CALDERVALE

NEWSLETTER Christmas 2013 Edition

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Foreword

Welcome to the Christmas edition of Caldervale High School’s newsletter. It hardly seems any time since

we returned from the summer holiday and already we are in the midst of Christmas dances and concerts!

We have had a very busy start to the year with pupils participating in a wide range of extra curricular

activities and visits. You will find details of the successes of some of our young people in this newsletter.

We have continued to forge strong links with our associated primary schools and are encouraged by the

large numbers of parents who attended our Primary 7 Information Evenings and the Open Evening in

Caldervale in October.

At this festive time of the year I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the young people of

Caldervale on some of the activities they have taken part in to spread some good cheer within the local

community and further afield. Weekly collections are organised by each House to support Guide Dogs,

Yorkhill and MacMillan Cancer. In addition to this, money has been raised and donated to The Shoebox

Appeal, Children in Need and St Andrew’s Hospice. The generosity of staff, pupils, parents and friends is

greatly appreciated by these beneficiaries.

Best wishes for a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Karen Kubica

Fund Raising

Each year we use money from

the school fund to benefit all

young people in the school.

This session we plan to organ-

ise some events to try and raise

some additional money for

school funds. One easy way

that all parents/friends of the

school could help raise money

for the school fund is by using

the website

www.easyfundraising.org and

selecting Caldervale High

School to receive donations.

When shopping on-line, please

continue to support the school

through use of this website.

Convenor’s Awards

In recognition of their attainment in SQA examinations a number of

pupils were invited to participate in the Convenor’s Awards Ceremony

which was held this year at Caldervale to celebrate outstanding attainment

by North Lanarkshire students.

Four S5 pupils, Sian Leslie, Kris McAteer, Caitlin MacLeod and Damon

Allan received certificates from the convenor, Councillor Jim Logue in

recognition of gaining five grade A passes at Higher. Seven S4 pupils,

Lauren Cochrane, Craig Gamble, Alyson Harfield, Karter Kane, Heather

Kennedy,Chloe Mezzetti and Andrew Rideout were also awarded

certificates due to their excellent performance in Standard Grade/

Intermediate examinations in May 2013. Well done to all of them!

Pupil Safety

All parents are asked to remind pupils to take care on the road and behave

responsibly when making their way to and from school. Despite regular

reminders at assembly we still receive telephone calls from local residents

who are concerned that pupils are not paying due attention when crossing

the road. Your support in discussing this with your child at home and

reminding him/her to behave responsibly would be greatly appreciated.

Responsible Behaviour in the Local

Community

All parents are asked to encourage pupils to remain

in school at lunchtimes where there is adult

supervision. If you do allow your child to leave

school at lunchtime could you please encourage

him/her to behave responsibly and show

consideration for residents in the local community.

In particular pupils should take care not to drop

litter or to congregate in large groups outside

houses. While the vast majority of pupils are very

positive ambassadors for the school it is important

that all pupils show respect and consideration for

our neighbours.

School Website

All parents are encouraged to access the school

website (www.caldervale.n-lanark.sch.uk) for monthly

updates on what is happening in school. As well as

giving information on forthcoming events there is also

an educational links page where pupils can access

resources to support their learning. Many subject

departments have also included additional materials to

help students.

In the event of adverse weather, North Lanarkshire’s

website (www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk) will give

information on school closures with additional school

details on our own website.

Volcanoes in Geography

Some keen S2 Geography pupils

have been making volcano models

with teacher, Miss Muir.

The pupils spent lunchtimes making

the papier mache volcanoes to

supplement their Geography work

on Earth Forces.

Santa Dash!

92 pupils from S4-S6 and 6 members of staff participated

in a 5K fun run to raise money for the house charities on

Sunday 8th December.

The run started at 9.30am from George Square, Glasgow

and finished back in the square after a 5K circular route.

All participants completed the course dressed in Santa

suits.

Commonwealth Baton

Eight pupils went through a

rigorous selection process in an

attempt to be selected as a baton

bearer for the Commonwealth

Baton as it passes through

Airdrie.

The pupils were involved in

giving a presentation followed

by an interview by staff and

pupils from the pupil council.

All eight pupils are to be

congratulated on the

professionalism of their

presentations and in how they

conducted themselves in the

interviews.

It was a hard fought battle but

Cameron Dalziel of 5E3 was the

successful candidate.

Well done Cameron!

Children In Need

This year pupils and staff

organised a number of events and

activities to support the Children

in Need charity. So far the total

raised is a staggering £1857.00.

Well done to all involved.

