Pleckgate High School students are aiming high – with one setting his sights on becoming a lecturer at Oxford University. Pleckgate enjoyed outstanding GCSE results and their students have big ambitions, nurtured by the school.

Moosa Seedat got A*s in Physics and History, A’s in Chemistry, Biology, RE and Geography, a top Grade 9 in English Language, 8 in English literature and 7 in Maths. He now wants to study Geography, Biology and English Literature A levels at St Mary’s College, Blackburn, with a view to becoming a lecturer in geography at Oxford one day.

“I’m interested in global issues and climate change, as my teacher, Miss Swales is a big inspiration to me. I’d like to be a lecturer as I enjoy speaking to people and explaining things.”

Zainab Amar achieved a Grade 9 in Maths, 8 in both English Language and Literature, A*s in RE, Physics and Further Maths, and A’s in Geography, Biology, Chemistry and German – grades which she hopes will lead to a career in law.

“I’m going to Runshaw College to study A Level Maths, English Literature, Economics and Government and Politics. I did well in science and I had to work extremely hard at them. I thought I was going to do badly in English Language because I thought my exam was so bad, so I’m happy with my grades.”

Shaheen Patel got A’s in Biology, Chemistry and History as well as an 8 in Maths among her 10 GCSEs. The 16-year-old said: “I want to do something science related.” She is now going to study A level Biology, Chemistry and Psychology at St Mary’s College.

Sheryaar Sajid can pursue his lifelong ambition to become a dentist thanks to A’s in Information Technology, Religious Studies, Biology and Chemistry.

“I’ve wanted to be a dentist since I was small and have got the grades I needed for A Level.”

Dear Parents/Carers

May I take this opportunity to welcome your child back to Pleckgate, after what I hope has been a restful summer holiday.  I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our new year 7 students, who represent another significant increase in the number of parents and students selecting Pleckgate as their first school of choice.

I am delighted that Pleckgate students have once again achieved excellent GCSE results, surpassing all previous years, as well as being significantly above national averages, with 72% of students achieving a grade 4+ (equivalent to a grade C+) in English & Maths and 52% achieving the new grade 5+ in English & Maths; 28 students achieved the highest grade 9 in either English or Maths. Pleckgate will almost certainly see a further increase in terms of the new accountability measure for schools – Progress 8 with our 2015, 2016 and 2017 scores all significantly above the national average.

All students are involved in the first Super Learning Day on Thursday 14^th September and school will close for all students at 1pm. Our annual Open Evening will be on the same day from 5pm to 8pm followed by our Open Morning Event on Saturday 16^th September between 9.30am and 12pm for prospective parents and new students, who I would be grateful if you would encourage them to join us.

I am very proud of the new branding for the school, including the new school uniform; students look smart and represent our school very well. There have also been extensive improvements to the school building over the summer, including new dining facilities in the Winter Garden, a new student alumni gallery to share the successes of past Pleckgate students.

I look forward to a positive start to the new academic year and ask for you to help us by guiding your children to show respect for our school ethos of Aspire & Believe, Act & Succeed. I would also be grateful if you would ensure that your children arrive to school on time, wearing the correct uniform and school shoes, not trainers. We are also a ‘Healthy Eating School’ and we do not encourage students to bring fizzy drinks, sweets or crisps to school. The school canteen provides a wide range of meals and snacks and has won numerous awards for their healthy meeting menu.

I look forward to meeting you during this academic year and thank you for your continued support.

Best Wishes

Mark Cocker
Headteacher

There was a record turn-out at Pleckgate High School’s Open Days as the school continues to flourish following its outstanding GCSE results.

Prospective students, with their parents, heard from Head Teacher Mr Cocker and took a look around the state-of-the-art school.

Pleckgate enjoyed impressive GCSE results with an outstanding 27 students achieving the highest Grade 9 across Mathematics and English, which solidfied Pleckgate’s position as one of the highest performing Mathematics departments in the country.

Prospective students had a look in the Maths Department, having a go at programming a car, while they also visited the Science Department, with more students getting A*s and As in their GCSE Science results than ever before.

Primary school pupils also had the chance to try out the school’s gym, play table tennis in the sports hall, test their cooking skills in Food Technology and visit the Technology and Engineering Department.

“We were incredibly proud of our GCSE results and were delighted with the number of prospective students and parents who came to look around Pleckgate,” said Head Teacher Mr Cocker.

