Extra curricular club ideas?

[AuroraFloyd]

I'm an English teacher so a book club was my first thought but it's a deprived area so getting copies of books may be difficult for the kids and I don't want to cause issues there.

What clubs go down well for you?

Do they actually turn up?

Film club

Drama club

Coding club and chess club are 2 my son wishes were run at his school!

At my (small SEN secondary) school we have an anime club, board game club, quiz club (a different themed quiz each week and a running leader board), film club, drama club, team building, music club, lots of sports, science club, art club, cooking club.

We have a lot because we have a lesson of “extracurricular” every day where the students choose what to attend.

Making a magazine - can be specific e.g. film/music/book reviews or open-ended e.g. mixture of reviews, interview with a newish member of staff, interview with a student who's in a position of responsibility or has achieved something special, some vox pops (go round the school and ask students and staff their views on X), survey, written debate (e.g. two students write a piece each on one side of an argument), some stuff about recent sports/technology/science/space etc. news stories, and usually there's always at least one page devoted to fashion.

PDF it and upload it to the intranet to save printing and environmental costs.

Board games with word association - scrabble, up words etc maybe a spellathon or word meanings

Set up a competition and see if there are any local school who'd join in a team event - kids love contests

Sorry, my last post was excessive, I'm sure you know what kind of thing to put in a school mag. So sorry!

If you have iPads you can down load a lot of books for free from Amazon

STEM Lego club goes down a storm!

Film club was a massive hit at my dcs primary. They had a waiting list!
They watched the film over a couple of weeks and then did some creative work around it. Drawings and film reviews. Teacher did a great job of engaging the kids but without making it feel like they were ‘doing work’

My son's school have loads including:-

Lego
Coding
Boardgames (monopoly, cluedo, etc)
Dungeons and Dragons
Debating
Card games (bridge etc)
Science fiction and fantasy
Tech

Could you not get a library on board with a book club? I agree that you would need to provide the books. Have you been told you have to run a club? Do you want to be actively leading the club? Some clubs just need you to provide supervision in a room for the kids to hang out in while they do their thing - eg play games - board games for instance - and its worth thinking about that as an opportunity to provide a quiet calm space for kids to hang out at lunch with like minded friends. It also means you can get on with your own thing in your room . I’m was just today talking about a knitting/ crochet / making club - not that I am good at these things but there will be kids who are and also an excuse to eat lunch out of the melee.

Other option is to base it round things you like doing yourself . I’ve run an environmental club before and a gardening club . Don’t tend to bring in hordes of kids but those that do come tend to be REALLY keen .

Our English department run a debate club. Might be just the sort of thing a deprived area needs to improve oracy?

Another vote for Dungeons and Dragons! Or a similar RPG - there are simpler ones which might be easier.

Or creative writing - they get little enough chance to do that in class. Properly supported and sharing their work, working on a piece over a number of weeks etc. Not 'marked'!

There's lots of STEM and sports clubs already so I'm leaning towards the film, board game and newspaper ideas. RPG sounds good but I don't know how to play any myself.

I can knit actually, but I wonder how much demand for that there would be in a boys school?

Agree with others - film club, book club if you can provide books, board games, make a magazine, chess club.

Lots of boys learn to knit! It's great for their motor skills.
Are we talking primary or secondary?

Lego, boardgames, photography and chess are most popular IME.

Doh- secondary, yes? (Boys' school, but deprived area, probably not single sex primary then!)

A school magazine is a great idea.

For board games, you need things that are quickish to play:

King of Tokyo
Machi Koro
Love Letter (don't be put off by the name!)
Geisteblitz

Drama games are popular at my school (google Theatresports, there's heaps of games available). No materials to buy either.

Another vote for Lego club and board games
Warmahmmer
Stop motion animation too

In my school the book club is called Cake Club. They discuss a book each week and take it in turns to bring in a cake, the only stipulation is that we are a nut-free site.

Challenge club (each week there is a “challenge”) is v popular at my child’s school

Definitely debating. Look at Kings and Queens if Soeech in YouTube (sky documentary series about debating in schools in deprived areas). There are lots of resources on line.

Another vote for debating, my school isn’t in a deprived area but it adds loads of value to all attendees. English speaking union have loads of resources on starting up a club, then once you are up and running competitions with other local schools, then onto all the national competitions like MACE, oxford schools, debating matters etc.

LockedOutOfMN I found your post really helpful - thank you