Community Work
Pocklington School CCF cadets assist in local Remembrance Services.
Pocklington School Combined Cadet Force take part and fulfil important roles during the Pocklington town Remembrance Parade and also in other localities, including St Catherine's Church Barmby Moor and The Wolds Gliding Club.
Aims: Pocklington School CCF fulfil various roles within the local town Remembrance Parade and in other neighbouring locations. The roles include carrying the Standards for Pocklington School and the Yorkshire Regiment, delivering readings and poems and performing the Last Post and Reveille.
Background: For many years, Pocklington School has been part of the Pocklington Remembrance Parade and in recent years has also assisted at the St Catherine's Church Commonwealth War Graves and The Wolds Gliding Club Airfield Memorial.
Resources: The CCF cadets are supported by their Contingent Commander and Officers Commanding for RAF and Army.
Impact: In the most recent Remembrance Parade Services in 2022, Pocklington School received a letter of appreciation from the secretary to the 102 (Ceylon) Squadron Association which said:
"Your students who took part in our Church Service and paraded their Standards were immaculate in their appearance and deportment...They expressed their genuine desire to be involved in our part of the National Remembrance, something greatly appreciated by our Association. Over 70 people attended the Remembrance Service at St Catherine's Church in Barmby Moor and many of them passed complementary comments about the Cadets."
Pupil Involvement: Four cadets from Years 11 and 12 assisted in the services at St Catherine's Church and The Wolds Gliding Club. Around 30 Army and RAF CCF cadets paraded in the town Act of Remembrance.
Frequency: The Pocklington School CCF has a well established partnership with organisers of the local Remembrance Day activities and will continue to do so in the future.
Lunchtime concert series at All Saints' Church Pocklington
The Director of music and pupils from Pocklington School perform as individuals and musical ensembles in All Saints' Church Pocklington as part of a series of lunchtime concerts for the public which was free of charge.
Aims: Pocklington School performed during one of the weekly Lunchtime Concerts in the Spring series at All Saints' Church Pocklington
The concerts are open to the public and are free to attend. There was a retiring collection in support of the church porch fund and raised £91.50.
Impact: The Director of Music received an email from a representative of All Saints' Church which said:
"Just to say thank you very much to you and your students for the wonderful concert on Tuesday afternoon. I have had so many lovely comments about how talented the students are. We look forward to the next one!"
Lunchtime Concert Series Beverley Minster
Pupils from Pocklington School performed as individuals and musical ensembles in Beverley Minster as part of the weekly lunchtime concert series for the public which was free of charge.
Aims: Pocklington School performed for 40 minutes during one of the weekly Lunchtime Concerts in the Spring series at Beverley Minster.
The concerts are open to the public and are free to attend. There was a retiring collection in support of Beverley Minster.
Resources: Five teaching staff accompanied 40 pupils. The school provided their own musical equipment and transport to the venue.
Impact: Over 100 people came to the event and were thrilled to have attended. Pocklington School were apparently invited back before the concert had even finished!
Pupil Involvement: 40 pupils performed at the event, from Year 3 to Upper Sixth Form.
Frequency: Unfortunately, the pandemic has prevented further concerts taking place until now, when Pocklington School held a lunch time concert in All Saints' Church, Pocklington in November 2021. A member of the local community who attended, contacted the school to say: "Please pass on my thanks to everyone involved in delivering the concert at the church today. The singing and orchestral performances were simply stunning and beautifully performed. The choice of music was perfect. It was a very enjoyable afternoon."
Pocklington School helps the NHS and local community
Pocklington School staff supported the NHS, carers and the local community in the fight against coronavirus by supplying personal protective equipment (PPE) and helping those in need.
Aims: The Pocklington School Head of Chemistry, began the drive when she contacted St Leonard's Hospice and local GP practices to ask if they needed any safety glasses from Pocklington School’s Science labs. Their responses showed there was a clear demand for PPE equipment not just locally, but in other parts of the country.
Background: Fellow science staff were keen to help and offered their support and resources. The Head of Design at Pocklington School used his skills in the Art and Design Technology Centre using the 3D printer and produced 48 protective face visors paired with donated elastic.
Publicity from the first consignment, which was dispatched to local doctors’ surgeries, and key NHS workers in Rotherham, led to more requests for PPE help – along with more volunteers from teaching and support staff who wanted to contribute to the effort.
Staff members from across the School joined the drive to help protect key workers by sewing NHS drawstring bags and scrubs and masks.
Some Pocklington School staff are volunteer NHS responders and knit hearts for intensive care patients and bereaved families. Others have been active in the local community, collecting medication, shopping and distributing Covid-19 leaflets.
A Pocklington School art teacher is an area coordinator for Pocklington’s volunteer community team, supporting the isolated and vulnerable, and another teacher is also part of the community hub.
