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The Summer School took place again this year for Year 5 & 6 pupils between Monday 28th July and Friday 1st August. The theme for the week this year was the Olympics.
The first day we all went to Blackburn Rovers - this was a team building session and involved a tour of the ground and various games in groups.

Over the next four days various activities were completed including:

• a cycle ride around the pathways in Accrington,
• designing your own olympic sport,
• designing olympic flags and logos,
• completing a dance workshop and
• a music workshop.
  

Forty two pupils travelled to Boulogne in France on Monday 21st July (activity day) to sample life on the other side of the channel and to test their French speaking & listening skills.
Pupils and staff were given a guided trip at a 'boulangerie' (bakery) before being given the opportunity to make their own croissants.
There was also the opportunity to shop at local hypermarket before embarking on the long trip home.
An exhausting, but brilliant day!

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On Tuesday 15th July, all year 8 pupils took part in a variety of workshops based on the theme of the sixties.

Pupils moved around the workshops throughout the day which included:

• Drama workshop run by visiting dramatist Fred Lutit.
• Drama - re-anacting keye events from the 60s and documenting on film.
• Art - creating props for drama using recycled objects and editing photographs
• Art - making stencils for the tents.
• Textiles - printing fabrics with 60s designs.
• Geography - hot-seating; asking people what life was like in the 60s, resulting information put onto placards.
• English & Citizenship - workshop on Martin Luther King and related issues and personalities.
• History - construction of a 60s timeline documenting key events and pegged onto washing line.

In the evening all the work was exhibited in the hall and pupls and parents were invited back to school for a 'Hollinstock Festival' - to view the work produced, watch music & drama productions, recall memories and listen to the staff band. There were refreshments in the 'Strawberry Fields' cafe.
A thoroughly entertaining and educational day!

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On Thursday 3rd July, primary school pupils who will become our new year 7 in September attended an induction day at The Hollins. A range of lessons were sampled by all pupils and an excellent day was had by all. Staff and pupils worked extremely hard to provide yet another hugely successful induction day and special thanks were passed on to the prefect team who provided excellent support throughout the day. In the evening parents and pupils had the opportunity to meet form tutors, teaching staff and the headteacher. Mr Stockburn worked hard to document the day and managed to produce a lively and entertaining video for pupils and parents to enjoy when they returned for the evening session.

61 pupils and 6 members of staff spent 9 sunny days practising their languages skills, and experiencing life in other countries.
The trip began with a day at Euro Disney, Paris, before we headed south, to a Spanish town called Calella.
Whilst staying in Calella, we took a series of daytrips to the surrounding area. These included visits to Barcelona, Girona and Port Aventura.

• Barcelona's Sagrada Familia was an impressive sight, as was the Olympic stadium
• The rides as Port Aventura were enough to make Mr. Drew scream at the top of his voice.
• A daytrip to a waterpark saw Miss Larkin being splashed by the dolphins!

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Eleven pupils represented The Hollins at a Dance Festival hosted by Moorhead Sports College on Wednesday 2nd July. They were competing against other local secondary schools.The Theme was the 70s & 80s.

The team included; Shannon Smedley, Laura Smedley, Danielle Hill, Emma Barlow, Autumn Moore, Cameron Morgan, Natalie Oldham, Gemma Grimshaw, Yamin Stevenson & Jessica Hill.

They were placed fourth overall and had a great time - Well Done!

Sixty four year 8 pupils were took part in Tetrahedron Day organised in conjunction with Setpoint in the hall on Tuesday 1st July. They were working in groups, designing and building large, self supporting structures.

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It was Prom night on Thursday 26th June, at Blackburn Rovers Red Rose Suite.
Everyone looked fabulous in their glamourous outfits despite the damp weather outside.

Certificates were awarded to all students on the night and there were prizes for some students including Prom King and Queen; Levi Pilling & Francesca Hounslow.
Students & staff thoroughly enjoyed the evening which had a happy and relaxed atmosphere which is conveyed in all the pictures taken.

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Saturday 28th June was the day of The Hollins Car Boot & Family Fun Day on the school car park. The weather stayed fine for most of us, but Mr Jackson, Dr Butterfield, Mr Riding and Mr Stockburn did get a soaking in Sponge the Teacher!
There were bargains galore on the car boot stalls as well as competitions, games and quizzes.
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to this event, with special thanks to the chief organisers; Mrs White & Mrs Anderson.

