A Manchester Multilingual City Poet Ali Al-Jamri praised the work of Pleckgate’s Year 8 pupils and said it had the ‘wow’ factor.
Ali is one of three talented creatives who have been appointed by Manchester City of Literature and Partners to produce a series of original works on behalf of the City.
Ali is an Arabic poet, teacher and producer and he came into Pleckgate to carry out poetry workshops under the leadership of English teacher Mrs Birbeck.
“We were delighted to have Ali here,” said Mrs Birbeck. “He is a published poet and a teacher and worked with Year 8s on the theme of identity.
“He got them thinking about where they live, Blackburn, and its historical links with fabric and the cotton mills.
“They found it really interesting and some pupils talked in Arabic with Ali.”
Ali said: “It’s the first time I have been here and the pupils have been amazing. They are incredibly intelligent and have shown astonishing creativity.
“Much of what they have produced has the ‘Wow’ factor. We are going to weave their poems together to produce a display in school.”
Year 8 Aafreen said: “I have learnt about free writing and letting your thoughts flow.”
Fatima added: “It’s nice to explore creative ideas.”
