Elevating Learning Beyond the Classroom

Academic Enrichment is the process by which students are engaged and successful in a variety of settings beyond the classroom. Academic Enrichment should be fun, different from regular classroom based learning, well-planned, well-led and challenging for all learners.

One key part of our enrichment programme is our after school activities provision to enhance the children’s learning while providing them with new challenges after school. In addition, In Primary, through our enrichment lessons, we are also giving children a taster of new ideas and skills that may lead them to learning different subjects as they progress through the school or take up new and exciting hobbies. 

At BSG this year, we have introduced a new approach to enrichment – the BSG Award. We have set out to provide a structure to our programme that provides our students with an opportunity to track their achievements across four key areas throughout the year. These areas are:

• Academic
• Creativity
• Globally Connected 
• Wellbeing

Students complete activities, record hours of engagement and meet described outcomes, in order to receive credits in each of the four areas. Tiers of award (Bronze, Silver or Gold) recogninse their level of participation and achievements in each area by the end of the school year.

The BSG award is closely linked with our ASA programme, with the intention of encouraging students to select a range of different activities that stretch and challenge them, rather than simply picking something they are comfortable with in every ASA option. However, students are also able to receive credits for participation in Community Partnership events, for challenging themselves when on school residentials, for performing in concerts or taking part in school plays. Credits will also be awarded to students representing BSG in competitions, through Global Campus and MIT challenges, FOBISIA competitions and NAE events.

The Primary academic enrichment programme works in a number of blocks through the course of the year. As such, each Primary class will enjoy their enrichment lesson, for example in art for the first block, and then move onto drama for the second block. Some blocks are specific to year groups, such as the introduction of modern foreign languages in Years 5-6.

Primary Academic Enrichment activities:

• Oral Speaking & Drama: During these lessons with the class teacher, children will practice on giving presentations and speaking to an audience. Pulling on resources from Julliard, they will also participate and create some drama. This will culminate in their performance for their class assembly. 
• Global Goals & STEAM Project: Being a part of Nord Anglia, children can access our global goals, focusing each week on one goal, with the aim of sustainable development. These global goals, such as ‘No poverty’ and ‘Climate Action’ will support children in their STEAM project related to the global goal that they are focusing on. 
• Art: Even though art takes places across the curriculum, these art lessons will each have a specific focus depending on the year group, led by Ms. Maggie, our art specialist. Children will be learning about formal elements of art such as line, colour and pattern, studying artists and their art styles, and exploring a variety of art materials and basic techniques in drawing and painting. 
• Performing Arts: Ms. Yuki will support children with her background in the arts as well as using our connections with Julliard in encouraging children to look at different dance performances from around the globe, with the aim of the children creating their own dances.
• Modern Foreign Languages (MFL): Years 5 & 6 students will enjoy learning one MFL then, in the second half of the block they will learn a second. This year the children will have the opportunity to learn both French and Spanish. In these lessons, they will learn how to introduce themselves, give personal information through role-play, sing and learn the basic phonics of each MFL.  

In addition to our ‘in house’ enrichment programmes, this Saturday we were joined by a selected group of providers to showcase the paid ASA opportunities that are available at weekends and in the evenings. These included karate, Lego tech, football, basketball, computer coding, fencing, multi-sports, healthy exercise, swimming, ballet and golf.

With the addition of an extra day of ASAs for students in Years 2-13 each week, and the opportunity for Year 1 students to join the programme for two afternoons a week, our increased provision complements the new structure perfectly and we look forward to seeing our campuses busier than ever during our weekday afternoons and weekends.