Activities & Co-Curricular Programme

C L AY E S M O R E

Clayesmore's Co-Curricular ProgrammeAt Clayesmore, we know that learning is not confined to the classroom and we know that the interesting adults start life as interested children and teenagers. So, we inspire and we provide opportunities for our students of all ages to learn about themselves and their environments in an exciting activity programme which most importantly also allows everyone to have fun as they learn!

If you are looking for a list of extracurricular activities, you may be disappointed as Clayesmore does not offer any extracurricular sessions! This is not because we do not offer a wonderful programme of activities, clubs, societies and events, but because we don’t believe that these activities are ‘extra’ curricular. To us, they are simply ‘curricular’ or ‘co-curricular’.

Our programme encourages compassion, communication, creativity, courage and much more and we see it not as an adjunct, but as a companion to the academic and pastoral curriculum.

Students are encouraged to take the initiative and start clubs or societies of their own and they are also able to join existing groups and activities. Our older students are encouraged to lead discussion groups and forums or to support activities for the junior students.

Student and teacher-led societies provide opportunities for Clayesmorians of all ages to discover new interests and further existing fascinations.

A list of clubs and societies tells only one part of one story. The Clayesmore story is about much more and we are proud that our educational philosophy celebrates what happens in the classroom, on the games fields, in the sports hall, in debating chambers, by our lake, on Hambledon Hill and in our local primary schools.

As a timetabled part of the Year 9 curriculum, all the students take part in a carousel of activities on Wednesday afternoons. Currently, these include learning about myths, STEM club, the science of the senses, dance, linguistics and a CCF taster unit. These provide an opportunity for the students to work in teams and groups and to whet their appetite for learning outside the taught curriculum.

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons also provide an opportunity for students in Year 10 and above to join our thriving CCF unit or take part in volunteer programmes or to access a wide range of activities including creative writing, Lego club, life-saving, drawing sessions, hockey umpire courses and many, many more, the details of which are outlined in the following pages.

Helen ChristmasAssistant Head (Personal Development)

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Community ActionSupporting our local community and the wider world around Clayesmore is also something that we feel is fundamentally important to the school, the students and the staff. There are many opportunities to undertake volunteer work through the CCF or the wonderful Duke of Edinburgh award schemes and as you will read further on, many, many students take part in one or both of these activities. But on Wednesday afternoons, all Year 12 students participate in our ACE (action, community, environment) programme.

This provides opportunities for all pupils to spend time in retirement homes, local primary schools, or learning how to be sports coaches and then to help run the junior teams, organise charity events, or work outdoors renovating garden spaces or community areas.

Our students know that giving is as important as taking and this is one small way in which they can do something for other people.

Current Activities, Clubs and Societies include:

• ACE programme with local community groups• Charity Committee• CHEERS (environmental group)• Modern Foreign Language teaching at a local primary school• National Trust volunteering• Village volunteering group• Wildlife Care Group

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Combined Cadet Force (CCF)We have a thriving CCF (Combined Cadet Force) unit in which students participate in campus-based learning as well as experiences outside our grounds such as diving, flying, adventure training, sailing and much more. The CCF enables students to develop their individual and leadership skills and we are proud of the role that it plays in school life.

There Army and Royal Air Force sections and the unit is fully voluntary, with first entry possible in Year 10. A good number of senior cadets stay on into Year 11 and the Sixth Form, becoming Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs), and they very much enjoy the opportunity this gives to practise their leadership skills and help the younger cadets. All Year 10 cadets will learn about basic field craft, drill, skill at arms, orienteering, first aid, navigation, RAF Part 1 Theory, and get the opportunity to try the confidence area and Close Combat Trainer.

All cadets have the chance to attend Air Experience Flying and an Army Training Area annual camp (usually in the last week of the summer term), and sometimes we also have places on an Easter RAF Camp. The CCF often competes in the Dorset Cadet Challenge and similar competitions, and there is a biennial inspection. On alternate years the CCF runs a Field Day for Year 10.

Further Information:

• Years 10-13 • Wednesday afternoons during term time• Additional activities at different dates and times including

options to attend courses at the weekends and in holidays

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Duke of Edinburgh's Award SchemeMany Clayesmore students embark on a Duke of Edinburgh journey. Approximately 75% of Year 10 pupils choose to embark upon the programme and almost all of these will complete it before the end of Year 11. We currently have 52 Sixth form students working towards the coveted Gold award.

The Duke of Edinburgh scheme, like the CCF and the outdoor adventure programmes (Bushcraft, scuba diving, sailing) offers students to develop the skills which are central to the school’s vision and mission statement. Teenagers learn resilience, teamwork, survival skills, but also develop communication skills, independence, versatility, compassion and kindness. They also have fun and we hear the stories that come out of their experiences, stories which then become part of the students’ own narratives.

Participants undertake a wide variety of volunteer work, such as assisting in local primary schools, sports training, environmental and wildlife projects and raising significant sums of money for local charities. Students undertake a rigorous and detailed training programme, both in school and in wild country that culminates in a qualifying expedition on Dartmoor.

Further Information:

• Years 10-13 • Volunteering element can be completed as part of ACE

programme• Expedition planning takes place during term time with

expeditions at weekends and in holidays• Enrolment details and dates are outlined to parents and pupils

throughout the year

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Academic ExtensionPupils from all year groups enjoy the opportunities and challenges presented by the activities and clubs in Clayesmore's Academic Extension programme.

