School News

The whole day was underwritten by the Philosophy of the Olympic movement: Personal Excellence, Cultural Understanding, Fair play, Internationalism.

A later session looked at five key skills in depth: Teamwork / Evaluation / Critical Thinking / Problem Solving / Communication. The students then went on to discuss these skills in relation to the Olympic Games and Olympic athletes. The group were then divided into small teams and tasked with designing an Olympic Games complex to include a plan and model.

Enterprise Day 2008

All students received a full colour Enterprise of the Olympic Games workbook. The day went extremely well and students were engaged and interested throughout all sessions.

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Year 11 Prom 2008
Another great evening for staff and students at this year's Prom held at the Imperial Hotel in Halfiax. A sample of the well turned out lads and lasses (and staff) are pictured below:

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Inter-school Mathematics Challenge
Students from schools across Calderdale entered teams for Calder High School's annual Year 7 Mathematics Challenge.

Their mathematical skills and knowledge were put to the test. They had to break a series of codes to 'Identify the Spy', build a solid of multicoloured cubes from memory, tackle a range of mathematical brainteasers in a relay race challenge and were 'asked as the audience' in Millionaire style fashion.

Special thanks go to Mrs Margaret Knight, who returned to Calder to run the event again this year.

Bike to School Week: 14-18 July
The last week of the summer term, Calder High is promoting a healthy and eco-friendly Bike to School (or Work) Week. Lower your carbon footprint by taking part! Information on routes and meeting times are on the flyer. There's also a consent form that needs to be completed by parents/carers and returned to Mr Mulholland or form tutors.

On 16 July an Advanced Cycle Training Course is also being offered by the LEA's Cycling Officer, Andy Geall.

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Daniel Nelstrop Debating Competition
The Final of the competition is being held at Calder High on Tuesday 8 July at 6:30pm in the LRC. Motions are: "This House cannot afford to go green" and "This House believes that to live in the present we must first come to terms with the past and atone for it" (Chekov, 1904). The finalists are: Wakefield Girls' High School, Ermysteds, Lawnswood, and Leeds Grammar. Our own Wesley Downs will be on the judging panel and one of our debating team will be in the Chair. All are welcome to attend!

Year 8 Camp 2008


	Another year and another year 8 camp has been and gone! Year 8 Camp is the perfect (and sometimes the only) opportunity for the PE department to deliver quality Outdoor Education to the students of Calder High school in the beautiful surroundings of Coniston Water. The students spend 4 days taking part in numerous activities that they may have never experienced before.

	The activities on offer whilst in the Lake District are Mountain Biking, Canoeing, Ghyll Scrambling, Raft Building, Orienteering, Abseiling and Walking up the 'Old Man of Coniston'. The students stay in tents in friendship groups of 3 or 4 and learn valuable skills throughout the week such as leadership skills, communication skills and washing up skills, whilst gaining an appreciation of the environment. The two weeks of camp are usually cursed though, with the 8X half receiving the sunshine and good weather and the 8Y half of the year experiencing nothing but rain!!! But this year, along with brand new tents, the year group experienced excellent weather on both weeks… Something of a rarity in Coniston. This year was my 4th year of organising and running Year 8 camp, and if I am perfectly honest, this year was by far the easiest in terms of student behaviour and student organisation. The Year 8 students were fabulous and an absolute credit to the school. The year group were polite and it was a real pleasure to see the students enjoying themselves outside of a classroom environment. I am sure that new friendships were formed both between students and between staff who students who may never have met before.

I hope that the students had an extremely enjoyable experience and will have great memories that will last many years.

I would personally like to thank all of Year 8 for their hard work and excellent behaviour during their time at camp and all the staff that were involved. The staff that came to camp were the best staff I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Their hard work and commitment to the students kept me going at times and I hope I have the pleasure of working with them again next year.

And finally I would like to thank all of the staff who didn't come on camp, for covering lessons and being flexible in your planning whilst the Year 8s are away. If it wasn't for you, Year 8 camp wouldn't be possible.

I'm now looking forward to next year.

