NATIVITY PLAY Show prepared by senior pupils with junior pupils.
CALDERVALE NEWSLETTER - LT Scotland · Volcanoes in Geography Some keen S2 Geography pupils have...
Transcript of CALDERVALE NEWSLETTER - LT Scotland · Volcanoes in Geography Some keen S2 Geography pupils have...
CALDERVALE
NEWSLETTER Christmas 2013 Edition
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Foreword
Welcome to the Christmas edition of Caldervale High School’s newsletter. It hardly seems any time since
we returned from the summer holiday and already we are in the midst of Christmas dances and concerts!
We have had a very busy start to the year with pupils participating in a wide range of extra curricular
activities and visits. You will find details of the successes of some of our young people in this newsletter.
We have continued to forge strong links with our associated primary schools and are encouraged by the
large numbers of parents who attended our Primary 7 Information Evenings and the Open Evening in
Caldervale in October.
At this festive time of the year I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the young people of
Caldervale on some of the activities they have taken part in to spread some good cheer within the local
community and further afield. Weekly collections are organised by each House to support Guide Dogs,
Yorkhill and MacMillan Cancer. In addition to this, money has been raised and donated to The Shoebox
Appeal, Children in Need and St Andrew’s Hospice. The generosity of staff, pupils, parents and friends is
greatly appreciated by these beneficiaries.
Best wishes for a Happy Christmas and New Year.
Karen Kubica
Fund Raising
Each year we use money from
the school fund to benefit all
young people in the school.
This session we plan to organ-
ise some events to try and raise
some additional money for
school funds. One easy way
that all parents/friends of the
school could help raise money
for the school fund is by using
the website
www.easyfundraising.org and
selecting Caldervale High
School to receive donations.
When shopping on-line, please
continue to support the school
through use of this website.
Convenor’s Awards
In recognition of their attainment in SQA examinations a number of
pupils were invited to participate in the Convenor’s Awards Ceremony
which was held this year at Caldervale to celebrate outstanding attainment
by North Lanarkshire students.
Four S5 pupils, Sian Leslie, Kris McAteer, Caitlin MacLeod and Damon
Allan received certificates from the convenor, Councillor Jim Logue in
recognition of gaining five grade A passes at Higher. Seven S4 pupils,
Lauren Cochrane, Craig Gamble, Alyson Harfield, Karter Kane, Heather
Kennedy,Chloe Mezzetti and Andrew Rideout were also awarded
certificates due to their excellent performance in Standard Grade/
Intermediate examinations in May 2013. Well done to all of them!
Pupil Safety
All parents are asked to remind pupils to take care on the road and behave
responsibly when making their way to and from school. Despite regular
reminders at assembly we still receive telephone calls from local residents
who are concerned that pupils are not paying due attention when crossing
the road. Your support in discussing this with your child at home and
reminding him/her to behave responsibly would be greatly appreciated.
Responsible Behaviour in the Local
Community
All parents are asked to encourage pupils to remain
in school at lunchtimes where there is adult
supervision. If you do allow your child to leave
school at lunchtime could you please encourage
him/her to behave responsibly and show
consideration for residents in the local community.
In particular pupils should take care not to drop
litter or to congregate in large groups outside
houses. While the vast majority of pupils are very
positive ambassadors for the school it is important
that all pupils show respect and consideration for
our neighbours.
School Website
All parents are encouraged to access the school
website (www.caldervale.n-lanark.sch.uk) for monthly
updates on what is happening in school. As well as
giving information on forthcoming events there is also
an educational links page where pupils can access
resources to support their learning. Many subject
departments have also included additional materials to
help students.
In the event of adverse weather, North Lanarkshire’s
website (www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk) will give
information on school closures with additional school
details on our own website.
Volcanoes in Geography
Some keen S2 Geography pupils
have been making volcano models
with teacher, Miss Muir.
The pupils spent lunchtimes making
the papier mache volcanoes to
supplement their Geography work
on Earth Forces.
Santa Dash!
92 pupils from S4-S6 and 6 members of staff participated
in a 5K fun run to raise money for the house charities on
Sunday 8th December.
The run started at 9.30am from George Square, Glasgow
and finished back in the square after a 5K circular route.
All participants completed the course dressed in Santa
suits.
Commonwealth Baton
Eight pupils went through a
rigorous selection process in an
attempt to be selected as a baton
bearer for the Commonwealth
Baton as it passes through
Airdrie.
The pupils were involved in
giving a presentation followed
by an interview by staff and
pupils from the pupil council.
All eight pupils are to be
congratulated on the
professionalism of their
presentations and in how they
conducted themselves in the
interviews.