There are still a number of unclaimed raffle prizes; Yellow 6, 8, 48 & 257 and green 189, 190, 194, 344 & 423. Please contact school to claim prizes.

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Fourteen excited pupils and staff attended a talk by author Joseph Delaney at Moorhead School on June 5th which was also the publication day of his latest book 'The Spook's Mistake'. Joseph discussed his writing style and the inspiration for his 'Wardstone Chronicles' series aswell as reading a section from a future book which is still in the draft stage. The really exciting news is that there is going to be a film version of the books directed by Kevin Lima. So if you haven't started reading these books yet, now is the time to start! Once we had bought our signed copies of 'Spook's Mistake' several people couldn't wait any longer and began reading it on the bus back to school!

It's all change in the girls' PE department from September. As Miss Cooper retires and Mrs Hughes emigrates to Canada, we welcome Mrs Mason (Assistant Leader) and Miss Pilkington as our new teachers of PE.
Both teachers have spent time in school this term meeting pupils and staff.
Miss Pilkington has just completed her degree at the University of Cumbria and this will be her first teaching post where she will be teaching English as well as PE. She has played netball for Hyndburn and Lancashire and attended England training camps.

The Accrington Faith Partnership held a "Celebration of Faith" Evening at Accrington Town Hall on Friday the 13th of June. The evening was a chance for all faiths in Accrington to come together and included Sikh Dancers, a Gaelic blessing, a Hindu Sari demonstration and a Christian Puppet show. The main event of the evening was a series of debates on issues of faith that the four high schools in Accrington took part in. The first round was The Hollins Vs Mount Carmel and the topic was "Faith schools should be allowed" with ourselves being opposed to the motion. The debating team of Danny Savage, Jordan Reddaway, Bethany Pilling, Bethany Duckett and Keira Murgatroyd put up brilliant arguments about why faith schools should be banned including the idea of community cohesion and that the Church should give money to all schools not just the ones for Christians. However, the faith school won and eventually went on to win the final against St. Christopher’s. The evening was the first time any of the pupils had taken part in a debate and they were a credit to themselves and the school for getting up there in front of hundreds of people and putting their points across so eloquently. The team won £50 and each got a certificate.

Chemistry at Work Event: On the 17th of June eleven Year 8 students attended a Chemistry at Work Event at the University of Manchester, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The day involved the students taking part in a number of workshops that looked at the application of Chemistry in everyday life.
Students got to build important protein molecules and find out all about the latest advances in alternative bio-fuels. Finally, the day ended with an exciting demonstration of experiments, which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

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For the first time in 2007 the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust published a list of the top 56 specialist schools nationally which achieved a much better result in 2007 than would have been predicted from their intake at age eleven, on the value added measure based on their students gaining at least five good GCSEs or equivalent, including English and maths GCSEs. We were joint 29 th on that list, the only school in Lancashire, with only two schools featuring from the entire North West of England.
Based on the government predictions from the Key Stage 2 results, 32% of our students should have achieved the ‘Gold Standard’ of at least five good GCSEs or equivalent, including English and maths, 52% of our students actually achieved that benchmark, 58% if you include those that achieved it with the equivalent Level 2 functional Literacy and Numeracy qualifications.

Read article published in Lancashire Telegraph

In April fifty eight year 7 & 8 pupils took part in this years 'UK Junior Maths Challenge'.

The UK Maths Challenges are lively, intriguing papers designed to stimulate interest in maths in large numbers of pupils. They are tests of reasoning and mental agility which can be taken without much preparation or revision. Each Challenge is taken on a specified date under formal exam conditions in school.

The papers contain 25 multiple-choice questions. Of these, the first 15 are more accessible whilst the final 10 will provide more food for thought. Gold, silver and bronze certificates are awarded to 40% of participants nationally and the most successful participants at each level are invited to enter follow-on rounds.

Paige Yates (year 7) was the 'Best in School' and winner of a prestigous 'Gold Award' becoming the third Hollins pupil to do so. There were also 9 'Silver Award' winners and 16 'Bronze Award' winners. Congratulations to everyone who took part.

