Fundraising for the 2010 trip
(Contact the Great Generation Team 2010 by emailing them)
Brass Band Concert: 13 March (see poster)
The Hebden Bridge Junior Band is performing in conjunction with the Cambridge University Brass Band in the Ted Hughes Theatre on Saturday 13 March. Tickets can be reserved from the band's website or by ringing 01422 832826. Funds raised will go towards the Great Generation.
Charity Netball Match: 17 March (see poster)
A charity netball match is being held between 6th formers and staff on Tuesday 23 March at lunchtime. There will be a small charge to play/ watch and all the money raised will go towards Sport Relief and The Great Generation.
Year 7 Fluorescent Disco (See poster for details)
A great evening of fun for Year 7s on 25 February.
29 January 2010: The Big Night In (See poster for details)
Ted Hughes Theatre, 7:00 to 10:00
On Friday 29th January, The Great Generation Team shall be hosting their biggest fundraiser yet; The Big Night In. The evening will have live music from three different bands (The Reverse, Pink Elephant and Fishing For Bishops), a family quiz, a Deal or No Deal raffle and the whole evening will be compered by former Calder High teacher and Calder Valley legend, Ray Riches. Tickets cost just £5 each, with a family ticket costing only £16. Tickets include quiz entry and a free supper.
The evening will start at 7.00 and run until 10.00. All money raised from the event will go to the Great Generation cause. To get tickets for this event, please contact Billy Painter, Rowan Carter or Emily Glover. Tickets can also be reserved by emailing greatgeneration@calderhigh.calderdale.sch.uk
Please come and support what will be a great evening of fun, laughter and enjoyment.
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Facebook page:
Search for "Great Generation Team 2010" on Facebook for more info on upcoming events and become a 'fan'.
A great end to 2009 fundraising activities
17 December: Sprout eating competition
A festive fundraiser held Thursday lunchtime.
The challenge: how many sprouts can you eat in 1 minute! (The current world record is 53!).
It's just £1 to enter. The event is open to all staff and students and the winner will receive a cash prize.
See the poster for more info.
13 to 20 December: Patrick's Bananathon
Unenviably, Patrick is preparing to eat only millet (used here as bird feed) and matoke (similar to a banana) which are both staple foods of a Ugandan diet - for a whole week! Please see Patrick in person and sponsor generously.
21/22 December: Bag Pack at Sainsbury's, Halifax
Well done to all the students who gave up some time in the Christmas Holidays to take part in a Charity “Bag Pack” at Sainsbury’s in Halifax. They did this to raise money for their Chosen Charity – The Laura Crane Trust. They manned the tills from 10.00pm – 3.00pm and braved the snow and ice to get there so even though the supermarket was quieter than usual they still managed to raise a massive…£274 – wow!
The “bag packing” superstars are…Khloe, Sean, Rowan, Laura, Hannah, Chelsea, Bethany, Claire & Annie
1 January 2010: New Year's Day Treasure Hunt
The New Year's Day Treasure Hunt raised a total of £150 in aid of the Great Generation Project. A total of 30 families entered the treasure hunt in wintry conditions and fun was had by all. The Hunt entailed a nice scenic walk around the countryside of Mytholmroyd with clues spread throughout for families to solve. Keen walker Iain Dale, said, "It was lovely to start 2010 off this way, the walk itself was really enjoyable and it's an added bonus to support a charity such as the Great Generation in the process" Many more events will take place in 2010, with the Big Night Out, 29th January the next in line. More information on this event will be released shortly.
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Buttered Muffins Christmas Family show: 5 December
(See the video for a performance preview)
Mr Gregg is pleased to announce that the Buttered Muffins Theatre Company are back again this year on Saturday 5 December...and for those that missed them last year it’s an opportunity to watch an unforgettable show!
There will be Juggling, Unicycling, Music, Acro Balance, Comedy Poetry, Old Music hall numbers, Tom foolery, Balancing Acts, and Light/ UV Juggling...and much much more (maybe Mr G in a dress)!!!
All the performers work professionally throughout the UK and are volunteering to do this performance for petrol money and a mince pie…the rest of the money will go to the Great Generation project!
There are two shows as seen on the poster: the matinee will be better suited to younger children and the evening show for older children and adults with a late curfew!!
Bring your own picnic and drinks and enjoy a fantastic Christmas family show!!!!