It was a hard fought battle but
Cameron Dalziel of 5E3 was the
successful candidate.
Well done Cameron!
Children In Need
This year pupils and staff
organised a number of events and
activities to support the Children
in Need charity. So far the total
raised is a staggering £1857.00.
Well done to all involved.
Dance Leadership Workshop
9 senior girls participated in a morning workshop in dance leadership
held in Caldervale High.
North Lanarkshire Catalyst Book Award
Longlist Unveiled
Four S3 pupils from Caldervale High School’s Catalyst
Book Group recently attended the launch of the NL
Catalyst Book Award Longlist 2014. The launch took
place at Chryston High School, where this year’s winner,
Elizabeth Wein, was presented with the 2013 trophy after
giving a very informative and interesting talk based on her
winning novel, Code name Verity. There are 16 titles on the
longlist for 2014 and pupils across North Lanarkshire will
now be involved in reading and reviewing these, before
going on to vote for a shortlist of four in the spring.
Shoebox Appeal
Caldervale has a long history of
supporting good causes and one
of the school’s annual
fundraisers is the Shoebox
Appeal which delivers items for
Christmas to children in need
across the world. This year’s
Shoebox Appeal had members
of staff in the Business
Education Department and
pupils gift wrapping and filling
shoe boxes with a variety of
useful items, donated by the
school community. Filled
shoeboxes will be donated to the
New Hope Trust, a charity that
has helped the desperately needy
in Eastern Europe, particularly
orphans, for the past 20 years.
Malawi Visit
Two S6 pupils, Courtney Cochrane and Emma Hamilton, have initiated Caldervale’s involvement in the
North Lanarkshire project, “Aiming Higher in Malawi - A Humanitarian Health Education Aid Visit to
Malawi”. The project, which currently runs in some other North Lanarkshire schools, aims to support and
empower girls and women in Malawi by providing opportunities and access to education, wheelchairs and
other disability aids, hygiene supplies and other resources. In June 2014 both pupils, accompanied by
Pupil Support teacher, Kirsty Ferguson, will participate in the authority visit to Malawi to support this
project and establish a partnership between Caldervale High and a school in Malawi.
As it will cost £6000 for the Caldervale group to make this trip, regular fundraising is underway and it is
hoped to raise additional funds to contribute to the project in Malawi. To date, quiz sheets have been sold,
Hallowe’en face painting took place, a sponsored climb of Tinto Hill has been completed and various
other events are being planned.
Literary Festival
Caldervale High School hosted its own mini Literary Festival recently
with two author visits on the same day. First on the programme was
Kirkland Ciccone, a new local author, whose first novel, Conjuring
the Infinite, has recently been published. Kirkland was an instant hit
with the school’s S3 pupils, regaling them with tales of his childhood
and school days in neighbouring Cumbernauld and how this
backgound led him into a writing career. After his presentation,
Kirkland signed copies of his books and gave out autographs.
Later the same morning S1 and S2 pupils attended a talk given by
prolific children’s author, Cathy MacPhail, author of the novel,
Another Me, which is currently being made into a film starring
Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Cathy, who has written dozens of books for
all ages, read to the pupils from her latest book, Mosi’s War, inspired
by the Glasgow Necropolis Vampire stories of the 1950’s. She spoke
about the inspiration behind her stories and signed copies of her books
for an enthusiastic audience. This visit was made possible through the
Scottish Booktrust’s Live Literature Funding scheme.
Erskine House
Pupils and staff connected to
Caldervale’s Erskine House
have been collecting spare
change every week to donate to
their chosen house charity.
The charity this year is
McMillan Cancer Support.
Pictured left is Rachel Miller
(House Captain) and Kirsty
Black, presenting a cheque for
almost £900 to Angela
McCormack from MacMillan
Cancer Support during a recent
Erskine House Assembly.
Scottish Skillforce Director Visits
Caldervale Skillforce
Gayle Adnyana, Director for Skillforce
Scotland, recently visited Caldervale High
School's Skillforce groups. She visited the
S4 Skillforce group to observe them
carrying out pre-work experience training
and later watched S3 students starting a
communication exercise. She also met
with the Headteacher and some of the
school staff.
Following the visit, the Skillforce groups
received a personal letter from Ms
Adnyana congratulating them on their
excellent work
17 staff and 77 Caldervale pupils
recently completed the 6K fun run for
St. Andrew's Hospice.
Special congratulations to S4 pupil,
Amy Harkins, who was the second girl,
from all competitors, to complete the
race. Amy received a trophy for her
achievement. Congratulations also to
senior pupils, Rieve Wishart and Stuart
Coburn, who were the first of the
Caldervale team to finish, followed
closely by Mr Campbell, Mr Taylor and
Ms Sullivan from the school staff.
