Photography Showcase: View examples of photographic work by Year 12 students (2008/9)

Future Heroes awards l Stunning performances in Berlin! l A Gala Night with Les Miserables l Monster-sized insect art l Showstoppers l Gala Concert for British Heart Foundation l Drama Exam Performances l Just a Minute! l Prague performance l Guitar Man! l Oliver Twisted lOpening Performances l Ted Hughes Festival Preview Performances l Arts Mark Gold Award

School Show 2010
Congratulations to students and staff - another stunning performance with a creative rendition of 'Down the Rabbit Hole' including trapeze, glowing caterpillars, and innovative costumes.

Performance photos:

'Down the Rabbit Hole' is where the audience will be following Alice when Calder High School’s annual production takes to the stage. That’s the title of a surreal and dramatic adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. And Calder is leading the way, with the curtain going up a whole month before the release of the Hollywood version (which stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter).

Adapted and scripted by dance teacher Jez Gregg, 'Down the Rabbit Hole' has Alice on a flying trapeze, and 15 students playing the part of a luminous caterpillar.

“This is a spectacular show and unlike anything we have done in recent years,” said Mrs Jill Leicester, head of expressive arts. “It is very surreal, in the true Lewis Carroll tradition.”

The show is being rehearsed in just a tight three-week period as the first two weeks of term were badly disrupted by the weather. “But in true theatrical tradition, the show must go on,” said Mrs Leicester.

The show opens on February 9 and runs for three nights. Tickets can be bought at school in lunchbreak, or they can be ordered by calling the school on 01422 883213.

^top

Drama at Overgate Hospice
Drama students from Calder High School took two of their own pieces of work out “on tour” – and presented them at Overgate Hospice. The year 13 group, who are doing Drama A level, performed two plays. The first was Cluedo, a murder myserty which involved each audience member receiving a party bag and voting on the final outcome. The second was a slapstick farce called A Tale of Two Pipes, complete with traditional door slamming and double-takes. One member of the audience said: “It was hilarious, the best thing I’ve seen all year. It beat the socks of Mamma Mia!”

Mrs Jill Leicester, head of expressive arts, said: “The plays are part of a growing relationship between Calder High School and Overgate, which began last year with a variety concert. We hope to continue entertaining and fundraising for this amazing organisation.”

^top

Future Heroes awards



Seven students from Calder High School have won prestigious musical Future Heroes awards. They make up half of all the awards made throughout Calderdale in the competition organised by Northern Orchestral Enterprises Ltd. The winners, who were judged by the director of Northern Ballet Mr John Pryce-Jones, are Fingal Plumpton, Georgia Lomax-Thorpe, Solomon Cotton, Rebekah Rolinson-Lord, Madeleine Rolinson-Lord, Flora Harkness and Isla Harkness. They have all been awarded scholarships for extra musical tuition.

Head of music Ms Suzanne Peers said: “ We were up against some very stiff competition from private, grammar and specialist performing arts schools. We are delighted and extremely proud of our musicians.

^top

Calling all Year 7, 8 and 9 singers
Join the Choir, Friday Lunchtimes in EA1 (music room) with Mrs Page. No previous singing experience necessary! Come along and enjoy yourself!

Stunning performances in Berlin! (Report and photo by Mr Gregg)



Mrs Leicester and Mr Gregg have just returned from an International Schools Theatre Festival in Berlin with 17 year 11s and 13s. They were one of 6 different international schools from Europe and beyond. The American School of The Hague, ABA Sultanate of Oman, Calderdale Theatre School, Marymount International School Rome, Schule Schloss Salem, and the Heidelberg American School. Each school brought approximately 15 students and they worked eclectically in ensembles with the other schools to create a performance based around the theme ‘the fall of the Berlin wall - a city once divided and now made whole’. Over 100 students aged 15 to 19 performed in the most powerful piece of theatre, that explored all the ideas surrounding the theme. They were insired by the sights they visited the; state secret police prison; berlin wall monument; palace of tears; Brandenburg gate and other locations around Berlin.

