Join the Club! Extra-curricular at Net School

Did you know that as well as our subject classes, Net School runs a variety of free, extra-curricular clubs for our students? At Net School, we believe that it is really important for our students to balance their academic studies with hobbies and creative pursuits, as it is now understood that spending time on an activity that you enjoy can improve your mental health and overall wellbeing. Studying online also has the potential to be isolating, and so being part of an online club is a chance for our students to socialise informally with others from different year groups whilst exploring an interest or learning a new skill. Since we started out in 2013, Net School has run many clubs, from Chess and Coding to Spanish Speaking and Survival Skills (students went out at the weekends to build makeshift shelters in local woods!). During the Covid Crisis, our clubs and especially our Wellbeing Drop-ins became especially important, providing a place for our students to share their concerns and worries as well as lightening spirits with quizzes and chats about hobbies, pets, recipes and ways to stay fit whilst at home.

Recently, Art Club has been especially popular, with the sessions hosted by Ms Laney each looking at a different artistic theme or style, prompting students to come up with their own responses. Pop Art, van Gogh and ‘Under the Sea’ were recent topics – see some great examples of the work above. We are excited to see what fantastic work is produced this year!

For those who prefer to put their ideas down in words, Creative Writing Club, led by Ms Earl, produced some wonderful prose and poetry. And for students who prefer non-fiction writing or think that a career in journalism might be enticing, there is the Net School Newspaper Club, which pulls together contributions from across the student community each term – our latest edition can be read here. This year we plan to launch a Music Club, and are always open to teachers and students putting forward ideas for groups they’d like to run. If you would like to explore how a Net School education could benefit your child, please contact us to find out more. Our featured image is a Pop Art inspired tribute to Dr Who, by Art Club member Tegan H.