Dance Leadership Workshop

9 senior girls participated in a morning workshop in dance leadership

held in Caldervale High.

North Lanarkshire Catalyst Book Award

Longlist Unveiled

Four S3 pupils from Caldervale High School’s Catalyst

Book Group recently attended the launch of the NL

Catalyst Book Award Longlist 2014. The launch took

place at Chryston High School, where this year’s winner,

Elizabeth Wein, was presented with the 2013 trophy after

giving a very informative and interesting talk based on her

winning novel, Code name Verity. There are 16 titles on the

longlist for 2014 and pupils across North Lanarkshire will

now be involved in reading and reviewing these, before

going on to vote for a shortlist of four in the spring.

Shoebox Appeal

Caldervale has a long history of

supporting good causes and one

of the school’s annual

fundraisers is the Shoebox

Appeal which delivers items for

Christmas to children in need

across the world. This year’s

Shoebox Appeal had members

of staff in the Business

Education Department and

pupils gift wrapping and filling

shoe boxes with a variety of

useful items, donated by the

school community. Filled

shoeboxes will be donated to the

New Hope Trust, a charity that

has helped the desperately needy

in Eastern Europe, particularly

orphans, for the past 20 years.

Malawi Visit

Two S6 pupils, Courtney Cochrane and Emma Hamilton, have initiated Caldervale’s involvement in the

North Lanarkshire project, “Aiming Higher in Malawi - A Humanitarian Health Education Aid Visit to

Malawi”. The project, which currently runs in some other North Lanarkshire schools, aims to support and

empower girls and women in Malawi by providing opportunities and access to education, wheelchairs and

other disability aids, hygiene supplies and other resources. In June 2014 both pupils, accompanied by

Pupil Support teacher, Kirsty Ferguson, will participate in the authority visit to Malawi to support this

project and establish a partnership between Caldervale High and a school in Malawi.

As it will cost £6000 for the Caldervale group to make this trip, regular fundraising is underway and it is

hoped to raise additional funds to contribute to the project in Malawi. To date, quiz sheets have been sold,

Hallowe’en face painting took place, a sponsored climb of Tinto Hill has been completed and various

other events are being planned.

Literary Festival

Caldervale High School hosted its own mini Literary Festival recently

with two author visits on the same day. First on the programme was

Kirkland Ciccone, a new local author, whose first novel, Conjuring

the Infinite, has recently been published. Kirkland was an instant hit

with the school’s S3 pupils, regaling them with tales of his childhood

and school days in neighbouring Cumbernauld and how this

backgound led him into a writing career. After his presentation,

Kirkland signed copies of his books and gave out autographs.

Later the same morning S1 and S2 pupils attended a talk given by

prolific children’s author, Cathy MacPhail, author of the novel,

Another Me, which is currently being made into a film starring

Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Cathy, who has written dozens of books for

all ages, read to the pupils from her latest book, Mosi’s War, inspired

by the Glasgow Necropolis Vampire stories of the 1950’s. She spoke

about the inspiration behind her stories and signed copies of her books

for an enthusiastic audience. This visit was made possible through the

Scottish Booktrust’s Live Literature Funding scheme.

Erskine House

Pupils and staff connected to

Caldervale’s Erskine House

have been collecting spare

change every week to donate to

their chosen house charity.

The charity this year is

McMillan Cancer Support.

Pictured left is Rachel Miller

(House Captain) and Kirsty

Black, presenting a cheque for

almost £900 to Angela

McCormack from MacMillan

Cancer Support during a recent

Erskine House Assembly.

Scottish Skillforce Director Visits

Caldervale Skillforce

Gayle Adnyana, Director for Skillforce

Scotland, recently visited Caldervale High

School's Skillforce groups. She visited the

S4 Skillforce group to observe them

carrying out pre-work experience training

and later watched S3 students starting a

communication exercise. She also met

with the Headteacher and some of the

school staff.

Following the visit, the Skillforce groups

received a personal letter from Ms

Adnyana congratulating them on their

excellent work

17 staff and 77 Caldervale pupils

recently completed the 6K fun run for

St. Andrew's Hospice.

Special congratulations to S4 pupil,

Amy Harkins, who was the second girl,

from all competitors, to complete the

race. Amy received a trophy for her

achievement. Congratulations also to

senior pupils, Rieve Wishart and Stuart

Coburn, who were the first of the

Caldervale team to finish, followed

closely by Mr Campbell, Mr Taylor and

Ms Sullivan from the school staff.

