CURRICULUM & ACADEMICS //
GEOGRAPHY
This year , with COVID restrictions lifting , we managed to fit in some of our usual field trips – including the Upper Sixth ’ s residential visit to the Lake District , in which they collect data for their NEA Coursework , which forms part of the A level examination . Pupils visited Keswick and the beautiful Borrowdale area over four days in October . In addition , the Fifth Year had a day trip visiting Flamborough , seeing first-hand some of the coastal landforms and processes that we had discussed in class , whilst also working through fieldwork techniques – useful for their GCSE Paper 3 examination . The Second Year trip to Malham was cancelled due to Covid vaccinations but , hopefully , this will be in its usual place next year . Fingers crossed !
Other developments in the department have been the introduction of ‘ Geographical Information Systems ’ ( GIS ) with the First Years ; the fantastic cross-curricular project of ‘ The Environment ’ with the ICT and art departments , where the Second Years focused on sustainability ; and in April , we enjoyed a Scarborough revision day for the Upper Sixth .
Finally , in May , the annual Sixth Form Geographical Society debate also took place , where both sides presented excellent arguments on globalisation , but which was ultimately won by the Upper Sixth .
HISTORY AND POLITICS
In the history and politics department , it has been excellent to start getting back to normal . A tentative return of Historia in October 2021 , saw our Lower and Upper Sixth politics students have a round-table discussion and Q & A session with Patsy Quinn , a Pocklington Town Councillor .
A fascinating and engaging discussion that ranged far and wide – from the responsibilities of local government , to the Gunpowder Plot as a form of political protest ! And Historia continued in November 2021 , with a cerebral discussion with local archaeologist Jon Kenny . Our Lower Sixth historians were given a snapshot into the field of archaeology , with a philosophical discussion about the differences ( and similarities ) between history and archaeology ; the power of community archaeology ; and discoveries that Jon had been involved with . Thank you to Mrs Hughes for arranging this .
Finally , the department took the First Year pupils on the annual pilgrimage to Pickering Castle and Rievaulx Abbey in June , exploring the development of castles and religion in the Medieval world . There were also creative writing and drama opportunities on offer for some cross-curricular fun . We were lucky to be joined by Olivia Aitchison ( OP ) who was a fantastic tour-guide and put together an activity that combined history and geography , getting the pupils to really think !
There is lots to look forward to in the future , with a packed Historia programme developing for next year and the return of the ‘ Big Trip ’ to the USA in December 2022 .
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Whilst we have not been able to run any trips this year , the religious studies department has still been a wonderful hive of activity . In Second Year , pupils have produced some excellent projects on Hajj , and the pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam ; and for Third Year pupils , Miss Young has awarded the highest number of merits and distinctions in her 15 year career !
The quality of their work has been outstanding , such as Harriet Hodge ’ s essay on the ethics of euthanasia .
Well done to all !
ICT - HACKS WITH CHACKS
In the ICT / Computing department , as well as the newlylaunched eSports Minecraft run by Dylan Barton , we also saw Harry Chacksfield ( our second Digital Leader ) run a successful coding club , ‘ Hacks with Chacks ’ – aimed at preparing gifted and talented coders for the Perse Coding Competition .
24 students from Second and Third Year entered their first programming competition , with all qualifying for the final . Notable performances from Katie Brown ( 2Wil ), Lisa de Klein ( 2Hut ) and Kirsten Carter ( 2Hut ) coding their solutions in Python .
30 THE POCKLINGTONIAN