School News

Enrichment weeks l Science and the art of giving birth l Election debate at Calder VI l Magistrates' Court Mock Trial competition l Polar Explorer l Amoeba to Zebra Science show l ECU Schools Mace l December Fun Run l No Worries


Design and Technology end of year shcw
The Technology faculty held an end of year show in June to celebrate the creative work of GCSE and A level students. Images will be displayed on the screen in the dining hall as well as through this link to the presentation. The displayed work features stained glass, textiles, art, modelling, light boxes, resistant materials and product design.

Design and Technology competition
Following our great success in last years Campus Calderdale Product Design competition where we won second place in the KS4 category we have been invited to enter the competition once again. This year we entered a much stronger and wider range of fantastic products...ranging from a stunt jumping bike by Tim Morley, a Stainless steel and hardwood designer chair by Tom Tatham,  a concept garden hammock by Dan Fielder at KS5 to a range ‘Micro scooters’, ‘Street Scooters’  &  a ‘Childs Scooter’ made by Rob Conroy, Ben Palmer and Matt Kaye in KS4. (Visit the website to see the full range of entries)

The competition is an excellent opportunity to showcases pupil’s work from KS3 to KS5 in product design and resistant materials subjects; it highlights what talented and imaginative young designers we have at Calder high School. The presentations took place at Heath and we had three prize winners:

Rob Conroy won 3rd prize for his Street Scooter (KS4)	Dan Fielder won 2nd prize for his Hammock (KS5)	Tom Tatham won 1st prize for his Designer Chair (KS5)

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Enrichment Weeks
Starting on Tuesday 8 June, Calder High students experienced two weeks off the regular timetable with a wide range of activities from clog dancing to climbing the Old Man of Coniston.

Links to photos for:

Year 9 trip to Chester Zoo

Year 8 Camp

Year 7 trip to Fountains Abbey

Pictured here: Dance and Science combination

Pictured below: Flamenco dancing, clog dancing and Henna tattoos

	Enterprise Day for Year 9 Year 9 students had the chance to create their own band and then find the best way to promote it. The activities involved planning, negotiating and performing.

Year 9 Science trip to Chester Zoo (Report by Hattie Noble)

On the two weeks of enrichment, year 9 took a trip to Chester Zoo to investigate whether animals should be kept in captivity. We didn’t just enjoy looking at the cute animals but also enjoyed finding out about the work Chester zoo does with endangered animals.

We travelled around in groups and had to find out as much as we could which may help us with our case study which forms part of our GCSE coursework. This included the animal’s welfare, the enclosure, the conservation and the origin of the animal.

Everyone had a great and enjoyable day in the sun.

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Calder High School welcomes its new head

The new head teacher at Calder High School is Mrs Carol Spillane, the first woman to lead the school in its 60 year history. Mrs Spillane is currently acting head at Our Lady’s R.C. High School in Oldham, and will be only the sixth person to hold the headship of the Mytholmroyd school since it opened as Yorkshire’s first ever comprehensive in 1950. She will take over from Mr Stephen Ball, who has left to become director of education for a group of academies in the West Midlands.

Born in Burnley, Mrs Spillane, studied History and English Literature at St Andrew’s and holds an MA in Modern History. She completed a PGCE at Liverpool University before beginning her teaching career in Buckinghamshire.

During her career she has held a number of senior posts that have enabled her to make a contribution to redesigning her school’s curriculum to make it more innovative and relevant to students. She has also led a number of initiatives that have improved the quality of teaching and learning in her school, resulting in improved student performance.

The Chairman of Calder High’s governors, Rob Good, was delighted that Mrs Spillane had accepted the post. “We interviewed a large number of people for this hugely important role in the hope that we could find someone in whom we all had confidence and who we knew could take the school forward to achieve even greater things. The governors who interviewed Carol thought that she was exceptional and we are all looking forward to working with her.”

A number of the staff at the school are already familiar with Mrs Spillane. Two years ago Calder High was designated a Leadership Development Centre by the National College for School Leadership and she was the first aspirant head to complete a 20 day placement in the school.

The departing head, Stephen Ball, who worked with her during that period, believes that she will provide both continuity and a renewal of the drive and ambition that great schools require from their leaders.

“This is an excellent appointment for the students and the staff of the school,” he said, “I have known Carol for some time and she has the same passionate commitment to comprehensive values that all of Calder’s leadership team holds. Yet she also has a freshness and enthusiasm that people will find really motivational. I have little doubt that Carol is among the very best of the next generation of secondary heads and I feel that I am leaving the school in very safe hands indeed.”