Mr H Potter

Family Quiz Night and Auction
The Quiz night and auction is taking place on Thursday 26 June in the theatre, starting at 7:30. Cost is only £10 for a family of 4! The Quiz will take place first followed by the auction with a fantastic range of lots.

Top lot in the auction is an offer of Yacht cruise in the Firth of Clyde for 2-4 people (or bareboat charter for up to 6 for qualified/experienced sailors) during a week in August (probably last week of school holiday - dates to be confirmed). The following reserve prices will apply: If the highest bid is £800 or more, the successful bidder will get a full week's cruise. £500 or more will get a 3-day weekend or 4-day midweek trip £300 or more will get a 2-day mid-week trip £150 will get an early afternoon to midday taster with overnight stop away or £120 or more will get a day sail. £60 half-day sail.

Other lots include naming a truck after your loved one and a signed Manchester United shirt.

Please support the event by coming along for the evening and if you have anything you can contribute for the auction please pass on it on to Mr M Howard or Mrs A Clay.

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Calder High's Got Talent... (see poster)
Based on the huge success of Britain's got Talent, Calder High are having their very own Calder High School's got talent. The auditions have already started and are on every Thursday lunchtime, entry through the outside door, 20p entry for spectators and all invited. The actual show which will be about ten of the acts that make it through the auditions plus 3 or 4 teacher acts will be on 2 July in the Ted Hughes Theatre. Judges included!!. All entry fees for the lunchtime auditions and tickets bought for the show go towards The Great Generation project.

So far we have had some fantastic singing, dancing and some amazing musical talent! We are also looking for comedy routines, magic, gymnastics, juggling...or any other of the amazing talents that pupils or teachers have! Please come along and support other acts or give it a go yourself and discover your star potential. If you have any questions find Mr Gregg 'aka Mr Cowell' and ask him. Tickets will go on sale soon... we anticipate they will sell very quickly, so keep your eyes peeled!

Mr J Gregg (Curriculum Leader, Dance)

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Rowed to Africa (photos and report on Sixnews page)
Rowed to Africa poster

This poster is now up around school to promote a whole school sponsored event that will be held on Monday 1st, Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd July. It's an interform competition and is replacing the traditional Sports Day this year. Form tutors will receive entry and sponsorship forms during the week commencing 9 June.

This is part of the fundraising for the Great Generation project and the money raised is going into the overall fund to send a team of Calder VI students to Uganda this summer. (See Calder VI news page for more information about the Great Generation project and all the other fundraising events / Letter from Mr Howard)

The 'Rowed to Africa' event is a really fun and energetic way for both students and staff to take part in the fundraising and will involve clocking up as many kilometres as we can on 10 rowing machines over the 3 days in an attempt to row 6722km which is the distance from Hebden Bridge to Kampala, Uganda!

There will be a sponsored staff event on Wednesday 2 July from 3:15pm to 5:15pm (all welcome to come and watch) Entry will be based on teams of 4. Each team will pay £20 to enter and row between them continuously for an hour. You can swap on and off as regularly as you wish. The team who rows the furthest will be the winner and all km will be added up to help reach the final total.

Further information is available from Mrs C Lee.

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Year 9 Maths Activities: 20 May 2008
The year group was spilt into half with each half doing four different activities over the four lessons in groups. These include a clicker quiz, supermathsworld, making a football, a relay race and a team game. The activities are differentiated for the groups and designed to be fun and challenging and use different skills to those used in a normal maths lessons (with a big focus on group work).

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Say goodbye to the dusters...a uniform change!
Students will be sporting new colours after the summer holidays. The yellow polo shirts worn by pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 are to be replaced by a striking new design in navy blue.

The colour change was brought in after extensive consultation with parents and students. It incorporates a newly-designed badge which highlights the school’s Technology College status. The new badge will also feature on the shirts for the older pupils, but they are keeping the familiar pale blue.

New School polo shirts

Modelling the new designs are Clare Massam and James Bailey.

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Enrichment Days: 14/15 May

Year 7	Fountains Abbey History trip Numeracy and Euro Day
Year 8	Bradley Woods Camp preparation Expressive Arts / ICT
Year 9	Health Day Science and Technology projects
Year 10	RS Exam English and Science Revision

Enrichment Days: Photo Gallery

	Year 7 students try their hand at the French game of Boules as part of their Euro Day enrichment sessions.
	Numeracy Day for Year 7 included a session on teamwork with communication and building skills.
	Numeracy Day also included a Treasure Hunt.

