Co-curricular Activities

Co-curricular ActivitiesCo-curricular activities enhance and build on children’s experiences and learning within the school. Activities contribute to children’s intellectual, social, cultural, and emotional development. They meet a variety of needs and cultures within the school community and will be used to build links with the wider community. We expect all students to participate in some form of regular activity outside school hours to promote their general health and wellbeing. Teachers provide extra-curricular activities in areas they are passionate and knowledgeable about.In addition, student-led CCAs are offered alongside teacher-led activities. Student-led CCAs are run by secondary students, usually targeting primary students, and have a teacher mentor to guide the students and develop their leadership skills. 

Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of students participating in the CCA programme. This progress has allowed us to invest more resources into developing and expanding the programme. We believe that it is important for all students to engage in regular activities outside of school hours for their overall health and wellbeing. Therefore, we encourage all students to get involved in some form of extracurricular activity.

We are happy to share the new CCA Handbook 2024-25, which contains a complete overview of the CCA’s for this academic year. In the handbook you will find a schedule for each year group, as well as instructions on how and when to enrol.

KEY DATES

Term One  

Monday 2 September – enrolment opens
Monday 9 September – enrolment closes
Monday 16 September – CCAs commence
Friday 6 December – Term 1 CCAs ends

Term Two      

Monday 25 November – enrolment opens
Monday 6 December – enrolment closes
Monday 13 January – CCAs commence
Friday 28 March – Term 2 CCAs ends

Term Three     

Monday 10 March – enrolment opens
Monday 24 March – enrolment closes
Monday 28 April – CCAs commence
Friday 20 June – Term 3 CCAs ends

Please Note: In order to allow as many students as possible to participate in a CCA, activities will be registered on a first come/first served basis. However, where activities are over-subscribed, students who are not enrolled in any other activity will be given priority over students who already have an assigned CCA. If you choose to sign your child up for more than one CCA, preferences will NOT be accounted for. It will be presumed that your child is happy to do any of the CCAs. Registering for a CCA does not mean you/your child has been accepted (when the system shows ‘Registered’ or ‘Accepted’ beside the activity name, it does not necessarily mean your child has been enrolled). Students who are accepted and enrolled in a CCA will receive an acceptance confirmation via the ESF App.

Sign-up for CCAs and Sports occurs via the ESF App (for parents) and the Ding! platform (for students). 

Guide to enrolling in activities via the ESF App

Year 1 – 6 (Primary): Parents enrol and approve

Year 7 – 13 (Secondary): Students enrol, and are then required to have parent approval

Co-curricular Activities Rules

  • Students may choose in which terms and in which activities they enrol.

  • Students may choose the same activity as they have done previously, or change activities at the start of a term.

  • New activities may be added from term to term.

  • Activities that involve sporting competitions may require a commitment to practice sessions and competition fixtures, including uniform/travel expenses.

  • Students (primary and secondary) must wear Cobra Sports uniform for all sporting activities. To purchase your Cobra Sports kit please click here.

  • Students commit themselves to their choices at the start of the school year/term.

Organisation of Co-curricular ActivitiesAt the beginning of the year and at the end of term one, term two, and term three a co-curricular activity list of all proposed activities for the next term is prepared and placed in the school newsletter “The Explorer”. It includes:

  1. activity title and leader

  2. the age range of students

  3. the proposed term, day and duration, venue 

  4. activity requirements and expectations

Note that those activities published are proposed activities only. The school reserves the right to change or cancel activities where it sees fit. Information regarding changes is published in The Explorer. Enrolment will remain open for activities that have availability throughout the entire Term period.

  1. All co-curricular online enrolments are on a “first come, first served” basis. However, where activities are over-subscribed, students who are not enrolled in any other activity will be given priority over students who already have an assigned CCA. No waiting lists are carried over.

  2. As such, attendance once enrolled is compulsory. Students must notify the club leader if they are unable to attend an activity session.

  3. Students who are accepted and enrolled will receive an acceptance confirmation email prior to their sessions commencing.

  4. Activities will only take place if there are sufficient numbers to run the activity. In the event a co-curricular activity is cancelled due to a lack of numbers, a notice will be placed in The Explorer.

  5. The school reserves the right to refuse an application or exclude a participant if his/her presence has a negative effect on the activity.

  6. In the event of cancellation of an activity, students will be contacted via their class teacher and automatically placed on school buses where appropriate. Primary students’ parents will be contacted to advise of activity cancellation

  7. In the event of the cancellation of activities, make-up classes will not be arranged.

  8. In the event of illness or injury, make-up classes will not be arranged.

  9. In the event that a coach/tutor is unable to take their activity due to an unforeseen circumstance, DC will attempt to make alternative arrangements.

  10. Students who have to wait for activities to commence must wait in the library unless helping with other activities.

  11. In general, activities are purposed for attendance by students and so it is not appropriate for parents to be present. At the discretion of the coach/tutor, parents may be permitted to observe briefly from time to time (e.g. to watch a few minutes of a sports training session in which their child is participating) but only where this is requested in advance and expressly permitted by the coach/tutor. The coach/tutor’s decision is final in such matters.

  12. Students are not permitted to enter any of the co-curricular activity areas unless their tutor is present.

Please note: no make-up lessons are offered due to sickness, inclement weather, suspension of classes, or school closure.