 “We have a strong trend of academic achievement at Pleckgate while we also encourage sports, our football team played at Ewood Park last year, and we have raised a vast amount of money for various charities over the last five years.

“Our school philosophy is ‘Aspire & Believe, Act & Succeed’ and our school is thriving.”

Pleckgate High School’s Year Seven cricket team went from strength to strength last year.

The team came together for the first time having come from different primary schools and formed a strong team ethic, signing off their season with a well-earned win.  We hope this continues into their Year 8 season. Well done!

Last year Pleckgate High School’s Year Eight cricket team were christened ‘The Invincibles’ after going a whole season unbeaten.

The team, captained by Qasim Akbar who is also at East Lancs Cricket Club, won all their nine matches against fellow Blackburn with Darwen school teams to finish top of the league.

“They have been superb,” said PE teacher Mr Haworth. “Now the aim is to repeat it in the next school year!”

The road outside school is obviously very busy at the start and end of the day. Please can parents/carers in the interest of the safety of the children and all pedestrians, please under no circumstances park on the zig zag lines by the zebra crossing, or drive beyond the barrier into the staff only car parking areas. We appeal to all parents to show consideration to our residents and other road users, by avoiding blocking their drives and not completing dangerous u-turns along Pleckgate Road. 

Thank you for your continued support.

On 25th September, 12 of Pleckgate’s History students went on a History trip to Weavers Triangle in Burnley which was once the heart of Burnley’s textile industry. The students learnt about the history of the cotton and textiles industry.

As part of this trip, the students also took part in a canoeing experience along the Leeds and Liverpool canal to experience how the boats were used to transport cotton during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The students very much enjoyed the trip, learning and experiencing first-hand what life was like during the Victorian times for the people of Burnley.

Pleckgate is in the top 18 per cent of schools nationally after the Progress 8 league tables were released.

Progress 8 measures pupils’ progress between Key Stage Two and Key Stage Four across eight key subjects.

With the introduction of the new, tougher GCSE examinations this year – with mathematics and English graded 1-9 with 5 a strong pass – Progress 8 is now how the Government ranks schools with zero the national average.

Pleckgate recorded an above average Progress 8 score, after suberb GCSE results where an outstanding 19 students achieved the highest Grade 9 in mathematics under the more challenging system.

These results solidified Pleckgate’s position as one of the highest performing mathematics departments in the country and this is recognised in their strong place in the Progress 8 league tables.

Head teacher Mr Cocker said: “The Progress 8 measure represents a substantial improvement for Pleckgate High School and places us in the top 18 per cent of schools nationally.

“The per centage of students achieving the new more challenging benchmark of 5+ in English and maths also places us well above average and, with an impressive 28 students achieving Grade 9’s across English and maths, 2017 represents the best results ever for Pleckgate High School.

“We are extremely proud of all our students and our fantastic and dedicated staff.”

Two Pleckgate teachers hope they are still walking tall after a year of fundraising for Cancer Research UK.

Mrs Turnbull is an engineering teacher at Pleckgate while her husband is a technician.

Both have decided to walk all the Wainwrights – 214 fells in the Lake District – for Stand Up To Cancer in 2018.

“Last year we did the Yorkshire Three Peaks for Macmillan as we both lost our mums to cancer and have had other family and friends affected by it,”said Mrs Turnbull, who has worked at Pleckgate for four years. “It seems to touch everyone’s lives. We wanted to give something back and raised around £600.

“It was our first real venture into walking and I decided to do something else this year.

“Alfred Wainwright is from Blackburn so it was a nice link.

“Our highest climb is Scafell Pike at over 3,000 feet and the ascent we will climb over the year is the equivalent to climbing Everest five-and-a-half times.

“We are starting on January 1^st and then will do it throughout the year, mainly at weekends. It’s all weather dependent and we will have to do the higher climbs in June and July.

“It is a challenge as it means nearly every weekend in 2018 will be spent doing this but challenges are meant to be tough and we want to do it while we are fit and able to.

“Most of our friends are asking if we are insane and we probably are but everyone at Pleckgate is really supportive of us. It will be a huge achievement when we do it.”

To sponsor the Turnbulls go to:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/turnbull2018

Text   CTWW81 with amount to 70070

Our Year 10 students have been studying poetry in the genre of “Power and Conflict” as part of their English Literature GCSE course. They were given the opportunity to write their own poems in the same genre, and they produced a range of excellent poetry showing lots of different perspectives of war. We have a sample on the website to share their creativity with you. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Remembrance Day Poems Nov 17

Harpz Kaur encouraged Pleckgate High School students to follow their dreams at their awards evening for their class of 2017.

