Hollins news and stories
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Amna visits BAFTA - December 2011
Year 10 pupil Amna Aslam was accompanied by her fellow RE/Citizenship classmates and staff as VIP guests of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation at the Faith Shorts Film Awards at BAFTA in London.
Their film “Muhammad in Accrington Inspiring Me” won the 'Action' category and Amna was presented with her award by Dawn French and Tony Blair in front of over 200 guests.
There was also a surprise video link with Amir Khan who, as a fellow north-west Muslim, congratulated the group on their success and told them how impressed he was with its content.
The full press release can be read here.
View the video and award ceremony on youtube.
Picture by James Perrin
Head for the Kitchen - December 2011
Christmas lunch was served from the canteen on Wednesday 14th December and pupils had a surprise when they were served by headteacher Mr Campbell!
Mr Campbell rolled up his sleeves, donned an apron and released the roasties to more than 400 pupils and staff.
Mr Campbell said, "Spreading a bit of Christmas cheer! The students enjoyed seeing me helping out and I enjoyed doing it.
Only serving though, definitely not cooking!!!!!"
Christmas Shoe Box Appeal - December 2011
We have once again demonstrated the generosity of our pupils and parents by putting together 35 shoeboxes jammed packed with items guaranteed to make somebody smile this Christmas. Pupils and staff had fun on Tuesday afternoon sorting through all of the items that had been donated and making up boxes full of toys, gifts and household items which will soon be on their way to Eastern Europe, including orphanages in Romania and people still displaced by the conflict in the former Yugoslavia area.
Special mention must go to the members of 8LFB, 7JBA, 8PSP,the year ten helpers, Miss Pilkington and everyone who contributed and gave up their time to help. A big thank you to the staff at M2 in Manchester who also donated items and to Mrs Brown, Hayley and Olivia who organised their collection.
Dazzling Performance - December 2011
After many hours of rehearsals and hard work by all the cast and crew this year's Christmas production 'Dazzle' was performed for friends and family on Thursday evening 13th December. There was also a matinee performance for local primary school pupils. As usual it was hugely popular with all ages. Thank you to everyone who supported the show.
HRVS Badminton - December 2011
Out of 16 teams at the HRVS(Hyndburn & Ribble Valley Schools)Badminton Competition the boys under 16s finished in fourth place, just missing out on being in the final, narrowly losing to Ribblesdale. The girls under 16s team went one better by reaching the final and bringing back the runners-up trophy. This was an outstanding achievement from both the girls and boys. Their success is down to their determination to improve whilst training as often as they possibly could prior to the tournament. The pupils who narrowly missed out on representing the school team also deserve credit as they all pushed each other to improve on their skills.
The Clothes Show Live - December 2011
The Clothes Show Live really lived up to its name this year as
Year 9 & 10 textile students got up close with the celebrities at the NEC show!
George Lamb was the presenter who introduced music from 'The Risk' and appearances from Kirk Norcross from TOWIE and Lucian Laviscourt.
With front row seats everyone certainly got a good view of the fashions and models and there was even a mini serenade from The Risk!
The college and university stands are truly inspirational, as are the mini catwalk shows and demonstrations.
Smells Like Christmas Spirit! - December 2011
On Tuesday 6th December, the Year 11 BTEC Music group held a showcase as part of their course. They organised and performed in the show and Mr Atkinson, their teacher said, "I am very proud of the class' professionalism and confidence on stage. To organise a whole concert themselves, as well as rehearse and perform takes a lot of commitment and hard work".
Over £80 was raised at the event, all of which will go to Derian House, a children's hospice in Chorley.
by Paige Yates 11HST (Head Girl)
Movember Moustaches - November 2011
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. This worthy charity moved several male members of staff to manage and manicure their moustaches for the month and they raised a magnificent £400!
Duke of Edinburgh Award - December 2011
The group of ex-pupils who completed their Duke of Edinburgh Award at The Hollins Technology College received their official certificates at the annual Hyndburn Duke of Edinburgh Award event, held at St. Christopher’s School.
Victoria Rudge was rewarded with a ‘special achievement’ trophy for working hard and battling against the odds to gain her qualification.
Well done to all those who completed the course.
