d'Overbroeck's College Oxford

... Music, sports, drama and art are delivered in a spectacular variety of contexts to enrich the learning and development of all our pupils.

Leckford Place is a new school with all the attendant opportunities for growth and development this implies – in every area. Of course the creation of a first rate educational environment must be top priority but this doesn’t just mean traditional classroom based learning.

From the first we wanted to provide all of our pupils with an experience that put activities going well beyond the classroom at the very heart of their learning. This was a task made so much easier by our happy location in the heart of Oxford with theatres, sports grounds and facilities galore for us to use. It was also facilitated by our versatile and talented staff, whose ranks just keep on growing, and by our enthusiastic children who make the whole thing so worthwhile.

Indeed, in creating our programme of extra curricular activities we have put the aspirations, talents and interests of our students well to the fore- many of the pursuits they now enjoy have actually come from their suggestions - fencing, capoeira (an exotic Brazilian martial art) and the Leckford Place riding club being just three examples where the school has responded positively to pupil requests.

Whilst many activities, such as sailing and jazz clubs, take place after school, we have also incorporated an activities afternoon into the school timetable. Each and every Wednesday students can get involved in a range of pursuits- to dip into ‘Grease’ in Music and Drama, get creative in Art, save the planet in Green Club, beat the Orcs in Warhammer, develop talents in Photography , make a racket in badminton, kick a few ideas around in football club, the list goes on….

When you add to this a vibrant debating society and public speaking competitions, a nascent Duke of Edinburgh scheme, a newly formed choir, and the opportunity to play just about every traditional team and individual sport along with extras like golf there’s plenty to be getting on with. But never forget that as a new school there is plenty of flexibility and plenty of room to develop and to grow; who knows what’s on the activities menu next!

We may be a small school but we are certainly big on opportunity!

(First published in the Oxford Times on Friday, October 20th, 2006)