The work they produced was unbelievable. Through movement, voice, sound and drama they created a sincere performance that was honest and moving. They also demonstrated the fantastic skills they have in communicating with others; working in groups, offering opinions, being authentic and real in everything that they do, wanting to learn…they really were a benchmark at the festival, and can make us feel extremely proud of the students in this valley. Every artist that worked with the students had something great to say about them, about their authenticity and commitment...we couldn’t have asked for any more!

Calder High School is one of the first comprehensives to be involved in an international schools festival, and in partnership with the Halifax based Calderdale Theatre School Association, we will be hosting our very own festival next year…watch this space.  Calderdale is going global!

Mr Gregg would also like to thank Calderdale Theatre School for giving Calder High students this amazing experience.

^top

A gala night with Les Miserables


Friends of the Calder Valley Youth Theatre are to have another chance to see last year’s highly acclaimed production of Les Miserables. Most of the lead parts in the musical were played by Calder High students.

A film made of the show, which was on stage at the Halifax Playhouse last November, was made for family and friends, and this is to be shown on the big screen at the Ted Hughes Theatre at Calder High School.

It’s part of a gala evening organised to raise funds for the staging of this year’s show, West Side Story. Seats are limited, so guests need to buy a prize draw ticket to be sure of getting in. The winners of that draw will receive a pair of tickets for West Side Story. There will also be interval entertainment and refreshments.

The event is on Thursday October 8 at 7pm, and draw tickets can be booked by calling Mrs Kershaw on 01422 883213, or by email, dkershaw@calderhigh.calderdale.sch.uk. They can also be obtained from members of the youth theatre.

^top


Monster-sized insect art: mini beasts

The Art Department worked with the reception class at Wainstalls Primary School in June to create monster sized mini beasts to add an artistic dimension to the 5 year olds’ investigations into the life cycle of insects.



Mrs P Pickles helped students make enormous 3D papier-mâché caterpillars, ladybirds and spiders among other bugs which will be suspended from their hall ceiling for everyone to admire. This is the first time in many years our Art Teachers have branched out into our feeder schools and we hope to continue this link next year.





^top

Showstoppers!

It’s that time of year again when GCSE Drama students step out on the boards to perform a variety of songs and dances from the best known musicals. On Wednesday 17 June 2009, almost 60 Drama students took part in our department’s annual production of showstoppers. An audience of over 220 people, packed tightly around cabaret style tables, were treated to an evening of entertainment (and a beverage or two) from the future stars of Calder High.

The evening began with a professional performance of Cell block Tango from Chicago which set the standard for a truly entertaining evening – culminating in a whole cast performance of You can’t stop the Beat from Hairspray. Some of the other more comic performances were; Summer Lovin’ from Grease, Flash dance and Time of my life from Dirty Dancing.

Mrs McAleese, Mrs Leicester and Miss Lockyer would like to say a big ‘well done’ to all the students who took part in the evening, and thank you to all staff and parents who came to support the students and the faculty. 

See you next year!

^top


Gala Concert for British Heart Foundation
Pictured: West End in the Wings, with Will Breckin (third from right) and musical director, Steve Hill.

A gala concert at the Ted Hughes theatre at Calder High School raised nearly £800 for the British Heart Foundation.

The concert was staged by the Breckin family of Mytholmroyd. Joe Breckin’s wife, Alex, is on the waiting list for a heart transplant operation. Younger brother Will, a musical theatre student at the Guildford School of Acting, decided that the BHF would be a worthy cause. He led a group of young singers, West End in the Wings, who are all studying at London performing arts colleges, in the charity event.