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Chill Out Evening at Calder VI
Come along to an evening of relaxation on Friday 13 November from 6pm to 9pm. Included with the £10 ticket is a choice of a 20 minute session of Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Reiki, or Foot Massage. There also workshops on Group Relaxation, Group Meditation, Silk Painting, Art Therapy, and Henna Hand Painting.
The funds raised will go towards sending a group of Year 12 students to work with a community in Uganda. This will be the third year that Calder High has taken part in the Great Generation project.
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2009 Fundraising Activities
Rowed to Africa 2
This year as a school we rowed 556km or 351 miles which means that we have gone from Paris to the port of Marseilles and are now able to actually get on a boat and Row to Africa!!
During the interform rowing competitions:
Year 7 rowed 59km
Year 8 rowed 77km
Year 9 rowed 80km
Year 10 rowed 86km
Sixth form rowed 134km
Staff rowed 72km
We also did some extra rowing in PE lessons. And many thanks to the Sweet and Maxwell team who contributed some mileage and raised £1000 for the Great Generation project.
Many thanks to everyone involved in Rowed to Africa. It's been a fantastic event for the second year running.
Photos from this year's rowing activity:
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Great Generation Update (from Mr M Howard)
The group leaves for Uganda on 17 July - so not long to go!
Recent fundraising has included a fantastic contribution of £1,300 from Sweet and Maxwell as part of their ongoing connection with the school. We are really grateful for this very generous contribution which is a significant chunk of the £19,200 required.
On Thursday 18 June, pulsating 70s disco music pumped out of the Ted Hughes Theatre to get the audience into the mood for the Calder Film Society’s presentation of a sing-along version of Mamma Mia. Clearly a film that appeals to all ages with the mixture of the community in the audience. Thank you to all who supported the event.
Events taking place over the final few weeks include Calder High’s Got Talent 2 in the Ted Hughes Theatre on Wednesday 1 July. Auditions have been packed with supportive audiences and the fantastic examples of the wide and varied talent of Calder High students has been much in evidence.The Quiz and Curry Night takes place in the Calder VI Centre on Friday 3 July. Maximum 5 per team, £10 for each team to enter and £3 for the delicious curry buffet.
Finally we have launched the preparations for Rowed to Africa 2- The Sequel. This takes place during the week beginning 6 July. Lat year we managed to row fro Hebden Bridge to Paris, so let’s try to at least get through France! Each tutor group will enter a team in an interform competition and attempt to raise as much sponsorship as possible for their rowing exploits. There will be an individual prize for the student who raises the most money in each year group. Those not in the team will be asked to support the events contributing £1 to support their tutor group. Calder VI students will also take part in an ‘endurance’ row again gaining sponsors for their efforts. There is also the faculty competition after school on the Wednesday – to see if another faculty can beat the reigning champions from PE. Sweet & Maxwell have requested a team place led by a former Calder High student to try to get their own back on some former teachers!
The week will be a fabulous, competitive event with a wonderful supportive atmosphere. Over £3,000 was raised last year – we need the same again and more please!
Thank you for your continuing support
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Uganda 2008 video (Link to video)
The video has been made by the group who participated in the 2008 Project to Kampala. It consists of images of the sights and conditions in Kampala that they worked in in July 2008. (This is a .wmv file and is best viewed with Windows Media Player.)
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2008 Fundraising Activities
October
Year 7 Enterprise students ran a charity market stall over three days in October. They sold a range of toys, books, CDs, and jewellry and raffled off an iPod shuffle. The amount raised was £42.50 and they really enjoyed the experience.
2008 Project: working in Uganda (Report and Reflections)
Staff and students worked throughout the year to raise £16,000 - the amount required to send 11 students and five staff members to Uganda for the first two weeks of the summer holidays (See below for information and photos of last year's fundraising activities.)
The project took place in Kampala in partnership with The Great Generation's Expert Partner working on holistic HIV/AIDS treatment and outreach in a very poor slum area of Kampala.
The volunteers were enlisted to help run an Environmental and Hygiene Awareness week with the aim of involving people to clean up their communities, raising the level of awareness of living in poor hygiene conditions and enlisting local leaders to promote the solutions for change on these issues. This work resulted in them being featured on the Ugandan TV news.
