Pocklington School - A Guide for International Families Pocklington International | Page 9

Security
We are insured for all common matters, of course,
but we would still advise against boarders bringing
valuable and materially attractive items to school.
Please make sure that your mobile phones, tablets,
laptops, music systems and musical instruments
have their own adequate personal insurance as
there may be cases where we cannot admit
liability. All boarders have a lockable cabinet
in their room.
The school site is protected by a security team
who patrol the grounds every day. This protection
is supplemented by 24 hour CCTV surveillance.
This level of protection is supplemented by 24-
hour CCTV surveillance. All external entry doors,
including those into the boarding houses, are key
coded and these codes are changed regularly. No
visitors are permitted onsite within normal working
hours without a formal visitor pass obtained at
Reception. All members of staff are identifiable by
official ID cards worn on lanyards or by Pocklington
School lapel pins.
We take the safety of everyone onsite very
seriously and we appreciate that families of
international boarders, being separated by so
much distance, need to have the assurance of
that commitment.
Digital Communication
Especially for International Boarders, being able
to communicate with loved ones is absolutely
essential. Every student throughout the
Foundation is issued with a network login which
gives access, at each appropriate age level, to our
school digital network. This is managed through
Firefly, an excellent internet-based communication
system which enables safe digital dialogue
and interaction.
The School has fast and appropriately-filtered
Wi Fi. Each boarding house has Skype facilities
and landline provision which may be accessed to
facilitate communication with home. In return, we
expect all users to access the network responsibly
and safely and we ask that both students and
their families read, accept and sign our AUP
(Acceptable Use Policy) before any network login is
issued to them.
Both the Prep School and Senior School operate
‘age-appropriate’ procedures relating to the
everyday usage of internet-enabled mobile
devices. No pupils in the Prep School may carry
a mobile device with them around school – each
device must be handed in to Reception at the
start of the day. In the junior boarding houses, all
enabled devices are locked away overnight and
for monitored periods. From Year 10 (age 14+), we
permit students to keep their devices with them in
the houses, but they must adhere to policy usage.
The Senior School has times and places where
their use is not permitted. Our aim is to encourage
healthy and appropriate personal interaction.
We appreciate that our international boarders
will want to feel close to their families at all times,
and we would never discourage that. However,
we feel an enormous responsibility to keep all our
young people safe. We deliver age-appropriate
education on internet safety to students across the
school within our main curriculum, and the AUP
helps us to act in loco parentis, ensuring that the
internet remains an integrally positive part of their
lives as they live among us.
Guardianship
All our boarders, whether UK or non-UK Nationals,
must have a UK resident adult guardian over
the age of 25 years. We appreciate that you
are already making an enormous financial
contribution to your child’s education, but we
believe that a carefully selected guardian, who will
be given your permission to act on your behalf
if necessary, is an integral part of your parental
responsibility. Please, therefore, choose carefully.
If your chosen representative is a family friend or
relative, please make sure that you child also has
a good relationship with them and that regular
communication takes place between them. We
would like to meet your guardian representative
and include them in our communications, as well
as events where this is practical.
If you do not know someone who could realistically
take on this responsibility for you, then there are
some excellent guardianship companies – several
are local to us here in Yorkshire. We cannot
personally recommend a guardian to you, nor can
we offer a Homestay option, but we can help to
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