her adventures. Thank you, Abi, you made home schooling much more fun.’
World Book Day During lockdown, reading was a wonderful means of travel, escapism, inspiration and relaxation. As we are all book lovers at Fettes Prep, we didn’t want to limit our celebrations of World Book Day to just 24 hours, so we decided to champion the power of the written word with an entire week of fun competitions and activities. From the spine poetry challenge to book sculpture, treasure hunts, assembly, and book cover re-creations we celebrated our love of books.
M Form Return to the Classroom
Our youngest pupils were the at the vanguard of the whole school return and they were all extremely excited to be back at school, learning together again. Form teacher, Miss Walker, was quick to make the most of the opportunity, using the time to cover some practical and collaborative work. How did the Egyptians make papyrus? We covered the tables in newspaper and set about creating our own sheets of papyrus using this ancient technique. It was messy, but great fun and we were proud of the results.
Science friction! We headed outside, working together to discover how different surfaces affect friction.
Whole School Return to the Classroom
The rest of the school returned to class for the last week of the Spring Term and our lessons were full of fun and laughter. The weather was incredibly kind and many of us were able to enjoy learning together outside. For those few unable to get back to Edinburgh, we offered blended learning, with pupils joining lessons via Teams chats whenever possible.
SPORT
Fettes Fit This time around the FettesFit team was four strong, with Mr Mill and Mrs Fletcher being joined by Miss Wood and Ms Wilcox. The team delivered daily fitness sessions as well as live PE lessons and specific skills training sessions. Mr Mill even made his own version of Monopoly to encourage pupils to make the most of opportunities to exercise. The pupils were able to follow workouts at the time that suited them best and were also able to enjoy the benefits of joining live lessons with classmates.
Challenges The Form Distance Challenge kept us busy in February; we walked, ran, and cycled our way to a grand total of 5,266 kilometres from the beginning to the end of the month. 90 of our pupils, and some of their families, also joined in Merchiston’s Great North Run Challenge putting in very impressive performances.
We exercised in all weathers, playing tennis on sunny days, and running to keep warm in the snow.
Art
Our artists were as busy as ever this term! M and P Forms explored the work of Marc Chagall. Their first step was to provide a topdown picture of themselves ‘flying’ in any way they liked. S Form looked to the art of Andy Goldsworthy for inspiration, and they enjoyed the opportunity to head outside and create wonderful outdoor sculptures.
1st Form enjoyed creating their fantastical steam punk animal drawings. 2nd Form continued their study of the work of artist Yayoi Kusuma. Their fruit and vegetable mixed-media drawings were the result of observing and enlarging objects.
Drama
It was a busy and productive term for the Drama department as our pupils leapt into action to make films, stage sets and much more. 1st and 2nd Form pupils produced some practice films, benefitting from the expertise of industry professionals Helen Bunker, who works in special effects, and Ed Boase, Director of the Young Film Academy.
Whilst our older pupils were planning and making their films, S Form embarked on a design project to construct stage sets based on a scene from their favourite books. P Form tried their hands at developing characters for their superhero project. Having started by creating unlikely superheroes, they then focussed on their equally ridiculous arch nemeses, before the two met in an epic battle.
Music
Class and individual music lessons continued apace, and our musicians showed real dedication to their practice sessions, wherever they were held! We were thrilled to hear the wonderful news that Hannah and Henry were awarded Music Scholarships at the Senior School. In addition, Jemima was a winner in the Edinburgh Competition Festival in 2020 and has been asked to submit ‘Where is Love’ for the 2021 online Prizewinner’s Concert.
2nd Form pupils were busy exploring ostinato patterns and drones in music, whilst 1st Form created their own arrangements of the sea shanty ‘Wellerman’ using Noteflight notation software; the results were very exciting and energetic rhythm patterns emerged! T Form pupils created some evocative winter landscape compositions and S Form studied the music and instruments of South America. P Form invented their own pieces inspired by outer space and M Form learnt rhythm patterns, using them to create their own music for travelling.
Summer Term
Back to School
We always look forward to the lighter, longer days of the Summer Term and this one was no exception! The sun shone for the first few weeks of term, allowing us to get out onto the sports pitches of Bigside, play team games in the sunshine and enjoy plenty of fresh air at breaktime.
We watched assemblies online and made the most of all our learning opportunities.
Activities This term’s activity programme was built around year group bubbles and offered the usual mix of adventurous, creative, and sporting sessions. At the end of a busy day, it was wonderful to have the opportunity to try something different and learn new skills with our friends.
Boarding
Arran and Iona
Our boarders spent more time on campus than usual and made the most of their weekend activities. Their favourite times together included pizza nights, singsongs in front of the fire pit, and water fights in the sunshine!
In house activities continued apace, with both houses enjoying baking sessions, arts, crafts, and music making. Later in the term they hopped on minibuses and headed for a traditional day out on Gullane Beach.
Arran and Iona
Camping Adventure There was a great deal of excitement in the air at the prospect of a camping trip to the Cairngorms. The sun shone as the tents went up and blue skies highlighted the beauty of the forest lodge site at Badaguish. The activities included ziplining and tubing as well as plenty of games on the doorstep. For the 2nd Formers it was the final hurrah of the many house trips they have experienced over the years, and everyone agreed it was one of the absolute best, leaving the entire party with happy memories to treasure.
Learning
Classroom Learning at Fettes Prep is fun, fun, fun! Whether we are creating new worlds on screen, engineering in science lessons, making our own films or making cakes that represent the landmarks of Rome, our journey of discovery is dynamic and varied.
