Wigan Album

Look at the girls' "Purdey" hair-cuts....it was a very popular style in the 1970s.

Not a tattoo insight. Proper feminine girls..How I remember young girls being..

Aye, and the Magnum P.I. moustache too Irene.
Or to be called later in Blackadder a Slug Balancer.

True Scaramouch not a Ladette to be seen.

16 years of age?! They look like proper women, oh and feminine! What happened!

Just noticed. One thing you don't see today an ASHTRAY...

They look so squeaky clean and au natural. No false eyelashes like bat wings or pouting plump lips. Very demure…. The sort of girls lads would take home to meet their mothers.

I think the teacher is Mr Jack Silcock who also taught classics at WGS

What's an ashtray?
Only joking! But, certainly a sign of the times as a teacher today would not be allowed to smoke in that kind of environment. Although, the ashtray might be for the pupils and not for the teacher.
Quite possible that some of those pupils are slightly older than sixteen.

Mr Silcock?
What I find strange is, the date. Why dish out GCE exam certificates in December? Normally, school exams take place just before the summer break, in May and June.
Were these GCE exams held in November?

A very funny sketch with some wonderful acting.
Liquorice? Cyril.
Ron, some of the girls may have left in 1977 (5th form) and some may have gone into the 6th form as Whitley High School had a 6th form and an upper 6th form.
By the way, they aren't all young girls.

Philip, I'm quite sure that it is Jack Silcock.
I had typed my text before yours appeared. Of course, after typing in the verification code, there is a delay in the post appearing.
A number of teachers left WGS to teach at Whitley High School due to the change in the education system. As you probably know, WGS became Mesnes High School and part of the mixed ability and mixed gender school system for 10+ pupils.

The teacher I think is Mr Wright who taught English, very handy with a board duster he was.

I agree with Scaramouche and co'

They're obviously drinking sweet sherry - so they've got to be over 18. I don't think you'd find a school encouraging under-age drinking - and then allowing it to be photographed by the Press.
It's not results day - I think it's Prizegiving - when the actual exam Certificates were given out, along with other prizes for games etc..

Lets hope one of the people on the photograph will see it, and answer all our questions..

Sorry to say, David, they aren't over 18.
I can definitely say, most of those girls are 5th formers and are 15 years of age or 16 years of age if this is 22nd December 1976. Also, I would say that it is Mr Jack Silcock, who was one of the house masters.
Whitley High School had, what were referred to as, houses; these were for tutor grouping, swimming events, sporting events etc. The houses were: Arley (yellow), Dower (red), Haigh (blue) and Pennington (green). I think, Mr Silcock was the house master for Pennington.

I don't know names but I recognise some faces. These girls were the last of the Girl's High School pupils and would have been in the 6th form at Whitley HS and despite what the paper says, they would have taken 'A' levels in the May/June and found out their results in August. This would have been a prize giving evening to present certificates. The teacher is definitely NOT Alan Wright (he didn't have a 'tache) but it could be Jack Silcock (he did have a 'tache)!!

"GCE EXAM RESULTS newspaper cutting Dec 22 1976"
To be honest, I have no idea why this is a GCE exam results presentation being held on that particular date. What I do know is, one of those pupils is either 16 years of age or 17 years of age depending on the month the pupil was born as the pupil was in the lower 6th form at the time stated (Dec. '76).
Ron, are you definitely sure about the date?

Stuart, I took a closer look and decided that this is a photograph of the lower 6th formers. But, they are going to be 16 or 17 years of age depending on the month they were born. In other words, those born in September, October, November or in the first three weeks of December are going to be 17 years of age; those born in January or one of the following months up to the end of August are going to be 16 years of age at the time of this photograph.
I would say that it is Jack Silcock.

Teacher is Jack Silcock. I recognised him straight away. I recognise the girl third one up from the left hand side you can see her face, she is just in front of the girl with the glasses. Im sure her name was Susan Leyland? I think she was a year older than me so if the date is correct she would be 18 years old at the time.

The teacher is the Jack Silcock I knew from Wigan Grammar School. Jack came to WGS from St. Georges and, at the time, lived in Lower Morris Street.

I am sorry to say, I cannot agree with you. As Stuart said, these are the last of the Girl's High School pupils. The last to take the 11+ examination, which I am quite sure that it was held in the the summer of 1971. Therefore, the girls would have been born in late 1959 (September onwards) or 1960.

YES the date of the newspaper is Wednesday 22nd Dec 1976 Page 7. I have the page in front of me.

Looks like Linda Regan 4th from the left, front row.

Ron, I didn't doubt your word, I just wanted to fully check.
Then, these pupils are in their first year of 6th form, so they are 16 or 17 years of age.
I still have no idea about the GCE exam certificates being dished out then. Definitely not A levels as they were in the lower 6th form.
How interested are you in the photograph and people?
As you know, my question is genuine and not a petulant one.