Internet Explorers

Recently 4 senior pupils; Kyle Harrison (S4), Ross Burke

(S6). Morgan Shanks (S5) and Abbey Moxen (S6) from

Caldervale's Computing Department visited the Sheraton

Grand Hotel in Edinburgh to participate in a "Question Time"

discussion with one of the founders of the internet, Dr Vint

Cerf.

Dr Cerf has been at the leading edge of the development of

the internet throughout his career. He has received

recognition through a number of awards that include the

National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award, the

Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Membership of the

National Academy of Engineering and he is now Chief

Internet Evangelist with Google.

Today most young people can’t imagine life without the

internet, yet only thirty years ago hardly anybody had heard

of it. Five people shaped the internet, Tim Berners Lee,

Marc Andreessen, Robert Kahn, Louis Pouzin, and Dr Vint

Cerf. In June these five received the Queen Elizabeth II Prize

for Engineering, a worldwide award.

St Andrews 6K

Ten senior pupils

attended a recent

workshop on musical

composition. The

workshop, which

enhances the Higher

Music course, was

enjoyed by all.

Musical Workshop

History Visit

30 senior History students from Caldervale High visited the National

Archives and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. At the

Archives the group worked with primary sources to investigate the story of

the McCracken family who emigrated from Ayrshire to Australia in the

1800s. The students continued their work on their Migration and Empire

topic at the National Museum of Scotland. Here they used the exhibits to

research the impact emigrant Scots had on the British Empire through

immigration and the impact new immigrants had on Scotland in the 19th and

early 20th centuries.

S3 Drama students from Caldervale High

spent a day at Cumbernauld Theatre

where they learned about a variety of

production skills such as lighting, sound,

costume and make up and were also

given a backstage tour of the theatre.

Workshops, delivered by the Rapture

Theatre Company, were also arranged in

school for all S2 Drama pupils to focus

on prejudice and discrimination.

Production Skills Workshops

Remembrance

In November, Caldervale pupils were given the opportunity at House

Assemblies to remember the sacrifices made by our forces. The

assemblies were led by the school’s team of chaplains and this year’s

focus was the significance of acting on Remembrance through peace-

making.

S5 pupils from the History class told how memorable their trip to the

First World War battlefields was this year. With the message that it is

the responsibility of all to strive for peace in today’s world, our

chaplains paid tribute to the individual sacrifices of those lost and

injured and challenged all of us to work for peace in our own

communities.

S6 pupils from the Music Department skillfully performed relevant,

traditional and contemporary songs and each assembly ended with an

Act of Remembrance.

Kids’ Lit

Congratulations to the Caldervale Kids' Lit Team for their

performance at the West of Scotland heat. They came 21 out of 39

teams (some extremely strong competition, the winning team had 80

points, Caldervale had 64!) The team of Lania Bleyl, Nicole Keers,

Owen Reilly and Sam Rintoul claimed the highest score in one of

the rounds and won a set of books. Rachel Thomson, one of the

team reserves, won an audience prize. Chloe Anderson was the

second reserve, while Fern Kuwansong and Roksana Mydlowski

acted as supporters. All of the pupils were a credit to Caldervale

High School and deserve our congratulations.

SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Boys’ Captain Gordon Magilton

Girls’ Captain Erin Stein

Boys’ Vice-Captain Kyle McConnell

Girls’ Vice-Captain Sian Leslie

ERSKINE HOUSE

Boys’ Captain Kris McAteer

Girls’ Captain Rachel Millar

S6 Prefects Chun Yan Chan, Robbie Fraser,

Emma Hamilton, Andrew Weir,

Christopher Hunt, Malah Bleyl,

Lisa Craigon, Claire McGowan.

S5 Prefects Toni Anderson, Steven Smith,

Cameron Dalziel, Carol

McGowan.

MORTON HOUSE

Boys’ Captain Damon Allan

Girls’ Captain Caitlin MacLeod

S6 Prefects Reece Campbell, Jack Tuffley,

Linda Fraser, Emily Clark,

Chelsea Condie, Fiona Caldwell,

Ellis Murray, Emma Boyd

S5 Prefects Chloe Haxton, Jennifer Wallace,

Cieran Henderson, Monica

Braiden

SCOBBIE HOUSE

Boys’ Captain Ross Fielding

Girls’ Captain Megan Forsyth

S6 Prefects Greg McMullan, Ellis Hunter,

Katy Rintoul, Dylan Shek,

Ayeisha Moore, Amy Russell,

Charlie Philips, Kelsey

McDonald.

S5 Prefects Sam Haugh, Grant Russell, Chloe

Mezzetti, Laura King.