Many Prep School pupils created colourful posters in support of key workers and keeping communities safe, and some pupils became pen pals with residents of care homes.
Chatta, the award-winning online learning approach developed in partnership with Pocklington School, was made available free of charge to families during the first lockdown. More than 3,000 families in 20 countries downloaded the ChattaClub app to receive daily activities by email or, for older children, the Chatta Club+ app, to receive weekly activities.
Resources: All materials and time were given freely, to produce the donated goods.
Yorkshire RFU bring women's rugby tournament to Pocklington School
Pocklington School hosted a day of rugby for over 90 under 18 players recently, organised by the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union, when the original venue for the day had to be changed due to flooding.
Resources: The school sports facilities were used for the tournament free of charge. A small charge was made for one member of school staff to facilitate the use of facilities.
Impact: Chair of U18 Yorkshire Girls said: “A huge thank you to the team at Pocklington School for stepping in to help us out at extremely short notice for what turned out to be a fantastic day of girls rugby. The players, coaches and spectators all agreed that the facilities were excellent and the help the staff gave us to set everything up in time for the event was tremendous.”
Pupil Involvement: The school hosted over 90 under 18 female rugby players.
Easter Egg Hunt
The Easter Egg Hunt is an annual community event held at Pocklington School and run by the staff of Pocklington Prep School. Children aged 2-5 years and their families are invited to a fun morning, searching for Easter Eggs in the grounds of Pocklington School, as well as enjoying other fun activities and refreshments.
The free event is advertised in the local Pocklington community and children and their families from 12 local nurseries are also invited.
Aims: The Easter Egg Hunt is a family friendly, community event which is free of charge and welcomes members of the local community to Pocklington School. Children follow a map, answering clues as they progress and at the finish line, every child is presented with an Easter Egg.
Resources: The event requires a full complement of Prep School staff to run the event, with two members of staff responsible for the set up and advertising of the event with flyers, banners and social media.
On the day resources needed include craft materials, face paints, refreshments, decorations, clue sheets and maps.
Impact: Around 100 families attended the event this year.
Frequency: This is an annual event.
Sharing of facilities and resources with Pocklington Detachment Army Cadets
Pocklington School operates a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in partnership with the Ministry of Defence. The Pocklington School CCF buildings and equipment are shared with Pocklington Detachment Army Cadets.
The Pocklington Detachment are able to use the Pocklington School CCF's equipment, resources, expertise and use of the grounds.
The Pocklington School CCF cadets and the Pocklington Detachment Army Cadets parade together at the Pocklington Town Remembrance Parade.
Frequency: The Pocklington Detachment Army Cadets use Pocklington School's CCF facilities twice a week for their meetings.
York Mystery Plays - provision of rehearsal rooms , costumes and props
Staff from Pocklington School Drama department and Design department worked in partnership with other community groups to present a performance at the 2022 York Mystery Plays, hosted at the Merchant Venturers in York.
Designing and building of set and properties for Merchant Venturers York. Four staff acting in the plays for 10 performances over a week in June after several months of rehearsals that started in March.
Aims: Pocklington School has a large purpose built theatre and wardrobe department, which the community groups used for four months to rehearse and develop costumes/props for the Mystery Plays.
Four members of staff fulfilled acting roles in the Mystery plays, which invited audiences to 10 performances over one week during June.
Pocklington School department were also involved in theatre design and production.
Impact: The use of the facilities at Pocklington School, allowed all the community groups to come together under one roof to rehearse, develop costumes and present a high quality production.
Frequency: Pocklington School has been involved in the production of the Mystery plays over a number of years.
Duke of Edinburgh Award partnership
The Hull University D of E group is student-led and required a qualified first aider and Mountain Leader to supervise their practice and qualifying gold expeditions.
Pocklington School D of E leaders helped the group organise their practice expedition in the Yorkshire Dales which involved four days and three overnight camps and will supervise them on their qualifying expedition to Scotland in June.
In order to complete the expeditions, the group needed to undergo training in expedition skills, including map reading, camp craft etc, which was taught by the Pocklington School D of E trainers.
Aims: This partnership has allowed the Hull University D of E group to fulfil their personal goal of completing their Gold Award.
Frequency: The Hull University D of E group is hoping to continue, with the assistance from the D of E trainers from Pocklington School.
Residential Courses and Holidays at Pocklington School
Various clubs, groups and societies use facilities at Pocklington School to run residential courses and holidays.
Groups which have benefited from this venture are Sheffield City Youth Orchestra and Welcome Church and children in the local community who attend the DB Sport sport activity camps during the summer holidays.
Aims: The aim of the venture is to provide affordable accommodation, in a large meeting venue with excellent facilities, for a wide variety of clubs, societies and sporting, musical, theatrical and social groups. The facilities are all on one campus, which makes it a safe and convenient environment.