Harpz is the presenter on the weekday Breakfast Show for BBC Asian Network and talked to the students who left last year about her battles to achieve her dream – and how it took many years of perserverance and hard work.

“I did a media studies degree and a post-graduate degree but I ended up working as a freelance journalist and voluntarily on radio as I really didn’t hit the ground running, I struggled to get a regular job,” said Harpz, 28, from Yorkshire.

“I had a lot of rejections and a lot of questions and pressure from family and friends about what I was doing, and when I would get a regular job. I did suffer from depression as I just couldn’t find my career path.

“Finally I knew I had to take matters into my own hands and I started a YouTube channel and DJ-ing, which was one of my passions.

“I hosted local events to try and get my name out there and I entered the Asian Media Awards, by chance really.

“I got shortlisted, I met a lot of important people at the awards, met the editor of the BBC team and he asked me to come down for an interview and the rest is history.

“It took me six years to get where I wanted to be and I think it’s important to encourage people to pursue their passions; don’t be put off by rejections and be inspired to break down barriers, whether it’s religion, sex, age, as everyone can achieve their dreams.”

Head Teacher Mark Cocker was proud of his ‘Class of 2017’ with Pleckgate, under the new Progress 8 measure for schools, now in the top 18 per cent of schools nationally and it has one of the highest performing maths departments in the country.

Mr Cocker said: “It’s superb to see the students return and highlight their impressive performances across a wide range of subjects and activities.

“Last year was a challenge with the changes to the syllabus and the grading system, but our students excelled, with an impressive 28 students achieving the top grade, Grade 9, across English and maths.

“The 2016/7 students achieved the best results Pleckgate High School has ever achieved.

“It’s not just about exam results though but our students have also celebrated community and sporting success.”

Award winners on the night included Wael Elshwhidi who won The English Award. Wael came to England from Libya at the start of his GCSE’s with English not his first language. He was targeted a Grade 2 in his English but achieved a phenomenal Grade 5.

The English Literature Award was presented to Shama Batool Shah as she celebrated the highest grade – a Grade 9- which put her in the top one per cent of the country.

The Maths Award went to Arsalan Malik who achieved a Grade 7 after a lot of hard work by Pleckgate staff and his own dedication and Ammar Rehman who celebrated a Grade 9 in maths and an A* in further maths.

Other prizes included The History Award which was awarded to Moosa Seedat who achieved an A* in his GCSE while also carrying out voluntary work at Blackburn Museum.

Daanyaal Dalal won the Sporting Trophy for Boys after helping Pleckgate reach the final of the Blackburn Cup at Ewood Park while the Sporting Trophy for Girls went to Zarah Mahmood, a fantastic dancer, netballer and rounders player.

In the special awards, The Chair of Governors Award was presented to Hamnah Makda, who came through some challenging times but showed a determination to succeed.

The Headteacher’s Award was presented to Head Boy Abbaas Shakil, who was always keen to be involved in the wider life of school, sat on school councils, achieved highly in his GCSEs and wants to go on and study medicine.

AWARD WINNERS

GCSE Awards: Ammar Rehman, Uwais Valli, Saliha Patel, Halima Zaman, Nurul Amin

The English Award: Wael Elshwhidi

The English Literature Award: Shama Batool Shah

The Mathematics Award: Arsalan Malik, Ammar Rehman

The Statistics Award: Zain Zeeshan

The Science Award:  Asim Munir

The Language Award: German:  Mahzabin Uddin

The Technology Awards: Textiles: Natasha Abbasi; Engineering: Ibrahim Younas; Product Design: Uwais Valli

The ICT Award: Sana Makba

The Child Development Award: Nazima Sidik

The Health and Social Care Award: Saliha Patel

The History Award: Moosa Seedat

The Geography Trophy: Umayrah Hassan

The Art Award: Shazmeen Bau

The Religious Education Award: Natasha Abbasi

The Music Trophy: Quratulaien Mohammed

The Leisure and Tourism Award: Zain Zeesham

The Drama Award: Rosma Khan-Saddique

The Physical Education Trophy: Arsalan Malik

Services to School Football Trophy: Salmaan Soge

The Netball Trophy: Humayra Patel

The Sporting Trophy for Boys: Daanyaal Dalal

The Sporting Trophy for Girls: Zarah Mahmood

The Chair of Governors’ Award: Hamnah Makda

The Headteacher’s Award: Abbas Shakil

Award for Services to School Council: Shoaib Khan

Award for Services to the School: Head Boy: Abbaas Shakil; Head Girl Aysha Dagra

National Poetry Day took place at Pleckgate High School on Thursday 28th September as part of the National Poetry Day’s celebrations all over the country. The theme for this year was ‘Freedom’ and Pleckgate students have been working hard writing their own poetry. They had the opportunity to share their creations with staff and students and a special guest.