Teambuilding Day

48 newly elected captains and prefects, from

the senior school, attended Bonaly Outdoor

Centre in Edinburgh for a day of teambuilding

and development of leadership skills.

Preparing for Further Education

14 senior pupils attended a REACH seminar co

-ordinated by the University of Glasgow to

support entry into degree courses in Dentistry,

Law, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and

Surgery.

S4 World of Work Event

All S4 pupils took part in a “World of Work”

event run by MITIE, one of Caldervale High’s

business partners. MITIE employees, supported

by members of the school’s English

Department, delivered the event which

introduced S4 pupils to the skills required for

work in preparation for their week of Work

Experience.

S4 Geography Visit

Twenty S4 Geography pupils visited Kindrogan

to take part in fieldwork for their National 4

and National 5 assignments.

Rights Respecting School Award

Caldervale have just begun their journey to work towards this award.

Your child will have received a letter recently informing you about

this. Pupils have also been informed through their house assemblies

where members of the Pupil council have spoken to them regarding

this.

There is a link to the RRSA website here if you require further

information. www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa.

The school is in the early stages of this award and regular updates will

be posted on the school website.

Open Night

Many parents of P7 pupils attended Caldervale

High School’s Open Night in October.

Throughout the evening parents, guided by

senior pupils, were able to experience and

observe a variety of classroom activities

including hands on exhibits and pupil led

demonstrations in departmental areas.

Feedback from parents was very positive.

News Club

News Club gives pupils from all

year groups an opportunity to

discuss current events reported

in the media. They have the

opportunity to take part in two

activities - 'Newsflash' and a

news quiz which generates

debate and discussion. Pupils

are welcome to attend from the

start of lunchtime on Fridays

(Social Subjects 7) with a

packed lunch, activities start at

1.20pm.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Several lunchtime clubs are up and running in Caldervale.

Any interested pupils will be made most welcome.

Monday: Netball (S1/2), Table Tennis (S1-S6), Jazz Group.

Tuesday: LCSC Sports, Basketball (S1-S6), i faith (S1-S3), Guitar

Club (S1-S2).

Wednesday: Table Tennis (S1-S6), Dance (S1-S6), Choir.

Thursday: Badminton (S1-S2), Book Group (S3-S4), School Rock

Band (S3-S6), Science Club (S1).

Friday: Book Group (S1-S2), Drama Club (S1–S3), News Club (S1–

S6),

In addition the Rugby club (S1 – S6) meets after school on Tuesdays,

the Netball club (S3-S6) meets after school on Wednesdays and the

Volleyball club (S3-S6) meets after school on Thursdays. Science Club

The S1 Science Club has been

established over the last six

weeks and is very well attended.

Within this time pupils have

carried out a variety of activities

including making flubber, fake

blood for Hallowe’en, sparklers

for fireworks and currently a

project to design an erupting

volcano. In the future Science

Club will continue to offer a

variety of activities to promote

active engagement, enjoyment

and depth of learning in science.

School Netball

The netball teams in the school have started their league campaigns for

the season. We have lots of girls in the school involved, with a team for

every year group- resulting in netball being the biggest club in the

school.

The senior girls got their Scottish Cup campaign off to a winning start

beating Coatbridge High 21-10. It was a fantastic game to watch, very

fast and exciting! The girls have since played Braidhust and St

Margaret's, which again were very exciting matches but on these

occasions they were narrowly beaten. Despite this they are still sitting

well in the league table with one game to go. The S1 & S2 girls have also played in their Lanarkshire league games.

The girls are working well to gel as a team. Despite both teams being

narrowly beaten in their games so far all girls performed very well and

we are sure there will be wins from them shortly.

Fashion Show Week

A large number of the

senior pupils from the Art

and Design Department

have contributed towards

the NLC Fashion Show

which was held at

Motherwell Civic Centre

on Friday 6th December.

The show is the

culmination of

'Celebrating Lanarkshire'

and is sure to be an

exciting and fitting finale

to the year.

Right are two of the

designs submitted by a

Caldervale pupil.

NL Swimming

Championships

S5 pupil, Stuart Coburn, and S3

pupil, Morgan Brooks, recently

represented Caldervale by

competing in the North Lanarkshire

Swimming Championships held at

the Cumbernauld Tryst Sports.

Complex.

Inter-house Sports

The first Inter-house Sports event of

the session, the Triathlon, resulted

in a draw between Erskine and

Morton House. The Badminton

competition was won by Scobbie

House. The Primary 7 Olympics

were also drawn between Erskine

and Morton. At present Morton

leads the overall table with Erskine

and Scobbie tying for second place.