This year we have had special guests in the classroom, including OF and Tokyo Olympian, Jake Wightman and an interactive theatre company that transported our M and P Form pupils to a world of magic.
Learning
Outside We have made the most of the green spaces on campus to learn, relax and play. We are so fortunate to have 100 acres to roam and the Summer Term is when our great outdoor spaces come into their own. We have played music games in the sunshine on Bigside, run around the Astro during French vocabulary lessons, and headed to the greenhouse to learn about the biology of plants. Impromptu lessons have abounded, including a break time viewing of the partial eclipse and outdoor reading sessions on our new circular bench which surrounds an apple sapling, both generously gifted by the 2nd Form parents.
SPORT
Cricket The development of cricket continued this year with all children playing the game as part of their Summer Term programme. While only a few matches were possible towards the end of term, the focus was on acquiring skills and having fun. There was plenty of improvement and ability on display with pupils clearly enjoying what was, for some, a new sport. We were able to use the new net facility and smooth surface of the McMurray Astro to help learn techniques and there was a real buzz around every session. House matches provided some healthy competition with mixed tournaments in the younger years and some close finishes in the older age groups.
Athletics Athletics was on offer as an evening activity and included in the mixed activity programme. Pupils from all year groups took full advantage of the facilities on campus to improve their track and field skills.
Mixed Activities 1st and 2nd Form pupils enjoyed a variety of different options on Wednesday afternoons, including disc golf and golf on the campus courses. Tennis, athletics, and cricket also featured, and the pupils were given the freedom to make their own choices. As well as acquiring and improving skills, some super competition took place during every activity.
Cross Country After a successful house cross country race in the Autumn Term, we entered a small team into the Scottish Independent Schools’ Invitational Cross-Country Championships event. It was a fantastic afternoon for all the runners. Special mention should go to Dashka who won the U13 girls event, breaking her own record. Fettes Prep won the U13 and U9 girls events and came 2nd in the U13 and U9 boys events.
Rounders The girls were pleased to be back on the rounders pitch this term. It was good to see that despite the long break from the game everyone rapidly got back into the swing of fielding and batting. We had some competitive house matches and played fixtures towards the end of term.
Return to Fixtures After a patient wait, the Prep School returned to fixtures in June. The U13 A hockey girls enjoyed a match with Cargilfield to start and finish their season. The boys and girls cricket teams and girls rounders teams also played against some local schools. It was good to see our pupils enjoying some healthy competition again, with plenty of sporting spirit on display. A new addition to the fixture list was the U9 boys and girls mixed cricket matches. Our teams took enthusiasm and energy onto the pitch for the fun and competitive games.
Art
This term, creative work continued to be produced around the school and new Head of Art, Mrs Halsall, commented that the Prep pupils’ creativity had certainly not been locked down! M Form experimented with collage techniques, ‘drawing’ with scissors to create fabulous patterned playful animals whilst P Form honed their painting skills by producing vibrant Kandinsky inspired flowers, based on squares with concentric circles, that sit harmoniously alongside abstract backgrounds.
S Form turned dotty while studying Pointillism; distinct dots of colour were placed side by side to blend colours. T Form worked hard creating ‘Notans’ looking at the light and dark elements in a painting before composing their own black and white imagery. Whilst 1st Form looked at the work of Sarah Graham before producing their own colourful, mouth-watering studies of sweeties, 2nd Form went organic, inspired by the work of Matisse. Their studies culminated in a wonderful, oversized watercolour.
Drama
We were excited to get back into the classroom and took every opportunity to collaborate in a range of activities. M Form learnt about Greek chorus performance techniques, before turning their homogenous, white masks into colourful, character creations in a joint project with Art. P Form improved their performance poetry skills, working in groups to create dramatic storytelling, combining a variety of techniques to create tension and humour. S Form learnt about puppetry and made their own ‘trash puppets’ from found objects, while T Form developed one act plays from quick-fire comic scripts.
1st Form explored the language, themes, and characters in performance from ‘The Tempest’, while 2nd Form studied ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, exploring the different methods of staging the play. The Drama Activity crew were busy most breaktimes creating dynamic film trailers; they utilised the green screen, learnt stage combat techniques, and raided the costume department!
Music
It was wonderful to have our young musicians back together sharing music inside and out. With all the windows open, happy, spirited singing and instrumental music wafted across the courtyard for all to hear! The Music Competition boasted a record number of competitors; this was another valuable performance opportunity, and all benefitted from the extremely helpful feedback provided by our visiting adjudicator.
Our joyous online concerts continued, together with some highly creative work in class music lessons. Among the many fun projects, pupils particularly enjoyed developing music scores to accompany film clips and adverts. ABRSM and Trinity music examinations were held with a sizeable number enjoying success. We were enormously proud of the high standard of music making throughout the school, but a special thank you goes to the 2nd Form musicians who have contributed so much to our performances over the years. We wish them every musical success for the future!
Leavers
What a wonderful group of kind and talented 2nd Formers! We wish them all the best for life after Fettes Prep and look forward to hearing about their progress in the years ahead.
End of Term
We came agonisingly close to being in school all term, but our last few days of learning took place online with an adapted Learning from Home programme. The emphasis was firmly on fun with the usual daily dose of FettesFit attracting record numbers of participants. The end of the week featured a final Tutor Time get together, Assembly and Prizegiving.
The Fettes Prep community spirit shone throughout both these very different terms, and it was determination, hard work and good humour that got us all to the end of the school year.
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