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Year 8 students created masks and also took part in a drama session wearing masks (pictured below)

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Year 9 students had a wide range of activities with shampoo making in Science, purse making, cooking, and building birdboxes in Technology. They also had Health Day sessions which included an outdoor activity: biking (pictured below).

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New Centre Set To Open

In September Calder High School will open a pioneering new centre that will enable it to respond more effectively to a small minority of students whose behaviour causes difficulties for others. Just over £100,000 has been received in additional funding for the 2 staff unit which is being established as an alternative to fixed term exclusions.

In common with all schools, Calder has used fixed periods of exclusion, for significant misdemeanours but there has long been frustration about its ineffectiveness as a sanction. The Head explained, “Simply telling a young person not to attend school for a few days is totally counter-productive. While it might give other students a temporary respite, individuals who spend time away from learning fall further and further behind and are less well equipped to succeed upon their return. Repeated exclusion can lead to real under achievement and disengagement and more effective strategies are long overdue”

From the start of the new school year, children who would previously have been excluded, will attend the centre. They will have a longer working day than their peers and will not have breaks or lunches with other students. They will continue to receive tuition and guidance that should quickly bring them back on track.

The Head is at pains to point out that the centre will be working only with Calder High’s own young people and that it will not be available to students from other schools. “It says much for our standing in our professional community,” he added, “that in a time of very scarce resources the finance has been made available to us for a scheme that might well be taken up across the country if it succeeds here.”

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History Wiki Winners
Miss Newman's Year 7 History wiki competition has now ended and the winners received their prizes at the last Assembly of the term. All Year 7 students were invited to take part and to create a page on the Historicalder wiki about any history topic of their choice.

Winners
Eve Jensen and Ellie Rushton Crawshaw (both 7XA): Romans
Zack Glover (7XA): 1966 World Cup
Isobel Elder (7XA): The Tudors

Runners-up
Amy Jagger (7XD): Looks in the 1940s
Asha Carsmith (7XA): Alexander the Great
Lucy Ashton (7XD): Britain since 1930
Dale Elder (7XD): The Ancient Egyptians and Greeks
Rob Ogden (7XD): The Vietnam War
Jessica Croad (7XD): The History of Ted Hughes / Plains Indians

Geography Floods Project
Geography presentations

Pictured left: Miss McGeever gives out certificates and prizes to the winning teams

Students from each Year 7 form took part in the annual Geography Independent Learning project. The topic was Flooding and they had to choose and compare flooding events from two countries. Prizes were awarded for the best presentations, the most original presentation and also the best use of the wiki. (Wiki spaces had been set up for each group of students to use for collating their research and communicating with each other during the two week project.) They all worked very hard for the duration of the two week project and the standard of the presentations was very good. It was difficult to pick an overall winner so there was a joint prize for the best presentation from the Geography department. The LRC staff, who had worked with the students getting them started with research and using the wiki, gave prizes for the most original presentation and the best use of the wiki.

Winners for the best presentations:

7XC
Alex Belinsky-Bradbury
Gaby Stanley
Hattie Noble
Amy Gillson

7YA
Eddie Cole
Maddie Hay
Hildy Robbins
Luke Senior
Joe Greenwood

Winners for the most original presentation:

7XD
Jasmine Simms
Zoheb Kahil
Amy Jagger
Lydia Lynch
Josh McGovern

Winners for the best use of the wiki:

7XA
Izzy Elder
Ellie Rushton-Crawshaw
Tom Hawkins
Zahckoh Mitchell Dos Santos
Eve Jensen

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Year 7 students spent two lessons on the morning of 25 February working with the Happy Puzzle Company. They were challenged by a range of mathematical puzzles.

Teams had to try to build a continuous road circuit from tiles, had to balance penguins on an iceberg and solve many other challenges. Teamwork, planning, logical thinking and careful strategies were all required and the students really shone. Great fun was had by all.

