“ Pock has given me so many opportunities – from sports tours to South Africa , to teachers going above and beyond to ensure that we can squeeze the most out of these years .
HEAD GIRL
I was thrilled when receiving my letter offering me the role of head girl , for two reasons : Firstly , for the complete honour and surprise that it was but , secondly , I was stealing my brother ’ s thunder on his 21st birthday ( not for the first time , I must add !) To sum it up , our party for four that night during lockdown , provoked many tears – most of which coming from my dad . For anyone that doesn ’ t know him , this is not a regular occurrence , he usually only cries at the golf !
Whilst Kobby and I have received a myriad of valuable advice , nothing could quite prepare us for our roles as heads of school during a pandemic . We later came to realise that duties such as tuck queue and tours were no longer relevant to us . It would be safe to say that we are the first heads of school to ever read ‘ The Lord ’ s Prayer ’ on Zoom . Despite this bizarre start , we have been able to resume normality to some extent .
Some of my best school memories come from sport , predominantly hockey . This season I was given the 1st XI hockey captaincy , which was a huge honour and summed up my whole school hockey experience . It was an extremely successful season with a 100 % win rate ( do bear in mind that we only played one match !).
HEAD BOY
After a long nervous wait for a response , it finally came on the 27th of May 2020 . Even then , there was much deliberation before I actually opened it … and was delighted to be offered the position of head boy ! Despite my grandma living in Accra and having little knowledge of Pocklington , she was overjoyed at the news .
This year , being heads of school has been very different , and Grace and I can ’ t help but feel we missed out on some opportunities . However - never ones to sulk - we powered on , but only after a mild panic upon first sight of last year ’ s prefect rota ! Meetings with Mr . Seth were a highlight ; despite being relegated off the sofa on to a chair to maintain social distancing , they were very enjoyable and ranged from very productive to casual conversations when there was nothing pressing to discuss .
Part of the reason I have loved my 11 years at Pocklington , has been the copious extracurricular activities and trips – throwing myself into these , I have gained many new interests . Rugby is definitely at the top of the list ! Unfortunately , not getting the chance to avenge our one-point loss to St Peters last year was a shame , but I am still grateful for all the people that helped me throughout my rugby journey . I have also really enjoyed music during my time at Pocklington . I started playing the saxophone in Year Three and have made huge progress .
I want to say a huge thanks to all the prefects for their hard work under difficult circumstances , and especially to Lily and Eddy for all their support as deputy heads . All the best to Lucy and Tom for their roles next year ; you ’ ll smash it . And , finally , the biggest thanks of all goes to my parents for allowing me to go to a school like Pocklington – I have loved every second .
Kobby Fofie
Pock has given me so many opportunities – from sports tours to South Africa , to teachers going above and beyond to ensure that we can squeeze the most out of these years .
Lastly , I would like to thank the prefects for their role , specifically the deputies , Lily and Eddy , for their support this year , and I would like to wish Tom and Lucy the best of luck for next year in their well-deserved new roles . My final piece of advice would be : make the most of it , it ’ ll be over before you know it .
Grace Beckett
THE POCKLINGTONIAN 3