Pleckgate students found plenty of time to rhyme on National Poetry Day. Poet Seamus Kelly held workshops with Years Seven, Eight and Nine students from Pleckgate and the senior teachers at the school, including Head Teacher Mr Cocker, also got involved by reading a piece of poetry during the sessions.

“It’s really important to celebrate days like National Poetry Day as it helps the students to value literature more,” said English teacher Ms Simms. “The students produced their own piece of poetry on ‘messages’ – which were excellent – while the senior teachers read poems which meant something to them.”

Mr Kelly, who is based in Rochdale, read some of his own poems but also got the students to talk about the made-up words used in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ and  also discuss the poem ‘Albert and the Lion.’

“It’s about inspiring the students and those at Pleckgate were inquisitive,” said Mr Kelly, who began his interest in poetry when he was given a book of poems aged nine. “The students listened and then asked questions, such as ‘how long does it take to write a poem?’ which can be any length of time!”

“Poetry is about emotions and the poems the students produced were of a high standard.”

Pleckgate is in the top ten schools in the UK for the second successive year.

The information, released last week by the Department of Education, put Pleckgate in sixth spot nationally, based on results for schools across the UK with similar prior attainment. It means Pleckgate have once again cemented their place as a ‘Beacon of Success’.

It caps a good year for the school, which enjoyed a 10 per cent rise in students enrolling in Year Seven in September, as Pleckgate was also crowned Lancashire Telegraph School of the Year in 2016.

“It once again shows students at Pleckgate continually get a high level of education,” said Head teacher Mr Cocker, who took over in January 2016 and oversaw Pleckgate becoming an Academy in February this year.

“We offer a quality well-rounded education and are continuing to build on what we are doing here year on year, making us one of the best in the country.”

And Pleckgate is once again setting the pace in the new accountability measure for schools, Progress 8 – with schools judged on their progress across eight key subjects. “This year has been the second successive year that Pleckgate has recorded a Progress 8 score that is better than the national average.”

Pleckgate celebrated a 60% pass rate for students achieving grades A*-C, in both English and maths in their GCSE results in August, with a high percentage of students exceeding their expected progress in both English and maths.

On the 18th October 2016 the BBC technology correspondent, Roy Cellan-Jones,  contacted Mrs Dean here at Pleckgate High School because he had heard that we are using the BBC Micro Bit in our computing lessons.  He wanted to know how we were using them and what our students thought about them.  We were very pleased that the work we were doing in our Computing department had come to be recognised by the BBC.

Click here to see the story in full on bbc.co.uk

Year Seven students from Pleckgate donned their hi-vis jackets and gloves and were picking, pruning and sweeping. The 51 youngsters, who all volunteered, were collecting litter, cutting back bushes and clearing roads around Pleckgate, especially the Royal Oak pub area, to help boost the surroundings.

Tracey True, the Community Officer for Sustainable Neighbourhood Services, asked the school to be involved to help with the community clean-up.

“We do a lot of community clean-ups with the council, schools and residents or anyone who wants to,” said Ms True.

“There had been complaints from the residents about a build up of litter and the overgrown bushes in the pathways.

“As a lot of Pleckgate pupils use the area to walk to school, we asked the students to just give us a hand helping to tidy it up, it gives them a sense of ownership and pride in their community and the children were amazing.

“They picked up litter, trimmed trees and swept roads and the feedback from the residents has been positive.

“We want to do more of it and the pupils at Pleckgate are more than willing to help.”

Student Mohammed Ali Ashraf said: “It’s great doing this as it helps the environment.”

Zaynab Karoliya added: “When you see the amount of litter we have picked up just from an hour it’s a big surprise. It makes you think about people who drop litter and being more careful.”

Pleckgate’s Head of Year Seven Ms Huntriss said: “The students have loved it. The ‘Walk to School’ project came into Pleckgate to talk about the benefits of walking to school and also talked about taking care of your community.

“That’s when they mentioned the clean-up and we were only too happy to get involved.

“Non-teaching staff have given up their time to oversee this – Mick Johnson, Hanif Sufi and Talha Mulla – and I think they have set the example and the students have enthusiastically followed.

“It’s the first time we have done this and we will definitely do it again!”

Pleckgate High School celebrated their best ever GCSE results this year at their annual awards ceremony.

Pleckgate, the Lancashire Telegraph Secondary School of the Year, enjoyed a 61 per cent pass rate for grades A*-C, including English and Maths in August.

