Co-Curricular Activities Roundup

Co-Curricular

Activities Roundup

Autumn Term 2024

DAS, Cubs & Green Power Racing

The boys started the new Co-Curricular Activities Programme with excellent enthusiasm, which was unsurprising! A few impressive statistics to kick-start the first write up of the year; there has been a 98% uptake of boys taking part in activities (214/218), of which the average number of clubs attended per boy is four clubs per week, showing just how keen the boys to make the most of the opportunities presented to them. This year we are pushing for 100% participation so if you/your son is one of the six to not be signed up to a club yet; please come and find me!

The breadth of the boys’ clubs span across the all pursuits in order to encourage the enrichment of each individual and total 54 different activities across the week. Of these clubs, sporting activities make up 32%, music ensembles 24%, academic clubs account for 19%, 11% of clubs being creative, artistic and drama-based, 7% STEM and Coding and 7% Outdoor Learning and Community-based.

This week’s write up looks at the start of two of the larger clubs on the programme: DAS and Cubs; as well as Green Power Racing.

DAS

DAS is an integral part of the Senior School at Davenies as it teachers the boys invaluable skills designed to enhance their all-round education and teach them essential life skills. The aim is for them to leave Davenies well prepared for the next stage of their educational careers.

To integrate Year 7 into the programme, both year groups enjoyed a DAS Movie and Pizza Night last Friday. This was a wonderful way to bring both year groups together and set expectations for the exciting year ahead.

This week, Mr Tennant and staff set about telling the boys of the high expectations expected this term. There are a host of really fun things for the boys to learn new skills by practicing in unfamiliar environments.

Most skills that will be taught will be needed in the future as being part of a team in their jobs e.g. committees, etc. At some point throughout the term, all boys in Years 7 and 8 are going to experience being a leader and in charge, as well as being in a team that is led. All boys need to be the best they can in both roles, just like in their future workplaces where they will need to be able to switch roles and skills to navigate careers.

As mentioned, leadership and teamwork are the skills that will be in action this Half-Term. The session started with ‘What makes a good leader?’ Having had the pleasure of welcoming back the 2019 Alumni during the first week of term, they all spoke of the skills they learnt in DAS as being essential to their senior schools.

Cubs

Cubs have been thinking of others this week as they discussed what charities they would like to support. Further, a select number of Year 5 Cubs gave up their time over the weekend to help Akela serve food at the Beaconsfield Literary Festival at St Mary’s Church as part of the 2024 Beaconsfield Community Festival. They enjoyed conversations with the community and were excellent ambassadors for the School. Thank you to Karan, Fred and Bas (Year 5) for their volunteering.

The boys also enjoyed their first Stalking of the year, as well as litter picking, and had a drive on badges with Akela setting the challenge for the Silver Scout Award.

Henry (Year 6) was welcomes back by Akela to be awarded his Silver Scout Award and talk the current members of the Pack through what was involved in order to inspire and challenge them to achieve the same great award.

Green Power Racing

The Club has come a long way since this time last year as the race car arrived in flat-pack. Owing to the commitment from boys and staff alike, the structure is now complete and boys are turning their eye to working on the electrics in order to get the car running. It is an exciting term ahead! Thank you to everyone who has been involved so far.

Here’s to another wonderful, productive and enjoyable year of enrichment!

Mr S Fryer, Head of Activities

The Outdoors Project, Ninja Coding, DAS, Junior Choir, Indoor Cricket, Touch Rugby

The activity programme is well and truly up and running as it continues to gain momentum, demonstrated by the boys having made a fantastic start in the Outdoors Project After School Club, exciting progress in Ninja Coding, problem solving and quizzing in DAS, the splendid sounds of the Junior Choir, some fast-paced bowling in Indoor Cricket and dynamic running of lines in touch rugby.