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Mah Jong lessons
Trevor Knight, father of one of our students, has kindly offered to run a Mah Jong club on a Thursday lunchtime. Four students are learning to play the game initially, with a view to opening it up to other students as the first four learn the basic rules. The first session was held on Thursday 21 February and was a hugh success.

	Pictured left: Trevor Knight shows students the Mah Jong sets of tiles... and below... getting to grips with the intricacies of the game

On 6 February, Jeff Rich, who has drummed all over the world with Status Quo, gave a drumming masterclass to the whole of Year 8. His dynamic workshop lasted nearly two hours, taking enthralled students through the history of drumming, inviting students on stage with him, and demonstrating his amazing techniques on his professional drum kit (worth thousands of pounds!). By the end every one of the 200 students had stood up to play and one lucky chap, Harry Bryson, was given the honour of jamming on Rich's own drum kit - and did he make the most of it! Way to go, Harry!
Mrs J Leicester, Head of Expressive Arts

Harry jams!

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Reaching for the Stars!
Astronomy lecture

Astronomer Dennis Ashton, director of the Star Centre at Sheffield Hallam University (pictured above) visited Calder High on Friday 11 January to give lectures to Year 10 students. The lectures covered the topic of the birth and death of stars and were given to help students with preparation for their GCSE Science exams the following week.

Pictured above: Students enact the birth of a star during the Astronomy lecture!

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Year 7 Celebration Assembly: 19 December 2007

Performance of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'

The final Year 7 Assembly of 2007 was a showcase of talent as well as a celebration event. Two forms performed a James Bond dance routine, Jasmine Simms and Mr Garcia Lopez sang solo songs. The grand piano was played by Mrs Leicester. Mr Walker performed a poem 'Talkin' Turkeys' and also led the assembly in a Spanish love song. Mrs Hindle's specially selected group performed 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. Ten students won £10 when their names were drawn out from all the students who had 10 or more commendations during the half term. And all those who had managed not to be given detentions throughout the term received a box of chocolates.

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7XC Skating trip


Hatty, Olli and Lettie look like pros!	Jamie, Sam and Jacob cling on for dear life!

7XC got into the festive spirit with a visit to the temporary ice skating rink at the Piece Hall Halifax. Everyone had a fantastic time even though some spent more of their time on their bums than on their skates, not mentioning any names….Miss Hindle, Freddie and Jordan….Well done 7XC for such fantastic behaviour on the night.
Mrs C Swain, Form Tutor and Science Teacher

Students' English work is now on permanent display at Calder High in the school corridors in a new series of imaginative artistic designs. Excerpts from poetry and other writing have been incorporated by local artist Jane Revitt into canvas wall hangings and on windows which have been widely admired by students, staff and visitors.

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Outward Bound 2007 (Report by Mr H Potter, Curriculum Leader Outdoor Pursuits)

28 students from Calder High school and 14 students from the Ridings took part in an outward bound residential week in Ullswater recently. The course is funded by Vale Upholstery in Mytholmroyd. Mr Chadwick from Vale Upholstery has put in lots and lots of money over the last 11 years into the development of individuals at the two schools and without this funding the course would not run. During the wet and cold week the students took part in: team building activities, rock climbing, canoeing and a two day expedition with an overnight rough camp. It was a challenging and difficult week that was brought to a close with presentations, that were given to Mr Chadwick, Mr Ball and the head of Outward Bound Ullswater, on the students' experiences during the week and what they have learnt.

I would like to thank everyone that was involved for being so fantastic during the week, Mr Ball for allowing you all to go and finally Mr Chadwick. Thank you for your commitment to the students of our school over the last 11 years.

Into the woods

Year 7 were sponsored to do 50 minutes of mathematics puzzles and challenges on 14 December. The monies raised will go to support the NSPCC. Throughout the week the staff have also been challenged by a daily mathematical brain teaser. There were plenty of winning entries with special prizes given out each day.

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Textiles Project
Students in their hats

Year 8 have been working very hard with Miss Gray and Miss Hall to design and make a hat. They have produced some interesting and quality products using fleece and we are very pleased with the results. Well done!

