Belmont Musicians Visit Senior Care Homes

Rachel B. has prepared a well-written account of the events of December 7th (2011), as she is part of our Celtic Group. This musical event may have been a bit low-key compared with our other holiday events, but it was still a great volunteer opportunity for our students and it helped us to raise even more funds for our chosen charities:

Our first stop was at the St. Enoch Centre in Glasgow to play and raise money for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. The Celtic Group and Orchestra played for an hour slot, entertaining the passing Christmas shoppers with a combination of Christmas, Celtic and movie theme tunes and inviting them to put some change in their buckets.

We then got back on the minibus and drove down to Symington in Ayrshire to play to the residents at Townend Care Home. As well as the Celtic Group and Orchestra, the residents, staff and their relatives were treated to performances from the Senior Choir, solo singers Carl, Tegan, Jodie and Rachel, and Irish dancing from Allison, among others. Overall, the response was overwhelmingly positive, with the audience keen to join in and sing along to any songs that they knew.

End Polio Now: our Eco-Committee's efforts in Rouken Glen

On Friday, the 28^th of October 2011, Belmont House School’s Eco-Committee attended an event in Rouken Glen, hosted by the Eastwood Rotary Club, where we planted purple crocuses to help raise funds for “Thanks For Life”: the Rotary project which is leading the way in a world-wide effort to eradicate polio. This effort was part of their overall End Polio Now campaign.

Contributing a mere pound to plant five crocus bulbs can actually prevent five children from being infected with polio, one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the previous century. Major, widespread epidemics around the turn of the century provided the impetus towards the creation of a vaccine in the 1950’s, which reduced polio cases per year from hundreds of thousands to about a thousand.

We may be fortunate enough to view it as a throwback, but polio, which remains incurable, still cripples thousands of children around the world who lack access to the vaccine, particularly in Nigeria and Southern Asia. The Rotary Club’s campaign stops at nothing short of eradicating the disease from the planet, once and for all, and we were proud to be a part of their undertaking.

Our school planted over one thousand bulbs that day. So, the next time you’re passing by Rouken Glen, glance over at the crocuses and you may see a “B” for Belmont!

The Lego Club Christmas Post

Jamie Turner sent us a little more information about the Junior School Lego Club and what they've been up to this holiday season:

Lego Club takes place every Thursday at lunch time and has about 20 regular members from J1 to J6. 

The Junior 4's Enterprise project this term was the Christmas Post. They set up a delivery service and delivered over 600 cards, raising £43.50 in total. The children have decided to donate the money to WWF. 

For ten days, the kids were responsible for collecting, sorting, stamping and re-sorting the post which then went out for delivery! 

We will recommence in the New Year with bigger and better challenges!

(And I will be posting some great photos of the kids' projects in early 2012 for everyone to admire.)

Belmont House School Shows Its Spots for Pudsey

Pupils, staff and parents at Belmont House School shattered the fundraising records of previous years for the Children in Need appeal, raising £2,764 in total. This represents a £1,000 increase from last year; an outstanding effort from a school with a roll of just fewer than 300.

Fundraising activities were held throughout the week, culminating in our annual “Belmont’s Got Talent” show on the afternoon of Friday, November 18^th. During the same evening, a delegation of thirty of our seniors was sporting their purple blazers at BBC’s Children in Need in Scotland, presented by Jackie Bird, live from Pacific Quay in Glasgow. The senior choir had shot and submitted a video of their rendition of Primal Scream’s “Moving On Up” and a clip of it was featured on Saturday evening’s Highlights Show and posted to the official website, where you can still watch their performance.

Cake and pakora sales were held at Belmont throughout the week in the run-up to our talent show while Senior 6 pupils circulated throughout the school with charity buckets. 

One of our English teachers cleverly raised funds on the promise to shave off half of his beard – and he delivered, proudly traversing the school with his unusual facial hair.

On Thursday, November 17th, the nursery hosted a “Parents’ Fun Day” in the school hall featuring stalls of games, raffles, home baking and an art exhibition displaying the children’s pictures of Pudsey.

Afterwards, each of our Junior School classes were tasked with organizing, advertising and managing a fun activity in which other pupils could pay 25p to take part.

Activities ranged from Pin the Patch on Pudsey to decorating Pudsey masks and cookies to guessing Pudsey’s birthday and nationality.

On Friday, students generously donated £3 for a ticket to the talent show and £2 towards a non-uniform day. After the nursery students danced to Elvis Presley’s “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog”, the Junior School followed up with their opening acts. Daniel, Abigail and Kareena confidently belted out individual solos before Oliver played a demanding piano piece. 

Louis followed him up with spectacular stand-up comedy before Alex and Sophie wrapped things up with a sweet performance of “Fireflies”. Senior singers included Tegan with “Wherever you go”, Jodie with “Marry Me” and Rachel added a bit of ukulele to her rendition of the A-Team theme song. Other musicians included Ian, who played “The Maple Leaf Rag”, Richard and Austin, who performed a rather technical Metallica piece on semi-acoustic guitars and a superb version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, courtesy of Gregor on drums, Andrew on guitar and Carl’s vocals.

Ashleigh was accompanied by her fellow single “ladies”, Cameron and Jonathan, in a Beyonce dance routine and the staff band, Chalk & Rock, carried us through a delightful Queen medley.

A bit off the beaten track, “The Incredible Science Department Extreme Juggling Display Team” (courtesy Mr. Cavers) provided the sort of entertainment that befits their title, accompanied by The Rave Gorilla. Finally, five brave senior prefects were drenched during the course of the afternoon, as well – all for a good cause!

“Belmont House School has a proud track record of supporting worthwhile charitable causes and those less fortunate than us,” said principal Melvyn Shanks. “I’d like to thank our parents for their previous generosity in contributing to the BBC appeal via the school and for their continued support of others in these challenging economic times.”