First Ever Rag Week

The Sixth Form students held a fund-raising Rag Week in aid of the Children's Hospice South West

The charity was voted for by the Sixth Form students so that they could support the new hospice, Little Harbour at Porthpean and also because it was close to the heart of ex-Callington student Craig Fisher, who sadly died in a motorbike accident during the summer.

The week consisted of many weird and wonderful activities run by the Sixth Form Students for the other students of the college.  It began with a penalty shoot-out with a Plymouth Raiders coach and Plymouth Argyle goal keeper, followed by a student-teacher net ball game, which, to the student's disappointment, the teachers won!

The events continued thick and fast, with student ‘slave auctions', cake sales and music concerts, featuring local bands ‘Hotel Infusion', ‘Voice of Reason' and ‘Wolves discussing the Weather'.

The highlights of the week though occurred on Thursday and Friday. Teachers Ian Smith and Adam Murray, along with Principal Gary Lobbett, bravely had their legs waxed in front of a cheering crowd and this was followed by a rather mucky session of teacher gunging, including Head of Sixth Form Sally Humphries and RAG Week organizer Carolyn Woodman, along with several other teacher volunteers.

The week was brought to a spectacular close with a 12 hour drama improvisation, led by drama teacher Jonathon Plunkett who was accompanied by a rolling cast of over twenty students.

The week was a huge success.  At the end of the week the total raised was £1743!!! And there was still more to be collected from the 12-hour improvisation.

This was far beyond the expectations of RAG Week organizer, Carolyn Woodman: "the week exceeded all my expectations. I never imagined we would raise this much money or that it would have such a positive impact on the whole college."

Throughout the week students from all year groups have been able to get involved in the events and have done so with growing enthusiasm.

Head of Sixth Form Sally Humphries said: "The best thing about the week was the camaraderie shown by everyone to everyone. The whole college from the head teacher down to the youngest student was totally involved and committed to making the week a success and helping young people in Cornwall. The Sixth form students should be jolly proud of themselves for making this happen."

The students and staff are already looking forward to next year's Rag Week and the bar has been set very high. In the meantime the Sixth Form looks forward to continuing their support for The Children's Hospice South West as their chosen charity for the year.