Miss K Hall pictured here with some of her students

An after school cookery club was launched at Calder High School by a Savoy Hotel trained chef. Mark Bellanfante, a study supervisor at the school, who is calling on his talents from his earlier career. Pupils from all year groups are invited to join the sessions on Tuesday after school. Staff are also welcome to take part.

Crown Court Update
It is that time of year again when the Calder High Crown Court team begin rehearsals for what they hope will be another successful year. The team made easy work of the regional finals winning all three cases by a huge margin, which even included defeating local rivals Greenhead. The cause was helped by strong performances from team stalwarts Wes Downs and Abbie Simister prosecuting and defendant Claire Saltiel was excellently defended by defence team Patrick Muncie and Maddy Yates. The National Finals held in Cardiff proved to be a lot more challenging though, with the UK’s most supreme, all determined to become the finest around. The day didn’t go to plan exactly, losing all three cases. The day did not go to waste though as the team had a superb experience and have picked up many valuable tactics in which to neutralise in future cases.

Once again the team looks very strong introducing no less than seven new faces to the fray, including experienced debaters Calum Paramor and Isaac Rose. The team as a whole looks very promising with a mix of both experience and youth in all areas, which will be a key factor for future success, in this competition. The two cases in which the team will be taking part in this year are about a stolen school computer and a possible arson attack in an examinations office.

The Crown Court Competition is an annual competition where different schools compete one on one with each other according to the draw. Each team prosecutes and defends at least one case and can do either in the final match. The idea of the competition is to run a simulation of a court case which takes place in reality. Both teams are awarded points for their tactics to prove the defendant guilty and innocent, their debating skills and their overall knowledge of a trial.

Billy Painter, Press Officer
(Final report to follow)

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Student Voice Conference (Letter to Parents l Agenda)

	This year's Student Voice Conference was opened by Mr M Howard, Director of Post-16 Studies. Two students from each form and each year gathered in Calder VI for a day to consider the topic of 'Bullying'. For the first part of the day they were split into groups to look at different kinds of bullying and create a presentation on each topic. After viewing a DVD on Bullying the students worked on posters and discussed possible solutions. After lunch the groups got together again to look at more detailed proposals with action plans and costs.


	Photos of role playing from ideas created by the students.

Theatre Refurbishment

Pictured above: Year 10 were the first year group to have their assembly in the re-furbished theatre on Monday 10 December.

Theatre sign

Pictured above: New signage for the theatre

The widow of the late Poet Laureate gave permission for his name to be used, and has now agreed that the school can use his signature as a logo above the entrance.

The theatre will be available for use by the community in 2008, and already the Elmet Trust are hoping to stage the 10th anniversary celebrations of Hughes’ death here in October, featuring the world premiere of two new orchestral pieces of music.

“The theatre is now ready as a teaching area,” said head teacher Stephen Ball. “In the new year we are hoping to be able to invite parents and friends to come along and see what a wonderful new facililty we have here. It is the theatre that our excellent expressive arts faculty truly deserves.”

A grand piano for the Ted Hughes Theatre has been bought with funds raised by the Calder High School Parents Network and was safely delivered to the school on 7 December.

Pictured left: Annie Jones tries out the new grand piano

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Hot Chocolate Tasting..."too much of a good thing!"
Hot Chocolate tasters

This week, 16 students from the Calder Eye student newsgroup team ‘blind tasted’ five different hot chocolates. The results will be written up as a review by Patrick Munsie in year 11 and will be included in our Christmas edition. Enthusiasm was high at the beginning of the tasting session with students asking for second helpings, but after several ‘taste tests’, eagerness waned with students reporting that one can indeed have too much of a good thing! Look out for the results in the next edition of Calder Eye.

Introducing new staff
Calder High School has welcomed seven new members of the teaching staff this term.

Mr M Howard

Mr M Howard joins the senior management team as director of post-16 education. He was formerly assistant head in a large school in West London which recently received an 'outstanding' Ofsted report. A former head of English, he previously worked in two other schools in London, having started teaching in Newcastle.

