Enrichment Activities
Enrichment can boost academic as well as sports performance, reduce bad behaviour, promote physical health and mental well-being, while providing a safe, structured environment for our students to work and study.
We see first-hand that enrichment leads to improvements in social competence and academic performance. These improvements can be seen in better grades, completion of homework and schoolwork, development of social skills and confidence in learning and in the community.
Getting involved in enrichment activities helps children to meet new people from different cultures, religions and backgrounds with whom they can share their daily experiences and interests, while improving social skills as a result. Extracurricular activities help them expand their vast network, which proves beneficial for finding various academic and career opportunities in later life. It enables students to be confident in unfamiliar surroundings and when dealing with new environments and situations.
The Benefits of Enrichment:
- Make learning fun
- Boost self-confidence
- A sense of belonging
- Social skills development
- Higher self-esteem & Teamwork skills
- Exploring new hobbies & interests
The main objective of enrichment is to make children strong enough from within so that they are able to solve problems themselves.
We have a 3-tier approach to enrichment at Townsend:
- Co-curricular clubs (lunchtime and after-school clubs) – click here to see what is on offer
- Whole school Curriculum Enrichment afternoons (3 per year) – For one afternoon each term, the whole school is off the normal timetable to have activities within their year group linked to 3 themes: Literacy, Wellbeing & Spirituality and Careers & Destinations. A variety of activities are planned for the students, ranging from outside speakers, workshops, matters of health and development, visits and trips, development of skills such as oracy and planning for the future. These sessions offer students a chance to develop life skills and learning skills for now and the future.
- Trips and Visits – We offer a wide range of trips and visits to all our students. These include curriculum trips, such as field trips and educational visits linked to the curriculum students study in school. We also run a range of trips for extracurricular activities and enrichment opportunities, and pastoral trips, like our residential trip in Year 7.
Previous trips and visits include: Field trips to Swanage, Dartmoor, St Albans, and local rivers. Trips abroad to places such as Ypres, Berlin, Iceland, Auschwitz and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Workshops for subjects such as Maths, English, Science and Drama GCSE and A-level. Biology field trips to North Yorkshire. Art galleries and museums like the Imperial War Museum and the National Gallery. The Whitechapel trip to London for Year 11 History. The Houses of Parliament, Food Technology and Business Studies trips to Cadbury’s World and Jimmy’s Farm, to name just a few.
Older students also have trip offers for activities that will support their onward journeys after Townsend, for example university open days, UCAS events and visits to the University of Cambridge for the scholars programme, trips for careers and The Apprenticeship Show.
Activities Day in July – The whole school attends a trip/visit/onsite enrichment activity. Examples include: Chessington Park and Zoo, Alton Towers, footgolf, Whipsnade Zoo, Blenheim Palace, Lea Valley Watersports trips, bowling, countryside walks, Harry Potter World, Milton Keynes shopping, cookery, arts and crafts, drawing workshops, snooker and pool, Hampton Court and Southend-on-Sea.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast club is on every morning from 8.00 am.
