The last week of term heralded the eagerly awaited annual charities week. This year’s chosen cause was ‘Make a Wish Foundation’. Under the direction of Mr Vincent Lanagan, Depute Head Teacher, sixth year pupils and staff joined forces to provide fun and laughter throughout the week. Their sole purpose was to raise as much money as possible for ‘Make A Wish’ and, as always, the sixth year hoped to smash the record of £6,100 reached on two previous occasions.

The week began on Sunday morning, when seniors completed a sponsored, fancy-dress walk around Strathclyde Park. On Monday morning it was clear madness was in the air as most of the sixth year arrived in pyjamas, night dresses, dressing gowns and slippers for the annual ‘Pyjamathon’. Staff also enjoyed a coffee morning at the interval and were also able to bid for the services of a sixth year slave.

At lunchtimes pupils gathered in the theatre to enjoy the rewards of their ‘Golden Ticket’. Monday was  Departmental ‘The Voice’. Staff from Performing Arts, English, Humanities, Home Economics, Maths and Catering Manager, Danny Muir, all provided a wonderful start to the week, with Humanities triumphing with their unique rendition of Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies (put a ring on it)’.

Tuesday saw Clyde Valley’s ‘Big Fat Quiz Meets the Bush-tucker Trial’, with forfeits for wrong answers, including delights such as cup cakes with tooth paste and paprika and raw onions! The packed theatre revelled in the on-stage retching!

Wednesday was ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, with staff and pupils combining to entertain with dazzling footwork. On Wednesday evening, the highlight of Charities Week was again ‘Clyde Valley’s Got Talent’ hosted by school captain, Josh Speirs. After a wonderful night’s entertainment the worthy winners were ‘The Highland Prancers’, second year pupils Kaitlyn Kenmure and Amy Mcleod with a wonderfully energetic display of Scottish Highland Dancing. 

Thursday’s lunchtime offering was Clyde Valley’s version of ‘Take Me Out’ with some of the ‘beauties’ on offer looking more beast than beauty! In the afternoon, senior pupils and staff paid for the privilege of tackling an inflatable assault course in the games barn. Sumo fights also broke out as staff and senior pupils challenged each other to bouts of honour!

On Friday morning, staff and pupils filled the theatre to capacity for the final day’s programme. Events included an encore of the winnign acts from the previous days’ events, as well as on-stage sumo fights. 

Sixth year pupil, Emma Mooney, then accepted the challenge of having her hair shaved off for the ‘Make A Wish’ cause. Emma’s mum, Karen, appeared on stage, clippers in hand, to perform the transformation from ‘long-hair’ to ‘no-hair’ for brave Emma. And, Emma’s bravery and determination added a remarkable £1,000 in sponsorship to the overall total!

The sixth year brought the house down with a brilliantly choreographed and complex dance routine to lead Charities Week to its traditional conclusion, with ‘Gunge a Teacher’.

To the raucous approval of a packed theatre, Mr Lanagan revealed the victims.  A week of underhand tactics was not enough to save Mr Burns from being first to endure the deluge of gooey, brightly-coloured mixture of beans, custard, porridge oats, syrup, flour and hundreds of thousands!

 No sooner had Mr Burns plodded from the pool of doom, when the theatre roof became endangered when Mr Lanagan announced the second gungee would, indeed, be Mr Sommerville! To his credit, and obvious shock, Mr Sommerville then took his seat before suffering the waterfall of gunge to the loud approval of the audience.

At the end of a tremendous week, Mr Lanagan and his sixth year team were proud to announce that, thanks to the generosity of staff, pupils, parents and friends of the school, they had raised a staggering, record-breaking total. The final total of £7,300 completely smashed all previous amounts!

Well done to everyone for a fantastic effort.

Our pictures capture some of Clyde Valley’s Charities Week highlights.