Vote Starfish!

We are proud to announce that former CHS pupil, Ollie Middleton, is standing as an MEP  in today's European Elections. Ollie joined Calder House in 2003 and spent six terms with us, leaving in 2005. He went on to study International Relations and Politics at Westminster University and was selected as the Labour Party candidate for Bath in the 2015 General Election – making him the youngest candidate to contest a seat!

The debate over Brexit has since prompted Ollie to switch political allegance and he is now standing for the pro-Remain breakaway party, Change UK,  in the European Elections.

Ollie at Calder House in 2003

More than ten years after he left, Ollie returned to Calder House to receive his Starfish badge  and during this visit he reflected on his time at our school:

"Being dyslexic can feel like a curse – but it shouldn’t. I was really struggling in a mainstream school but then I came to Calder House and everything changed for me. The teachers at Calder House recognised that I had strengths and talents not just weaknesses. They rebuilt my self-esteem and for the first time I started to believe that I could actually achieve something at school.

At Calder House I learned skills and strategies that have helped me tackle the things I find difficult because of my dyslexia. Of course I am still dyslexic – I always will be – but I no longer see my dyslexia as such a big problem. I’ve learned how to read. write and study effectively. I’ve learned to love education – which is why I’m now at university! And that is in no small part thanks to Calder House."