Impact: A representative from one of the residents commented: 'Welcome Hall Evangelical Church has been running an annual church holiday for decades and this was our fourth year staying at Pocklington School. With York, the coast, the Wolds and numerous tourist attractions all within easy reach, there really is something for everyone. The campus is beautiful, the bedrooms are comfortable (many with en-suite showers), the food is outstanding and the staff are truly delightful. We cannot recommend Pocklington School's holiday accommodation highly enough, and look forward to being back next year.'
Frequency: The school facilities are available for use during school holidays and will continue for the foreseeable future.
Pocklington School Conservation Project
Pupils from Pocklington School Sixth Form volunteer once a week, to tend to war graves in Pocklington Cemetery, keeping them tidy and well maintained.
The students mow grass and maintain planted areas to keep the graves tidy.
Aims: The aim of the project is to maintain war graves, keeping them tidy and well maintained.
Pupils must be committed and enthusiastic.
The project provides benefit to the local community and visitors to the cemetery.
Background: The project began more than 10 years ago following liaison with the War Graves Commission.
Resources: Gardening equipment, transport, a vehicle driver and supervision are required.
Impact: The project has been running for 10 years. It is popular with the students.
Pupil Involvement: 10 Sixth Form pupils from Pocklington School participate in the project.
Frequency: This is an ongoing activity which occurs one afternoon per week.
Mentorship for Pocklington University of the Third Age Latin Group Leaders
The Head of Classics from Pocklington School provides help and support to the organisers of the Pocklington U3A Latin Group. Primarily this is in the form of assistance with syllabus content, loan of text books and photocopying of resources free of charge.
In addition, the two leaders of the group have been given assistance with the syllabus and resources for the GSCE Latin exam, which they sat at Pocklington School, as external candidates.
The Pocklington School Latin Department also loan text books to local community Latin Clubs
Aims: The aim of the project is to provide help and support to the leaders of the Pocklington U3A Latin group, which in turn provides a service in the local community and allows a community group to exist and operate.
For the project to be a success, it requires the time and assistance of the mentor, plus the availability of appropriate knowledge and resources.
Background: The project commenced following an approach to Pocklington School from a member of the Pocklington community. The project has been running for just over 12 months.
Resources: The project requires the time, knowledge and expertise of the mentor as well as the availability of photocopied resources from Pocklington School.
Impact: The leaders and members of the Pocklington U3A Latin group have expressed their gratitude for the support they have received from the mentor.
Pupil Involvement: Currently there are 12 members of the Latin group who benefit from this project.
Frequency: Guidance is given to the leaders as they seek it, which is usually every few weeks. The project will continue for as long as the leaders require assistance.
Pocklington School Baby and Toddler Group
The Pocklington School Toddler Group is based within the Pre-Prep department at Pocklington School and provides an opportunity for parents and children to get to know people in the local area, to make use of Early Years facilities and to enjoy refreshments in a relaxed atmosphere.
The group meets once a week in Pre-Prep School during term time. Families with children from age 0-4 attend the group and sessions are free.
Aims: Parents identified a need for more toddler groups in the local area.
The aim of this project is to provide a place where children and carers can meet new people and play in a relaxed and happy environment. Pre-school children and parents/carers benefit from this project
Background: Pocklington School responded to a request from parents, to provide a toddler group. The Pocklington School Toddler Group has been in operation for over seven years.
Resources: Space, time, staff, age appropriate toys and resources.
The Toddler Group is held in one of the Early Years rooms and is used free of charge.
The Head of Pre-Prep and one other member of staff assist at the beginning and end of sessions.
These sessions are free to families.
Impact: There is anecdotal evidence from parents that they and their families enjoy coming to the group. Numbers attending are increasing.
Pupil Involvement: On average 15 pre-school children and their parents from the wider community attend each week.
Frequency: This is an on-going activity, which occurs once a week during term time.
It will continue for the foreseeable future.
Platform Music and Comedy Festival
Pocklington Arts Centre used Pocklington School's Sports Hall as a venue for the Platform Music and Comedy Festival.
The festival is a four day festival of music and entertainment which is promoted throughout Yorkshire and beyond, with national and international artists. The event appeals to a wide audience and showcases local talent.
Aims: The use of Pocklington School facilities provides affordable facilities and a venue, for local clubs and societies to hold events for the local and wider community.
In Pocklington, there is a need for venues which can hold large scale events in the community and Pocklington School Sports Hall fulfils this need.
The Platform Festival is a high profile event in a unique venue, which brings tourism to the town and raises the profile of the local area. The whole community benefits from this.
The partnership between Pocklington School and the Arts Centre is also strengthened through this venture.
Background: The partnership has been established for more than four years.
Resources: There is a financial contribution for using the Sports Hall.
Frequency: This is an annual event which is set to continue indefinitely.