STUDENT VOICE

STUDENT VOICE
2016 July
Press
Pleckgate
NEW ERA FOR PLECKGATE?
A
Following the arrival of new Headteacher, Mr Cocker, Pleckgate High School has changed
its logo. The logo, which was designed by students, incorporates fresh designs and
meaningful symbols with the traditional coat of arms. All students in the school were given
the opportunity to contribute ideas. These were then pooled together to create our new
school badge and new logo with the motto, "ASPIRE AND BELIEVE, ACT AND
SUCCEED.” This new change has meant a need to revise the School logo on letters and
uniforms as well as the many other places where the school logo appears. Mr Cocker says
it will take time to implement these changes and says there is no need to inconvenience
students and staff. A lot of effort has been put into designing this new logo and only time
will tell if it is successful. By Moosa Seedat
Pleckgate - LET School of the Year

Magic Maths!
On Monday 11th July chosen Yr9 pupils got to take part
in a maths workshop. This involved a variety of activities
and puzzles, which revolved around the topic of problem
solving. The first activity was a puzzle called a tangram.
We had 4 equal pieces of paper, each cut with different
right angles, and we had to rearrange them to first make
one big square, then into two squares which was quite
difficult, but a few groups managed to figure out how to
make the two squares. The second activity we got
involved in was a group activity called 'Phoebe’s House
Number.' This was basically a game where we were given
a grid from 1­99 and we were given 6 clues and we had
to find out Phoebe’s house number. The team received a
huge round of applause as they got onto the much harder
and advanced grid, whereas everyone else was on the
standard questions. The last activity was scattered
around the whole classroom. We were partnered up and
there were puzzles all around the room which we had to
figure out. Most of the questions were fairly straight
forward, whereas others were much harder and required
a lot more thinking. The winning team won a pack of
Sharpie pens. By Maira Tahir
Dance Celebration
The ‘2016 of Dance’ took place
at King George's Hall. Girls from Year 7, 8
and 9 represented Pleckgate at the dancing
event. With the help of their amazing dance
teachers, Miss blears and Miss Savage, they
were given a theme, which was 'rain' and the
teachers helped to choreograph a routine to
show off the girls’ talents. Rain was adopted
as the theme in an attempt to reflect the
amount of rainfall which occurs in
Blackburn! The song that we danced to was
called 'Singing in the Rain'. We used fancy
umbrellas as props and these were a key
part of the dance routine. It was a fun event
and everybody who took part thoroughly
enjoyed themselves. Congratulations to all
dancers who took part in the celebration of
dance performance. Pleckgate is very proud
of you! Anyone who wishes to watch the
whole routine needs to go to PE to see Miss
Blears.
By Azlafa Mohammed
"Aspire and Believe, Act and Succeed"
At Pleckgate, providing charity and help
is a very important feature of our ethos.
We strive to provide help for the less
fortunate and those who are in need of
support and help. The pupils here at
Pleckgate have once again
demonstrated their generosity. Many
pupils bought in food for the food banks.
There was an overwhelming response,
and people brought items such as tinned
food, cereal boxes, drink cartons, etc.
The food bank collection was organised
by the RE department and led to many
local food bank charities receiving much
needed items to help some vulnerable
people. By Adnaan Patel
Pleckgate Food Bank

Sports Day 2016
2016 is another Olympic year and in celebration of this, Pleckgate held a sports
day for each year group. The staff in the PE department created an opportunity
for all students to participate in a variety of sporting activities whilst picking up
points for their tutor group along the way and competing against other tutors.
The Year 7s kicked off the events on Monday 18th July during periods 1 and 2
with 7SRA coming in third, followed by 7ADH in second and 7MBA picking up
the most points. After that, in periods 3 and 4, it was 8BPI who claimed the top
spot with 8MPU AND 8CAS in joint­second place. The following day was
labelled as 'the hottest day of the year' by forecasts in England, however it didn't
stop the year 9 and 10 pupils showcasing their talents in the immense heat. The
year 9 sporting event, which took place during period 1 and 2, was won by
9JSA with 9EED taking second place and 9SJW finishing third. Lastly, to wrap
up the events the Year 10 sports day took place in period 3 and 4.
10HSW came third, 10DTU in second and 10JPA at the top! A big thanks to all
the teachers who helped to organise the intriguing day. By Shoaib Khan

