Busy Bee Spring Term 2022

Spring Term 2022

It is very important to me that every child’s strengths and interests, whatever they may be, are recognised and nurtured. At Fettes Prep School, the children are afforded the opportunities to enjoy developing their allround strengths by staff who are motivated by a genuine concern for the well-being of the whole community. It is our ambition to release the full potential of every child by providing exciting lessons, alongside a stimulating breadth of co-curricular activities. This vibrant edition of the Busy Bee is testament to how far we all go to achieve this ideal.

Adam Edwards Headmaster, Fettes Prep School

A Note from the Editor Whether in the classroom, performance spaces or in our sporting arenas, this term has been packed full of fun and endeavour. The pupils have given their best during a term to remember, with much to celebrate.

Well done to all of those that went for scholarships and congratulations to Alexandra F, Alexandra S, Emily, Carrick, Jemima, Ingrid, Millie, Toby, and Tom on their Academic Scholarships.

Angus, Archie F, Charlotte H, Ellie, and Jonty won All-Rounder Scholarships and Archie S, Lochie, and Charlotte M won Sports Scholarship awards.

Music Exhibitions were awarded to Jemima and Nicholas, and Ramsay won a Piping Exhibition.

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Life

School Life

Despite our return to school in the cold and dark of January, everyone came back full of energy and stories about their adventures in the Christmas break.

Spring Return and Polytunnel

This Spring Term promised plenty to look forward to, with trips and events back in the calendar once again, much to the excitement of all.

A new structure also appeared, step by step, in the school garden! A giant polytunnel which will be an amazing asset for pupils and ground staff.

Burns Supper We were delighted to hold our first Prep School Burns Supper in two years, and our T, 1st and 2nd Form pupils headed to the Dining Hall in anticipation of a special evening.

Ramsay piped in the top table and the Pipe Band then entertained us all. Jemima played her violin solo beautifully and the Chamber Choir performed our Prep version of Robbie Burns’ poem, ‘My Heart’s in the Highlands’, which Mr Mill has set to a special score.

Mr Harrison gave an extremely spirited Address to a Haggis, and this was followed by a delicious supper of haggis, neeps, and tatties. Heads of School, Tom and Ingrid, both spoke very amusingly during their toasts to the Lads and Lassies and once the tables were cleared the 2nd Form pupils ended our lovely evening with an extremely lively ceilidh.

World Book Day At Fettes Prep we love reading, so World Book Day is one of our favourite days of the year. Our pupils and staff dressed up in a plethora of costumes and spent the day telling each other about their favourite books and book characters.

They took part in book themed lessons, visited our libraries and, of course, enjoyed plenty of reading.

In addition to the fun and learning, the pupils participated in two competitions.

One, fiendishly invented by Mrs Weatherby, involved staff dressing up in a “Where’s Wally?” outfit and, with much of their faces hidden by a favourite book, the children were challenged to discover who was who.

Helping Others For the first time, World Book Day also involved a Book Drive and we handed over our pre-loved books to go to other homes and give pleasure to new owners.

We, like so many around the world, were devastated with the news coming out of Ukraine and, in conjunction with a group of parents, our community added to the humanitarian relief efforts of so many by collecting vital supplies for Ukranian refugees.

Book Drive and Collections for Ukrainian Refugees

Helping Others

The Fettes Runs were back, and the Prep School pupils dressed up in their ‘Mad Hatter’ outfits and ran the 5K course for a charity very close to our hearts.

The Teapot Trust was set up by the Young family to honour their daughter, Verity, who was a pupil at Fettes Prep.

The charity provides art therapy in hospitals and community organisations and in recent times hasd also adapted its model to ensure that children are supported remotely through digital channels. Thanks to the generosity of the Prep community, we raised £7,000 for this fantastic cause.

Fettes Runs

Life

Boarding

On Campus – Highland Games

There’s plenty of fun to be had on the Fettes campus and we spent a happy Sunday afternoon in the Westwoods Sports Hall where we enjoyed our very own Highland Games Competition.

Out and About

Arran House Challenge

This term’s Arran Challenge was a brilliant weekend of outdoor fun and experiences on the Harburn Estate with outdoor specialists, Wild Outdoors.