The messages were shared thorugh drama, posters, dances, art and crafts and other fun activities at various different events including a football and netball tournament and a cultural festival. The group spent time in schools, an orphanage and interviewed local people about what solutions they would like to see for their own communities. They also managed to fit some sight-seeing into their busy schedule.
The students had an amazing experience and their efforts have had a direct impact on an estimated 2,000 people. The project's Expert Partner told the group: "I think it is hard for you to understand what an impact you have had in these communities, but please know that you have! Local leaders have been mobilised, people have been touched."
Reflections from students who took part:
"What brought it home to me today was when we met this woman. Eight of her brothers and sisters had died - seven of them from AIDS and one from Cholera. She was looking after 21 children who weren't even all her own. When we asked her how many of her children go to school, she was so upset when she said that she could not afford to send her five youngest to school."
"My mobile phone bill, which costs £35 per month, could pay for four kids to go to school for a year...it really, really shocked me. People always say that it's good to donate money to good causes but until you're actually in the situation and you see people...like an old woman looking after a child that isn't even hers, out of the goodness of your heart...yeah, well it's pretty amazing..."
"When we asked them where they would like to be in five years time, they said "Alive" and that really struck home."
The group gave a presentation to the new Year 12s at the start of term and a new round of fundraising activities has started to raise the money to send another group to Africa next summer.
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2007/2008 Fundraising Activities
March l April l May l June l July l Rowed to Africa
Assisting Communities in Extreme Poverty
Fundraising events are now in full swing to send a group of Calder VI students accompanied by staff to Uganda in the last two weeks of July. £20,000 needs to be raised which will be used to pay for travel, accommodation and food. A substantial amount is then used as a loan to a community in Kampala as a micro-finance project.
The group will be working with AIDS orphans and helping them develop their skills and help them become more self-sufficient. They will discuss with the community the project that will be set up to help improve the conditions for the community. The loan will be paid back once the project is making a profit and it will then be used to initiate another project and so on. We, as a school, intend to return to Uganda each year with a new group of Calder VI students to continue the work we have started and to continue our relationship with the community. (See the students' leaflet for more information)
Thankyou to everyone who made a contribution towards the Great Generation Project on Non-Uniform Day on Friday 25 January. This was the first of many fundraising activities.
Update on Fundraising activities in March and April
On Wednesday 5 March, the students spent the afternoon braving the cold and washing teachers' cars. Over £150 was raised through this event. Students were so happy with the experience that they are doing the same event at Sweet and Maxwell's on Wednesday 2nd April.
On Tuesday 11 March, Mr Gregg's Year 9 Drama Group's performance of 'Say Goodbye to Satchwell Road' raised over £200 through donations from the audience and a raffle.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, Mrs Todd sold slices of her exquisite family recipe chocolate cake and challenged tasters to discover the recipe. Over £100 was raised to support the trip.
On Friday, 4 April, Lucy Ratcliffe and Natalie Hudson crawled a mile on the front field running track and raised over £200. (It took them one and a half hours!).
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May Fundraisers
Ready, Steady, Cook!...organised by Mr M Bellanfante took place on Thursday 1 May. Staff members volunteered to be chefs for the event and cooked their favourite dishes on a budget of £3.00. In a friendly atmosphere of competition and the mixed aromas of a variety of culinary delights, the eight contestants cooked, stirred, marinated, grilled, grated and all in just over an hour...to produce a fantastic array of dishes. The event was covered by the Courier and also Calder High's media club. Each chef was provided with a Calder High School Cookery Club Apron and black chef's hat (although Mrs Todd brought her own distinctively branded apron).
Click on this link to see the Halifax Courier's report and video.
Photo gallery and report
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Jump for Cash
Mr Howard successfully managed to convince his body to throw itself out of a plane 3 miles above the North Lincolnshire countryside on Saturday 3rd May. He then fell towards earth at 120 miles per hour for a minute before the relief of the parachute actually opening led to to a 4 minute more gentle descent to the safety of the ground. Whilst Mr Howard found the jump exhilarating and even better than anticipated, there is no chance of him ever doing it again. No one should go through the terror of the anticipation twice in a lifetime. Five other friends, including Mrs Howard, also jumped and their combined total raised for The Great Generation is approximately £3,000. Thank you to all those who sponsored the jump.