Mrs Spillane is keen to take up the post. “Calder High  is already a very good school with a pioneering tradition, an excellent staff and talented students. I feel both delighted and privileged to be given this opportunity.”

She has already made a commitment to continue the drive for improvement and is ambitious for Calder High to be recognised as a genuinely outstanding school and to be a source of pride for everyone in the area.

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Magistrates' Court Mock Trial Competition: the Regional Final


The Calder High School Mock Trial team, consisting of 10 Year 8 pupils (Sol Cotton, Jamie Keschner-Lycett, Ethan Lowe, George Seabourne, Lucy Wood, Molly Maguire, Phoebe Painter, Ben Coupe, Alex Welsh, George Hampshire) and one Year 9, Ella Saltiel, gave an excellent account of themselves in the Regional final of the Magistrates Court Mock Trial Competition in Mansfield last Saturday. They all performed extremely well, coping with the early start, long coach journey, jet lag, the loss of a script at the last moment and a new, tricky case. They were finally beaten in a very close finish by last year’s winners, a team of Year 9 students from Thomas Estley Community College in Leicestershire.

The team has been very well-supported this year by Billy Painter in Year 12 and by Joe Cotton in Year 10. Joe in particular has given up many hours to run rehearsals and work with individual competitors at lunchtime - we are really grateful for this. We also much appreciate the support of the many parents and relatives who travelled to Mansfield with us on Saturday, and to Sweet and Maxwell, who gave significant help with the provision of our coach.

We will of course begin auditions for next year’s team in September, but before then we will be looking for Year 10-13 students to form the senior Crown Court team.

Well done, everyone, and see you in court again next year!

Mrs A Todd and Mrs R Roebuck

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Science and the art of giving birth

Comments from two of the Year 9 students: "The Northern Ballet Theatre session that we attended on Thursday 13th May was a really fun and different way of learning. At first I was shy about joining in with the group but when the lesson got started I ignored the instinct to not make a fool of myself trying to dance and just went for it! We had a laugh and did some great group work. The other members of my group worked well and we produced an informative piece on the three trimesters of pregnancy and I learnt a lot of new information. Overall I think it was a great experience and would love to see more of it!" Oliver Turpin "I think that the Northern Ballet Theatre session has given me better knowledge on reproduction and a different view on learning styles. Using the dance technique is a good way to revise as I will be able to remember the different ways we learnt the stages of pregnancy. Having people being active helped to create a vision in my head of how the trimesters are all different and I also learnt a lot about how the amniotic fluid protects the foetus." Robyn Allanson

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Election debate at Calder VI
On Wednesday 28th April, local candidates from the four main political parties in the Calder Valley were invited into school to speak to sixth formers, staff and school governors. The school was very lucky that three candidates could attend, especially at such a busy time and so close to the election.  Hilary Myers (Liberal Democrat Party), Kate Sweeney (Green Party) and Craig Whittaker (Conservative Party) all attended to outline elements of both the local and national manifestos.

(Pictured: Party candidates with staff and students in Calder VI)

Following on from the presentations, students had the opportunity to put their own questions to the panel. The question that caused most controversy was put forward by Patrick Munsie who asked, “what will be cut to allow for the changes outlined to take place?”

The afternoon finished with a confidential vote and the results were fed back to the candidates. The session provided an educational and insightful look into the world of politics and was valued by staff and students alike.

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Magistrates' Court Mock Trial Competition: 8 time winners!



This year we won the individual prizes for Best Legal Advisor (Lucy Wood), Best Defendant (Sol Cotton) and the June Braithwaite trophy for the best bench of magistrates for the 3rd consecutive year. They were Jamie Keschner-Lycett, Katie Kidder and Jack Deighton.

The team has been aided and abetted by two previous National Finalists from Year 10 and Year 12...Joe Cotton and Billy Painter... whose help has been greatly appreciated by the team and me. It’s also worth noting that this will be the 8th time our name will be on the main trophy since 2002.

The team were largely new to the competition...all but two were from Year 8. We now go on to compete in the next round and have to prepare another case – we don’t find out till the last minute whether we’ll be prosecuting or defending. We are hoping to emulate last year’s success, when we got to the National Finals and finished 7th in the country, out of a total of about 350 schools.

