Home -> Pocklington School -> School Life -> The Co-Curriculum -> Thursday Activities
Pocklington School - Thursday Activities
The
Thursday afternoon activities programme gives pupils a mixture of
academic, cultural, leisure, sporting and personal development
activities. It is also through this that the school develops some
leadership skills through the CCF contingent.
A wide range of on and off-site activities enrich
our curriculum, giving pupils a chance to develop areas of interest way beyond
those offered in the academic curriculum. Particularly popular with the pupils
are sporting activities such as golf at the local KP Club, and orienteering in
Allerthorpe Common; leisure activities such as bird-watching and cooking; or
creative opportunities including puppet-making, video photography and dance. We
offer citizenship tutorials to Year 11 pupils encouraging them to discuss their
views on the world in which they live. It is also during this time that the
school addresses issues of the pupils’ personal well-being. A carefully
structured personal, social and health education (PSHE) provision is run by a
specialist group of staff, as part of the Thursday afternoon activities sessions
for Years 7 to 11.
Our unique activities programme was highly praised during the last school inspection, it being seen as a very positive complement to the academic, sporting and extra-curricular life of the school. During the Thursday afternoon sessions for all pupils in the 1st to 5th form the pupils are exposed to a wide variety of experiences, activities and challenges.
The current activities programme is as follows. Most activities last for 5-6 weeks:
1st Year
Artistic and Dramatical Theatre, Dance, Fiction Hunters, PSHE, Sewing, Study Skills, Wildlife Studies.
2nd Year
Brain Gym, Cooking, Orienteering, Puzzles for all, Signing for beginners. In addition all pupils undertake another course of PSHE.
Middle School
A range of topics are covered in the middle school. All 4th form pupils are members of the CCF either in the army or air force contingent. If pupils wish to carry on CCF into the fifth form they may do so, subject to a satisfactory report on their 4th year conduct.
Activities available in the 3rd and 5th year include:
A Touch of Outdoors, Careers, Citizenship, Golf, Animation and Film making, Personal Survival, Fitness, First Aid, Dance, Cooking, Current Affairs, Financial Planning.
All pupils also undertake sessions of PSHE in all three years. There are also courses in research skills and study techniques for all pupils.
Sixth Form
A number of sixth form pupils remain in the CCF but for those who do not there is a programme of community service for all members of the Lower 6th. This may involve one-to-one visits with elderly local residents, work in local primary schools and care homes, taking music and drama to local schools or doing conservation work in and around Pocklington.