Vandyke Upper School’s annual fundraising ‘Smile Week’ has once again provided a huge boost to both the sixth form students involved and, of course, to Smile Malawi.

Every year they plan and run five days of fun fundraising events for Smile Malawi and this year made an impressive total of £2,700 - thanks to their efforts and the support of staff and students from across the whole school. Over the course of the week, a series of fancy-dress themes inspired sixth formers to come to school in a range of weird and wonderful outfits: Darth Vader, Harry Potter, and Henry VIII were among the characters to be seen walking the corridors. Sixth form tutor group-led activities included cake sales, competitions, and the traditional staff soccer match. In the theatre, lunchtime events were staged daily to sell-out audiences, including ‘I’m a Teacher, Get Me Out of Here’, ‘Would I Lie To You’? and the traditional Friday finale, Vandyke’s Got Talent, featuring the staff’s interpretation of Uptown Funk!Vandyke’s Director of Sixth Form, Mr Downey, said: ‘I’m delighted by the efforts made by our sixth form to raise money during this important week. They all worked incredibly hard to deliver some excellent fundraising events, and to make such a huge sum in a short period of time is an amazing achievement. As ever, there was a really special atmosphere, with staff and students having fun together to raise money for a very important cause, whilst remaining focused on the important business of teaching and learning. It was a truly great week.’