After School Clubs
We are extremely proud of the range of clubs that we offer! They are part of our vision of all of our pupils being joyful and knowing that they have many skills and abilities to develop. They also equip pupils to succeed as they develop resilience and personal skills through their commitment to the different activities. All of our after-school clubs are free-of-charge. Below are a selection of the clubs we’ve offered recently to give you a taste of what we provide.
Expedition Club
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Aimed at Upper Key Stage 2 pupils, Expedition Club is an enormously exciting addition to our afterschool offer from September 2022.
Each week in school and around the village we practise the core skills needed for successful expeditions: map-reading & navigation, route-planning, cooking, campcraft, first aid and emergency procedures.
After a full half-term of training, Expedition Clubbers put their skills into practice with an overnight expedition and hike.
In our first full expedition in October, all 8 of the Year 6 pupils in the Club completed an journey from school which included a 5-mile hike and overnight camp, cooking their own meals and pitching their tents independently.
The club provides confidence and resilience for pupils to succeed in later life, as well as deepening their connections to the local environment and boosting wellbeing and giving opportunities to better understand our impact on and relationship with nature.
It also provides chances to deepen understanding of locational and place knowledge within the Key Stage 2 Geography curriculum.
Woodwork Club
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Woodwork Club has previously been focused on Class 1, but from September 2022, KS2 have the opportunity to develop their cutting, carving and crafting skills too.
Under the supervision and advice of Brad Dalzell, a local joiner, the pupils have been cutting, sanding and shaping exciting projects from blank plywood boards into beautiful ornaments.
This term they have been building fantastic wooden bird mobiles, which they can’t wait to finish and take home for Christmas!
This club has been a great chance for pupils to develop their creativity, improve their fine motor skills and, importantly, hone their mathematical skills in measure, calculation and geometry.
Art Club
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Art Club is open to Years 3-6.
In Art Club the Class 2 children have a fantastic opportunity to experiment, explore and express themselves through all sorts of mediums and materials. It’s always a popular choice!
Particularly at the moment we feel it is very important that children are able to find ways to express themselves and process their emotions after what has been a difficult period. Art Club is a great space for children to do that through creative projects and through following their individual interests.
Art Club also allows the children to develop their artist skills in a smaller group, with expert input from Rosie James, who runs the club.
Book Club
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Book Club is open to Years 3-6.
It’s important that if children sign up to book club then parents/carers commit to supporting their children to complete the required reading each week.
In Book Club we pick a book to read together over the course of a term or half-term. As well as being an enjoyable time to spend together, it’s a great chance to read for pleasure and improve our reading comprehension skills.
It’s also a opportunity to dig a little deeper into the world-views, experiences and ideas that we encounter in literature.
In the past we have chosen contrasting books such as The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, and Northern Lights by C.S. Lewis and Phillip Pullman. Exploring books like these alongside each other is a great way to think about how two different authors can approach the same topic from very different perspectives.
The club forms part of our Christian vision as we seek to cultivate a love of learning and a desire to understand the worldviews & experiences of others so that we can better relate to them.
You can see a discussion about The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe from a previous incarnation of Book Club in the video above.
Code Club
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In Code Club we have a fantastic time developing our programming and computing skills. We use software like Scratch to create our own animations and games, and we have built games controllers for our own games, as well as for classic arcade games like Asteroids.
Cross Country
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Cross-Country Club is open to Years 2-6.
We are surrounded on all sides by beautiful fields and fells, so we love to enjoy them and keep fit by running!
Anyone from Year 2 upwards, of any ability, can join in cross country.
We train every week and regularly compete with other schools and clubs across Cumbria, achieving some incredible results.
First and foremost, however, cross-country is about finding time for yourself to recharge in the open air, and taking satisfaction in beating your own times.
Cross-County Club helps to fulfil our Christian vision of equipping pupils to succeed by developing resilience and a sense of joy in what they can achieve if they keep going. It is a club where our Christian value of endurance really shines through!
Gardening Club
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Gardening Club is open to all year groups.
If you’ve got green fingers then this is the club for you! Barbara Allwright leads the club and under her expert guidance you will soon be growing all manner of edible delights in the school’s beds and planters.
If you don’t know your runners from your radishes… this is the club for you too! Mr Prescott helps out and he couldn’t even tell you which way up a carrot should be. We’ll learn together!
Gardening Club is a great place for children to supplement their curriculum science learning, but it’s also a simply superb opportunity for children to develop a sense of wonder at the natural creation, building patience and wisdom as they tend to the beds and wait for the vegetables to secretly grow!
Messy Club
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Messy Club is open to Years Reception – Year 2
Messy Club is the chance for Class 1 children to really explore and experiment with all sorts of different art materials and methods.
It’s a chance to work together and individually on exciting creative projects, all whilst developing fine and gross motor skills, communication skills and artist talents.
Messy Club gives an opportunity to all children to feel joy and success in their creativity.
Most of all its a fun and enjoyable time together where the process is what matters, not the final product!
Music Club
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Music Club is open to Years 3-6
Music Club is open to all children regardless of their musical ability and their previous experience. Before Christmas the Music Club participants went from zero – hero in a term, learning a demanding piece of hand-bell music and performing it for the whole school and the Christmas DVD!
Come along and we’ll learn some simple notation and music theory as we practice playing through new pieces together.
Music Club is part of our Christian vision to have joyful pupils who take pleasure in the skills they are developing, and who are learning to serve and bless others through sharing their musical gifts.
Dance Club
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Dance Club us open to pupils from Rec – Year 6 and has been a popular outlet for pupils who love music and movement.
Pupils from Dance Club took part in our Christmas Performance, however the focus of Dance Club is less on performing and more on being active, having fun and connecting with our bodies in a healthy way.Dance Club is led by Molly, who has a wide experience of dance, specialising in Ballet but covering many different styles. Pupils are supported and encouraged to express themselves through dance in a safe, fun and caring environment
Camera Club
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Thanks to Generous Support from the Friends Of Dent, we have been able to purchase equipment for Camera Club, and pupils enjoyed learning the basics of the exposure triangle, composition and purpose. Over several weeks the pupils unleashed their creativity, with some brilliant attempts at portrait, nature, sports and reportage photography.
As well as learning the specific skills of balancing the controls to create effect, the pupils were able to practise evaluating, editing and interpreting their work. All the pupils enjoyed the club, and it was a wonderful way to connect with the emerging spring nature around us on the grounds and around the Dale.