The Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA) program is an integral aspect of life and learning at Island School. A wide range of activities are offered, under the broad categories of creativity, leadership, service, and sport. These experiences encourage self-discovery and empowerment as students can choose to embrace new interests and pursue their passions. This can serve to consolidate and extend the learning that happens ‘in the classroom’, supporting students in their endeavors to be the best that they can be.
ECAs represent an invaluable opportunity for students to connect, collaborate and forge meaningful friendships. This supports them in their quest to develop global competencies, as this form of experiential learning can cultivate communication, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, character, and citizenship.
ECAs are a cornerstone of school life at Island School. Our commitment to the student experience, led to a significant review of the ECA program during the 22/23 academic year. Given our commitment to student agency, this review was led by a group of student leaders, who undertook an extensive review of the program that involved surveying parents and students and subsequently made a number of suggestions to enhance the program from the student perspective. In addition to realising the student leaders request to significantly expand the program, we also sourced software to help us administer the program. Fundamentally, this will ensure that ECAs are allocated based on the preference system.
Notably, we have introduced an elite sporting program. This provides access to expert coaching for student-athletes who are eager to pursue their sporting passions further. This involves access to a number of training sessions throughout the week, along with specialist strength and conditioning sessions led by a professional instructor.