Boys' Week - November 2011
The Hollins Technology College held its annual ‘Boys Week’ with lots of exciting, new sports activities on offer, including free running, martial arts, table tennis, mountain biking and a Year 7 inter-form basketball competition.
The aim of the week was to encourage boys at our school to get involved in new sports.
Will Tomlinson, a professional free running coach who has coached all over the world, came in for two sessions to show the lads how to jump over and through things in an aesthetical and cool way.
Mick Moir, the regional table tennis development coach worked with a group to brush up on their skills and Masters of Martial Arts ran five sessions over the week working on self defence.
There was also a mountain bike club run on Friday which introduced a group to the Hyndburn Greenway Cycle Route.
Sports Multiskills Festival - November 2011
Friday 18th November saw The Hollins Technology College host a Year 1 multi-skills festival for its feeder primary schools.
80 pupils from Baxenden, St. John with St. Augustine and Benjamin Hargreaves Primary Schools came to take part in various activities focusing on agility, balance, co-ordination and speed. These included Speed Stacking, Ten Pin Bowling, Balance Boards and Speed Bounce.
The event was run by the Year 11 Sports Leaders students who are practicing their coaching and leadership skills as part of their course.
The afternoon was organised by Mr G Lee, School Sports Co-ordinator, who said:
“The leaders from The Hollins were a credit to the school. Not only did they keep the children entertained for the whole session, they thoroughly enjoyed it themselves. We hold this event each year and would like to thank the primary schools involved for their continued support.”
School Council Training - November 2011
All members of the School Council took part in a formal training
session lead by Greg Sanderson of 
involver.org. When asked what
they enjoyed most about the training, pupils said:
"Learning how to hold a meeting."
"‘Having my own say and enjoyed meeting and talking to different people."
"Games which taught lessons"
"The debate at the end."
The School Council meets every other Friday lunchtime (week 1)- Latest School Council Minutes
Youth Sacre - November 2011
Pupils from Years 8 & 9 represented The Hollins at the latest Youth Sacre meeting held at the 
Buddhist Centre in Preston. The Lancashire Youth Sacre, which is seen as a beacon of good practice nationally, is now embarking on its third phase. The Hollins Technology College, under the guidance of Miss Furey, was involved from the start when phase one established the Youth Sacre; phase two, when Miss Nunley became involved, worked on updating the Lancashire Agree Syllabus; now phase three, is underway and Mrs Murry is delighted to facilitate the continued involvement of the Hollins pupils. Hollins pupils (Z. Bannan, A. Cunningham, S. Naveed and E. Threllfall) worked together with pupils from Lostock Hall, Penwortham Girls, Broughton High and Weardon as well as former Lancashire advisor for Religious Education and Collective Worship Helen Harrison, Venerable Pagpa the resident teacher at the Buddhist Centre and the chair of the Sacre. We look forward to our pupils continuing to collaborate with other young people, shaping the face of RE in our school and across Lancashire.
It's a Gift! - November 2011
Year 7 pupils are now receiving their chosen books from the Booked Up scheme 2011(see details below Sept 2011). This is a wonderful way to promote reading and introduce new authors and/or genres to readers of all abilities. The scheme has generated great excitement and enthusiasm for reading. Their chosen books are theirs to keep, but all the books on the list are available to borrow from the LRC.
Multi-faith Experience - November 2011
Year 8 pupils were offered a Manchester Multi-faith experience this week when the RE department took the whole year group
(over two consecutive days) to Cheetham Hill to visit four places of worship and meet practitioners of Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism and Islam. In year 8 pupils focus on sources of authority and guidance in life, and their key enquiry for the trip was to explore what people get out of belonging to these faith communities and why they are important to the practitioners of those religions.
First stop on this whistle stop tour was the Manchester Jewish Museum where they entered a synagogue, were shown Torah scrolls and explored what it means to belong to the Jewish faith.
Next stop the Roman Catholic Church of St. Chad's where Father Barry explained the meaning of this magnificent church and a bit about what goes on there.
At the Sikh Gurdwara everyone took off their shoes and put on headscarves out of respect before entering the temple, where we learnt about Sikh values and listened to verses from their holy book. For many the highlight of the trip was the langar, a free vegetarian meal, offered by the Sikh community as part of their worship; delicious puri and potato curry.