The Outdoors Project

The boys have made a fantastic start at the Outdoors Project. Each week brings a new theme and challenge which the boys have embraced and risen to on each occasion. Some of the highlight so far have included:

•Learning about Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and creating their own Moai Heads out of clay

•Burning some energy in Nerf games whilst showing compassion for others and practising their teamwork

•Working collaboratively to make rope using the Nordic swing braiding method

Future sessions this term include: nomadic fire walking, Bear Island Shelter making, campfire cookout, Zelda arrow head making and much more! Spaces are still available, sign up via the website: https://www.theoutdoorsproject.co.uk/wycombe-the-chilterns/

Ninja Coding

In Ninja Coding, boys have been introduced to the hardware and software that they will be working with this term. They have been programming and coding the microchips to make sounds and to display colour.

DAS

Over the last two weeks of DAS, boys have been given a range of different activities, in addition to the start of DAS Whacky Weekends with the boys going to to London for the ‘Moonwalkers’! This weekend they are off to be flag bearers on the pitch at the Saracens v Exeter game.

In their Monday evening sessions, boys were building on previous weeks to create a scene from Harry Potter – the sorting ceremony. This consisted of appointing a leader for the team who were the actors. There was both great leadership and teamwork on show throughout all the groups. The purpose of this was to look at what makes good leaders and teammates. After each take, the groups were encouraged to reflect on what could be done to improve even further with teachers emphasizing the importance of feedback.

During Week 5, the boys were split into teams and took part in a seven-round quiz. There was brilliant sportsmanship on show and the results will be revealed in next week’s session!

Junior Choir

The Junior Choir continues to impress and grow in numbers. Over the last few weeks they have been rehearsing the ‘Land of the Silver Birch’, which is Canadian Traditional, and performed this brilliantly Lunchtime Concert earlier this week. They are now starting early on their rehearsals for Christmas!

Indoor Cricket

Indoor cricket provides our keen cricketers with the perfect opportunity to continue to hone their bowling and batting skills. A few courageous members of the group also faced the bowling machine!

Touch Rugby

With the rugby season in full swing, and some impressive results being posted by all age groups, the touch rugby club have been using their time to practise running their green and amber calls. It is great to see this paying off on fixture afternoons!

With one eye on next week, the hopeful cast of Senior Production will watch Matilda in preparation for their show.

Mr Fryer, Head of Activities

DAS, Senior Production, Chess and Experimental Art Club

Over the course of this half of the term, boys have collectively taken part in well over 400 separate activity sessions ranging everything from swimming to hand bells, experimental art to green power racing. Boys have been given the opportunity to try a whole host of activities in order for them to find their passion and pursue it. After a busy half of term, it is nice to reflect on the many achievements of the boys as well as look forwards to what they can expect in the second half of term.

DAS

The Senior School have embraced the spirit of DAS with all making progress in their leadership and teamwork. This was best illustrated this week by a host of groups taking part in a number of Team Challenges – Taskmaster, and the Mannequin Challenge next week. Taskmaster followed the TV programme and it was great to see all groups embrace the Davenies Code in their teamwork. The inflatable beach ball was a big hit! The Mannequin Challenge refers to a viral video trend in which a group of people are filmed frozen in position like mannequins. The task on Monday will be to create their own video, set to music, using the boys’ entire group. We will then come together to enjoy the clips.

On top of the weekly DAS sessions, Years 7 and 8 have enjoyed a group Pizza Night as well as a trip to London for the Moonwalkers! Most recently, the boys were flag bearers on the pitch at the Saracens v Exeter game. There are many more to look forward to next half of term.

Senior Production

Sticking with the Senior School and Senior Production’s Matilda as auditions will have been completed by Half-Term. Well done to all who auditioned and we look forward to following the cast on their journey to curtains up next year! Any questions on Senior Production in the meantime should be directed to Mrs Marshall, or the boys can use the new Senior Production Team to check the rehearsal schedule and when they are needed.

Chess

In Chess this half term, the boys have been coached to enable them to take their level 1 and level 2 certificates later in the term. They also looked at the first ever recorded game of chess in the 1500s with the two power houses Spain and Italy year old game off chess. The standard of play has improved, and Mr Sayers will be offering selected students the chance to join the County squads.

