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Enrichment opportunities have continued to thrive at College again this year, with dozens of activities available outside the classroom to add that something extra to Wellingtonians’ lives and experiences. Once again, the tone was set with the annual College Carnival; almost thwarted by the heavens opening, moving the societies’ stands indoors only served to intensify the buzz of excitement and anticipation of the year ahead. As ever, live music, street food and demonstrations provided the backdrop for hundreds of conversations about societies’ plans and projects for the year. It rounded off the first days of term magnificently.
Pupils’ enthusiasm for making the most of their time and opportunities at Wellington is inspiring, and the clubs and societies offer a tremendous outlet for that drive. The personal growth that active participation brings is wide-ranging. It embraces cerebral development with departmental academic extension options and is complemented by socialising and networking skills, self-organisation and leadership opportunities, even cultivating an entrepreneurial can-do mindset. Simply the self-discipline to keep attending a club or the chance to indulge their own passion and re-motivate themselves are great lessons for Wellingtonians. The chess club has seen a particular resurgence this year, one ongoing positive benefit of the lockdown experience in recent years. It is increasingly common to overhear pupils talking about games and to see them playing around school, and it was great to see chess feature in the recent Wellbeing Festival.
Amongst other opportunities, the climbing wall has been in high demand again, the Master entertained with cryptic crosswords again in Lent, Open Door has discussed questions about faith, and Menspeak has encouraged male pupils to open up more about their concerns. Clubs and societies have served the community well again this year.
The Wednesday afternoon Enrichment offering has had another successful year. The whole Third Form has again rotated through two 4-week activities, one physical in nature and one non-physical. The aim is to broaden the pupils’ experience within weeks of joining us, so they proactively discover and embrace the opportunities open to them at College. The racket sports options, (a carousel of real tennis, rackets and squash, as well as a 4-week lawn tennis improvers’ option) attract great numbers and introduce our newest pupils to impressive facilities and staff expertise. Golf and mountain biking options also remain popular, with a range of levels and experience in both. The non-physical options available have again included dissection, origami, rocketry, current affairs discussions, art history, DET, and computer science taster sessions. Pupils took the opportunity to try something a bit different, whether that was related to an existing interest or something completely new and to explore topics for pure interest and enjoyment. Pupil feedback and reflection this year have been strikingly mature and positive, deliberately considering how the College values played a part in the activity they completed. Showing respect in tennis to opponents, having integrity in making line calls and keeping score, demonstrating courage in mountain biking or in offering suggestions while discussing “What’s in the news?” were all cited by pupils, showing the value of the activity they had chosen. Truly multi-level learning.
The Fifth Form and Lower Sixth pupils have also had Enrichment options available on a Wednesday afternoon as part of the Global Citizenship programme. These older pupils take an activity for the whole year, deepening their experience and knowledge of a given topic. The Global Citizenship competency of having a sense and security of identity is perhaps the most developed through these activities, so that pupils explore their own motivations and thus identity, before considering how they might contribute to a wider community and empathising with and respecting the identity of others. It shows how one’s own interest can benefit others, the path from the selfish to the selfless. There have been some amazing achievements this year, such as pupils conducting research into ionic liquids before presenting their findings to an audience in excess of 300 and, very recently, the Green Power racing team taking their two electric karts, ‘The Beef’ and ‘The Eagle’ to compete successfully in races at Lotus in Norfolk. The development of sustainable vehicles is looking very promising.
There have been so many ways to contribute to and participate in the Wellington ‘buzz’ through Enrichment, and doubtless there will be more next year. American writer, Jack London wrote, “The proper function of a person is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time”. His sentiment sums up perfectly what Enrichment at Wellington has been this year and will be again in the coming 12 months.
Simon Kirkham – Head of Enrichment