Pictured: The Breckin brothers, Ed, Joe, Will and Tom (all former Calder High students) and Joe’s wife Alex

Accompanied by West End musical director Steve Hill, they put on a show of dazzling variety and professionalism. Solo and ensemble numbers from a mixture of new musicals and old favourites had the audience spellbound, and the finale – a medley from Les Miserables – was a fitting climax to a memorable evening. The show was compered by Calder High sixth former, Michael Burnip.

Said Mrs Peggy Breckin: “It was a great evening. We are grateful to everyone who supported this worthy cause – the school, the audience and backstage team, the local people who donated raffle prizes, and Steve Hill for giving his time to play for the group.”

There was also praise for the school theatre from the London visitors who hailed it as a wonderful venue.  Steve Hill, who had played at a private party the previous week at the home of theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh, was also impressed with the theatre’s grand piano.

^top

Drama Exams for GCSE and AS Level

GCSE Drama performances

On 11 May 2009, GCSE Drama students performed their devised pieces for the very last time to a visiting examiner.  The day was a varied collection of drama pieces that came from such stimuli as Shakespeare, The seven Deadly, people in a lift, and the Holocaust to name but a few. Visiting examiner Jayne Hyde said; "What a wide, varied and challenging range of pieces – it has been a very enjoyable day." Students will find out exactly how they did on results day in August.

AS Drama performances
A selection of mono or duologues, and extracts from 'When you Cure Me' and 'The Insect Play'.

	On 22 May 2009, AS Drama and Theatre Studies students performed their Monologues, Duologues and group pieces for the external examiner and the chief examiner for EDEXCEL Drama. The day began with a range of comic, moving, and surrealist monologues and duologues where the examiners witnessed a range of texts from Sarah Cane to Shakespeare. These were then followed by two group performances of ‘When you Cure me’ by J Thorne and ‘The Insect Play’ by Capek. Students put in a lot of effort and as a result produced some outstanding work. We are very proud of each and every one of them and wish them all the best on results day in August! Mrs J Leicester and Mrs S McAleese

^top

Just a minute!
Could you write a play that lasts for just one minute? That was the challenge set to Calder High's drama students who are taking part in an international competition, Gone in 60 seconds. Theatre director Steve Ansell set up the Gi60 festival along with a colleague at the Brooklyn Drama College in New York. The winners of the British scripts section will have their work performed at Dean Clough’s Viaduct Theatre in June. The plays can be on any theme and can feature dialogue, slapstick or silence. Since 2005 the winners have been filmed, and last year were screened by the BBC Big Screen in Leeds’ Millennium Square.

Head of Expressive Arts Faculty, Mrs Leicester said: “Writing a play for such a short time span is really challenging for the students. The competition is new to us, and although we have had only a few sessions so far, we have several contenders we wish to enter.”


Prague performance
Three Calder High drama students have performed in an international festival in a former concentration camp near Prague. The students – Dario Coates, Jess Stanley and Rowan Mataram – were accompanied by dance teacher Mr Gregg for the event organised by the International Schools Theatre Association, for which Mr Gregg is a tutor.

They worked with 100 young people from schools in Moscow, Rome, Copenhagen and Cairo to perform at Terezin, in the performance space once used by prisoners of war.
“It was a very harrowing and traumatic experience for us,” said Mr Gregg. “But our students worked with professional actors and musicians who described them as the life and soul of the festival.” He added: “I am very grateful to the head for allowing us the time to attend international schools which adds such an extra dimension to what we offer here.”  The visit was arranged by Gilly Kerrod of the Calderdale Theatre School.

^top

Guitar Man!
Congratulations to Fin Plumpton who has joined the National Youth Guitar Ensemble (NYGE), after auditioning in January. He had a fantastic time at their Easter course, with a final performance in Oxford.

