Activities Week

Pupils enjoyed a full week ‘off timetable’ to learn new skills, get outdoors and give back as part of our Summer of Joy programme.

Year 7 joined Speak Up, Speak Out – a practical workshop to develop confidence and oracy skills – before embarking on a three-day independent learning programme exploring the theme of water. Encouraged to take the initiative, and to think creatively about their work, the groups devised and structured impressive research projects ranging from hydro-electricity and deserts to urban water usage and unusual sea creatures. Their final day was spent on Hampstead Heath, working on conservation projects with Heath Hands, followed by some welly-wanging fun.

Year 8 embarked on an ambitious sustainability and social action project in partnership with a school in Rwanda, before enjoying a creative trip to paint ceramics at Art4Fun, team-building workshops with the Problem Solving Company in Waterlow Hall, and a day of outdoor education learning (with tent-pitching and cooking their own lunch), before a final day of exploring unique careers.

Year 9 developed their entrepreneurial skills with a three-day Rebel Thinkers programme, based on the ideas of cognitive diversity and disruptive innovation. They also went on an ecology trip to Epping Forest and spent an outdoor education day in the Chiltern Hills, learning navigation and first aid skills, as most of the year group set off on their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Assessed Expedition.

Meanwhile, Year 10 engaged with plenty of hands-on learning in their practical subjects, as well as joining careers sessions and undertaking an independent learning project, writing an academic essay on a topic of their choosing, developing lots of valuable skills throughout the process.

The action-packed Activities Week was devised to help the whole school community rediscover the joy of learning for learning’s sake, providing opportunities to have fun with classmates after a year disrupted by lockdowns.