Internet Explorers
Recently 4 senior pupils; Kyle Harrison (S4), Ross Burke
(S6). Morgan Shanks (S5) and Abbey Moxen (S6) from
Caldervale's Computing Department visited the Sheraton
Grand Hotel in Edinburgh to participate in a "Question Time"
discussion with one of the founders of the internet, Dr Vint
Cerf.
Dr Cerf has been at the leading edge of the development of
the internet throughout his career. He has received
recognition through a number of awards that include the
National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Membership of the
National Academy of Engineering and he is now Chief
Internet Evangelist with Google.
Today most young people can’t imagine life without the
internet, yet only thirty years ago hardly anybody had heard
of it. Five people shaped the internet, Tim Berners Lee,
Marc Andreessen, Robert Kahn, Louis Pouzin, and Dr Vint
Cerf. In June these five received the Queen Elizabeth II Prize
for Engineering, a worldwide award.
St Andrews 6K
Ten senior pupils
attended a recent
workshop on musical
composition. The
workshop, which
enhances the Higher
Music course, was
enjoyed by all.
Musical Workshop
History Visit
30 senior History students from Caldervale High visited the National
Archives and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. At the
Archives the group worked with primary sources to investigate the story of
the McCracken family who emigrated from Ayrshire to Australia in the
1800s. The students continued their work on their Migration and Empire
topic at the National Museum of Scotland. Here they used the exhibits to
research the impact emigrant Scots had on the British Empire through
immigration and the impact new immigrants had on Scotland in the 19th and
early 20th centuries.
S3 Drama students from Caldervale High
spent a day at Cumbernauld Theatre
where they learned about a variety of
production skills such as lighting, sound,
costume and make up and were also
given a backstage tour of the theatre.
Workshops, delivered by the Rapture
Theatre Company, were also arranged in
school for all S2 Drama pupils to focus
on prejudice and discrimination.
Production Skills Workshops
Remembrance
In November, Caldervale pupils were given the opportunity at House
Assemblies to remember the sacrifices made by our forces. The
assemblies were led by the school’s team of chaplains and this year’s
focus was the significance of acting on Remembrance through peace-
making.
S5 pupils from the History class told how memorable their trip to the
First World War battlefields was this year. With the message that it is
the responsibility of all to strive for peace in today’s world, our
chaplains paid tribute to the individual sacrifices of those lost and
injured and challenged all of us to work for peace in our own
communities.
S6 pupils from the Music Department skillfully performed relevant,
traditional and contemporary songs and each assembly ended with an
Act of Remembrance.
Kids’ Lit
Congratulations to the Caldervale Kids' Lit Team for their
performance at the West of Scotland heat. They came 21 out of 39
teams (some extremely strong competition, the winning team had 80
points, Caldervale had 64!) The team of Lania Bleyl, Nicole Keers,
Owen Reilly and Sam Rintoul claimed the highest score in one of
the rounds and won a set of books. Rachel Thomson, one of the
team reserves, won an audience prize. Chloe Anderson was the
second reserve, while Fern Kuwansong and Roksana Mydlowski
acted as supporters. All of the pupils were a credit to Caldervale
High School and deserve our congratulations.
SCHOOL CAPTAINS
Boys’ Captain Gordon Magilton
Girls’ Captain Erin Stein
Boys’ Vice-Captain Kyle McConnell
Girls’ Vice-Captain Sian Leslie
ERSKINE HOUSE
Boys’ Captain Kris McAteer
Girls’ Captain Rachel Millar
S6 Prefects Chun Yan Chan, Robbie Fraser,
Emma Hamilton, Andrew Weir,
Christopher Hunt, Malah Bleyl,
Lisa Craigon, Claire McGowan.
S5 Prefects Toni Anderson, Steven Smith,
Cameron Dalziel, Carol
McGowan.
MORTON HOUSE
Boys’ Captain Damon Allan
Girls’ Captain Caitlin MacLeod
S6 Prefects Reece Campbell, Jack Tuffley,
Linda Fraser, Emily Clark,
Chelsea Condie, Fiona Caldwell,
Ellis Murray, Emma Boyd
S5 Prefects Chloe Haxton, Jennifer Wallace,
Cieran Henderson, Monica
Braiden
SCOBBIE HOUSE
Boys’ Captain Ross Fielding
Girls’ Captain Megan Forsyth
S6 Prefects Greg McMullan, Ellis Hunter,
Katy Rintoul, Dylan Shek,
Ayeisha Moore, Amy Russell,
Charlie Philips, Kelsey
McDonald.
S5 Prefects Sam Haugh, Grant Russell, Chloe
Mezzetti, Laura King.
