ENRICHMENT & OPPORTUNITIES
Our educational philosophy enables students to develop and engage in a range of opportunities outside the classroom, which supports the development of a wide range of skills. Our enrichment offer is central to our curriculum structure, with an extended 50 minute lunch break structured to offer a range of clubs and activities every day.
Our own Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), The Discovery Society, acts as an umbrella for all of these activities, which fall into 7 categories:
Discover Arts
Discover Crafts
Discover Enterprise
Discover People
Discover World
Discover Games
Discover Sports
Students can achieve awards in each of these categories:
Bronze Award for participation and skill
Silver Award for volunteering to help run the club
Gold Award for leadership of club activities
Our programme of lunchtime enrichment is constantly under review, and our current lunchtime enrichment programme can be found below. Student can be signed up for these activities very easily via our parent’s arbor app, and guidance on how to do this can also be found below:
Enrichment Booklet Guidance to Sign Up
There are also a range of activities and particularly, sporting fixtures which take place after school, and students involved in these are responsible for making their own arrangement for collection at the end of any after-school activity. Any of our students in Years 7 – 9 will receive a letter for parents/carers to sign before beginning any after school enrichment activity. There may be occasions outside our control where enrichment/fixtures are cancelled for unforeseen circumstances. In this circumstance, students and parents/carers will be told as soon as possible. Students should then contact home to arrange collection, using the school phone in the pastoral office or reception. Students awaiting collection should wait in our school reception until a parent/carer is on site. Our policy in relation to this can be found here.
Our approach to curriculum design recognises that formal lessons and classroom practice are only the framework around which a holistic educational experience hangs. We are continually seeking new opportunities to bring the curriculum to life through experiential learning, which includes community projects, visits to the town and other local interest sites and an expanding range of overseas visits. Our curriculum is designed as 7-year developmental process, from age 11 to 18.
Very early in Year 7, the whole year group spend a day at the Frank Chapman Centre to help them bond as tutor groups. This sets the tone for their time at Bewdley, with the fundamental importance of developing both social and leadership skills central to our philosophy. As they progress through their schooling, students are encouraged to engage with a rich and diverse range of activities.
Outdoor learning is of fundamental importance to us, and many of our students choose to take Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Bronze begins in Year 10 with Silver in Year 11 and Gold in the Sixth Form. In addition to the one, two and three night expeditions, students complete activities relating to Skills, Service and Physical Recreation, with Gold Award students also completing a Residential Project. It is common for over half of Year 10 to take the Bronze Award, and the impact on their teamworking skills, confidence and capacity to show initiative is immeasurable. Year 11, 12 and 13 students are also able to take part in Operation Wallacea, which is a 2 week biodiversity expedition, with a week in the rainforest and week exploring coral reefs. You can find out more here.
Many other opportunities are mentioned in our Partnerships page, which include our Community Action programme, university partnerships and our International Curriculum. There is a vast array of curriculum-linked opportunities for students to choose from, which are on the following pages and continually updated.