It sounds as if it was an annual dinner combined with a Christmas Celebration and certificates handed out later than usual. Perhaps they already knew their grades but were presented with the certificates officially at the Christmas Dinner. Just a thought. Seeing as it was their last year…

Ian, I was just interested in seeing how their lives had panned out.

Thanks for replying, Ron.
Briefly speaking, some of the WHS pupils from that year are no longer with us, some had/have their own business, at least one ended up in the law profession, more than one ended up in education (teacher, lecturer etc)...
I'm very busy, so I'll keep this short. I'll send you contact details etc of one of the people on that photograph and they might be able to give you more details about that particular evening.

Ian , did you ever work for the Gestapo ?

if that is Jack Silcock who was the teacher who looked like a scarecrow?

This is from something called Sixth Form Dinner in Dec 1976. There's another picture on here somewhere of the same event. https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=2&id=7187&gallery=Whitley+High+School&offset=0

I was at this do, having left Whitley in the summer of 1976 (that long hot one) after A Levels.
Confusingly the girls on the left hand side were the year below us.

But it was referred to as the Sixth Form dinner so maybe it included those of us who had left that year and those that were in Upper Sixth.

I will find out!

Reply to "Wiganer": Exams may take place in the summer but exam certificates don't arrive immediately after exam results come out. Schools may hold them back so as to have a presentation ceremony, in this case, if you read what's said under the photographs, they were presented at an annual dinner.

This was the annual leavers' dinner (late autumn, pre-Christmas) featuring the students who had left the school in June and the current Upper Sixth form. Given that the photo was taken in 1976, all the participants would have been female, being the last remnants of the girls only WGHS. I attended the event in 1978 as a member of the first mixed U6. The U6 that had left earlier that year comprised only female students.

John, I am sorry to say that you are mistaken with some of your thoughts regarding the above newspaper cutting.
Two points I can agree with are: "late autumn" & "pre-Christmas".
With regards to the season, this could obviously be dabatable due to that date: "Dec 22 1976". But, the photograph was clearly taken before the newspaper was printed and so it would have been late autumn.

I disagree with a number of your statements. If we consider the leaving date as June 1976, then it would be possible that a percentage of male students would have attended, unless you are not counting the (June 1976) 5th form leavers.

Additionally, you typed: "...and the current Upper Sixth form.". You did not mention the students of the Lower Sixth form. I can genuinely say, there are definitely Lower Sixth form students shown in the above newspaper cutting.
I certainly do not wish to disagree with Pat Sharp and her words certainly inform us that there were June 1976 Upper Sixth form leavers at that particular "annual school dinner". Therefore, some of those girls would have been, at the time, 18 years of age - some, may have been 19 years of age. Also, Pat's words help to eradicate some of the doubt. But, I find it difficult to accept some of the information put forward by Pat as I am in no doubt that there are Lower Sixth form students shown.

John, you stated: "Given that the photo was taken in 1976, all the participants would have been female, being the last remnants of the girls only WGHS."
The 5th form of the school year 1975 to 1976 included a noticeable percentage of male pupils and some of these went in to the 6th form. Therefore, there were male students in the 6th form in December 1976. Furthermore, there were male students in the Upper 6th form in December 1976.
Although there had been, in 1971, an 11+ system to cause segregation, this segregation was not purely maintained as those pupils who had had to tolerate such an unjust governance were later shuffled around in an experimental way in an attempt to totally change, possibly modernize, a system which had been considered to be one which reinforced selective segregation and the privileges of the middle classes.
This change in the school system saw pupils being moved to other schools (WGHS/Whitley High School, WBGS/Mesnes High School etc.) at the age of 13, 14 and 15. Therefore, there were male pupils at Whitley High School in 1972. There were also female pupils at Mesnes High School in 1972.
Therefore, is it not feasible that some of those male pupils at Whitley High School went in to the 6th form?

"I attended the event in 1978 as a member of the first mixed U6. The U6 that had left earlier that year comprised only female students."
John, if you take a closer look at the newspaper cutting you will see that they are not all female students. Of course, I am not taking in to account Mr. Jack Silcock as he was, at the time, a teacher at Whitley High School.
To the side of the girl next to Jack Silcock, is a male (6th form) student. Additionally, he would have been in the Lower Sixth form in December 1976.

To finish, Stuart stated: "I don't know names but I recognise some faces. These girls were the last of the Girl's High School pupils and would have been in the 6th form at Whitley HS..."

These girls would have been born in either 1959 (September-December) or 1960 (January-August) and so they would have been 16 years of age or 17 years of age at the time the photograph was taken. Thus, they would have been in the Lower Sixth form on December 22nd 1976.