Teambuilding Day
48 newly elected captains and prefects, from
the senior school, attended Bonaly Outdoor
Centre in Edinburgh for a day of teambuilding
and development of leadership skills.
Preparing for Further Education
14 senior pupils attended a REACH seminar co
-ordinated by the University of Glasgow to
support entry into degree courses in Dentistry,
Law, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and
Surgery.
S4 World of Work Event
All S4 pupils took part in a “World of Work”
event run by MITIE, one of Caldervale High’s
business partners. MITIE employees, supported
by members of the school’s English
Department, delivered the event which
introduced S4 pupils to the skills required for
work in preparation for their week of Work
Experience.
S4 Geography Visit
Twenty S4 Geography pupils visited Kindrogan
to take part in fieldwork for their National 4
and National 5 assignments.
Rights Respecting School Award
Caldervale have just begun their journey to work towards this award.
Your child will have received a letter recently informing you about
this. Pupils have also been informed through their house assemblies
where members of the Pupil council have spoken to them regarding
this.
There is a link to the RRSA website here if you require further
information. www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa.
The school is in the early stages of this award and regular updates will
be posted on the school website.
Open Night
Many parents of P7 pupils attended Caldervale
High School’s Open Night in October.
Throughout the evening parents, guided by
senior pupils, were able to experience and
observe a variety of classroom activities
including hands on exhibits and pupil led
demonstrations in departmental areas.
Feedback from parents was very positive.
News Club
News Club gives pupils from all
year groups an opportunity to
discuss current events reported
in the media. They have the
opportunity to take part in two
activities - 'Newsflash' and a
news quiz which generates
debate and discussion. Pupils
are welcome to attend from the
start of lunchtime on Fridays
(Social Subjects 7) with a
packed lunch, activities start at
1.20pm.
EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Several lunchtime clubs are up and running in Caldervale.
Any interested pupils will be made most welcome.
Monday: Netball (S1/2), Table Tennis (S1-S6), Jazz Group.
Tuesday: LCSC Sports, Basketball (S1-S6), i faith (S1-S3), Guitar
Club (S1-S2).
Wednesday: Table Tennis (S1-S6), Dance (S1-S6), Choir.
Thursday: Badminton (S1-S2), Book Group (S3-S4), School Rock
Band (S3-S6), Science Club (S1).
Friday: Book Group (S1-S2), Drama Club (S1–S3), News Club (S1–
S6),
In addition the Rugby club (S1 – S6) meets after school on Tuesdays,
the Netball club (S3-S6) meets after school on Wednesdays and the
Volleyball club (S3-S6) meets after school on Thursdays. Science Club
The S1 Science Club has been
established over the last six
weeks and is very well attended.
Within this time pupils have
carried out a variety of activities
including making flubber, fake
blood for Hallowe’en, sparklers
for fireworks and currently a
project to design an erupting
volcano. In the future Science
Club will continue to offer a
variety of activities to promote
active engagement, enjoyment
and depth of learning in science.
School Netball
The netball teams in the school have started their league campaigns for
the season. We have lots of girls in the school involved, with a team for
every year group- resulting in netball being the biggest club in the
school.
The senior girls got their Scottish Cup campaign off to a winning start
beating Coatbridge High 21-10. It was a fantastic game to watch, very
fast and exciting! The girls have since played Braidhust and St
Margaret's, which again were very exciting matches but on these
occasions they were narrowly beaten. Despite this they are still sitting
well in the league table with one game to go. The S1 & S2 girls have also played in their Lanarkshire league games.
The girls are working well to gel as a team. Despite both teams being
narrowly beaten in their games so far all girls performed very well and
we are sure there will be wins from them shortly.
Fashion Show Week
A large number of the
senior pupils from the Art
and Design Department
have contributed towards
the NLC Fashion Show
which was held at
Motherwell Civic Centre
on Friday 6th December.
The show is the
culmination of
'Celebrating Lanarkshire'
and is sure to be an
exciting and fitting finale
to the year.
Right are two of the
designs submitted by a
Caldervale pupil.
NL Swimming
Championships
S5 pupil, Stuart Coburn, and S3
pupil, Morgan Brooks, recently
represented Caldervale by
competing in the North Lanarkshire
Swimming Championships held at
the Cumbernauld Tryst Sports.
Complex.
Inter-house Sports
The first Inter-house Sports event of
the session, the Triathlon, resulted
in a draw between Erskine and
Morton House. The Badminton
competition was won by Scobbie
House. The Primary 7 Olympics
were also drawn between Erskine
and Morton. At present Morton
leads the overall table with Erskine
and Scobbie tying for second place.