Autumn term at Cockburn School

Students and staff at Cockburn School have had an excellent half term to start the academic year.

Open Evening: Over 700 visitors came to tour the school and learn about Cockburn’s journey of ‘Transformation to Excellence’. Last year, Cockburn had over 750 applications for only 240 places in Year 7 and they are expecting large numbers again for the 2019 cohort.

Head Boy and Head Girl Elections: After nearly 30 Year 11 students were made Student Ambassadors, following an application and interview process, some went further to stand for election to become Head Boy and Head Girl. They had to deliver speeches to assemblies from every year group and even at a full staff meeting before a whole school election took place. Congratulations to Head Boy – Ismail Abbas; Head Girl – Lucy Tate; Deputy Head Boy – Jacky Ling; and Deputy Head Girl – Sali Diallo.

Focus on the future: Year 11 students had a Careers focus day that included one to one interviews with industry professionals and a trip to a careers fair at Elland Road. They also enjoyed a visit from motivational speaker Action Jackson who said “Had a great day. The members of staff and the kids were Amazing. I love the hard work and dedication that has gone into helping the students feel valued.”

Snowdonia Trip: A group of Year 9 students arrived safe and sound at Ogwen Cottage before jumping straight into a week of activities including scrambling, walking, team building, rock climbing and hiking.

Leeds Urban Bike Park: A group of students had an early start to get on their bikes while the BBC Look North team filmed news with British Cycling that it was only 1 year to go before the Road World Champs in Yorkshire and legacy funding to create more cycling facilities. A glorious sunrise helped to show off the amazing facilities in Middleton.

Visit from an author: A theatre full of Year 8 boys participated in a workshop with award winning author Nikesh Shukla, reading his new thriller, ‘Run, Riot’. Nikesh said there were more questions from the Cockburn students than all of the schools he had visited combined.