On Monday 11 March, Third Year English pupils successfully hosted the launch of their new cruise liner ‘The World.’  Esteemed guests included an Oil Baron from Dubai, a Sultan, the former Prime Minister and his wife, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.  Exquisite canapés, created by the ship’s Michelin starred chef Tomilino, were served with chilled Bollinger and the finest Burgundy.  One lucky winner secured a free cruise courtesy of Swanborough casinos and the paparazzi were out in full to snap the celebrity guests as they arrived…

Actually… that’s not quite the truth, as Pocklington School’s teacher of English, Mrs Tomlinson, explains...

“I may have extended a little poetic licence with my recollection! The Third Year class following their linguistic analysis of a newspaper article concerning the cruise liner, came up with the inspired idea to actually host a spoof launch party.”

Attending the event in character were:

Headmaster, Toby Seth, as the Sultan of Pocklingtonia

Teacher of Classics & Academic Extension Co-ordinator, Adam Copley, as the Former Prime Minister

Teacher of English, Alison Bond, as the Former Prime Minister’s wife

Head of English, Inaayat Hashim, as the Oil baron and Sheik of Dubai

Class members acted as the upper echelons of society.  The canapés were more kitchen cupboard than Michelin and the Bollinger was of course non-alcoholic fruity fizz. 

Mrs Tomlinson said: “The students embraced the idea with enthusiasm and displayed wonderful confidence in staging the event and assuming their characters. 

“Rather than just simply analyse the article, they applied higher order thinking skills.  Using the article as a springboard, they employed persuasive language and marketing techniques in their presentations.”

A display board showcasing the ship was co-ordinated by Anna Wraith and Emily Phillips and marketing speeches were delivered by Jenni Harrison, Phoebe Anderson, Zac Stewart and George Walster.  A special mention must go to Henry Hudson who assumed a French persona for the event (complete with trilby, cane and a very convincing French accent) and also Kai Swanborough, who showed fabulous commitment and initiative; creating scratch cards and a video advert to promote the ship.

Mrs Tomlinson concluded: “The event highlighted the qualities that make the Pocklington pupils so individual and a pleasure to teach.  Thank you to the students and thank you to our esteemed guests.”