Finally, we had just enough time left to visit the Khizra mosque where some of the local Muslim community kindly offered to speak to pupils about aspects of Islam and the functions of the mosque.
Comments from pupils included:
"We would like to say thank you for a good day. We really enjoyed learning about the different cultures and religions. We would love to come again and would recommend it to anyone".
"It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed it".
Phillip Ashburner said of the Gurdwara that:
"the people treated us with good manners and when he was talking about the 5 ks he explained it really well, and the food was delicious".
The pupils had a wonderful time and gained a real insight into the similarities and differences between these faiths. One thing that all the places had in common was that we were made so welcome everywhere we went, and left feeling that we had been given a great gift by our Jewish, Christian, Sikh and Muslim friends. Thank you !
Cadbury World - November 2011
Forty three food technology students had an early start on Tuesday 1st November as they travelled to the Cadbury World at Bournville, Birmingham.
Whilst touring the factory pupils learnt about the history of chocolate and the Cadbury family business that evolved into a global giant, but which looked after its employees. They saw, smelt and tasted the product which results from the processing of the cocoa bean and learnt how the Cadbury family's philanthropy created homes, schools, hospitals, parks for the well being of its employees.
Pupils were given the opportunity to question Cadbury's education officer about the marketing techniques, the competition for business and the vast numbers of products available.
Did you know ......
that the Bournville factory produces 1.5 million creme eggs every day in order to meet the demand at Easter?!
Wear it Pink Day - October 2011
Thursday 20th October was 'Wear it Pink Day' at The Hollins. This has become a regular fundraising day in school which promotes awareness of Breast Cancer Care. Pupils pay £1 to dress in pink instead of their uniform for the day. As usual there were prizes for the best costumes, pupils from Baxenden Primary also joined in the fun by wearing one piece of pink clothing with their uniform.
Thank you to everyone who joined in the spirit of the day - we raised £650.00 for this worthwhile charity.
A Helping Hand - October 2011
Twenty eight Year 6 pupils from Baxenden C of E Primary School attended The Hollins Technology College for nine days in October whilst emergency repairs were carried out at their school. In order to minimise the effect on teaching at the school, headteacher Mrs Regan contacted Hollins’ headteacher Mr Campbell to see if his school was in a position to help.
The Year 6 pupils were allocated a classroom for their time at The Hollins, where their class teacher, Mr Evans, and teaching assistant continued to deliver the curriculum with as little disruption as possible. The Year 6 pupils were also given a flavour secondary school life by sampling lessons in Science, PE, IT and Food Technology .....
The Hollins' headteacher Mr Campbell said:
“Pupils from Baxenden were very excited when they arrived on Monday morning and have settled in very well.
Due to careful timetabling there has been minimal disruption to The Hollins students and their learning and we are delighted to be able to help out our neighbours in a time of need.”
One of the Baxenden pupils said ‘Instead of a taster day, we are getting a taster week. It’s really good!’
Face to Faith - October 2011
After hearing about an exciting competition on the Face to Faith website, a few of our pupils worked with Mr Ahmed and Waqaus Ali from think BRITE Services to write and produce a film about how their faith inspires them. The pupils put together an excellent film about how the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) influences their life in and around Accrington. The film is in a shortlist of 5 from entries all around the world and is now being judged by Hugh Jackman, Jet Li, Tony Blair to name just a few of the judges.
We will hear later this month if the film has won the prize for a trip to the BAFTAS in London in December. The film can be seen by clicking here.
Good luck guys!!
Duke of Edinburgh - October 2011
A number of our students are volunteering for a Woodlands Management Project in the area behind the school to help them complete their Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Their tasks include felling trees, collecting wood, putting up bird boxes and generally making the wooded area behind school a more pleasant place to visit.
For the first session the group were clearing dead trees which were restricting the growth of the younger healthier ones. The wood from these will be used by other groups in the borough to build furniture and sculptures.
The project is being run by the Prospects Foundation which is Hyndburn’s community owned environmental charity. For more information on their work go to www.prospectsfoundation.org.uk
Sporting Success - October 2011
On the 18th of October 2011, a group of amazing athletes went to the Aviva Sportshall Secondary School Athletics Competition at Oakhill College in Whalley.
