If you have kids in secondary school what do you think were the most beneficial activities pre secondary?

[Bookwanderer]

My dc do loads of clubs & extra curriculars, enjoy them all. Just out of curiosity what extracurriculars would have been of most benefit to your dc's in secondary?
Swimming a non negotiable for mine.

Football. DSs football team mates are like his brothers.

Thank you. I would imagine footie will always stand to kids.

It will depend on your kids. Mine are sporty and enjoy football and cricket so play for teams outside of school. This means that they have the confidence and skills to try out for the school teams. It may sound a bit trite but there is definitely social capital in being able to play football (disclaimer: I have boys). Our state school has clubs that aren't sports related too so kids will be able to find likeminded friends in comic club / choir / misidentified clubs etc.

Misidentified?! Music!

Swimming

football - for the fitness as well as the team mates and all the learning that comes from being on a team over a long time.

There’s also a great benefit in that most local teams will have children from several local primaries so they will know a variety of children, not just from their own school, when they start secondary.

Mine were in a very small primary and this was a big plus for us.

Scouts was good for my youngest. He has ADHD and having fairly strict scout leaders I think has been quite a good thing for him and also he got used to making new friends.

Things they enjoy
Things they want to do
Swimming

Drama is the one that's made the most difference to ds.
However part of that is he has a lovely friendly group that is really supportive of each other. They go and watch each other in different things, cheer each other on and generally get on really well.
He's not that into drama but he loves going because of the social side.
However that isn't always true of drama groups, so take your time looking. Ime it's down to the leaders.

Football and air cadets.
Lots of camaraderie in both and fitness plus in cadets he did first aid, survival and all manner of courses inc DofE gold, learnt to fly a little and also how to iron and polish shoes very well.

Anything that also teaches your dc about boundaries in a friendship... Making good friends is much harder after primary school....Encourage your dc to bring teammates home for tea! You also getting to know them is vital ime.
Helps prevent bullying when their mates know their families! Ds's all did football. Still see those mates now at 21 and 19. So do I!

Football. Quite a few of his football team as well as his school friends turned out to be in his form, it's made Yr7 a thankfully very easy transition.

Anything that helps them stay fit and active is always a plus, swimming is a must but also things that help to learn new skills, builds confidence, resilience, teamwork, commitment and helps to widen their social circle.

Sorry posted too soon.

Finding something they like and enjoy that they can continue through secondary school is really beneficial.

Something where they have ‘their people’, separate from school.

DS’s interests overlapped into school and thus gave him an ‘in’ into school extra-curricular.

DD’s interest had almost no overlap into school but was a whole different world where she was known and valued and nurtured.

Both meant they had a different peer group available for moments when school was socially tricky.

(Swimming they didn’t continue after they could swim multiple lengths in each stroke well - significantly pre-secondary. It’s a life skill but not social, and once that ‘box’ was ticked we didn’t continue lessons)

Rugby and Beavers/Cubs for the DS’s and Rainbow’s/Brownies and a singing group for DD - anything that they enjoyed that wasn’t related to school and which gave them something to focus on.

It makes me a bit miserable that football always features prominently for this kind of thing - a pp is right about the social capital, but that's a bugger if your kids aren't interested in football, as it seems to be a bit make-or-break in terms of friendships for young boys. I really hope mine are able to navigate this as they get older, but it's definitely contributed to an "us and them" mindset at school. Great for all the kids that enjoy it though 👍

Football, hockey and Scouts for DS, swimming and drama for DD.

I think football. My 2 eldest ds's played in a team for years and are still all good mates. My ds1's love of football also led to him doing a sports related degree and now working for a football team doing something he loves. I think scouts and brownies are also really beneficial as they all got to have whole weeks away in the Lake District doing activities with their friends that we never could have done with them and this had built confidence.

Scouts. Its given her a lot of confidence and friends. Shes quiet non sporty and dyslexic so there wasn't really anything she shined at at Primary school, but she was really good at Scouting stuff (she's a Patrol Leader at 11yo for example).

So I think the best answer is... something they are good at that gives them confidence. Be it chess or theatre or football or dance... anything really.

Anything that gives them friends outside of school. This is so important.

It depends entirely on the child. Probably the best for my Dd has been Junior Lawyers Club. It's very skills based and those skills are really showing in secondary school.

Out of school activities (scouts, youth groups) which enable friendships across the age range. It makes the older kids in secondary school a bit less scary.

Scouts for like skills and networking.
Swimming is obviously an important life skill, but my dd, like so many girls, packed up with puberty.
Sports are useful for networking.
Music and martial arts can count towards uni points if high levels are achieved.

Great replies thank you so much! Keep them coming!