Mr Howard said that his reason for moving was the desire and passion to work with Sixth Form students and help them make the progression to Higher Education and vocational destinations. “I regard the sixth form as the jewel in the crown of the school and it is a privilege and pleasure to work with sixth formers and help them achieve their aspirations for their future study and careers,” he said. “I am excited about the prospect of working with pupils of such huge potential in a school with excellent resources, facilities, tutors and subject teachers - ready to embrace the challenge of making Calder VI outstanding.”

Mr Howard said that other reasons for moving included “the opportunity to swap a two bedroom flat in North London for a sprawling Yorkshire mansion and to improve the quality of life for my young family”. He also relished the opportunity to be closer to Old Trafford, “to ensure I cut down on travelling times to watch Manchester United's continued success and to provide the dual opportunity of watching cricket at either Headingley or Old Trafford.”

He said his first impressions were of energetic pupils and staff, enthusiastic and committed to improvement.

New Head of Mathematics
Mr G Stephenson

Mr G Stephenson, the new head of mathematics, was formerly head of sixth form at a school in Clacton-on-Sea. “Although I enjoyed this, Mathematics is what I enjoy most (make jokes if you must) so I wanted to change from managing a year team to managing a mathematics faculty,” he said. Originally from North West London, he is a Liverpool FC follower, and he has just completed his first triathlon.

“I enjoy mountain biking but unfortunately Essex is pretty flat so in order to spend less time in a car driving to proper hills I decided to move. Calderdale seems like a dream job, the location is fantastic, the staff are keen for the school to be the best and the people have all been very kind and supportive.

“My aims are to improve even further on the excellent maths results of this year, and to have legs of steel by Christmas so that I can ride up some of the local hills without feeling like I am about to explode.”

Also new at Calder High are Miss E Holt (head of geography); Miss L Jones (teaching and learning consultant); Mr P Hamill (maths teacher); and Mr R Cameron (technology teacher). Mr J Gregg, dance teacher, becomes a permanent member of staff.

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Daniel Nelstrop Debating Competition 2007/8

Debating results (from 16 October)
Many congratulations to Isaac and Tom for their amazing performance on 16 October at the heat hosted by Crossley Heath. They beat all three other teams and knocked out Crossley Heath and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. Batley Grammar will also progress to the next round with Calder High.

Schools through so far are:
Batley Grammar
Calder High
Ermysteds
Hull Collegiate
Leeds Grammar (two teams)

The competition is now in full swing and three heats have been held. We are awaiting the results from the remaining three heats.

Motions:
a) This House believes children have too many rights
b) This House believes television is over-rated

Heats for Round One:

Heat 1	a) The Crossley Heath School v Clitheroe Royal Grammar School b) The Calder High School v Batley Grammar School
Heat 2	a) Bradford Girls’ Grammar School v Ermysteds School b) Leeds Grammar School v St Aidan’s C of E High School
Heat 3	a) Shaw House School v Leeds Grammar School b) Lawnswood School v North Halifax Grammar School
Heat 4	a) Leeds Grammar School v Hull Collegiate b) Harrogate Ladies’ College v St John Fisher RC High School
Heat 5	a) QEGS,Wakefield v St Augustines RC High School b) Wakefield Girls’ High School v Hornsea School
Heat 6	a) Hanson School v Newcastle Royal Grammar School b) Ermysted’s School v Bradford Girls’ Grammar School “b”

Schools in bold will host. For each motion, first school proposes Two teams to progress from each heat.

The team for Calder High in this competition will be Isaac Rose, Year 10 and Tom Deadman, Year 12.

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New Crown Court team
The Calder High Crown Court Team for 2007 has finally been decided, after an incredibly impressive audition on Wednesday 18 July. We could honestly have cast two teams, and we had to make some very tough decisions. However, all the team members were told of their roles at the end of last term and have (hopefully!) been learning the scripts of both trials over the holidays. They are:

Prosecution Team
Heather Plumpton (Ist Lawyer)
Anna Muncey (2nd lawyer)
Lizzie Johnes (Ist witness)
Wesley Downs (2nd witness)

Defence Team
Claire Saltiel (1st Lawyer)
Isaac Rose (2nd Lawyer)
Zoë Cox (Defendant)
Andrew Greenwood (Defence witness)