As such, the boys have been enthusiastically competing in the autumn ‘ladder’ competition. Additionally, I have set up a ‘Puzzles’ competition with its own prize at the end of term, puzzle solving is an excellent chess training tool and I can already see the benefits in the boys’ play.

Experimental Art Club

The Experimental Art Club has had a fantastic start to the year! The talented group of 12 boys crafted charming trick-or-treat clay bowls, featuring carved pumpkins and beautiful glaze transfers to enhance their creations.

Following this, they designed exquisite clay industrial lamps, showcasing the exciting intersection of functionality and artistry. These impressive works will be on display during our Open Morning and later in the year at the Summer Term Art Exhibition.

Looking ahead to the final few days of term next week, please see notices below:

Monday 21 October:
No Coding Club at lunch.
No Cubs.

Tuesday 22 October:
Breakfast Club is running.
Senior Production Rehearsals WILL run.
No other morning, lunch or after school clubs for Years 3 – 8 owing to ACE Day.
Junior Prep, Prep and Late Prep will run.

Wednesday 23 October:
Breakfast Club will run as per normal in the morning.
No other morning, lunch or after school clubs for Years 3 – 8
Junior Prep, Prep and Late Prep will run.

Mr Fryer, Head of Activities

Cubs Remembrance, Gymnastics Success & DAS

It has been an extremely purposeful and productive few weeks for the boys in the Co-Curricular Programme! These highlights feature the Cubs at Remembrance, IAPS Gymnastics success and DAS.

Cubs took part in a variety of different activities this week including learning about Remembrance and they played their part in Remembrance Sunday in Beaconsfield Old Town on Sunday. The boys ‘marched’ with their colours to the war memorial, where they joined members of the community for a short service and laid a wreath in commemoration.

In gymnastics, we sent two dedicated teams to the IAPS National 2-Piece Championships at St Catherine’s, after weeks of focused training with lead coach Sarah. The boys performed brilliantly and represented Davenies with pride. In the U9 category, Daniel, Benjamin, Finley, Alex and Arthur earned a team silver, with Finley placing 6th, Benji 5th, and Daniel crowned U9 National Champion. An amazing achievement!

The U11 team of Mishay, Jonathan, Xander, Sebastian and Rex also secured team silver, with Mishay placing 2nd, Jonathan 4th, and Xander a solid 8th in a tough group.

Notably, for several boys, this was their first national competition, and their poise and skill were commendable. They will compete next at the National ISGA event on 24 November. A huge congratulations to all involved!

With leadership at the forefront of DAS, Mr Tennant and Mr Sergeant have introduced an award element to it for leadership and teamwork – key skills needed at Senior Schools. The boys are now ready to embark on the next stage of their leadership and teamwork off the back of a great first half of term. Year 8 have certainly led the charge and Year 7 are rising to the challenge.

The new half of term introduced the boys to their projects: Endeavour (Year 7) and Dragons’ Den (Year 8). These are exciting new opportunities for boys to develop the key attributes such as approaching tasks with consistent positivity, clear engagement and output and setting a fine example, all of which DAS is all about.

These are two extended projects that the boys will take part in in their own year groups. The Year 7 Endeavour Project gets the boys to deliver a presentation and speak passionately about their chosen topic. The skills needed include public speaking, which is key to learn and find how they best deliver their talks. They will find that this develops over time. The boys will also have the encouragement of friends and a chance to deliver their speeches a number of times. They will also need to plan a presentation.

In addition, the Year 8 Dragons’ Den Project focuses on starting up a company and pitching their ideas for investment to various stakeholders from teachers to parents! We look forward to seeing how the senior boys get on.

Mr Fryer, Head of Co-Curricular Activities

Gymnastics ISGA Champions, Outdoors Project, Senior Production & Cubs Cycle

Weeks 12 and 13 have been filled with highlights and events that the boys have naturally thrown themselves into. These have included DAS leadership, further gymnastics success at the ISGA Championships, Outdoors Project, Cubs Cycle and Senior Production.