The team:

Magistrates	Katy Kidder Jack Deighton Jamie Keschner-Lycett	Defence Solicitors	Ben Coup Ella Saltiel
Court Clerk	Lucy Wood	Defendant	Sol Cotton
Usher	Lucy Wood	Defence Witness	James Kay
Prosecution Solicitors	Molly Maguire Alex Welsh	Team Coaches	Billy Painter Joe Cotton
Prosecution Witnesses	Phoebe Painter George Hampshire	Teaching Staff	Mrs Roebuck Mrs Todd

Report by Mrs A Todd, Whole School Literacy and Oracy Co-ordinator

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Polar Explorer comes to Calder High
Photograph from Hannah McKeand's website.


Students at Calder High School discover flora and fauna of Antarctica and other Polar regions, thanks to the visit of a record-breaking explorer.

Hannah McKeand currently holds the record for the fastest solo female trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and plans a solo and unsupported trip to the North Pole in April this year- an enterprise never before completed by a woman.

She’s also travelled the Hindu Kush and sailed the world in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Year 9 Geography students at Calder High heard about Hannah’s adventures around the world and her observations about the Antarctic landscape during two special sessions on Friday 5 February. She also addressed a group of sixth form students about the problems of global warming and the range of bio-diversity in Polar regions, before being subjected to a gruelling interview session from English media students in the afternoon.

But it’s not just secondary students who will be hearing about her tales of derring-do! On Monday primary pupils at Hebden Royd and Heptonstall schools will be able to quiz the intrepid adventurer about explorers through the ages, the specialised clothing used in different areas of the world and the diverse wildlife spotted by Hannah during her travels.

The special sessions have been organised to tie-in with key points of the national curriculum and to help inspire the students about the world around them. They have been fitted into Hannah McKeand’s busy schedule as she prepares for her latest trek later in the year when she hopes to become the first woman to ski to the North Pole. She intends to complete the journey without being resupplied; carrying all her food and equipment with her from the start.

Each of her expeditions is financed through sponsorship and donations and you can find out more information at Hannah’s website: www.hannahmckeand.com.

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Amoeba to Zebra Science show


On Monday, 25 January, Year 10 Science students had the opportunity to see ‘Amoeba to Zebra’  - a production which uses a fusion of music and science to teach students about evolution. The topic will be covered in more detail when the students study the unit B3: Life on Earth - as part of the Science core GCSE.

Many students gave positive feedback, Georgia Lomax Thorpe wrote: "I thought this presentation was very effective in introducing/teaching about evolution. It reminded me about the process of life on Earth and how the human race came to be. I loved the way it was presented and the music was modern and appealing. The sound effects and images/words combined and made the information stick in my mind. The lively atmosphere gave an enthusiastic feel and the stages of evolution were clear and easy to learn."

For more information and examples of the music visit: http://www.amoebatozebra.co.uk

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ESU Schools Mace 2009/10

Congratulations to Jesse Raikes and Joe Cotton in Year 10 on their superb achievement in the English Speaking Union's Schools Mace on Monday 14 December. They were competing against teams from Greenhead, Huddersfield New College, Moor End Technology College, Crossley Heath and North Halifax Grammar Schools, all of whom were Yearr 12 and 13. They were singled out by the judges for the excellence of their speech structure and sailed through to the next round along with Greenhead - possibly the best first debate from any team we’ve produced.

Report by Mrs A Todd

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December 2009 Fun Run
During the last week of term, Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students are taking part in a 'Fun Run' for their PE lessons. This year's event is raising money for Breast Cancer care and the Great Generation project. Everyone taking part in the run should wear something pink. All students are expected to run and to contribute at least £1.00. Letters given out by form tutors will include a sponsor form. There will be prizes not just for the winners of the races, but also for the students who raise the most money.

Update on the mony raised from the Fun Run
Many thanks to the students who took part in the Christmas PE fun run. They raised a staggering £2281.50, and that was predominantly done through Years 7, 8 and 9. £2000 will be split between The Great Generation and Breast Cancer Care (the PE department's chosen charity for 2009). The rest of the money will go towards the Haiti relief fund.

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'No Worries'! (Timetable for services)
This is a health service for young people and is available to all students during the lunchtime break. Please see the flyer for more information.


Anti-Bullying Week
Here are some useful sites:
www.bullying.co.uk
www.antibullyingweek.org/
www.childline.org.uk

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