Clubs and societies are back this fortnight, and with them the moment every family knows: a booklet listing over 150 different opportunities, one child, and a finite number of lunchtimes. Where do you start?
Our answer is always the same. Pick one thing you already love, and one thing you have never done. That is where pupils surprise themselves.
WHAT IS ACTUALLY ON OFFER
Our Expanding Your Horizons booklet gathers the lot in one place. It spans music, drama and dance; sport at every level; debating, coding and subject societies; leadership roles and charitable projects; and the trips, clinics and visits that take learning well beyond the classroom. Some pupils arrive knowing exactly what they want: a chair in the orchestra, a place in the first team. Others try four things in a term and find their fifth is the one that sticks. Both routes are entirely fine.
THE CO-CURRICULAR FESTIVAL
We usually hold a fair. This year we did it differently, and the Co-Curricular Festival transformed the School into a hive of activity as pupils explored the huge range of opportunities beyond the classroom. Classrooms became hands-on activity spaces, pupils busked around the School, and there was something happening around every corner — from sculls in the Quad to printing in the Art Studio. It was a real celebration of everything our pupils can discover, try and get involved in, with more than 150 co-curricular opportunities to explore.
WHY IT MATTERS MORE THAN IT LOOKS
Co-curricular life is where a good deal of the real education happens. A pupil who has stood on a stage, led a rehearsal, organised a bake sale that actually made money, or lost a match and turned up to training the following week has learned something no lesson delivers as efficiently. Confidence, teamwork and resilience are not taught in a module; they are picked up in a hall on a wet Tuesday.
It is also where friendships form across year groups and across our Schools. Many pupils tell us their closest friends came from a club rather than a class — and for anyone who finds the social side of school hard, a shared activity is by far the easiest way in.
THE MUSIC, DRAMA AND DANCE STRAND
Ensembles, choirs, productions and showcases run right through the year, building towards our Christmas concerts and carol services in December and performances across the spring and summer. Pupils do not need to be at grade eight to take part. There are beginner ensembles and backstage roles as well as leads and solos, and the programme is deliberately built so that enthusiasm gets you in the door.
LEADERSHIP, SERVICE AND THE WIDER WORLD
Older pupils take on real responsibility: running societies, mentoring younger children, leading charitable campaigns and representing the School in the community. It is not decoration for a personal statement. It is practice at being useful, which is a habit worth having.
HELPING YOUR CHILD CHOOSE
Three suggestions. First, protect some empty time; an over-scheduled child enjoys nothing. Second, agree to see a commitment through to the end of a term before giving it up; most activities are more rewarding in week eight than week one. Third, resist choosing on their behalf. The clubs pupils pick themselves are the ones they keep.
The full programme is on our website, and staff running each activity are happy to talk to any pupil who is curious but not yet sure. Encourage yours to knock on the door and ask.