On arrival, the boys got to work immediately, finding and recovering logs and branches for the campfire. After a hearty snack, they went back into the forest, learnt how to make a fire and then cooked a burger lunch.

They took part in shelter building and forest games and after supper they headed back to the woods for a campfire sing song followed by games, apple crumble and hot chocolate! After a tiring but adventurous day, it was time for bed and the camp experienced a restless night of freezing temperatures. The following morning, the boys warmed up again with fun and games including archery and axe throwing before watching a demonstration of deboning salmon, which was on the menu for lunch.

Out and About

Iona House Adventure

Iona House enjoyed a fantastic Adventure weekend which started with a trip to Glasgow to see Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker.

They took some snacks and settled in to watch this beautiful ballet, admire the spectacular costumes, and the amazing set.

On the way home, they stopped off at Tony Macaroni for dinner; everyone tucked into pizza, pasta, and risotto with gusto!

Sunday dawned bright and clear, perfect weather for everyone to explore Edinburgh whilst playing a game of Monopoly. Complete with a day saver bus ticket and a mobile phone for directions, the luck of the dice decided whether the groups were heading to George Street or Haymarket Station, the Commonwealth Pool or the St James Quarter, with points to be collected on the way.

Learning

We contributed to so many wonderful lessons from the T Form French Breakfasts and celebrations of the Lunar New Year through to fun everyday learning in all our subjects.

In School

P and S Forms to Hopetoun House

P and S Form pupils took a trip back in time at Hopetoun House where they learnt a little about life below stairs in a Victorian Manor House. They were given plenty of tasks to perform and enjoyed dressing up and playing traditional games, too.

Geography and Science Trip to The Pentlands

T Form spent a day in the glorious Pentlands. They walked around Threipmuir and Harlaw Reservoirs looking at landform features and saw how the natural landscape has been impacted and used by humans.

They also looked at Red Moss Nature Reserve, as an example of a raised bog, and identified many native types of flora and fauna along the way.

National Museum of Scotland

Our pupils had an amazing time at the National Museum of Scotland. They enjoyed a hands-on workshop, working their way through their Viking Quest worksheets before heading off to the galleries to view the exhibits.

Co-curricular Activities This term the pupils had the opportunity to select from another wide variety of pre and post half term activities. Sessions took place on the astros, indoor courts of Westwoods, outdoor climbing wall, Assembly Hall, and classrooms. Their activities included debating, costume design, lifesaving, cricket, badminton and many more!

COPPSI

A group of seven pupils took part in COPPS1, hosted by Belhaven Hill School.

This was a COP26 style conference with six schools involved in presenting either a product or initiative to help the environment.

The pupils had an inspiring day hearing about other teams’ plans as well as contributing to a themed artwork and listening to key speakers. We all discovered more about the important work undertaken by Surfers Against Sewage and two members of the team volunteered to take part in an interesting debate about short-haul air travel.

The Fettes team presented their ideas to improve biodiversity on campus, specifically looking at the importance of protecting and encouraging birds, butterflies, and bees to visit our site. The team are looking forward to putting their plans into action during Earth Day and beyond.

Art

M Form have been studying different rocks and fossils, experimenting with a wide range of mark making techniques before applying them to their drawings of ammonites in their sketchbooks and then using them to inform and inspire their Styrofoam printing.

P Form have brushed up on their seeing, drawing and painting skills around the theme of still life (peppers). They sculpted the peppers out of clay, using their drawings in sketchbooks to help inform the shape.

S Form started off with exercises to encourage close observation and dexterity and after they had familiarised themselves with the shapes of bugs/ insects they started to create their own minibeasts! They used a wide array of unfamiliar materials including bubble wrap, netting, and beads.

Art

T Form have looked at the artist Jim Dine and re-created his style of work. This has included drawing shiny cutlery in a bold and expressive style on a large scale in monochrome. They went on to make monoprints and mixed media paintings of tools.

1st Form have looked at birds for their project. They drew feathers to explore making marks, texture, and pattern with lots of varied materials to start off with. They then manipulated paper to transform a flat sheet of paper into a 3-dimensional form before creating their own flock of birds.

2nd Form have explored the work of Henry Moore which has helped develop their visual literacy skills. They learnt about drawing form using contour lines to describe volume and mass. This helped them to manipulate the clay in Moore-esque style.

