VR3 Co-Curricular Activities

VIRTUAL

Co-Curricular Activities

As you can imagine, I am determined that the co-curricular life of the College should continue as far as is reasonably possible this term. It is really important that all elements of Radley are reflected in the virtual school, and we are working hard to ensure that this is the case.

The timetable for the day has been altered slightly, as you will see from the shape of the day document on the same web page, but co-curricular activities remain a central part of the term ahead. The calendar will be sent to you on a weekly basis, so that you are all aware of the events on in the week to come.

I hope very much that all boys will have an enjoyable Summer Term, and that they will not only enjoy as many of their ‘usual’ experiences as possible, but also avail themselves of lots of additional options, not least the opportunity to engage in volunteering in their local communities. There is a separate document to give ideas on this.

There will be an exciting programme of Music and Drama activities throughout the term: •

Central Hour will be used for some musical activities, as now

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Music lessons with visiting music teachers will continue online through the day: parents and boys involved have been written to. LAMDA for 6.1 will also continue to run following the usual timetabling format.

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Vocal and instrumental ensembles will rehearse towards new projects, including some 'virtual' ensembles, and there will be a Virtual Concert Hall with weekly concerts for the whole community to enjoy (live or recorded).

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College Musical rehearsals and the various Music, Drama and Dance workshops, competitions and masterclasses will also be happening, along with Shell Show preparation. Many of these will take place in the evening slot from 7.30pm onwards, often with options for boys to join 'live' or take part at another time.

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Particular highlights over the term will be the Ferguson Singing Competition, Battle of the Bands, a song-writing and covers competition, the Peter Cook Monologue competition, the Haddon Cup Workshop and a virtual Warden's Music concert.

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Mr. Gladstone and Miss Buse will be in touch with all of the boys concerned, but please do take the time to watch highlights of some of these events, which will be shared online.

Similarly the Monday Activities programme for Shells (pre-CCF and DofE preparations) and CCF for all Removes and NCOs, will be happening in a modified format. Of course many of these would have been very ‘hands-on’ this term - learning to cook outside, pitching a tent, mountain-biking or indeed the naval section on the river - but we hope to be able to replicate as many of these experiences as possible.

Monday afternoons will also be an occasion for boys to volunteer locally, as appropriate, or engage in other activities organised by dons, or as detailed below.

The long afternoons (Tuesdays and Thursdays) will be divided into three 45 minute slots.

From 2.40pm there will be a games session for all boys (as there will be from 4.30 on a Friday).

This will be organised by Mr. Gaunt, the Director of Sport. There will be different levels so that all boys of varying abilities can participate, and sessions will combine fun and fitness. After that the other Activity Slots can be used by boys as they see fit: Strength and Conditioning, wet-bob

and dry-bob extra training sessions will all be available and notified to boys, as will further activities, and more academic endeavours such as UCAS preparations. These, along with the evenings, can, as normal be used for Prep.

One of these activity slots may well be used on occasion by Form Masters so that they and their boys can engage in an activity together. There are many free online resources (for example films, opera, ballet, theatre productions, cookery classes) that forms can ‘attend’ together and then discuss.

We also want boys to enjoy a range of weekly ‘challenges’, so these Activity Slots will also be time to hone existing skills or discover new ones. Mr. McKegney is devising a programme of different activities involving such categories as Science & Nature, General Knowledge, Film, News and Culture, Practical, Drama, Music and Theatre. I very much hope that there will be something for everyone each week, and that all boys will be interested and engaged.

Finally we are keen to log and monitor as many of the boys’ achievements this term as possible.

This will primarily be organised in forms, and the form master will be the first port of call in making sure that boys are enjoying their full Radley experience this term.

All forms will be organised on the Teams platform, and the Class Notebook facility should allow us to record all the things that boys will be doing. There will also be links to the CoCurricular and Sports sites through Teams. Video clips, photographs, posts and Twitter (through Social handles) will also be an excellent way of recording the term’s activities.

Inevitably, much of the above depends on the engagement of the boys. We know that not all will be able to join in everything and that family circumstances differ. But we hope that all the boys get as full an experience as possible.

I very much hope that it will be an enjoyable term for all.

Niall Murphy Senior Master