Co-Curricular Activities
Why 'Co' and not 'extra' curricular?
The Co-Curricular programme gives real opportunities for pupils to take a lead, take responsibility for their activity, build enthusiasm for their chosen pursuit, and build a passion for life.
Our co-curricular provision represents a substantial part of our children’s educational experience, involving activities that take place beyond the academic curriculum – and usually always outside the classroom. We see co-curricular as an essential part of the St. Edmund’s learning experience, offering our pupils the opportunity to learn about life in its broader context; its challenges and opportunities, how to respond to successes and occasional disappointments, and most importantly how to adopt the mantra of ‘give everything a try’.
After-school activities on offer may be sporting, artistic, dramatic, creative, musical or cultural in nature and are led by our energetic and committed teaching staff. Occasionally, our programme may be supported by outside experts in which case a charge might be made to parents; otherwise all our after-school activities are offered as an integral part of the St.Edmund's experience.
Theme Nights
St. Edmund’s Theme Nights are a highlight in the school calendar. Fancy running around our beautiful 40-acre site in the dark playing The Great Escape, playing Quidditch on the Top Field or jumping in our TARDIS and into the time vortex? Our Theme Nights are incredibly popular and we can have almost 200 pupils playing some awesome games right around the school which makes for an incredible evening and makes lots of memories for our pupils that they talk about for years to come.
Activity Nights
Our year group Activity Nights involve an evening spent with classmates taking on numerous fun activities. Laser tag in the dark, giant inflatables, nerf gun games and dodgeball are the most popular and no two Activity Nights are the same.
Film Nights
Pupils can come along to enjoy an age-appropriate film at our St. Edmund’s Film Nights! We carefully choose the film to ensure children get to see watch classic films that they might otherwise not see. Children have dinner before the start of the film and ice-cream during the interval.
Educational Visits
We are passionate about learning beyond the classroom. As such, each year group visits places of interest throughout the academic year. This brings pupils’ learning to life and contextualises their knowledge in relation to the wider world that surrounds them.
Residential Visits
Trips abroad, day trips and weekends away all stimulate and inspire both pupils and staff. From a week away to Letton Hall, Norfolk through to taking part in STEM workshops at The Royal School of Artillery. In 2024, Form 6 will have the opportunity to go to Little Canada in The Isle of Wight for a residential activity trip.
After School Activities
On five evenings a week there is a programme of after school clubs which provide opportunities to develop skills and try new activities. These cover a range of areas and interests including sport, music, IT, drama and dance. Activities are changed termly and reflect the interests and enthusiasm of pupils and the staff running them. Please see the PDF below with the latest club schedule.
Contributing to the Community
We place great emphasis on developing our pupils' ability to lead and work within teams. Being selected for roles such as Heads of School or Heads of Division are sought after roles. Our pupils have the opportunity to take part in many charity focused initiatives from Charity Fairs and School Councils, to all our Form 5’s obtaining their green ‘Blue Peter’ badges, to being a Charity rep. Themed mufti days also raise money for (pupil selected) charities.
Guest Speakers and Community Events
We invite guest speakers to interest and challenge our pupils. In addition to hosting our own guests, Prep pupils are regularly visited by speakers as part of the Prep School programme, giving access to a fascinating range of subjects. Recent visitors have included authors such as James Taylor (author of Iguana Boy) and Kathryn Evans (author of Beauty Sleep) who visited the School as part of our World Book Week programme, as well as Zoo Lab UK who spoke to Form 5 as part of their Rainforest topic.
