Burns Competition
BURNS FOR A'
Thirty-one Junior School pupils at Belmont House School in Newton Mearns took part in a Burns verse speaking competition to mark Burns Day on Friday 25th January. Junior 1 & 2 pupils recited Twa Bonie Lads, Junior 3s and 4s performed Up in the Morning and the Junior 5s and 6s bravely took on My Hoggie. The competition was judged by John Mercer, a former Head of the School for 26 years up to 1998, who still resides in Newton Mearns.
In his summation, Mr Mercer indicated how impressed he was with the standard of the recitations: "Burns' poems can contain a lot of difficult words for younger children but every single entrant recited their poem carefully and slowly, pronouncing each word with great clarity. It was a pleasure to see so many girls and boys taking part and obviously enjoying what they were doing".
Linsay McDonald, Vice Principal and Head of the Junior School, congratulated all the pupils on their achievement: "The standard was so high today that everyone was really a winner", she said. "With so much enthusiasm clearly evident, we plan to run the event again next year and combine it with an art competition".
Everyone taking part received a Burns medal, with a Burns for Bairns book containing a certificate being awarded to the runners-up and winners in each of the year group categories. The winners also received a book token.
The prize winners were as follows:
Junior 1 & 2
Winner: Struan Beaton
Runner Up: Aryanna McAlpine
Junior 3 & 4
Winner: Lauren Stewart
Joint Runners Up: Angus Pettigrew and Nairne Clark
Junior 5 & 6
Winner: James Palmer
Joint Runners Up: Aqsa Sharif and Blair Wilson