Legal Advisor
Abbie Simister

Usher
Talia Gianotti

Court Reporter
Annie Faulds

Press Officer
Billy Painter

Jury
Mathew Dawson (understudy to Defence Lawyer One)
Pretpal Hare (understudy to Defence Witness)
Katie Hutchinson (understudy to Defendant)
Patrick Munsie (understudy to Defence Lawyer Two)
Billy Painter (Team Manager)
Calum Paramor (Understudy to Prosecution Witness Two)

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Junior Presentation Evening (Awards for Years 7, 8 and 9)
This year's awards and celebration of students' achievements was held on Wednesday 11 July at the Hebden Bridge Picture House. The guest speaker for the evening was former student and rugby international, Mr Stuart Fielden.

The Crown Court team with guest speaker, Stuart Fielden and special presentation shirt.

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Achievement Awards Ceremony
Congratulations to some of our Year 11 and 13 students who were presented with awards as part of the Campus Calderdale Area Wide Achievement Celebration which took place on Wednesday 16 May at Ryburn Valley High School.

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UK Maths Challenge winners
Calder High students have won certificates in the UK Maths Challenge. A gold certificate – and another for Best in School – was awarded to Year 11 student Liam Gabb. Silver certificates were awarded to Ben Scarf, Michael Burnip, Paul Marsh and Sam Swindells, all Year 11. Bronze certificates went to Tom Bryson, Jed Taylor, Maddy Yates, Alex Roberts and Spencer Asquith (Year 11) and Robert Gibbon and Luke Shepherd (Year 10).

Daniel Nelstrop Debating Final

Daniel Nelstrop Finalists

(Pictured above: the Daniel Nelstrop Debating finalists for this year...Penny and Isaac on the left.)

The Final of the thirteenth Daniel Nelstrop Debating Competition was held at Calder High School on Tuesday, 27 March. The four teams involved (Batley Grammar School, Leeds Grammar School, Calder High School and Newcastle Royal Grammar School) had reached the final after debating on two previous occasions in one of the first or second round heats held throughout the north of England since October 2006.

The competition commemorates a former pupil who died tragically in 1994, and has greatly increased in size from the original four schools who competed that year.
2006/7 has seen some excellent performances from many schools including Calder High School, North Halifax High School and The Crossley School locally and from as far afield as Hull, Hornsea, York and Newcastle.

Tuesday night's Final consisted of two hotly fought debates: "This House believes we're all doomed" and "This House believes it's miserable to be young in the UK". The eventual winners were Newcastle Royal Grammar School; their first speaker, Giles Strachan was also awarded the title of Best Individual Speaker. Runners up by the merest fraction from Calder High School were Leeds Grammar School. Our team of Penny Harvey (Year 11) and Isaac Rose (Year 9) performed superbly against much older opposition and Penny was awarded the title of Best New Speaker.

The competition, organised by Anne Todd was judged by Teresa Butler (presiding), Keith Rhodes and Sheldon Middleton.
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Our Legal Eagles do it again! Report by Mrs A Todd

Winners in Court

Photograph by Charles Round, Halifax Evening Courier

Calder High School pupils from Years 8 and 9 are celebrating their success last Saturday at Calderdale Magistrates' Court. The team gave two outstanding performances in the Citizenship Foundation's Mock Trial competition, prosecuting and defending a case involving the shocking mistreatment of a pet rabbit. Isaac Rose, Lizzie Johnes, Matthew Dawson and Annie Faulds were extremely effective solicitors (Matthew and Annie were awarded individual prizes). Zoe Cox and Callum Paramor transformed themselves into the mother and son partnership accused of the mistreatment (Zoe was awarded the prize for best defendant), whilst Olivia Beaumont and Jessica Morley as prosecution witnesses also performed impressively and gained individual prizes. Roxanne Sweeney was the Legal Advisor/Usher; after the competition one of the real magistrates told Mrs Todd he would happily employ her when she left school! Our magistrates, Billy Painter, Rosa Alexander and Harry Collett were equally outstanding and looked very professional in each trial.The competition also has a legal reporter category; Finn Plumpton and Joshua Hope- Collins are busily preparing their reports which have to be completed by Friday 9 March. The final member of the team is Ella Mottram, our court artist; her sketch of the trial will also be completed by Friday.