Gymnastics @ ISGA Nationals

The gymnastics squad continue to go from strength to strength, following success at the IAPS earlier in the month, as they performed wonderfully at the ISGA National Gymnastics event at Habs Girls school. The boys had to perform a floor sequence with bonus points for adding more advanced skills, along with two vaults.

Under 9 team

Benji BL

Daniel B

Finn B

Arthur D

Joshua H

The Under 9 team came 2nd overall to claim silver.

Daniel came 2nd individually.

Joshua came 5th individually.

Thank you also to Finn who stepped in with less than 24 hours’ notice to take part. He scored a commendable 8.9 on vault. For Joshua this was his first National representing the school and he came away with 5th place!

Under 11 team

Mishay

Jack R

Sebastian F

Rex

Xander

Jonathan

The U11 Team finished as National Team Champions.

Mishay was crowned National Champion

Jack came 3rd

Sebastian came 6th

Mishay wowed the vault judge with a perfect score of 9.5 out of a 9.5 start value! He was highly commended by the judge who came to talk to him afterwards. He fought hard to gain his National placing again.

Jack was a solid all rounder and came 3rd with a well-presented floor routine.

Sebastian took his first individual placing in a higher age category.

Their next National is a 4-piece event in February and everyone in the club is looking forward to their end of term showcase.

Cubs’ Bike Ride

Akela and the Cubs enjoyed a fantastic afternoon cycling the Jubilee River last weekend. It was wonderful to welcome along so many families along to take part too. The route was 10 miles long from Maidenhead to Eton and back again, along the Jubilee River. The boys showed wonderful bike safety and awareness of the public.

Outdoors Project

Boys continue to explore the outdoors in their club and have taken part in a range of activities. Every term, the Outdoors Project choose some exceptional club members to win the termly Outdoors Ambassador Award for their efforts in the club. These will be announced next week!

Senior Production

Sticking with the senior boys, the cast list for Senior Production’s Matilda is out and rehearsals have started. Well done to all who auditioned and we look forward to following the cast on their journey to curtains up! Any questions on Senior Production should be directed to Mrs Marshall, or the boys can use the new Senior Production Team to check the rehearsal schedule and when they are needed.

This has inspired our younger budding actors in Year 4 Drama Club to explore characters and create short scenes. This week the boys enjoyed using props to develop their characters and bring them together in an improvised scene.

Mr Fryer, Head of Co-Curricular Activities

Lent Term 2025

DAS, Senior Production, Drama Club, Chess Club & Running Club

The start of a new term always brings with it the excitement of trying something new and a fresh start to explore a new passion. The range of over 50 activities on offer this term aims to cater for each individual boy so that they can pursue their interests in enrichment over the course of the Lent Term and beyond. School Council also meet termly to discuss ideas about new clubs and we were delighted to be able to launch Basketball Club off the back of School Council’s suggestions last term.

DAS Whacky Weekends has started up with Year 8 enjoying a Steak Night at Miller and Carter and Year 7 making the most of their Curry Night at the Old Bengal last week. In school, both Year 7 and 8 are working towards nearing completion of their projects. DAS is an integral part of the Senior School at Davenies as it teachers the boys invaluable skills designed to enhance their all-round education and teach them essential life skills. The aim is for them to leave Davenies well prepared for the next stage of their educational careers.

The Year 7 Endeavour Project gets the boys to deliver a presentation and speak passionately about their chosen topic. The skills needed include public speaking, which is key to learn and find how they best deliver their talks. They will find that this develops over time. The boys will also have the encouragement of friends and a chance to deliver their speeches a number of times. They will also need to plan a presentation.

In addition, the Year 8 Dragon’s Den Project focuses on starting up a company and pitching their ideas for investment to various stakeholders from teachers to parents! We look forward to seeing how the senior boys get on when they present in a few weeks.