They had some outstanding individual results, as well as some sporting and community successes, and these were all celebrated at the evening where guest speaker, corporate global leader and entrepreneur Tracy Sheldon, also inspired the students, parents and teachers in the audience.

Of the many awards, the special Headteacher’s Award went to Aysha Sultan.
Aysha came to Pleckgate in Year Nine and couldn’t speak a great deal of English but she left the school with seven A*s and four As.

“She also gave her time to help other students and parents who couldn’t speak a lot of English. We are so proud of her achievements,” said Headteacher Mark Cocker.

Aysha also won The Physics Prize for achieving the highest physics mark out of the entire year group.

Safwan Hassan won The Science Prize, achieving A*s in the three science subjects while he also won a GCSE prize for his outstanding results.

John Perry, Sanaa Dayaji, Yamin Banglawala and Aisha Hanif also collected GCSE awards for their impressive GCSEs.

As well as sporting awards, community prizes were also given out – Pleckgate have raised £7,000 so far for this school year for charity. Last year’s Year Sevens got a special mention for their fundraising activities for the Royal British Legion, for water pumps in Syria and also a Readathon to buy books for children in hospital. They have continued their efforts this year by raising funs through a dodgeball event for Derian House.

Headteacher Mr Cocker said 2016 had been a superb year for Pleckgate as they welcomed in a new era, which included becoming an academy and a rebranding of the popular school.

“In 2016, we had our best ever GCSE results, we were in the top five schools nationally for schools with prior attainment and we have been hailed ‘A Beacon of Success’ as well as being crowned Lancashire Telegraph Secondary School of the Year.

“We are not just an exam factory though and while we have had fantastic academic success, sport and community achievements in all different year groups have also been recognised.”

Tracy Sheldon, who was brought up on a council estate and now runs the multi-million pound company Brug Consultancy said: “I have been so inspired by the students here. They are the future and they have the ability to go into life and change the world.”

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It’s all adding up to success at Pleckgate High School with mathematics GCSE results among the best in the country.

Under the new accountability measures for schools, Progress 8, Pleckgate were celebrating as they were once again above the national average – with plenty to shout about, especially in the maths department.

“The school’s 2016 mathematics results placed us in the top 3% of similar schools nationally, with our higher level learners ranked in the top 1% of similar schools,” said proud Head teacher Mark Cocker.

With the August GCSE results, Pleckgate were significantly above national averages with 76% of students making at least expected progress and 50% making better than expected of progress in mathematics.

Also 76% of students made at least expected progress and 38% made better than expected progress in English

“There are other numerous academic successes including recognition of strong performance compared to national progress indicators in science, languages and humanities,” continued Mr Cocker.

“I am particularly pleased with how our new year seven students who have settled into school life at Pleckgate.

“The number of students choosing Pleckgate this past year has significantly increased.

“Early indications also suggest that next year’s intake will be even larger, re-enforcing that Pleckgate is once again the school of choice in the area and that students who come here have the best opportunity to succeed.”

Pleckgate High School students experienced geography out of the classroom to help them learn to about rivers and flooding.

The school has been working with the Environment Agency’s Siddiq Patel and visited the Garstang Flood Gates, which help to hold the water back during heavy rainfall and then, once the rain stops, slow release it back into the River Wyre.

The 60 Year 10 students also had to tackle wet conditions and cold temperatures but it didn’t dampen their spirits.

“As part of the geography course work we will go on two field trips and this was one of them,” said Pleckgate’s Head of Geography, Ms Swales.

“Rather than learn about it from a text book they got to see the environment in real life and experience it which helped them.

“The weather wasn’t kind but the students enjoyed the busy day seeing the source of the river and then seeing the changes in width, depth, speed and stone shapes as we travelled downstream. 

“It really helps deliver the topic when they can see it in ‘real life’. The information about the flood gate from the Environment Ageny helped the students and, with the bad weather, they turned on the news and saw them working.”

Student Alia Haider said, “I had fun measuring the river near the source and listening to the Environment Agency at Garstang. I didn’t know there were things like the flood gate that existed to protect people from flooding.”

Karim Reda said, “There was snow at the top of the source. And when we got to Garstang there was none and we could clearly see the river had got wider and deeper, just like the model we have learnt about.”

Hamza Ghani added: “.The River Wyre changes so much over such a short distance from Abbeystead to Garstang – no wonder the lag time is just two hours!”

The Year 10 students at Pleckgate High School are nurturing their younger school mates in a new Paired Reading Scheme.

