Belhaven Hill School offers a solution to paradox of modern parenting

One of the greatest conundrums to face parents today is how to balance two competing ‘necessities’. On one hand, we hold to the importance of a protected, extended childhood in our increasingly busy 21st century lives.  At the same time, we face the relentless demands of pervasive mobile technology, seen as a permanent fixture and something to be accepted, adopted and admired.

Jonathan Haidt, in his best-selling book ‘The Anxious Generation’, talks of children being over-protected in the real world, and under-protected in the virtual one as parents and schools hear entrenched views on both sides of the debate.

At Belhaven Hill School, a small, rural boarding and day school for 5 to 13 year olds on the outskirts of Dunbar, East Lothian, we think that we have an interesting story to tell. Here, childhood is extended, rather than over-protected. On entering the school grounds at present, it is almost impossible to resist the feeling that you are going back in time: children with muddy knees play games of football without a referee or collect conkers from the trees.

Mobile phones banned. Managed iPads permitted.

Belhaven Hill School feels like a busy family home; but a family home with a difference. This is one where none of the children is allowed to have a mobile phone. Every pupil has a school-managed iPad, however, to be used only in lessons or prep, and monitored by staff using Apple Classroom.

But what, you cry, of our duty to prepare them for the modern world? How will we produce the entrepreneurs and problem-solvers of the future if they have no access to this technology?

We have prioritised a different approach: one where every child is encouraged to respect the academic and creative potential of technology, but simultaneously be aware of the potentially negative consequences of unrestricted use and to differentiate between the mobile phone (a communication device) and a tablet (an academic tool). We want them to determine their own destiny, rather than be controlled by an algorithm.

No social media protects childhoods

Statistics that are starting to emerge reveal that childhood is best preserved by an absence of social media. This is a significant challenge for parents, persuaded to join the technological arms race so as not to leave their child ostracised by their ‘friends’.

In a school with boarding for children up to 13 years, it is easy to protect children from this confrontation. Belhaven Hill School has been mobile phone free for 101 years, and will remain so.

Building a new ‘Makerspace’ for innovation and creativity

The creative potential of iPads at Belhaven will soon be enhanced by the opening of a brand new Makerspace facility. Thanks to a three-year fundraising initiative under Belhaven’s 100th birthday (2023) Centenary Campaign, the School has recently broken ground on its first new development since 2007 – a two-room creative Makerspace, where STEM and Design opportunities will be available under one roof. The building is a timber-clad, solar-panelled, multi-functional space that we hope will also benefit the local East Lothian community as an inspirational and stand-alone hub for innovation and creative thought. The world of a child is naturally creative and positive and this building aims to encourage the kind of ingenuity that makes that world go round for our pupils and others in the community (from multiple generations).

The School is currently gathering the thoughts of its pupils and meeting interested parties within the local community to discuss how the interior of this building might look, and also how it could benefit local schools and businesses, so that together, we can build a creative hub that is genuinely different. 

Five new bursary opportunities funded by Centenary campaign

The other focus of Belhaven’s Centenary fundraising has been the extension of our bursary provision. We aim to provide sufficient support to enable five non-fee-paying children to be enrolled in the School at any one time.

In contrast to what has been suggested in recent months, the mutual benefits of being able to educate a broad range of pupils, from diverse backgrounds is surely one of the great success stories of private education?

Belhaven may be a small school, but it has a big impact, and the life-changing opportunities that it has given to all its 150 children, regardless of their background, will always remain a great source of strength and purpose.

At Belhaven, we are incredibly proud of the joy that our School inspires in our children and their families and we are confident that this will continue to be the case.

Happy children thrive at school

As one of our parents recently told us: “My child comes home tired and smiling every single day. He can’t wait to go to school in the morning!”

At Belhaven we start with the premise that we will make incredible progress with happy children. The reverse is also true – children that are less than happy find progress difficult to find and slow to make – but we go to great lengths to ensure that this is not the case.

One of the key findings of our Care Inspectorate report (February 2023) was that our pastoral care is ‘sector-leading’ – that is, it is systematically sound and strategically innovative. So, investing in the creation of the team to ensure the consistent delivery of excellent pastoral care is imperative. As Belhaven is a boarding school, as well as a day school, a high percentage of staff live on site, and it is important to think of this old family house ‘as a home with classrooms, rather than a school with dormitories’.

Once a child’s happiness is established and parents are assured that the environment is one of nurture and support, academic rigour and high levels of ambition and attainment can be achieved. As a result, children leaving Belhaven gain entry into the top-performing senior schools across Scotland and England, with over 60% of the leavers in the past three years winning scholarships to their first choice of school.

Encouraged to ‘have a go’ at 44 different sports and activities, as well as the performing arts

Variety is what stimulates happy children to succeed. Once settled and confident at Belhaven, they are constantly encouraged to ‘have a go’ and the range of opportunities here is extraordinary. We offer hockey, rugby, cross-country and football this term, and over 40 different activities ranging from watercolours to fencing, choreography to rock-pooling and engineering to archery.

On Friday afternoons, we have a whole-school focus on the Performing Arts – drama, dance and music are prioritised and time is spent in rehearsal for the next major production: in this case ‘Oliver Twist, London Town’, featuring a company of 96. We focus on the mindset that it is important to be seen to be trying hard, regardless of success: failure in a safe environment is the best form of learning.

As another parent observed in a recent survey, “Belhaven really does offer more than just an education.”

Full boarding can be life-changing for both parents and children

Boarding is at the heart of the extraordinary productivity of Belhaven. The only full boarding Prep School in Scotland, we offer families the consistent rhythm of fortnightly boarding, during which time the children know with whom they will play and learn. That’s why out of approximately 130 junior boarding pupils in Scotland, around half are currently at school at Belhaven.

Families from all over Scotland and England, France and Spain have found this ‘well-kept secret’ of the benefits of boarding suits their needs – for those families with two working parents, a parent in the Armed Forces, or for those who need to travel a lot, the fun and progressive nature of the boarding environment can be a life-changing one for parents desperate for the best start in life for their children.

Belhaven is a wonderful place to live, and to learn. The type of holistic education that we provide means that going to school, that familiar rite of passage that unites all of us, is not just drab and routine – it is inspirational, it is transformative, it is full of laughter, friends and, above all, it is fun.

You can learn more about Belhaven on their website and in person at their Open Morning on Saturday 12th October 2024. Book your space via admissions@belhavenhill.com