Belmont Alumnus prepares for the Six Nations Championship

Former pupil Ed Kalman is making headlines with impressive rugby skills, which have just netted him a place in the Scotland squad. A product of Belmont House School and the Whitecraigs Club, he has been playing for various teams since he was eight years old. It's also worth pointing out that this well-rounded alumnus earned a degree in physics while keeping up with rugby in England.

Read all about it here.

Belmont's got Beaver Fever!

Interestingly enough, beavers were no longer resident in Scotland until 2009, when they were reintroduced into the wildlife and monitored. Michael Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, produced an educational course, leading to a Scotland-wide Beaver Initiative. 

Earlier this year, the Zoo held a competition for pupils to compose a song about this exciting project and Belmont House School was among the three winners who performed at the zoo! The Scottish Education Minister came to this event and was delighted with our song as its introduction. You can read more about the 'Singtastic' project on the Edinburgh Zoo's News Page. Additionally, they've blogged about the educational value of the Scottish Beaver Trial and posted a great photo of some Belmont boys and girls; check it out here.

The Junior Choir also recently enjoyed a trip to Lochgilphead High School to sing their award winning ‘Beaver Fever’ song.  

So, is anyone planning on visiting the giant pandas at the Edinburgh Zoo?

Susannah Wins her Way in to Work Shadowing

Susannah at the regional final of the program in Williamwood High School with the chair of judging panel, Andy Dalglish of SERCO.

On the 17th of November, S6 student Susannah recently won a place on the Chartered Management Institute’s Work Shadowing Program (Renfrewshire Branch).  This involved spending three days shadowing a senior manager from Yozilla, a Careers Advice organisation based in Glasgow. Overall, she found the experience quite rewarding:

From left to right: Isobel Millar (Area Manager of Skills Development Scotland), Ron McNeil (CMI Branch Education Officer and event organizer) and Andy Dalglish.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Chartered Management Work Shadowing Competition. Getting the opportunity to observe the style and technique of a manager was a rare privilege.  I was working with Ruth Scott, who is the Managing Director of the start-up Business called Yozilla. I found it particularly interesting to see just how challenging starting up a business really is and was amazed at the volume of work involved.

I found making a presentation about the management style, techniques, and qualities Ruth possessed to a panel of judges to be a daunting yet highly enjoyable experience. I also had the opportunity to listen to the other contestants’ presentations, which were interesting and this enabled me to learn more about management in different fields.

Overall, I found the experience highly rewarding and would urge anyone that is presented with the opportunity to take part to grab it with both hands!