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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

What extra curricular activities to choose?

38 replies

Hellenabe · 26/04/2023 09:50

I'm really glad I stumbled upon this forum as I've been wondering whether to sign my children up for activities for a while now but didn't have the finances.

How did you decide what to go for? We have tried piano but my children didn't love it and we didn't have the space for a piano. Swimming lessons locally are hugely expensive (80 pounds for 30min). I really want my children to do more than me (I was very academic but nothing else). Im just not sure where to start. Ages are 6 and 7.

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Hellenabe · 27/04/2023 06:34

Thanks for all your tips, I'm going to look into a few things over the next few months. In terms of ages for instruments, how old would you say to start? We tried piano but they didn't take to it (at 5) but I think that was the teacher plus we just didn't practice much

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Hellenabe · 27/04/2023 06:29

Unfortunately Rainbows is a no because of the timings, I'd need to take them from school to there but I'm also working. At the moment I can get away with the school pickup (1hr round trip) but not going back out again to the same area for another trip to get then to Rainbows during the working day, unless I take a cab

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Hellenabe · 27/04/2023 06:24

Starlitestarbright · 26/04/2023 21:29

£60 per an 8-10 week block is very reasonable I'm a swimming teacher and that's in line with what we charge.

@Starlitestarbright that's per lesson!!! This is London!

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Muchtoomuchtodo · 26/04/2023 21:30

Where do you live (roughly)? Those swimming coats are ridiculous

scouting has been a firm favourite here. Loads of different activities and very cheap compared to other things.

ours have both learnt an instrument too - first in school, then privately in secondary

rugby and football are good for team sports and usually fairly cheap.

Starlitestarbright · 26/04/2023 21:29

£60 per an 8-10 week block is very reasonable I'm a swimming teacher and that's in line with what we charge.

Kickingupmerrybehaviour · 26/04/2023 21:28

Mine love football, swimming and brownies. Football is the favourite though. We have in the past done drama, dance, gymnastics, ballet and netball. I’m afraid it can be a bit of trial and error until they find what they really like.

Hellenabe · 26/04/2023 21:24

Hi, no it's 60 actually, per child for just 30min

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tailinthejam · 26/04/2023 14:06

Agree with swimming being a life skill, and doing that until they can at least swim reasonably well.

Are there any school clubs they could join? Drama, dance, sport of some sort?

horseymum · 26/04/2023 13:21

Do you mean £80 for a block? It really is hugely important for them to learn to swim. Here the council sometimes does a week course where they are giving trainee teachers support, they are loads cheaper. I did find however that paying for private lessons was more efficient than the council weekly ones. If you are on a limited budget, cubs or girls brigade/ boy's brigade provides a range of activities and is really social.
If you want a musical activity, choirs are usually really cheap, or group guitar lessons. In Scotland we have 'active schools' which provides blocks of different sports free as after school activities, it's great. They are often run by local clubs hoping to sign kids up but you could just treat it as a multi sport taster through the year. Don't stress about filling up every minute though, they will enjoy their spare time. You can often get multi sport camps in the summer which let them try out things and double up as child care.

budgiegirl · 26/04/2023 12:09

A lot depends on your child, and what they like to do but, being a cub leader, I would always recommend beavers/cubs. It's very reasonable (usually works out at around £3/4 per session) and, depending on the group, the children get to participate in a whole range of different things. For instance, this term alone we are doing a theatre trip, a visit to an agricultural show, archery, a trip to an airshow, a family hike and bbq, and a weekend of camping - all free or cheap. This is on top of the weekly meetings.

Scouting is the only club that my children stuck at for a long length of time.

The swimming lessons sound expensive, but learning to swim is important. You could always take them to family swimming sessions and teach them yourself, which would probably be cheaper, and more fun.

Hellenabe · 26/04/2023 10:42

Thanks both, I'm a single parent so can only commit to say one activity after school (tennis) and one Sunday.

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HowManySunflowers · 26/04/2023 10:31

Lots of clubs offer a free trial session, so you could go along to a few and see what your DC enjoy?

Mine are sporty so do football, netball, cricket and in the past have also done tennis, dance, gymnastics and beavers / cubs.

maxelly · 26/04/2023 10:28

It's been a while, mine are grown up now and it feels a bit to me as though children didn't quite do so many activities at such a young age as is normal now. For me swimming was the only absolute must as for me that's a safety thing (lessons only until they were competent swimmers, could do a length of the pool without touching the bottom etc, then we just took them swimming at the local pool casually). Other than that it was just dependent on their interests and what we could afford at the time, one child was into horses (my hobby also) so that did take up a lot of time and money so I wouldn't recommend lol! One turned out to be quite musical so we started her off with taster lessons on a variety of instruments until she found the one she liked best then did regular private music lessons on that from 7ish onwards, plus saturday music school/band from 11ish onwards I think, from that she asked to start a second instrument so did some extra classes for that, at secondary school she joined school choir and also did music theory and joined extra ensemble and performance groups etc (her school was quite musical luckily so lots of activities arranged via school). My youngest boy was more sporty but also not really a 'sticker' to any one thing so we did a lot of chopping and changing between different activities which he'd do for a term or two at a time before getting bored and whingy and asking to change to something else, think we went through football, touch rugby, cricket, tennis, scouts, karate, cadets, cycling proficiency, drama/stagecoach etc over the years, he didn't get to a brilliantly high standard in any but all good general experience and confidence/fitness building etc., he's more of an 'all rounder' than a specialist!

Where to start, you know your kids best, what kind of thing would they like, something sporty or more artistic, more outdoorsy or indoors, a group activity or more individual, then google what's available in your area and that fits your budget and schedule. Ideally I'd look at something that will let you do taster sessions or pay as you go rather than having to commit to a terms worth of lessons at once or commit to buying lots of expensive kit or equipment when you don't know if it's something they'll enjoy yet. Maybe look at brownies or cubs as a good all-round start as they do all sorts of different activities as well as being community minded which is a nice starting point? But generally I'd say don't feel too much pressure to fill their whole schedule with loads and loads of formal/organised extra curriculars at this young age, the main thing I'd say when they're this little is that they have lots of time for play and to use their imaginations, you can encourage this through doing crafts etc with them at home, encourage them to develop a love of reading (through library books etc), play music and dance together, take them out locally to parks or the countryside etc at weekends and holidays and so on. There's lots of time for their talents and interests to emerge as they get a bit older....