Music

Informal Concerts This year we have run a series of Informal Concerts each term, where pupils of any age can play or sing once they have a piece or song ready. The breadth and variety in the performances has been quite breathtaking and the children have demonstrated considerable skill, confidence, and bravery, bringing a lot of joy and happiness to our school community.

Piano and Instrumental Competition Our Piano and Instrumental Competitions took place this term with the visiting adjudicators remarking on the extremely high standard of playing and musicality from the children.

Edinburgh Competition Festival Our Chamber Choir singers travelled to St. Cuthbert’s Church to take part in the Primary Choirs Category of the Competition Festival.

Our young musicians did us proud and the adjudicator, Frikki Walker commented on the choir’s warm, open tone, sensitive phrasing and very solid part singing as well as their strong, commitment with lots of energy and spirit.

Music

Spring Concert We were extremely excited to be taking our seats for the Spring Concert at Stockbridge Church; it was wonderful to be back after a three-year hiatus and sharing our performances again in this beautiful venue.

The Pipe Band provided a rousing and uplifting opening to the concert, followed

by Orchestra with some strong ensemble playing. Flute Group played the James Bond Theme with charisma and spirit and the Folk Group beguiled us with a haunting Swedish piece. Next came Jordan Singers with a punchy, characterful performance of ‘Superhero.’ Jazz Band followed with ‘Trumpets with Attitude’; a real showstopper!

The Competition and Music Award Winners entertained us all with polished solo performances followed by the Senior Choirs, singing their hearts out with real clarity and exuberance. The Concert concluded with a whole school performance of ‘Sing’ accompanied by the Staff Band with a special shout out to Carrick for his wonderful drumming!

Drama

Jack and the Beanstalk M and P Form demonstrated such dedication and perseverance in the face of that grimmest of all baddies, the pandemic, with a joyous Fettes spin on ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, complete with ‘Jack from an Alternate Reality’, tips on handwashing, a giant with identity issues and a magical legume with a whole collection of beanrelated dad jokes!

Form Drama Meanwhile, S Form having been devising work inspired by Goodnight Mister Tom, T Form have had a first foray into radio broadcast, with sessions in the on-site professional recording suite and 1st and 2nd Forms are working hard on next term’s production of ‘Macbeth’.

Sport

Hockey

The boys have managed to play a lot of hockey in this busy term, and many of our Wednesday afternoon fixtures have seen up to nine Fettes Prep teams playing.

Our Under 13 A team came 3rd in the IAPS qualifier and 2nd at the Strathallan Sevens.

The Under 11 A boys have been incredibly impressive, winning the IAPS qualifier and the Craigclowan Tournament and reaching the top ten in the IAPS National Finals. Our Under 9s had some super weekly mixed matches. The term ended with highly competitive mini, junior, and senior house matches.

Angus, Archie, Freddie, Jonty and Olly were selected to play for the Saltires who went on to win games against the Caledonians and the Thistles.

Netball The U9s have enjoyed participating in the High Five version of the game. They have improved so much and had lots of fun playing against different schools.

Having lost the first game of the term, the U11s went on an unbeaten run for the remainder of the season, with the highlight their win at the U11 Ardvreck Tournament.

The U13s participated in a variety of competitions. They went to Sedbergh to compete in the IAPS qualifying tournament, finishing 3rd. Alexandra, Charlotte, Elinor, Ingrid, Jasmine and Petra were selected for the Saltires and won their games against the Caledonians and the Thistles.

The team won the U13 Ardvreck Tournament, but the pinnacle of the term was winning the S1 Scottish Schools Netball Cup. After coming through many rounds, they headed to the Emirates Arena in Glasgow for the final where they won 34- 6. This was an exceptional term that the girls will never forget.

House Cross Country

There was great commitment to our lunch time running club and Eliza, Jess, and Lucy won the inaugural U11 Girls’ Cross Country event at Merchiston, which was a superb achievement.

Our House Cross Country was a brilliant occasion, with the pupils running and gaining points for their houses. A huge well done to everyone!

What a whirlwind of a term; it has flown by in a flurry of purposeful activity! It has been a joy for us all to be learning and playing together, to be out and about on trips and visits once again and to take part in initiatives that benefit others.

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