Senior Production has hit the ground running with curtains up Matilda at the end of the Lent Term. The boys are working hard with both a drama and music rehearsal each week. A reminder also to look out for the ad-hoc music rehearsals on a Thursday which can, again, be found on the Senior Production Team.

On the topic of drama, as part of the Year 3 Drama Club, the boys have been covering the LAMDA Introductory Stage Two examination material. The boys have the option of entering for their LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) exam this term and please refer to the letter sent by Mr Leeland. Pupils will speak one poem (options attached) from memory, audibly and clearly, with appreciation of meaning, and maintain a short conversation with the Examiner about a picture, photograph or postcard. Pupils will also be asked to describe their favourite activity.

Chess Club have started preparations for entering The Delancey UK Chess Challenge this term as well as the start of their internal ladder matches. Players score points and the more points they get, the more prizes they get.

Well done, also, to Running Club, for braving the cold conditions to get the KMs in early on a Tuesday morning!

If you are yet to sign up to any of the Activities on offer then it is not too late and please contact me to arrange Activities.

Mr Fryer, Head of Activities

Lent Term Highlights

With the Activities programme coming to an end for the Lent Term, this week has been a crescendo of finals and competitions. This week’s highlights cover a breadth of activities from over the last half of term.

In Chess, we have been holding our annual UK Chess Challenge competition this term. The boys all received badges and mascots, then other prizes as their points increased. The competitions were very hard fought.

Well done to all those who took part, along with the winners in both clubs. The Tuesday club (for Years 3-4) produced the following result:

1st = Adeep (19 points)

2nd = Finnian (Play-off runner up)

3rd Krishan (17 points).

Finnian and Adeep also debuted for the County Under 9 Team, where along with existing County player Dougie Handcock managed to win and help the team reach the National Final.

The Wednesday club (for Years 5-6) produced the following result:

1st Neil (20 points)

2nd Ruben (19 points)

3rd = Aarav Gupta and John Jenkins (16 points)

Neil, James and Ruben are also Buckinghamshire County Under 11 Team players. We wish them luck in their upcoming County matches. Next term the boys will have the opportunity to sit the Institute of Chess exams and gain chess certificates. We also intend to compete in a team competition against local schools.

Well done to the boys in Eco Club last term as back in the Autumn Term, Miss Thompson ran an Eco Warriors after-school club. Five green-fingered boys from the Junior School created bug hotels, bird feeders and bee-friendly posters. Details of their work and efforts were sent off to Blue Peter and each of the boys has since received their green Blue Peter badge. These were presented during a whole school assembly and we are all very proud of them. These boys included: Felix, Ben, James, Arjan and Hudson from the Junior School.

Horrible Histories Club have travelled back in time to the period of the Ancient Egyptians. The boys have been learning about mummification this half term and had great fun working together as a team mummifying their pharaoh! The boys also have been busy travelling back in time to the prehistoric age learning about life during that period. Dougie very kindly presented his fossils collection to the group. Fantastic listening skills and contributions shared.

The Creative Construction Club took part in a number of different challenges: The longest bridge, the tallest tower and the most entertaining marble maze were just some of the team challenges taken on by our ‘creative construction-ers’ this term! They also had plenty of opportunities to produce their own creations which included paper castles and costumes, space stations and a variety of aircraft.

In gymnastics, some gymnasts too part in the Chesham Prep Competition: Finn, Benjamin and George. A super success and well done!

In the Outdoors Project there was a little ceremony at the club where two boys were presented with a certificate and a patch for being chosen as our Outdoors Project Ambassadors. Well done to the following:

Jasnoor	Jasnoor is a kind and respectful young man who always approaches new activities with enthusiasm and a positive attitude. He gets along well with everyone, making him a valued and supportive part of the Outdoors Project family.
Joshua	Joshua always has a smile on his face and brings lots of creative energy every week. He is a constant source of positivity at the clubs and gets stuck into every activity with full enthusiasm.

It has been a wonderful term of activities, rounded off by the incredible Senior Production – Matilda! – and I wish the boys (and parents!) a wonderful break!

Mr Fryer, Head of Activities