(Information and photo supplied by Mr Ben Plumpton)

More info about NYGE available at: http://www.egta.co.uk/content/nyge


Oliver Twisted: School Show...10-12 February
(DVDs of the show are now on sale: available from Mrs Leicester or Miss McAleese for £5)

Performances were on 10, 11 and 12 February in the Ted Hughes Theatre at Calder High. The main roles of Oliver, Artful Dodger, and Nancy are shared by two cast members. Dario Coates played Fagan, Bill Sykes was played by Chris Dyson and Oliver Bairstow played Mr Bumble. The show was performed in an Italianesque style using masks and mime. There were over one hundred students across all years involved in the production which featured colourful and energetic song and dance routines.



Performance photos (taken by Mr F Khan) (Review by Kerry McQuade)

Rehearsal photos

^top

Opening Performances (report by Eileen Burnip)
Calder High students will be marking the opening of the Ted Hughes Festival in their own new theatre. (Details on the Festival and booking events available on The Elmet Trust website)

The Ted Hughes Theatre at the school has been used for six months, but the official opening was delayed to coincide with the start of the week-long festival which marks the 10th anniversary of the death of the former poet laureate.

On Monday and Tuesday, 20 and 21 October, students studying GCSE and A level, and some dancers from other classes, will present their own performances based on the life and work of the locally-born poet.

It’s an energetic and innovative programme representing visual art, original musical compositions, dance and drama pieces, all created by the students to celebrate Ted Hughes’ connection with the school. (photos from preview performances)

Hughes officially opened the school’s Learning Resource Centre, where a manuscript of his work now hangs, and he was an occasional guest English teacher. “It was natural to name our new theatre in his honour,” said head of expressive arts, Jill Leicester.
The theatre will house most of the events in the week-long festival which will be opened on October 22 by the poet laureate, Andrew Motion.

The official opening ceremony of the theatre was performed last week by Carol Hughes, the poet’s widow.

Tickets for the school performances are £2 at the door, and performances start at 7.30.
Said Ms Leicester: “All of the expressive art departments are involved in the performance, and students of all ages are devising their own work. We are delighted that so much attention will be focused on our theatre during the festival, and are sure we will start off the celebrations with a real explosion of energy."

^top

Ted Hughes Festival Performance Previews

70 Dance and Drama students took part in a preview performance of the pieces they are working on for the Ted Hughes Festival later on in the month. The performance was to Mrs Carol Hughes, wife of the late Ted Hughes, who was treated to a wide variety of interpretations of her husbands' works. The GCSE and A Level students have already spent many hours working on their pieces, which will be shown in their final form at the Festival.

^top


Arts Mark Gold Presentation

On behalf of the Expressive Arts Faculty, in July, Mrs Leicester and three students (Clara, Martha and Mujtaba) collected the Arts Mark Gold Certificate at a ceremony at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds. The framed award will take pride of place in the newly renovated foyer of the Ted Hughes Theatre at school.








Arts Mark Gold Award


The Arts Mark team of staff and students

Calder High has been informed that the Arts Council is presenting their prestigious Arts Mark Gold Award to the school in a high-profile ceremony at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on July 1st.

Schools with the top award need to demonstrate their commitment to the Arts and provide their students with outstanding teaching and extra-curricular provision.

Jill Leicester, Head of Expressive Arts and leader of the bid application said: "We are thrilled. We believe the Expressive Arts Faculty at Calder High School is one of the best in the area, and it's a real accolade for the Arts Council to recognise what we offer to our students and the community. Putting the bid together was a long and arduous process, but it really brought us all together. I am very grateful to the administrative support we received in collating the bid, but more than anything else, our success is due to the fantastic students we have at our school and their commitment to and enthusiasm for the Arts."

Representing the school at the Award Ceremony will be Mrs Leicester and three students - one from each Key Stage who has shown exceptional effort within Expressive Arts.

Music

Instrument and Voice lessons
A letter has gone out to Parents with information about the lessons being offered in school from the start of the Autumn term. Enrolment is taking place now. Please return the completed form or contact Miss S Peers for more information.

^top

Art

Showcase of Students' work:
Check out the wiki created by Mr Khan

^top