Enrichment

At Selborne, our curriculum extends beyond the National Curriculum to include a wide range of enriching experiences both within and beyond the school day. We care about children’s cultural capital and their personal development. We recognise our role when enabling pupils to experience activities that they might not have access to in their home life and the role of promoting an understanding of, and respect for, people, families and communities beyond their own.

Cultural capital at Selborne is underpinned by our ethos of ‘Inspire and Achieve’ and is evident in every aspect of school life. Whilst at Selborne, pupils will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of different careers, participate in a broad range of extra-curricular activities, take on leadership roles, and develop their character and personal interests. Pupils know that individual differences should be valued; they understand how to be resilient, reflective, and to have empathy and respect for one another.

Below is a list detailing some of the ways we achieve this:

Hobby clubs and Booster clubs

Our specialist club programme is designed to link with and enhance the school curriculum for all age groups from Reception to Year 6. All clubs are run by experienced and qualified staff, who have a passion to inspire pupils and help them to develop new skills. Hobby clubs include sports, art, music and languages. Booster clubs are organised through special invitation and help pupils to achieve their academic potential and be high achieving. Further details can be found using the Clubs tab.  

Trips and visits

Trips and visits take place throughout the school year, in all year groups. We are fortunate to use free TFL travel to access everything London has to offer. Pupils go on excursions to places such as museums, palaces, zoos, places of worship, that link to their curriculum studies. We even subsidise trips to take pupils to experiences like their first West End theatre show or being a pilot for a day at Kidzania in Westfield. These experiences are often beyond the financial capacity of most of our families. We also invite external speakers to deliver talks and workshops. A very popular experience includes the workshops we host about historical periods such as the Vikings and the Stone Age. The pupils dress-up for their theme day, too.

In preparation for their next stage in education, pupils in Years 5 and 6 visit local high schools (including the independent sector) such as St. Benedict’s and Notting Hill and Ealing High School for a variety of activities and experiences.

Year 3 enjoy experiencing Victorian School on a school trip to Gunnersbury Museum

Residential visits

The residential visit in Year 5 builds children’s independence and provides opportunities for learning within different contexts and settings. The 4-day PGL visit to Osmington Bay in Dorset includes opportunities to learn archery, rock climbing and to work as a team. It is often also the first time pupils wake up to a sea view and paddle on a beach. See PGL Trip page for more information.

Sport

Our wonderful PE Leader takes pupils on lots of different sporting trips. Through this, pupils try out new sports such as Boccia and Ten Pin Bowling. Throughout the year, our pupils compete with many other schools in Ealing Borough and often succeed in bringing back medals and trophies. We also host numerous sporting competitions here on our enormous field, including the KS1 Shilling Cup. Pupils recount their sporting experiences in whole-school assemblies to motivate others, promote healthy lifestyles and model positive attitudes to physical exercise. The PE Leader additionally accompanies groups of children at the weekend to major sporting events to allow them to experience competitive sport at national level and act as mascots, on the pitch, at the start of the match. One highlight was when our cheerleading team danced at the QPR stadium at half time. 

Pupils as Leaders

We are passionate about developing leadership skills in all our pupils. We want to ensure that they can grow their confidence to stand out from their peers with pride when they leave our school. Positions of responsibility are awarded through either democratic vote or submitting an application to the teacher responsible for that area of the curriculum. Leadership roles include School Council Representatives, Reading Ambassadors, Eco Warriors, Junior Travel Ambassadors, Forest School Ambassadors, Health Champions and Selborne Young Leaders. However, the most sort after position is the House Captain. At the beginning of every academic year, Year 6 compete for these leadership positions. Pupils deliver speeches at house assemblies (Desert, Ocean, Rainforest and Savannah) in KS2 and pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 vote for a girl and boy House Captain and a Sports Captain.

More information about these leader roles can be found under ‘Pupils’.

Curriculum resources

Our school is extremely well resourced to enhance learning experiences. All classrooms contain a reading corner filled with age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books to inspire and engage pupils. Our reading motto ‘Reading is your window to a new world’ is displayed across the school. In addition to permanent classroom resources, curriculum themed boxes containing books and resources, including artefacts, matched to our curriculum, help pupils develop a love of reading and enrich their interest in taught subjects including history, geography and religious education.  

Assemblies

A programme of assemblies based on our values and ethos bring the whole school together to celebrate pupil achievements and share curriculum learning. Each class from Reception to Year 6 lead assemblies throughout the year. Families are invited to watch their child perform. Assemblies also help to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and provide clear guidance for pupils on how to grow up to be the best person they can possibly be. This is partly achieved through the presentation of weekly certificates based on our 6 keys. As well as the class assemblies, each term pupils also take part in:

• Key Stage end of term certificate assemblies
• safeguarding assemblies,
• behaviour star assemblies (to reward pupils who have kept their stars)
• special visitor assemblies
• sports celebration assemblies
• music performance assemblies
• subject assemblies (subject leaders host assemblies to promote their subject and subject discipline and share general messages)

Music

Pupils take part in a wide range of musical activities beyond the National Curriculum. Singing assemblies bring Key Stages together on a weekly basis. We have a school choir who help lead the Christmas and Easter assembly. Pupils in the choir also take part in an annual concert at stadiums in London. Those who are learning a musical instrument on or off-site, or sing are asked to perform in our whole school assemblies, showcasing their talent and impressing parents. See the Music tab for more information.

Forest School

Our Forest School is designed to provide opportunities for outdoor learning in a natural environment.  As a school we are very fortunate in having our own Forest School and a teacher trained to deliver the Forest Schools’ programme. Children just blossom in our outdoor provision and have so much fun with their learning. See Forest School tab for more information.