Seamus Kelly is a popular poet who has visited Pleckgate students a number of times. He was able to share workshops with year 7, 8 and 9 students about his work, his use of words and emotions in writing.

“It’s always inspiring coming to Pleckgate as the students are always attentive and ask a lot of questions,” said Mr Kelly, who began his interest in poetry when he was given a book of poems aged nine. “Poetry is about emotions and the poems the students produced were of a high standard.” Headteacher, Mr Mark Cocker was also involved in reciting a poem on the day.

Students in the photo are

Left to right
Abdal Khan, Ali Waris Shah, Afsa Dah, Reg Slater, Karimen Danbarhia and Habeel Hussain

Pleckgate students have found it’s good to talk.

The school have appointed 44 Literacy Leaders in Year 10 and 11 to listen to Year 7 students who need help with their reading. It’s twice a week in form time and the younger students are making big strides.

Year 10 Oliver Rigby, 14, has been listening to Daniel Mahmood read. “I volunteered as I enjoy reading, I am a strong reader with a reading age of 16, and I want to help people and give them the chance to enjoy it as well,” said Oliver. “Daniel has really improved over the weeks, I recommend books for him and he sits with me during form time.”

Year 10 Saira Hussain said it was a tough process to become a Literacy Leader. “You had to write a letter to get the role so it wasn’t easy,” said Saira, who was reading with Year 7 student Marwa Khan. Marwa said: “It has really helped me develop my reading. It works well.”

Pleckgate celebrated superb English GSCE results in August with 63 per cent of their students achieving the top grades 9-5. English teacher Mr Murray, said: “Literacy Leaders is a relatively new initiative, it started last year, and we have also introduced the Accelerated Reader Programme into school. It’s about learning to lead and learning to read.

“It helps both the older and the younger age group and we are seeing the rewards of it in class.”

Many children and young people may receive gifts over the festive season such as Smartphones, Tablets and Gaming consoles which allow them to connect online.  Please find below a link to a resource which includes some useful considerations, supporting links and a number of handy tips to help young people stay safe online.

Stay-Safe-Online-Festive-Season_4917_Bulletin-Version

Generous staff and students at Pleckgate High School brought some Christmas cheer to Nightsafe.

Nightsafe is a charitable organisation in Blackburn supporting the homeless, aged 16-24-year-olds.

Former Pleckgate teacher Mrs Emery encouraged the school to support Nightsafe around 20 years ago and Ms Parry and Ms Harrison have continued the tradition.

“The aim is to collect food for the homeless youngsters to enjoy a Christmas party at the centre near the train station in Blackburn,” said Ms Parry.

“It was the staff who were asked for donations but tutor groups have also embraced the project.”

Pleckgate IT technician Talha Mulla has travelled to South Africa as he continues his charity work – supported by his school.

Talha, 22, volunteers for the Al-Imdaad Foundation UK and he will be part of a project called Tackling Poverty in Africa.

Six volunteers from Blackburn have raised £10,000 between them and will be providing food and water to rural villages and some of the money has come from generous Pleckgate students.

“We had a bucket collection at school which raised nearly £400 and also students brought in items to help as well so everyone at school has been incredibly supportive,” said Talha.

“£4,200 will be used to build boreholes in rural villages and £5,800 will be used to provide meals to most needy.

The charity as a whole looks at international as well as local ways to help every year as we want to make a difference.

While there are immediate projects we also want to help people help themselves by building educational centres and water holes.”

Tackling Poverty in Africa is one of many charity works Talha has undertaken for the Al-Imdaad Foundation, which is an international charity with the local branch based at Audley Range in Blackburn.

Talha has been part of a group which has helped Syrian refugees in Jordan with emergency aid, he has helped with the refugee crises in Greece and has built homes and educational centres as well as providing food and water projects in Sri Lanka.

In the UK Talha feeds the needy with hot meals every Sunday in Blackburn.  The foundation also provided support in Cumbria during the UK floods in 2015 as well as distributing Christmas boxes throughout the country.

