Co-curricular Enrichment

When we look back at this enrichment year in the future, we’ll see it as a year of innovation and problem solving.

We started in September with a scaleddown, socially distanced version of the College Carnival, with only the new pupils to the College able to attend, and with only the COVID-friendly activities exhibited their activities. Despite this, and the first wet Carnival in years, there was a palpable buzz of excitement on Armoury Field as the Third Form in particular found out which clubs were still going to run – and how – despite the challenging circumstances.

That positive energy carried through into the Wednesday afternoon enrichment programme, with pupils from three different year groups throwing themselves into a range of activities such as Real Tennis, Mountain Biking, Chess and Model United Nations (MUN). When we found ourselves away from College in January, due to the Lent Term lockdown, staff and pupils successfully amended their activities and adapted them to the online environment. One particular triumph was the adaptation of the dissection activity, replaced by a “Science in the Kitchen” project, with pupils being guided through simple experiments to conduct at home. Others were able very quickly to take their activities online, with, for example about 40 pupils joining Chess tournaments through the internet, and the “What else is in the news?!”looking hard for topics beyond COVID and Trump to discuss over Teams.

Perhaps the strongest positives to have come from this year have been when pupils have embraced things to do when their usual things to do were gone. The Master led the way, starting up an online Cryptic Crosswords group that saw a good group of older pupils engaging in word play and taking great satisfaction from working out the challenging clues. Other online successes saw groups looking at Bullet Journaling, Photoshop skills and even Bread-making, using the time at home to share skills and passions that are difficult to do in College.

The return to College in the Spring highlighted just how much enrichment activities can bring us together, and that a shared interest or passion not only helps our learning, but also brings joy through friendship and light relief. The Third Form took part in a competition led by the Co-curricular committee, with points awarded for participating in various activities after lessons, and a select group of pupils took a breather from their academic studies by learning to juggle with astounding success! At the calmer end of the scale, origami has been the method of calming escape for another group, creating boats, bunnies and other intricate models from paper, under the expert guidance of the Mandarin Department.

Looking forward, we very much hope that some of the enrichment and recreational clubs from recent years will be back in play from September. We have undoubtedly learnt a great deal this year though, and will be looking to use our online experience to help us link up with other Wellington schools in the group.

Academic Extension Engagement in academic extension has been fantastic this year across all year groups with everything from Fireside talks, one-off events, regular clubs & societies and external essay competitions. Fireside talks continued virtually with attendance at record levels. Particular highlights included Professor David Olusoga’s “Black and British: a Forgotten History” which considered the importance of understanding our shared history which 240 students joined. Debates and book clubs have proved particularly popular. Guy Zilberman and Allegra Nayar defeated the teachers in the Factfulness debate, which considered whether the world is getting better or not, and a group of Lower Sixth students convinced the audience we need to stop targeting GDP in order to address climate change. The Junior Extension book clubs discussed a huge range of topics including Psychology, Philosophy, Sports Science, Race & Culture and the Environment. Academic departments organised many outside speakers, a particular highlight was the mathematician and poet Harry Baker. Every week students and staff organised 30-40 different academic clubs, such as the Environmental Society, InvestSoc, and the LGBT society. This year, we hosted the inaugural inter-school Academic symposium , an inter-disciplinary discussion of ‘Exploration’, with students from St Crispin’s, Edgebarrow, Bradfield, and Wellington College all presenting. Our Lower Sixth students have been particularly keen to extend themselves by entering external essay competitions, with 28 Wellingtonians shortlisted for the New College of Humanities essay competition across a range of categories. It was equally wonderful to see 24 Third Form pupils entering the John Locke Junior Essay Competition.

The Co-curricular and Academic Extension Enrichment programmes have responded to the challenges of the COVID world with a combination of flexibility and innovation. Instead of mourning what could no longer be done (cross year group activities, visiting speakers, etc.) staff and students have instead concentrated on what was possible, using ingenuity and technology to continue to provide diverse and challenging co-curricular opportunities.

Iain Sutcliffe Deputy Co-Curricular July 2021