The initiative is to encourage reading in Year Seven and it’s for those students who either struggle with reading or who do not have time to read at home or in school.

The Year 10s had to apply to become part of the process and submitted applications to the school’s English Lead Practitioners.

They now act as mentors and undertake paired reading during tutor time every Tuesday morning.

They use a scheme called ‘Accelerated Reader’ – a tool for monitoring and managing independent reading practice while promoting reading for pleasure.

“It’s an honour to do this,” said Year 10 student Tameeza Bhindiwala. “It was a tough application process but I want to go on and do something with English in the future so this will help me as well as helping the Year Sevens.”

Students in Year Eight at Pleckgate High School are learning all about Anne Frank – and admit it’s frightening to think that she went into hiding at their age.

Anne Frank Trust UK has set up an exhibition at Pleckgate where they can learn about what happened to Anne during World War II but also relate the issues then to nowadays.

Anne, a young Jewish girl, wrote a diary when hiding from the Nazi’s in 1942 when she was 13 before she died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944.

Her diary showed the impact of prejudice and hatred on individual lives – a lesson still applicable today.

Marian McQueen, from the Anne Frank Trust UK, taught a small group at Pleckgate about Anne’s life and they were to show their class-mates around the exhibition.

“We were approached by the Inter-Faith Forum to go into schools in Blackburn and we are delighted to be in Pleckgate,” said Marian.

“We teach, through the exhibition, the story of Anne Frank’s life but we also connect it to the present and what is happening now.

“We taught a group to be leaders and they will use their knowledge to help their classmates understand Anne’s life, it will help their confidence and will show how what happened then can have an impact on today.”

Student Khadija Arfan said: “It’s frightening to think Anne went into hiding at our age and how you would cope with that. We have learnt such a lot about her life but have also been thinking about similar modern day issues as well.”

Religious Education teacher Jenny Savage added: “This is an interactive way for Pleckgate students to learn about the story of Anne Frank and they are so enthusiastic.

“They may also get the chance to work as Anne Frank Trust UK ambassadors as well so it’s an important part of their development.

“They have already been saying that what happened to Anne is still happening today so they are learning a lot. It’s about making sure they don’t just stand by but they understand tolerance and build relationships with people who are a different religion to them.”

Pleckgate High School students have been working with many other schools over the last year to produce a collective Pupils’ Charter.

Throughout the year, our pupils have worked collaboratively with other teams from schools around Blackburn with Darwen on topics promoting community cohesion.

In a presentation to the Head teacher, the Year 10 pupils delivered the completed Charter which was agreed on the 13^th December 2016.

There is further reason for celebrations at Pleckgate, as the school has been ranked as the highest performing school within a 75 mile radius when compared with similar schools, for the amount of progress students make from year 7 to year 11.

This latest piece of information from the DfE is in addition to the other data published at the end of last year which testifies to recent successes at Pleckgate

“The school’s 2016 mathematics results placed us in the top 3% of similar schools nationally, with our higher level learners ranked in the top 1% of similar schools,” said proud Headteacher Mark Cocker.

Pleckgate’s GCSE English and mathematics results were significantly above national averages.

“There are other numerous academic successes including recognition of strong performance compared to national progress indicators in Science, languages and humanities,” continued Mr Cocker.

As per prior communication, please can parents be aware that school will be partially open this week on the following days:

Tuesday 24th January – Year 11 & Year 10
Wednesday 25th January – Year 11 & Year 9
Thursday 26th January – Year 8 & 7 (along with a small group of year 11 students who are sitting their ECDL examination)

If you have any questions please contact the school for further information.

On the 18th October 2016 the BBC technology correspondent, Roy Cellan-Jones,  contacted Mrs Dean here at Pleckgate High School because he had heard that we are using the BBC Micro Bit in our computing lessons.  He wanted to know how we were using them and what our students thought about them.  We were very pleased that the work we were doing in our Computing department had come to be recognised by the BBC.

Click here to see the story in full on bbc.co.uk

Pleckgate High School students said hearing Joanna Millan talk about her experiences during the Holocaust had some of them in tears. The Year Nine students had a visit from Holocaust survivor Joanna, who lost her parents and a grandparent in the concentration camps and now works for the Holocaust Educational Trust. Joanna, originally named Bela Rosenthal and born in Germany, was one of 140,936 Jewish people deported to Theresienstandt, a camp outside Prague.

