7 minute read
Charities
LGBTQ+ History Week Sixth Form Sleepover
To celebrate LGBT History Month, we raised money for the Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity that supports homeless LGBT youth. We sold rainbow pins and had a rainbow themed Bake Off. We also had an assembly on the lives of influential LGBT figures, from Sappho to Sylvia Rivera. Showing the diversity of the LGBT community felt important because some parts of the community are still under-represented in the media, and the history of the LGBT community has been long and varied, from eras where samesex relationships were accepted, to those where being gay was illegal. It was very important to us to celebrate the history and achievements of the community and make it part of the future of NHEHS.
Elizabeth Down, Year 12
LGBTQ+ Bake Sale
On Wednesday, the 21st of February, NHEHS celebrated the LGBT community by having a bake sale competition. With a display of cakes and cupcakes, girls crowded round the table, drooling at the colourful treats their schoolmates had spent hours baking and preparing. Each cake was beautifully unique, one with the flags of LGBT in marshmallows and another having an icing rainbow on top. The ‘winner of the best looking cake’ went to Des Coleman and the winner of the best flavoured cake went to me! Altogether, we raised £109.77 for this amazing cause!
Madison Wright, Year 7
In February, about forty sixth formers as well as Ms Bushell and a number of brave teachers arrived at school at 6pm not at all sure what to expect. The hall had been miraculously transformed into a sleepover paradise: set up as a campsite with space for sleeping bags, pillows and possessions. There were table tennis tables available, with everybody, including Mrs Luo, geting very competitive. Right on time, the Domino’s pizza arrived, much to the delight of every single person attending. The supply of yummy potato wedges, garlic bread and cookies seemed endless and surprisingly the slices of pizza never ran out, leaving us energised for the rest of the evening!
After dinner, despite being too full to move, we managed to head to the Sports Hall for (slightly) competitive volleyball matches and netball games, singing along to some classic party tunes. When we returned to the main hall at 9pm, we were asked to hand in our mobile phones as the blue light from the screen is known to disturb sleep patterns, raising awareness of the importance of getting enough sleep. Following this came the ridiculously difficult decision of choosing a film to watch! After what felt like hours of deliberating, we all managed to agree on “Bridget Jones’ Diary”. The highlight of the evening has to be Mr Porter’s interpretation of Bridget singing “All By Myself”.
In the morning, we were woken up at 7am by Ms Bushell sliding the curtains open and letting all the blinding sunlight in - much to everyone’s delight. Moans of discontent echoed through the hall. Breakfast included a delicious array of leftover pizza and cereal boxes as well as cups of tea and coffee.
We were able to raise £396 for Mind - a mental health charity which helps people make choices about treatment and helps them reach out for support.
We would like to thank Ms Bushell for organising such an enjoyable evening!
Natasha Ketel, Year 12 and Mathilde Roca, Year 13
British Red Cross: Dance and Music Fundraiser and Competition
On 23rd March, girls from across the school performed in a dance and music fundraiser to raise money for the British Red Cross. In this annual dance competition, Dance: Make Your Move, we entered two acts; a swing tap duet (performed by Cassia Fillingham and I) and a lyrical solo (performed by me). We performed musical pieces as well as self-choreographed dances. This allowed all the girls to really show off all of their talents and skills that aren’t usually used in school.
The fundraiser was extremely successful and we smashed our original target and managed to raise over £650 for the charity. A huge thank you to everyone who performed and bought tickets in support of the British Red Cross. A special thank you also goes to Miss Prendergast for helping to organise the event, Mr Schneider for lighting and sound, Mr Futter for photography and to Mr Shoults for all of his support. As a result of all of our fundraising efforts we received a Gold Fundraiser Award for raising over £500. This was in addition to being the British Red Cross Top Fundraiser of the month as we raised the most money out of everyone who entered in the competition and from others donating to the charity.
Alice Pygram, Year 12
£14,396.79
On 14th April, Cassia Fillingham and I competed at the British Red Cross, Dance: Make Your Move competition. After lots of rehearsals, a few costume issues and a very successful fundraiser the competition day was finally here. We arrived to find that we were the only duet and solo and were up against groups a lot bigger than us. The dances were judged based on the quality of their Red Cross based concept, choreography, costume and entertainment rather than quality of dance technique and there were no age categories.
We both loved performing our dances at the competition as well as having our own mini professional photoshoot. We were both very happy with our performances in the competition despite the fact I lost my shoe half way through my solo. Unfortunately, we didn’t come first in the competition but we did win awards for both our duet and solo, including Best Dance Technique for our Swing Tap duet. We loved competing and ended up coming out with four awards, with two additional fundraising awards as well as those for our dances. Overall it was a successful competition and we are looking forward to competing again next year!
Alice Pygram, Year 12
Battle of the Sciences
In memory of Mr Trickett, the Charity Representatives organised and ran a ‘Battle of the Sciences’ event to raise money for St Clare’s Hospice. Science teachers from all three departments were tested; not only on their scientific knowledge but also their general, worldly knowledge and some pop culture references. We were all surprised at some of the more intriguing answers, including Dr Sheldon’s immediate answer to ‘What was the male summer-wear trend of 2017?’ as:
“MANKINI!”
Mr Ives was also unashamedly quick to answer: ‘Who fell through the stage at the Radio 1 Teen Awards 2017?’, the answer of course being Gemma Collins. Discussion turned philosophical when Mr Schneider finished the lyric ‘Man’s not…’ with ‘a woman’, and he’s not wrong! Overall, Biology and Chemistry lacked slightly as Physics took the trophy. On 12th June 2018, Year 10 hosted the annual Log Cabin charity event. It was filled with a variety of activities such as a t-shirt decorating station, a lucky dip, a live outdoor theatre and many more enticing activities to entertain the seventeen children we met. In the live outdoor theatre, we performed famous fairy-tales such as Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. These were incredibly entertaining as the children loved trying to guess which play the students we acting out. We also offered a lucky dip in which the children received a variety of prizes, the most popular prize being the bubbles. In the t-shirt decorating, the children enjoyed using pieces of felt, pens and a ton of glitter. The chiildren really enjoyed letting their imagination go wild and it was an amazing to see their creativity.
Overall, the Log Cabin event was truly rewarding, one which I will remember for the rest of my life. It was amazing to see the children laugh and enjoy the evening which we organised. It was a pleasure to host the Log Cabin Event and I hope I can participate in many more charity events like this.
Aditi Dhawan, Year 10
Plan UK Walk
On Thursday 21st June 2018, Year 7s and their Year 12 Big Sisters went on a sponsored walk around the park three times, making a total of ten kilometres. There were nine teams setting off at different times. However, many teams merged and got slightly competitive, racing to beat the other teams. It was a great way to get to know our Big Sisters better and even those in our form. We were supporting Plan UK, a charity helping children’s rights and fighting for equality for girls all around the world. This walk has helped us make new friends and connect with our Big Sisters. It was a great route and an amazing experience to do all that walking.
Tara Al-Haddad, Year 7
A massive thank you to everyone who helped or donated at any of the events!