Every individual played their part in The Hollins’ success.
The participants were: Megan Jackson, Hannah Bevan, Dannielle Carter, Siobhan Berryman, Ella Aldred-Aymen, Katie Porter, Layla Cummings, Jayden Coyne, George Polvani, Joe Lloyd, James Mathieson and Hasnain Ehsan.
Everybody was fantastic, but certain individuals excelled in their events including;
Jayden Coyne and Joe Lloyd for coming first in the 8 lap paarlauf and George Polvani winning the shot-put by such a distance they had to move the tape back not just once, but twice!
The boys were 2nd overall by a very narrow margin and the girls played a large part in The Hollins being placed 4th overall but 1st in Hyndburn. This means that the boys’ team are going to the Lancashire finals to represent Hyndburn. The competition will be stiff but with the fantastic coaching of Mr Lee , we are confident that we will do well.
Congratulations to all the pupils who participated. Well Done!
Written by Crystal Elwell
Year 10 sports ambassador
Blooming Lovely - October 2011
On Wednesday 12th October Year 7 pupils at The Hollins Technology College braved the torrential rain to plant huge quantities of crocus bulbs on the verges adjacent to school on Hollins Lane, Baxenden. The pupils worked together with members of Baxenden Community Forum and Hyndburn Green Spaces as part of the ‘Blooming Lovely’ campaign which aims to plant more than 200,000 bulbs throughout the borough in the hope that there will be a riot of colour around Hyndburn next spring.
Teacher Mrs Johnstone said, “This has been a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to get involved in a community project, they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we are looking forward to a blooming lovely spring! “
Writepath - October 2011
Twelve Year 7 pupils were chosen from Miss Forbes' 7x1 class to take part in an international collaborative writing project called WRITEPATH. Each day over a period of 2-3 weeks numerous children's authors and poets agree to write opening paragraphs or stanzas for stories or poems which are then passed around participating schools, each adding to their alloted piece of work.
Wednesday 12th October was our day and six pairs of pupils worked on six stories set by various authors. After an hour they had to submit their entries and pass the story onto the next school on the list for that day. All the resulting stories will eventually be published and copies will be available next year for the students that took part.
The Voice - September 2011
This month sees the launch of our new school newsletter - The Voice - which has a new name and a new look along with a new team of reporters.
The newsletter team work hard to produce the articles that reflect the diverse range of activities that are always on offer in school and if you would like to be part of it, come and join in! See Mrs Ainsworth in the LRC or Mrs Heys in maths.
This edition of The Voice has been produced by:
Sanna Azam, Sameera Zahur, Chloe Edwards, Kimberley Fielding, Shay Fagan, Keeley Holliday, Nicola Grundy and Chloe Farrell.
Click here to view The Voice.
Booked Up! - September 2011
Once again we have enrolled all our new Year 7 pupils in the 'Booked Up' scheme which offers a 
free book to all 11 year old pupils in the country. Pupils have chosen their book from a list of 12 books, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. This is a wonderful gift from the 'Booked Up' scheme which is generously supported by children’s book publishers and funded by the Department for Education (DfE). The chosen books will be distributed in school during November.
Geography in Grasmere - September 2011
On Tuesday 20th September, Year 11 GCSE pupils visited Grasmere along with Mrs Johnstone, Mrs Spencer, Mr Mensah and Mrs Anderson. The purpose of the visit was to help them complete their controlled assessment 
assignment. The assignment is to
'Investigate the impacts of tourism on a locality'.
Pupils conducted surveys in order to help them investigate the positive and negative impacts of tourism in Grasmere. Pupils conducted pedestrian and traffic counts, environmental quality surveys, comparison surveys, services and land use surveys. Pupils also interacted confidently with locals and tourists as they completed questionnaires and acquired information to help them with their coursework investigation.
Results Day! - September 2011
Thursday 25th August was GCSE results day and the culmination of 5 years hard work for our Year 11 students. As you can see below, many of our students were rewarded with fabulous results which will carry them on their chosen career pathways in college or the work place, and we wish them all well.
| Record number of pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades incl. English & maths | 65% |
| 5 A*-C grades overall | 80% |
| 3 or more A* or A grades | 32% |