“We just want to help people, every Sunday we have a foodbank at our Blackburn centre and it is getting busier.  Pleckgate students have also collected items for this.  It is rewarding carrying out charity work and it’s great that the students can play their part as well.”

Pleckgate High School has received a boost as their Progress 8 result has been increased to +0.4 – confirming them in the top 18 per cent of schools nationally.

Progress 8 is the government’s way of measuring progress, introduced in 2016, and looks at a student’s progress between key stage two and key stage four across eight key subjects, including English and Maths.

Headteacher Mr Cocker said: “In October, our Progress 8 measure represented a substantial improvement for Pleckgate High School. so for it to be increased is a further boost for the school and confirms our place in the top 18 per cent of schools nationally.”

 “In Maths we have one of the strongest departments in the country and, with our confirmed Progress 8 score, it means our high ability students in maths are in the top one per cent of students in the UK which is a fantastic achievement.”

“Also our most able students are in the top 10 per cent nationally which is, again, a huge achievement.”

 An impressive 28 students achieved Grade 9’s across English and Maths last year in their GCSEs as Pleckgate celebrated their best ever results.

Pleckgate’s Year 7 pupils were definitely bubbly at the launch of East Lancashire Hospice’s Bubble Rush.

Blackburn Rovers defender Paul Downing came along to make sure the event had the perfect kick off which will take place at Pleckgate on Sunday 6th May.

The ‘Bubble Rush’ will either be one lap of the playing fields at the school which is 2.5k or you can double this to 5k.

Paul said: “It’s the first time I have been to Pleckgate and the students are having a lot of fun in the Bubble Rush! I might come myself on the day as everyone is having a great time and smiling.

“It will be a great event for a worthy cause and hopefully will be well supported with a lot of children taking part as it’s great to see children involved in sport.”

This Bubble Rush is the first of its kind in East Lancashire and the first 200 to register will receive 50% off.

The standard adult price for entering is £20, but this will be reduced to £10, and just £4 for children.

The event will include different coloured bubble checkpoints to run through for plenty of foamy fun, plus a few surprises along the way.

Entry into the run includes a t-shirt and a medal with live music and entertainment hosted by 2BR.

The money raised in sponsorship will help the East Lancashire Hospice care for people with life-limiting illnesses from Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.

There will be two waves on the day – the Groovy Green wave setting off at 11am and the Hello Yellow wave setting off at 12.30pm.

There is more information at www.eastlancshospice.org.uk/bubble-rush-2018.

Pleckgate’s history department has gained worldwide acclaim after using 21^st Century technology to take students back to the 16^th Century in a new forward-thinking project.

Pleckgate have been using Virtual Reality technology in the classroom to look around and experience 16^th Century England at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire.

The project, run by Carmel Bones who works nationally and internationally, was developed to help schools optimise outcomes for students and teachers and the results of Pleckgate’s findings, among others, have been published internationally.

Carmel said: “The innovative History Department at Pleckgate have taken a cutting edge approach to the requirements of the new GCSE. 

“Excited by the prospect of studying Elizabethan England and specified site Hardwick Hall, Mr Bajkowski  and the team arranged both a real visit and a virtual visit.

“Using the latest 360 VR technology experienced through iPads and google glasses, Year 11 students can now be transported back to the past whenever they like.

“I was delighted to help pilot the idea with the department. The virtual tour allows GCSE students to revisit the rooms they saw for real on the fieldwork day thus putting the past in the present. 

“Year 11s can explore the magnificent Elizabethan property and listen to sound bites which provide the historical context needed for exam success. 

“Bess of Hardwick, who built the hall, was the second richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth 1 herself. She was a bold pioneer who pushed the boundaries of what was possible. It seems the Pleckgate History team are following in her esteemed footsteps.”

Pleckgate’s Head of History Mr Bajkowski said: “This project was a tremendous success for us. It enabled our students and staff to prepare for the trip, allowed the trip itself to be more meaningful and purposeful as well as allowing us to consolidate the learning afterwards. 

“We were delighted to be selected to pilot the project and this just emphasises one element of the cutting edge teaching and learning taking place across the department. 

“It is an honour to have had this work recognised and published in the world-wide publication ‘Teaching History’ as well as education magazine ‘Innovate My School’ and we look forward to contributing further to both publications in due course.”

Congratulations to Pupils who have been selected to attend breakfast with the head teacher.

The selection of pupils reflect their hard work and diligent approach to school life throughout the previous month.