IN ASSOCIATION WITH
EDUCATION
FLOURISHING IN THE CO-CURRICULUM
IT IS A RARE SCHOOL THAT DOES NOT AT LEAST MAKE PASSING REFERENCE SOMEWHERE IN ITS MISSION STATEMENT TO EDUCATING THE WHOLE CHILD . NEVER MORE HAS THIS UNIQUELY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL RAISON D ' ÊTRE BEEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN IN THE MID-PANDEMIC LANDSCAPE . ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MATTERS , BUT PARENTS KNOW INTUITIVELY THAT HAPPY , CONFIDENT , AND ARTICULATE YOUNG PEOPLE WILL ONLY EMERGE FROM OUR SCHOOLS THROUGH HAVING TAKEN PART IN A RICH AND VARIED CO-CURRICULUM .
The Floreat Activities programme at Farringtons School seeks to offer a hugely diverse menu of creative , sporting , more traditionally academic and wellbeing-focussed pursuits . Farringtons packages this offering for all students in Years 7-12 within the existing timetable structure of a busy London day and boarding school , ensuring a tangible sense of equal importance being placed upon the co-curriculum . From beekeeping to mindfulness , scuba diving to public speaking , our aim was to create stretch and challenge for all by ensuring students are exposed to a wealth of opportunities they might not normally get outside of the school gates .
Floreat , translating as ‘ let flourish ’, came about following an extensive curriculum review amid the 2020-21 Covid confusion . A new timetable structure became the catalyst for deepening the school ’ s provision in the co-curriculum . Undertaking a forensic analysis of the school ’ s core academic curriculum afforded the opportunity to examine closely the net time afforded to each subject and to eventually build greater choice of subjects into the year nine timetable , a year in which many students have in some senses already tentatively pencilled in their GCSE flightpath . This key change meant that no substantial curriculum time was lost by any subject area across the school , allowing Farringtons the scope to reimagine what the co-curriculum might look like .
“ This was not solely about consolidating our already impressive offering of clubs , societies , sport and creative arts and wrapping them up within the timetable ,” headteacher David Jackson asserts . “ This was a chance to be bold and ambitious and to give students something completely new as part of the school day .” The gamble has paid off in terms of student buy-in and parental satisfaction . In a situation mirrored across the country , many parents report that the challenges they continue to face in the context of the pandemic has led to reduction in the available time for them to enrich their child ’ s interests beyond school .
Tellingly , as part of this year ’ s extensive round of interviews for year seven places for the next academic year , prospective parents frequently cite their interest in what Floreat might do for their children in the years to come . The Farringtons Floreat programme offers a very real sense of choice and of independence to students , a chance to make mistakes and to learn from them in an environment which allows them to grow . At a time when , for many , the school environment can feel more high stakes than ever , a good co-curriculum is more than just a list of clubs and societies . A good cocurriculum is about developing the key skills of teamwork and leadership that will serve them well both at university and in the workplace . It is about building a culture in which students can acknowledge those vital and inevitable mistakes that are made along the way in finding out who they are , and something they see , alongside their academic studies , as being very much part of the learning journey .
www . farringtons . org . uk
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