Extra-Curricular

At St Margaret’s we place great emphasis on developing the child as a whole. In addition to accessing a full and varied curriculum, our children are encouraged to participate enthusiastically in a wide range of activities, both at school and in trips further afield.

The extra-curricular programme, which is available each day at school, offers a breadth of activities and aims to encourage children to take on new challenges, in addition to building their confidence. It also expands their interests, both on an individual and team basis, and encourages them to take responsibility for the choices they make. Giving our children a balanced curricular and extra-curricular programme aims to ignite interests and helps to provide the key life skills.

"Pupils’ achievement in extra-curricular activities such as music, drama, swimming and sport is excellent throughout the school."

ISI Inspection Report

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Extra-curricular activities usually take place during the extended lunch-break and after school. Our younger children are provided with a small but varied range of activities, as we recognise the importance for them to develop their social skills and imagination during sessions of free play outside.

Older pupils are able to select from a wide range of activities, which complements and enriches the curriculum while in some cases, provide completely new experiences. Some sport and music activities such as Swim Squad and Orchestra are by trial or invitation, in order to develop the children’s skills to the full.

Most of our normal extra-curricular programme is run by St Margaret’s staff, but we also offer specialist provision in group activities such as Tennis, Yoga, Ballet, Judo and Rock School, which do incur a termly fee.

In order to provide variety and reflect the seasonal nature of sport we offer in excess of 30 clubs a term. Some activities change from term to term, however, to give you a flavour of what’s on offer, clubs range from Art to Choir, Construction to Gardening and Magical Maths to Mandarin.

SCHOOL TRIPS

During their time at St Margaret’s, our pupils are given the opportunity to complement their studies with a range of trips. Typically, younger children visit places of interest including Westonbirt Arboretum, Roves Farm, Sevington Victorian School and Chepstow Castle. Children in the Prep Department have enjoyed The Living Rainforest, Clifton Suspension Bridge, STEAM and Portsmouth Historic Dockyards.

Residential trips always prove to be very popular with children and staff alike. Residentials start in Year 3, when the children camp in the school grounds, supported by our staff and an energetic team from a local outdoor pursuits company. Year 4 children visit The Mill on the Brue Activity Centre in Somerset, where they take part in activities such as archery, zipwire and grass tobogganing; it's also a very important time for team-building, bonding and drinking hot chocolate!

Children in Year 5 enjoy a Swanage and Durdle Door geography field-trip. Here they study the Jurassic coast and conduct interviews with local residents, ultimately forming the basis of a research project for the area. Finally, our Year 6 pupils spend a week at UKSA in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. As well as being a celebration of their time at St Margaret's, the children embark on a journey of personal development. Again, this holiday is based on team participation, but also includes experiences such as keelboating, kayaking, paddleboarding, dinghy sailing and raft-building. Everyone is encouraged to participate in all activities, regardless of experience! This trip really is a huge hit with our pupils, and the perfect 'full stop' to their time at St Margaret's!