Whether working together to solve tricky cryptography challenges in national competitions, enjoying extended opportunities to converse in a different language, or researching a particular area of interest to present at a society or symposium, there is plenty of choice. You may even start your own company as part of the Young Enterprise programme and enter the 'dragons den' and other competitions to present your model and gain investment.

Debating skills are honed at the Model United Nations events in which students represent countries and debate matters of real world interest such as human rights, child welfare and ecological concerns. In so many ways, the MUN epitomises what we see as integral at Clayesmore: challenge, communication, collaboration, curiosity and community.

Current Activities, Clubs and Societies include:

• Academic Workshops (all subjects)• Animedics• Chess• Clayesmore Business Diploma• Computer Skills• Creative Writing• Cryptography• de Selincourt History Society• Extended Project Qualification (Sixth Form)• 'i' - Mathematics Society• Mastermind/ Logic Problems• Model United Nations• Modern Foreign Languages Societies• Plamenatz Philosophy Society• Politics Society• Puzzle Solving• Robotics• Serious Games• Study Skills• Visiting Speaker Programme• Young Enterprise

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Art, Music & DramaArt, Music and Drama provide wonderful opportunities for students to express themselves and to explore the creative corners of their souls! At Clayesmore, we believe in freeing students to find ways of expressing themselves.

Our orchestras, bands and small groups play at concerts in school and different venues and if you visit us on a Wednesday, you may hear the strains of our bagpipe marching band who rehearse in the grounds and whose playing, particularly on a misty January afternoon provides the opportunity to imagine that you are in the Scottish highlands.

Performances, whether as part of a major concert or production, or in one of the many short recitals, provide opportunities for our students to showcase their talents, but also enables them to learn about how to present themselves to an audience and the importance of music as a form of communication. The Clayesmore Theatre Company stages up to 14 productions per year, and even hosts its own annual film festival.

In an age increasingly dominated by fact and figures, we are proud that the creativity of Clayesmore students is both celebrated and seen as an integral part of their journey to being interested and interesting adults.

Current Activities, Clubs and Societies include:

• Art• ARTiculation - History of Art public speaking competition• Ballet• Barbershop Group• Big Band• Brass Ensemble• Brass Quintet• Cello Ensemble• Chamber Strings• Choir• Choral Society• Concert Band• Contemporary Dance• Film Making• Flute Group• Glee Club• Guitar Group• Horn Quartet• Jazz Group• LAMDA• Music Theory• Orchestra• Pipe Band• Photography• Pottery• School Play• Strings Group• Technical Theatre and Backstage Crew• Textiles• Violin Group• Vocal Group• Wind Quintet

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SportHere at Clayesmore we aim to maximise the sporting opportunities for all pupils, the programme is extensive and offers a huge variety of opportunity in a range of sports, whether for fitness, representing a school team, or at elite levels.

Aside from the principal sports (rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics and tennis for boys and hockey, netball, athletics and tennis for girls), there are many other games to get involved with and represent the school, and further options for recreational sport in leisure time.

We are lucky to have lots of other schools against whom we play in many sports and there is a busy programme of fixtures and tournaments throughout term time. Some pupils participate at county level and some nationally and we are very supportive of this, offering them as much flexibility as we can to ensure they are able to take part in training and events. Obviously, we are very proud of their achievements!

Clayesmore is very well-equipped with fabulous playing fields and games courts. There is a full size, flood-lit, all-weather hockey pitch, which converts into a large number of tennis courts for the summer. The indoor Sports Centre has long been a major feature of Clayesmore life, with its large hall, indoor cricket nets, badminton and squash courts, multi-gym and indoor 25m swimming pool.

The Sports Development Group is for any pupil who wishes to enhance a specific skill through extra conditioning sessions or improve their general fitness throughout the year with specialist training and activities.

Current Activities, Clubs and Societies include:

• Aquafit• Archery• Basketball• Boxercise

• Clay Pigeon Shooting• Climbing• Cricket Nets• Cricket Training• Cross Country• Diving• Football• Fitness• Girls Cricket• Girls Fitness• Girls Football• Girls Rugby• Hockey Umpiring• Horse Riding• Indoor Hockey• Kayaking• Mountain Biking• National Pool Lifeguarding Qualification• Netball Skills• Olympic Lifting• Rowing• Rugby Sevens• Sailing• Spinning• Sports Development• Sports Rehabilitation• Sports Scholars• Squash• Swimming Stroke Workshop• Swimming Training • Taekwondo• Tennis• Touch Rugby• Trampoline Club• Water Polo• Yoga

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Trips, Outings and ExcursionsOur campus may be an inspiring place but there’s nothing like getting away from the classroom to encourage learning in situ and expand horizons.

The pupils feel their studies coming to life and every opportunity is taken to enhance the curriculum and their understanding of their place in it with a diverse programme of visits at home and abroad.

Past adventure trips have included adventure trips to Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Peru, Borneo, Iceland, India and Everest Base Camp. There have been Geography Sixth Form trips to Rhodes and Sicily; regular Year 10 trips to the First World War Battlefields; German and French exchanges; and Sports tours all over the world, including to Spain, Sri Lanka, South Africa and India.

For those who are feeling a little more adventurous, there are opportunities to 'go wild', with Bushcraft and Wilderness living weekends.

We also take advantage of venues a little closer to home including museums, concert halls, theatres and art galleries in Dorset, Cornwall, Oxford, Bristol and London.

Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8LL

www.clayesmore.com