Learning different faiths
Year 7 students from Pleckgate High School linked up with Saint Bede's to learn about the
six major religions and encourage religious tolerance. Students practised meditation, learnt
how to write their names in Hebrew and makes Sikh bracelets. Mrs Carr, a religious
education teacher at Saint Bede's said: "We want to develop relationships with other
schools. Obviously we are a Catholic school and many of our students don’t have the
opportunity to mix with students of other religions. Throughout the year we have worked
on a number of joint projects including a pen pal partnership with Pleckgate’s Year 9s and
together we organised our interfaith event in attempt to break down barriers. We have
representatives from the six major religions ­ Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism,
Islam and Christianity – who have each spoken throughout the day about their beliefs to
help students develop an awareness of other faiths and to promote community cohesion.
Another joint project we have been working on is the giant jigsaw display which our pupils
created to launch the day."
The Head of RE at Pleckgate organised this trip to allow different students to interact with
people of different faiths other than their own.
Mrs Savage said, "It's been superb for our school to come here and help to break down
barriers between different religions. At Pleckgate we have a large Muslim contingent and
it’s been an education for them to visit a Catholic school and work together on religious
activities.”
Five Year 9 pupils, Mohammed Alom (SH), Umar Patel (JSA), Iqra Sawant (EED), Sanaa
Surgeon (GDE) and Amirah Usman (EED) delivered one of the sessions to the Year 7
pupils. Mohammed Alom, said, "I learnt more about the other six religions because it's
changed my perceptions of them." Iqra Sawant and Amirah Usman both agreed that
"More students at Pleckgate should have the same opportunity to attend event like this."
By Rumana Jeru
Y9 Inter Tutor Netball
The girls from Year 9 tutor groups took part in an inter tutor netball competition. This was held at
lunchtimes, and all tutor groups were represented. After some very competitive fixtures 9GDE and
9JSA reached the final. The final was an exciting game with two evenly matched teams. The game
kept changing directions as both teams shared the lead. It looked like it would only take one score
to separate the two teams. The final whistle went and the tutor group which emerged as the victors
were 9GDE. By Aisha Mamaniat
"Aspire and Believe, Act and Succeed"

Senior Prefect Appointments
A few months ago, Miss Hartley, Head of Year 10, began the process of selecting the students who would
be chosen to be a Prefect. This privilege would entitle these students to wear the grey sweatshirt uniform,
identifying them as a school Prefect. When I began this process, I didn't realize that it was going to be one
that required such effort and dedication.
My name is Abbaas Shakil and I will be your Head Boy next year alongside Aysha Dagra, the Head Girl,
Hasan Khan the Deputy Head Boy and Umayrah Hassan who will be the Deputy Head Girl.
All four of us, alongside next year's senior Prefects, went through many grueling stages, involving endless
letters, tense eliminations and the final interviews with Mr Cocker, Mr Hamilton and Miss Hartley.
However, before any of this, the Prefects were chosen. All Year 10 students who wished to apply had to
write a formal letter of application with three teachers' signatures before handing it over to Miss Hartley for
submission. A few weeks later, Miss Hartley announced the decision as to who would be Prefects.
Following appointments of Prefects came the process to appoint the Head Boy and Head Girl.
Many Prefects wrote several sides of A4 explaining to Miss Hartley why they thought that they should be
Head Boy or Girl. Candidates for the role had to be able to speak in front of audiences confidently, be able to
help students and show leadership qualities for the Prefects. The deadline for the letter required the
endorsement of five teachers' signatures.
After the letters were sent, a shortlisting process to choose 10 students began.
The first trial involved all the potential Head Boys/Girls delivering assemblies to every year group in school.
Every student had to vote for their preferred choice of Head Boy and Head Girl, who they thought would be
the best person for the role. This was done via an electronic voting platform on the iPads, and every member
of school had a vote.
Following these assemblies was a formal interview, with Mr Cocker, Mr Hamilton and Miss Hartley.
Thank you to all who voted. Myself, Aysha, Hasan and Umayrah hope to do the best by all of you next year!
By Abbas Shakil ­ Head Boy
"Aspire and Believe, Act and Succeed"

WE'RE FINISHING FOR
THE SUMMER ON FRIDAY
22ND JULY AT 12.10, ON
A NON UNIFORM DAY.
HAVE A GREAT AND SAFE
SUMMER. SEE YOU ALL
BACK AT 10.45AM ON
MONDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER.
Chief Editor ­ Shoaib Khan