Calderhead High School hosted the Wishaw and Shotts Youth Forum’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference on 20 March. The Pupil Council from Calderhead and the other three cluster High School Pupil Councils heard inspirational speeches from Kira Melville from Clyde Valley High School, and adventurer and author, Paula McGuire, as well as attending workshops with Chris’s House, Landed, NL Active Schools and the Scottish Youth Parliament. The Wishaw and Shotts Youth Forum is one of six local youth forums who represent young people, organise events and fight for issues that affect them.
Category Archives: news
500 Words Competition
Pupils in S1 and S2 were encouraged to participate in the BBC’s “500 Word” competition recently. This competition was devised by Chris Evans to get children excited about reading and writing, no matter what their ability. Entrants must submit a story of 500 words or less and this is now one of the most successful story-writing competitions in the world. Three quarters of a million children have taken part over the years. Pupils met with Mr Reilly in the library at lunchtime and created some wonderful stories on all sorts of different themes: sentient computers, crime stories, mysteries, and superheroes, to name but a few.
We also decided to award prizes for the best stories and held an event in the school on 22 March which was attended by some of the authors and their parents and carers. It was a very difficult choice but we eventually awarded Jonathan Hayburn first prize for his thrilling crime story. Lee McCormick was awarded second place for his moving story about evacuees and Andrew Prentice came third with his story about what happened one Thursday…A big thank you to pupils, parents and staff who attended and celebrated the exceptional contribution of all our pupils.
World Book Day 2018
Sadly, the heavy snow prevented us celebrating World Book Day on 1 March and we had to reschedule some of the events planned. 
However, we did manage to rearrange the ‘Book and Biccie’ lunchtime session in the school library and it was a lovely way to celebrate the joy of reading (and biscuits!) at the end of term.
Pupils were also invited to take part in a “Share a Story” competition by submitting a review of their favourite book and why they recommended that everyone should read it. There were many fabulous reviews and Mrs Lumsden and Ms Faulds struggled to decide the winner. However, they agreed that Kevin’s review of the Skulduggery Pleasant series should win first prize and Lauren and Jack were worthy runners up with their excellent reviews. Thank you to Mrs Galloway for presenting the prizes.
Tree of Knowledge Residential Weekend
Three S4 pupils from Calderhead High School, Carly Ogilvie, Caitlin Bonnes and Dale Whitefield, recently participated in a Tree of Knowledge residential weekend on the Isle of Arran with pupils from other North Lanarkshire secondary schools. The group explored topics such as dealing with stress, facing fears, learning about mind-sets and building resilience. They also enjoyed some great activities including an “On- Shore day”, abseiling and a quiz. Our pupils had a great time and learned some valuable life skills.
Dungeon Trip
Pupils in Mrs Byrne’s S3 Achieve class recently enjoyed a reward trip to Edinburgh Dungeon. The Achieve class have been doing some great work over the last few months, including an Art project and Intergenerational Project with Rose Hall Manor and helping the team going to Malawi organise their fundraising coffee morning and the pupil movie event just before the Easter break.
MVP Conference 2018
Calderhead High School recently hosted a Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Conference. MVP is designed to train pupils to speak out against bullying and all forms of violent and abusive behaviour. It focuses on an innovative ‘bystander’ approach that empowers each pupil to take an active role in promoting a positive school climate. Within the MVP Programme young people are identified not as victims nor perpetrators but as empowered bystanders able to support and even challenge abusive and bullying peers.
Councillor Heather McVey, Equalities Champion, opened the Conference in the Assembly Hall and thanked all the peer mentors. Sarah Quinn, the local Member for the Scottish Youth Parliament then spoke. This was followed by a performance of ‘Crush’ by the Baldy Bane Theatre Company, a powerful drama that looks at the issues surrounding abuse in teenage relationships, gender stereotyping and the media’s impact on young people’s body image and behaviour. James Docherty of the Violence Reduction Unit talked about the impact of violence; PC Kenny Blades of Police Scotland considered sexting and the legal framework for the sharing of intimate images; and Anne Trevorrow, Educational Psychologist, discussed trauma and nurturing. Pupils were also asked to make a pledge by writing down one thing they will do to tackle gender violence and bullying by Elaine Byrne, the Home School Partnership Officer at Calderhead. Artist Graham Ogilvie produced some excellent illustrations on the day.
Judo Champion
Over 700 keen judoka competed in the British Schools Judo Championships at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Around 400 schools were represented over the course of the two day competition and we are delighted to report that S2 pupil, Emma Pringle, was awarded a gold medal in the Girls (Years 8/9) Under 52kg category. Congratulations, Emma.
Multilingual debate at Heriot Watt
S3 linguists from Calderhead High School’s Modern Languages Department recently attended Heriot-Watt University’s Multilingual Debate at their campus in Edinburgh. The debate is an annual event that showcases the interpreting skills of students on the University Languages (Interpreting and Translating) degree programmes, and takes the form of a formal debate with two multilingual teams arguing for and against a motion of topical interest in a range of languages. The motion this year was: “This House believes that social media present a serious threat to the health and safety of young people.” Our pupils participated in the debate by listening to the arguments, putting questions to the speakers in the languages represented and voting on the motion. Pupils also enjoyed a Confucius Workshop, particularly the free food samples on offer! Everyone really enjoyed their day at Heriot Watt University.
FireReach Course
S3 pupils from Calderhead High and Taylor High School attended an intensive five day Fire Reach course with Scottish Fire and Rescue Services. The pupils learned about teamwork, resilience, health and safety and first aid as well as experiencing the role of being a firefighter. Well done boys!
Pipe Band Champion
Talented S3 pupil, Mackenzie Forrest, participated in the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships which took place in Livingston on 11 March. MacKenzie is part of the North Lanarkshire School Band which took first place in their category, competing with bands from all over Scotland. Well done to Mackenzie and all the other musicians in the band.
