Co-curricular
“Children need to go to the theatre as much as they need to run about in the fresh air. They need to hear real music played by real musicians on real instruments as much as they need food and drink. They need to read and listen to proper stories as much as they need to be loved and cared for.
The difficulty with persuading grown-up people about this is that if you deprive children of shelter and kindness and food and drink and exercise, they die visibly; whereas if you deprive them of art and music and story and theatre, they perish on the inside, and it doesn’t show.”
- Sir Philip Pullman
We look to ignite each child’s curiosity, reveal their hidden talents and make sure all our children fulfil their extraordinary potential so our co-curricular programme is designed to do just that!
It is broad and deep, and designed to widen horizons, inspire and offer stretch. Our teachers are passionate about their specialisms and their enthusiasm is proven to be infectious as children keenly explore uncharted territories, amaze themselves, unlock talents and delight in the mastery of their skills. With the introduction of Dulwich Inspires! in Upper School, Wednesday afternoons have been revolutionised. Children can choose to play competitive sport or choose from an array of exciting options.
Let’s. Let’s seize the day.
When it became clear that things weren’t going to return to normal in the summer term 2020, we designed an 8 week online whole-school programme to embolden children to embrace change, take risks and throw themselves headlong into school life.
Each fortnight we focused on a different skill or discipline to make learning fun, challenging and encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zones: Let’s Sing; Let’s Create; Let’s Dance Our Socks Off; Let’s Write; Let’s Keep Moving Forward.
We kicked the programme off with rainbow portraits to encourage the children to really explore how they feel and see themselves. Through the See Saw app children exchanged observations about themselves and their peers. Children blossomed, compliments flowed, and most delightfully we saw children re-assess their earlier lockdown art projects and have another go.
By the end of the summer term every child had challenged themselves and learned the magical power of the word ‘Let’s’. Through the programme, and with the support of our comprehensive wellbeing curriculum, our children became noticeably braver. They inspired each other. We’ve seen greater participation in class, with a palpable increase in confidence and overall willingness to take a risk.