Joanna was taken there at just 10 months old and lost her mother in the camp six months later. She managed to survive in the camp and, after the war, was adopted by an English couple. Joanna told Pleckgate’s Year 10 students, who were also celebrating World Hijab Day, about her days in the concentration camps, her memories of the rations of watery soup and bread and the deaths around her.

Year Nine student Oliver Rigby said: “Everyone was so quiet listening to Joanna and it was eerie listening to her experiences of the camp. We have been studying the Holocaust for around a month now but Joanna’s talk has had the biggest impact. It was something I won’t forget.”

Kira Doyle said: “I was moved to tears and everyone was listening so intently. I admire Joanna’s bravery for talking so openly about it.”

Kiah Page-Masterman added: “When you study history in class, it’s secondary information so to hear from someone who has experienced an important part of history in real life was emotional and moving. It helped me understand the Holocaust a lot better and to understand what people went through. It was a real eye-opener getting to hear from someone who lived through it.”

It was Joanna’s second visit to Pleckgate and she said: “I enjoy coming here. I travel all around the country talking about the Holocaust and I think it’s an important thing to do. It acts as a memorial and also it’s important to make people aware it could have been prevented but for people’s indifference. We have to do better in the future.”

Head of History at Pleckgate Mr Bajkowski said: “Having Joanna visit and give her testimony to our students is a real privilege and honour for both the school and our students.  It also shows that there is something special happening at Pleckgate. Not only do we have results that place us among the best in the country, but we understand that education is more than just outstanding examination results, is also about each student having an outstanding educational experience.

“Opportunities like Joanna’s visit are just a small part in our mission to educate our students at Pleckgate so that they can take on board the lessons learnt today to help build a better world.”

Pleckgate Headteacher Mr Cocker said: “It has been a fantastic day with students engaging in activities and experiences that allow them to come together and understand the importance of history and experience different cultures and beliefs.”

As per the Headteacher’s letter, Pleckgate will be open as normal to all pupils in all year groups on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd February 2017.

It’s not every day a boy band drops into school but pupils at Pleckgate High School were wowed by Yes Lad.

Yes Lad, who appeared on X Factor, all hail from the North West and came into school to perform a series of songs, including their recent release ‘Walk Away’.

“Yes Lad came into school to let our pupils experience a live performance,” said Mr Pontifex, who organised the event.

“For some pupils this was the first time they have seen a band live and they absolutely loved it. They really enjoyed all of the performances and couldn’t wait to get autographs and photos with the band afterwards.

“At Pleckgate we want students to get a well-rounded education and the pupils got to experience something they might not have had the chance to before. It certainly caused a buzz around school!”

Author John Siddique inspired the students at Pleckgate High School as he helped them celebrate World Book Day.

John, who lives in Hebden Bridge, has had seven books published, mostly for adults, but has a children’s book of poems entitled ‘Don’t Wear It On Your Head, Don’t Stick It Down Your Pants’, which was short-listed for a national award.

“It’s my second visit to Pleckgate and I love coming here,” said John. “I want students to enjoy art and literature, I want to encourage them to be creative and not to think writing is boring and school is just about learning information, it’s about developing individuals too.”

John held a creative writing workshop where he got students to make up the biggest lies they could to encourage them to use their imagination and he also oversaw activities such as designing bookmarks.

“John is my hero,” said excited Year Nine student Harris Sajid. “I read his poetry book when I was younger and it made me laugh out loud. I love his sense of humour.

“I have written poetry since I was six years old and I have a poem for John to look at. To get the chance to meet him is a big honour.”

Year Seven student Aimen Zubain, who is a school librarian, said: “John helped to show that you can write whatever you feel like and your opinion is important.”

Pleckgate students enjoyed cycling, futsal and team-building as outdoor pursuits company Sporting NRG came into school.

The Blackburn business work in partnership with schools and colleges to deliver a range of activities and the pupils at Lancashire Telegraph School of the Year 2016  enjoyed the challenges.

As well as safe cycling and futsal, the Pleckgate students had to work together to cross a ‘bridge’ and work in teams to pick up an item with ropes.

“You really have to think about it,” said Year Eight student Uzair Mahmood, of the team building challenges.

“We want students to get an all-round education at Pleckgate and days like this help develop their social, recreational and sporting skills,” said Headteacher Mr Cocker. “The students embraced it and, for some, it was a chance to try something they had never done before and also thinking in a different way. They loved it.”

Pleckgate High School is hoping to put on more of these events and has been boosted with a bumper entry for Year Sevens for the 2017/8 school year.