Congratulations to Miss Furey and Mrs Ferguson on their appointments as year coordinators for year 7 & 8 respectively, beginning in September 2008.
As coordinators they will provide professional leadership and management to ensure high standards of learning, achievement and guidance & welfare for all students in their year group. They will also liaise with parents, outside agencies and other members of staff in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for their pupils. To ensure continuity year coordinators once assigned, will follow their year group throughout their 5 years at The Hollins.

From September 2008 the Year Coordinators will be:

Year		Coordinator
7		Miss Furey
8		Mrs Ferguson
9		Mr Towers
10		Mr Hunter
11		Mr Drew

A year 9 ‘outdoor adventure’ trip, to Tower Wood, took place in May to celebrate the hard work and commitment that the pupils had put into their SATS Examinations. A group of 34 pupils and 5 members of staff were involved in a range of activities such as kayaking, tree abseiling, rock climbing, dinghy sailing and more!
We were given a warm welcome on our arrival, and put to the test instantly with a range of team-building and assault course activities (that alone tested our pupils to their limits!)
Left in charge of Tower Wood’s main house in the evenings, our pupils and staff were left to their own devices. Male v female football matches, team challenges, a successful BBQ (eventually!) and campfire games, are what our Hollins pupils and staff got involved in to pass the time.
A superb week where all, no matter how brave or confident, took part in the challenging activities with a scream and a smile! (The pupils did well too!)

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Ten pupils from years 8 & 9 travelled to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry on the 15th May with Mrs Bowler, head of science. Whilst there they toured the world famous Bodyworlds exhibition which presents more than 200 authentic specimens, including both diseased and healthy organs and whole body specimens that have undergone Plastination - Dr von Hagens' groundbreaking method of halting decomposition and preserving the body after death for medical study.

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The Hollins had a clean sweep of prizes at the presentation last week for the winners of the ‘ Hyndburn High School Recycling Challenge’. The aim of the scheme was to increase the number of Hyndburn householders visiting the ‘High School Challenge‘ website and therefore increase awareness of recycling in the borough. The school won £2000 for being the highest performing school along with a Yamaha keyboard for exceeding the set target for the school.
David Cormack won an iPOD touch for being the winning student in school and Usman Shabir and Danielle Kynaston were entered into the prize draw with lots of others in the school and both won Nintendo Wiis. A huge thank you to all friends & family who registered on the scheme and helped our pupils rise to the challenge.

www.highschoolchallenge.co.uk

Year 11 art students have just completed their artwork for their GCSE exam. Everyone has worked extremely hard on their pieces and we are sure that you will enjoy seeing the results of their creativity. There are masks, models, sculptures, silks and posters. Look through the gallery and enjoy!

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40 prefects attended a meal hosted by staff at 'Frankie & Benny's' in Blackburn last week. The event was to reward prefects for their assistance and hard work which helps in the smooth running of the school.





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Thirty four year 7 pupils have just returned from a two day team building trip to Tower Wood Outdoor Education Centre, on the shores of Lake Windermere in the Lake District.

They took part in a variety of activities including: sailing, kayaking, canoeing, tree climbing, assault course, orienteering, mountain biking and climbing the sky pole. It was a valuable and thoroughly enjoyable experience for both pupils and staff.

More information on Tower Wood

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A team of 10 Hollins pupils took part in the Tri-Golf & Boccia Tournament at St. Christopher’s High School on Tuesday 29th April, along with several other Hyndburn schools.

The team of Natalie Robson, Steven McGuirke, Aremah Hussain, Hannah Hartley, Rumana Akhtar, Heather Baxter, Ryan Woodcock, Ryan Wilkinson, Nathan Riddoch & Jacob Philips had a wonderful day, were a credit to the school and won both events. Well done to you all!

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On Monday evening, 28th April, The Hollins took part in the Lancashire Maths Challenge at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. The Hollins pupils finished in 2nd place out of eight schools, pipped to the post by St. Christopher's and ahead of Clitheroe Royal Grammar in third place, the previous winners for many years. Well done to our team of:

Paige Yates
Sam Cowan
Leah Corris
Jumara Khanam

Say Two Productions, a theatre company from Chorley, were in school on Wednesday morning to bring Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ alive for year 9 pupils. The first hour was a lively workshop concentrating on the two set scenes for the SATs exam and in the final hour the actors performed a concise version of the play for pupils. The session was fun, informative and, we hope, memorable!

Photograph reproduced with the kind permisson of 'Lancashire Telegraph'.

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