Beyond the Curriculum
Co-curricular activities Outside the classroom, a broad range of co-curricular activities encourages pupils to make the most of school life. With more than 60 clubs and societies meeting regularly in the Senior School, the College tries to cater for all pupils’ individual interests and needs. These societies are driven by the students and can range from the academic to the altruistic. A society offers a student the chance to find and join people with similar interests, as well as another chance to befriend people in different year groups. The sheer number of sports teams ensures that pupils who want to represent the College can do so and House Big Side and Little Side competitions ensure competition is available to all. The range of orchestras, ensembles and choirs enables students to play with other musicians and the increasing profile of music technology is opening yet more avenues to those with musical interests. Inter-house drama competitions ensure that all pupils can get involved in drama, with some being selected for the casts of College productions. The atmosphere that prevails within the Edward Alleyn Theatre, the PE Centre, the Music School or
the Art & DT studios make these ideal places for many to find their niche and a little peace during a busy school day.
Community Action There are currently more than 15 volunteering projects run as part of the College’s Community Action Programme. Activities include providing extra support for pupils at local primary schools and our partner school, City Heights; tutoring at homework clubs and Saturday Schools; visiting and helping residents at Athol House, a local Leonard Cheshire Home; preparing food parcels at the Brixton and West Norwood Foodbank; and helping with gardening in Dulwich Park. Volunteers find the activities hugely rewarding; they play an important role in the personal development and wider education of the pupils and forge important links with our community. The projects are available to pupils in Year 10 upwards, with around 150 participants volunteering approximately an hour each week – either at lunchtimes, after school or on Saturday mornings. A number of Year 11 pupils also take part in ‘The Challenge’ during the summer following their GCSEs; this is a three-week programme in which pupils develop their own community projects while at the same time honing their own leadership and teamwork skills.
20
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog