Pocklington School - A Guide for International Families Pocklington International | Page 7

for information on how to apply for a study place.
The process is quite straight-forward!
If you require visa clearance before taking up
a study place in the UK, I will provide school
documentation and UKVI compliance material
which will enable you to make your Entry
Clearance Appointments in your home country. I
cannot make the actual application for you.
Entrance Testing – Some Advice
for Students
We want you to flourish at Pocklington! We do
this by taking an individual approach to teaching,
gently stretching and challenging every
student so they start to think independently,
grow in confidence as learners, and reach
their full potential.
In order to do this, we have to establish your level
to start off with. It is certainly not our wish that you
find it all so hard you cannot make any progress at
all. So, when you make your application, we’ll test
your level in English, Maths and spoken English
– and also in non- verbal reasoning for pupils
seeking a place in Year 9 or below. Once you’re
formally registered, I arrange with your agent,
school or parents the transferral of confidential
test papers. Of course, it is always great when
international students can visit us personally, but
we recognise that this is often quite difficult!
I also arrange a short spoken Skype interview
with each student. There’s no need to prepare for
this – it’s to gauge your spoken level of English
and to find out some information about you first
hand. The result of the Skype interview is added to
written test scores and passed to our Admissions
Panel, who make a decision for entry or otherwise.
If we feel we cannot provide adequately for you,
then we will share this information openly with you;
we do, very unfortunately, have to turn applicants
down from time to time.
We also ask new students to sit an online
placement test within a few days of arrival. It
tests your standard of English, which may have
improved since the initial test, and is purely to
ensure that any language support we give you is
absolutely right.
PASTORAL SUPPORT
All boarders can suffer from
feelings of separation and anxiety
but those whose families and close
friends are far away can often be
even more prone to this. We do
everything we can to minimise
homesickness, and are quick
to recognise the signs and
offer to help.
Before each international
student arrives, I make sure their
Housemaster or Housemistress
has a clear picture of their
background, abilities, interests and
dislikes, and we liaise regularly.
We have a renowned well-being
service at school, which every
student (and member of staff)
can access. If required, we can
source a native-speaking adult to
assist us if language is a barrier to
effective communication. We also
work closely with our students’
guardians in situations where
we need some external support.
Please pay particular attention to
the section below
on ‘Guardianship’.
‘My time at Pocklington has been so
amazing; I love my house-family and I
have made some lovely friends.’
YEAR 11 STUDENT FROM CHINA
Timetables
Certain subjects, like Maths, English and Science,
are compulsory up to GCSE but students joining
Year 9 (aged 13-14) and upwards have some
choice and will be sent subject option material.
We are here to help you with this process, and we
encourage you to take advantage of our
EAL support.
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