The team:

Rosa Alexander
Olivia Beaumont
Zoe Cox
Harry Collet

Matthew Dawson
Annie Faulds
Joshua Hope-Collins
Lizzie Johns

Holly Marsh
Jessica Morley
Ella Mottram
Billy Painter

Callum Paramor
Fingal Plumpton
Isaac Rose
Roxanne Sweeney

The Calder High team were outstanding on Saturday 10 March in the National Finals of the Citizenship Foundation's Crown Court competition. They performed to the very best of their ability, and were beaten by the smallest of margins in each trial, including the first where they were drawn against last year's winners! It was a real pleasure to spend our Saturday with them, and Mrs Roebuck and I are avidly looking forward to next year's competition!
Mrs A Todd

Crown Court in Cardiff

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Mr Gregg goes to Cairo

Mr Gregg is doing a half term dance workshop in Egypt as part of an event run by the International Schools Theatre Association. Prior to the event he was offered a three week school placement. He sent an email to Calder High this week giving an overview of his first week in Cairo:
"My Monday was yesterday, the week starts on a Sunday - which is a little strange but it feels like a shorter week! Have taught loads of lessons over here already, I'm teaching breakdance, capoeira and some basic skills to the year 6's - they're absolute quality!! I've also got a cheerleading squad, and am choreographing some stuff for the year 6 version of James and the Giant Peach!! I train some of the football team here and am starting a breakdance class on Thursday - the words glutton and punishment spring to mind!! But I am loving it!"


"As well as having many tourist opportunities I am actually teaching - although that also is so relaxing and fun that I might as well be a tourist! I have been teaching years 6, 7 and 8 at Cairo Modern English School covering breakdance, capoiera and creative dance...their progress over the three weeks has been amazing. I have also been teaching some physical theatre and mime. Doing breakdance in the playground is awesome!"

Official Opening for 'Under the Stairs': 23 January
The 'Under the Stairs' team hosted a lunch with visitors from Calderdale and Sweet & Maxwell.

Pictured above, from left to right: Michael Holgate, Extended Schools Co-ordinator; Mke James, Secondary Consultant 14-19; Mrs Claire Hutchinson-Walsh; Year 9 students: Jack Hutchinson-Walsh and Matthew Dawson; Headteacher: Stephen Ball, Lisa Thwaites, Sweet & Maxwell; Lucy Cockburn, Community Development Officer; and Collette Rybicki, Sweet & Maxwell.

Mr Ball cuts the ribbon to commemorate the official opening of 'Under the Stairs'. Also pictured here: Matthew and Jack with their current staff members.

The tuck shop has been hugely popular with students trying many new products including dried fruit and pure fruit bars. Jack and Matthew employ four other students to help in running the shop and they plan to employ different staff each half term to enable more students to gain business experience.

This is the name of the Tuck Shop which opened for business on Friday 15 December. It is located 'under the stairs' in a renovated stock room next to TE8. It's being run by two Year 9 students, Jack Walsh and Matthew Dawson, and will be open break and lunchtime selling snacks and drinks. Jack and Matthew have recruited a team of students from years 8 and 9 to help them in staffing the shop. All products have been ethically sourced and local produce stocked wherever possible. During the planning stages the boys developed a range of new skills including market research, consultation, business management, marketing and sales skills. Their marketing campaign has been particularly impressive, with a number of very professionally produced posters appearing around school. Jack and Matthew aim to sell healthy snacks and a percentage of the profits are going to Plan UK which is supporting the building of a new school in Ghana. Plan UK is the charity supported by the school’s major business sponsors, Sweet and Maxwell in Mytholmroyd.

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Crown Court Win

Crown Court winners with Mr Ball

Pictured above, with Mr Ball, he Crown Court team with their trophy

Crown Court action

Another triumph for Calder High! We competed in the Citizenship Foundation's Crown Court competition on Saturday at Leeds Crown Court and beat 11 school and Sixth Form colleges (including Greenhead!)to take the trophy and win a place in the National Final in March next year, which last year was held at the Old Bailey! Well done to everyone involved.
Mrs A Todd and Mrs R Roebuck

The Crown Court team