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Great Generation – The Final Push
Thursday 26 June: Family Quiz Night and Auction
Despite the atrocious weather, a competitive spirit reigned in the theatre during the Family Quiz. The top two teams could not be split and so a final nail-biting tie-breaker was required for ‘The Blacks’ to emerge triumphant. This was followed by a good-natured Auction with the highest bid being received from Mr and Mrs Todd’s hugely generous offer of a week in their home in Normandy.
Over £900 was raised through tickets, refreshments and the auction.
Tuesday 1 July: Year 7 Disco
Thanks to all those staff and students who helped organise and take part in the hugely enjoyable and energetic Year 7 Disco. Well over 100 Year 7 pupils attended and took part in limbo dancing and strutting their stuff on the dance floor. Over £300 was raised through tickets, refreshments and donations on the evening. An excellent time was had by all with the evening capping off a splendid first year for the pupils of Year 7.
Wednesday 2 July: Calder High's Got Talent
The highly anticipated ‘Calder High’s Got Talent’ took place following weeks of auditions.
13 student acts and three extremely professional staff performances held the audience mesmerised. The students’ talents ranged from musical performances, dancing, football tricks, martial arts displays and the remarkable bike control of Sam Bottomley.
The audience and judges were astonished with the quality of the performances which reinforced the breadth and depth of talent within the school.
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After much deliberation, the judges decided that Mark’s piano performance earned him third place, Seb’s martial arts display second; and the winner of the inaugural Calder High’s Got Talent was Zoe for her self-written and performed delicate, poignant song.
View the Calder High version of a 'Matrix' style martial arts fight starring Mr Khan and Mr Bellanfante. |
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Over £800 was raised through tickets and refreshment on the evening. We look forward to next year’s competition.
Tuesday 1 July to Thursday 3 July: Rowed to Africa (See photos below )
Rowed to Africa proved to be an excellent vehicle to celebrate the National School Sports Week as the PE faculty excelled themselves in organising and running the rowing competitions throughout the week.
Each tutor group in Years 7-10 were represented by a group of 10 rowers in a series of competitions against the other tutor groups from the year group. The races ranged from short 4 minute challenges to the long haul 20 minutes strategic battles. Money was raised through each team contributing to enter the competition, sponsorship for the competitors and a ‘Guess how far Calder High rows in the week’ competition. All other members of the tutor group roared their support and created a fantastic supportive atmosphere in the gym that could be heard throughout the school.
On the Wednesday, three teams of sixth formers rowed for four hours and each rowed over 40 kilometres. This event was followed by the sight of 32 staff members showing that they could still pull their weight in the faculty competition. Rather predictably, and to save their reputation, the PE department emerged victorious.
Many thanks to Josh Smyth and Marcus Levitt for producing the items sold on the refreshments stall which raised over £80 alone.
The competition really succeeded in bring tutor groups together and engendering a spirit of teamwork and support. Money raised is still being counted – please ensure all is collected in so that a final total can be announced.
Friday 4 July: Jeroboam of Champagne raffle
The Raffle for the Jeroboam of Laurent Perrier Champagne was finally drawn. The winning ticket selected by Mr Ball belonged to Helen Swift. Over £300 was raised through ticket sales.
Many thanks to all those who have organised, taken part, supported and contributed so generously to the above events, and events previously held during the year, to help us reach our target of £16,000.
The group of 16 Calder VI students and staff travel to Uganda on 19th July with great hopes that they can build a relationship with the community in Kampala and begin to help improve the lives of the AIDS orphans they will be working with.
Mr M Howard, Assistant Headteacher and Director of Post-16 Studies
Rowed to Africa:
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This fantastic event has allowed 450 pupils to work in teams to row the furthest. The enthusiasm, energy and team work form all year groups was outstanding. The staff and students have had great fun.
Races were held as challenges in 2x20 minute races and then short fast challenges - 1 girl, 1 boy etc. Forms made banners and came along to support with very loud voices. This week was National School Sport Week and the event was to celebrate all our students efforts in sport and introduce them to something new! It also replaced the traditional sports day. |
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Donations
Thank you to everyone for their continuing support and generosity.
If you would like to send any donations to support the trip please make cheques payable to 'Calder High School'. If you would like further information or have ideas on how to continue to raise the money please contact Mr M Howard, Assistant Headteacher and Director of Post 16 Studies.
The student group meets every Tuesday at 12.45 in CS5 to plan ideas and events.
Visit the website for more information about the charity that runs the project (see attached document).
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