Pocklington School Newsletter Lent Term 2020 | Page 3

Academic Round Up
Our pupils have been involved in a variety of
exciting academic activities this term. They put
their debating skills to the test in both Geog Soc
and MFL, with pupils debating in Spanish - ¡Muy
Bien! - as well as participating in the Top of the
Bench RSC competition. Our younger pupils
have engaged with a wide range of academic
extension and enrichment opportunities this
term, including activities to celebrate British
Science Week. Our recent Second Year cross-curricular learning day saw pupils focus on
the Virtues of Collaboration, Commitment and
Resilience as they worked in teams to design
aspects of their ideal school. We have also
hosted visits for local primary schools in design
and science, whilst First Year pupils spent our
recent
Enterprise
Day
enthusiastically
considering the opportunities and challenges of
staging a festival.
Opportunity is a word that we use in the Lower
School on a regular basis and the Lower School
House Staff and I spend a great deal of our time
encouraging our youngest students to seize
every opportunity that comes their way. Our
after school and lunchtime clubs bring further
adventure and I haven't mentioned academic
lessons yet. In addition to this, both our First and
Second Year pupils have faced very different
challenges during their respective off-timetable
days recently. Whether it be business and
economics focused tasks for the First Years or
the chance to design a school for the future for
the Second Years, our pupils were all
encouraged to think outside the box and be creative like never before. Pupils were also asked
to collaborate with students outside of their
form, House and friendship group and I was
inspired to see them rising to the challenge of
working together for the good of their team.
Competitive spirits were high and there was
much to celebrate for all of our teams at the end
of the day. As we face uncertain and difficult
times, It is important for us all to remember that
we can achieve remarkable things if we stay
strong and work together.
that we are all still here for you and we are all in
this together. Please do your best to keep going
with your work but don’t hesitate to reach out for
support from us: I am sure that in the weeks
ahead all of us will need some friendly and
reassuring voices to talk to. Yet, these uncertain times will pass and, eventually, things will return
to normal. In the meantime keep safe and well
and look out for each other.
Lower School
Sam Cheadle, Head of Lower School
Middle School
Earlier this week I wrote directly to all the Fifth
Year students to thank them for just how
brilliantly they responded to such incredibly
challenging circumstances last week. And it’s
worth saying again here – thank you! To all the
Middle School students, please do remember
Gareth Hughes, Head of Middle School
Sixth Form
This term Upper and Lower Sixth have been
working hard to hone their self-reflection and
target-setting abilities, and have focused on
developing the necessary skills for both
academic study and life beyond Pocklington.
This important process of self-awareness has
been supported by talks from Debbie Britton on
how to beat the perils of procrastination (even
the teachers picked up some useful tips!) and on
social skills for life from inspirational speaker
Allison Havey from the RAP Project. As a sixth
form, we have also been lucky enough to begin
our participation in an exclusive trial of the
emotional fitness app, Fika, and were joined by
Lauren Salter, OP, Fika’s Head of Engagement
earlier in March to launch the app with students.
Free access to Fika will continue for all Sixth
Form students for the rest of the academic year.
It's not how we wanted to say goodbye to our Upper Sixth 2020
but we will be arranging a proper farewell later in the year.
Laura Powell, Head of Sixth Form
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