Enrichment

Alongside the academic curriculum, pupils enjoy a wide range of enrichment opportunities. These give children the chance to stretch themselves in a variety of clubs and enrichment classes, boosting social, mental and physical skills, and actively contributing to the life of the College. It’s all about learning and growing whilst having fun.

Clubs and enrichment activities are an essential part of Prep life, providing opportunities to broaden and enrich learning experiences and foster strong relationships. We firmly believe that clubs also help to develop social skills through increased opportunities for cross-year groups interaction.

If there is something your child is passionate about which does not currently appear on the list, there is, through conversation with the Head of Prep, a possibility of exploring additional clubs and activities.

Clubs are run during and after the school day. Here is just a flavour of some of the opportunities on offer:

The current activities can be downloaded here. Please note that some of the activities incur a charge.

We value learning through immersive, hands-on experience and our pupils love the opportunity to visit somewhere new and awaken the senses, coming home excited to tell their parents and friends about their trip.

In the last 12 months residential trips have been to Caythorpe Court, Grafham Water and to the Jurassic Coast. We have also had a range of trips including to Airbus Stevenage, the Roald Dahl Museum, Woburn Safari Park, Stansted Airport, a skateboarding workshop and pizza making!

Each Summer Term we run Five Star Week across the College; one week dedicated to enriching trips and activities.

Humans are naturally creative, musical, and artistic. Through dance, children develop spatial awareness, develop their motor skills, and learn to pay more attention to others sharing their space. Children can express their feelings with immediacy through dance and movement.

Pupils begin their dancing journey in Reception with ballet classes. During these lessons the children begin to learn the basics to classical technique through exciting exercises, mime, and imagination. Ballet is an important basis to all forms of dance and helps to create a strong sense of self-discipline as well as confidence and strong postural awareness, which will assist many aspects of life aside from dance.

Tap lessons are offered from Year 1 and focus on the enjoyment of rhythm. The new I.S.T.D. syllabus focuses on the most current styles of tap using upbeat, exciting music to inspire the children and increase their musical awareness. Tap offers a more relaxed atmosphere to Ballet and helps to develop a strong sense of rhythm and musical understanding.

Children can extend their dance genres further with Modern Dance lessons from Year 2. Modern Dance has its foundations in Ballet, but uses more upbeat, lively music. As in Ballet, Modern also begins by using mime and imagination to help instil a sense of posture and basic understanding of the way the body moves.

In all genres, the work progresses through various levels, building on the lessons previously learned, as well as adding new skills. Musicality and artistry are valued highly and taught equally as technical detail and execution. Care of the growing child is emphasised, as is the knowledge of anatomy as it relates specifically to the dancer and the possible effect of dance on the growing body. Enjoyment and the love of dance is paramount in all lessons. All individuals are encouraged to achieve their full potential and develop their skills to their best possible ability.

Key Stage One students showcase their work once a year with a summer lesson demonstration which is an excellent opportunity for our very youngest students to perform on the stage for their parents, relatives, and friends. From Year 3 upwards they perform as supporting dancers for the annual Year 6 Production and are also invited to take part in our biennial Charity Show.

Five Star Week is one week dedicated to enriching trips and activities which runs across the College towards the end of the summer term. This week-long immersive experience not only enriches pupils’ education, but also empowers them to embrace their own dreams and thrive in all aspects of their lives.

LAMDA (The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art) is the oldest drama school in the UK. Founded in 1861, LAMDA has been offering practical examinations in communication and performance for over 130 years.

We provide the opportunity for students from Years 4 to have practical lessons in speech, communication, and performance. The aim is to provide everyone with the opportunity to develop the life skills they need to be a success, wherever the future takes them.

Lessons are held once a week for thirty minutes and there are ten lessons per term. Lessons are generally with two pupils sharing the time, as they learn from each other’s efforts and can work as a pair as well as individually.

LAMDA examiners visit St. Francis’ in May each year for the examination sessions.