Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs)
Extra Curricular Activities
“Teach me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember. Involve me, and I will never forget.”
As a top British school in Dubai, we believe in a whole-child education. The academic life of our pupils is therefore complemented with rich and diverse extracurricular activities. There are a number of clubs and societies for every interest, and new ones are established each year to meet the changing needs and desires of our pupils. National representation in sport, debating, music and arts is common and pupils are supported to pioneer the introduction of their extracurricular pursuits, leading to regular pupil leadership opportunities, there is simply something for everyone at Kent College Dubai.
Inclusiveness is central to our philosophy as well as the desire to enable elite performers to exercise and develop their outstanding talents. Our extra curricular activities programme aims:
- To give our pupils opportunities to explore and develop their experiences
- To teach pupils to be responsible and fulfilled human beings
- To give them opportunities that may benefit them in later life
- To expose them to leadership opportunities and skills
- To allow pupils to develop character, social skills, critical thinking and talents
- To boost their CV and/or university application with high profile ECAs that help them stand out
- To support the curriculum that is taught and the values that are installed at Kent College Dubai
Over and above our free ECA offerings, there are also various external clubs and academies that operate out of our premises such as Football, Netball, Swimming, Badminton, Karate, Jujitsu, Padel Tennis, Scouts, Tennis, etc. These external activities can be booked directly with each provider. CLICK HERE to find details of each provider.
Our activities change from one term to the next, and some activities are for Junior or for Senior. Pre-Covid, we had over 100 ECA activities on offer. Currently, we have streamlined our ECA activities according to demand as well as Covid-19 protocols/guidelines given to us by the KHDA. In time we hope to be able to bring back many more of these activities.
Examples of the ECAs we have on offer this term for our Seniors:
ECA | Year Group | Description |
---|---|---|
U13 – U14 Boys Football – Open Training | 8 – 9 | Training for Year 8 and 9 boys who wish to play for the school team or would like to train in a competitive session. |
U19 Girls Basketball – Open Training | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Basketball |
Rock Band by Inspire Music (Extra Charge) | 7-13 | Rock Band is an ensemble for instrumental pupils wishing to perform Rock repertoire as part of an ensemble lead by staff from Inspire Music. Pupils must be able to read music and play one of the following instruments.
Instruments: Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboard, Drums. Please note that there is an extra charge for this ECA. |
U16 Boys Football – FIXTURE | 10 – 11 | School Sports: Football |
U16 Girls Football – FIXTURE | 10 – 11 | School Sports: Football |
Swim Squad – Year 6 – 8 | 6 – 8 | School Sports: Swim Squad |
Aladdin Production (Pre Selected) | 6 – 13 | Students will act in our school musical production: Aladdin -the on-stage show which will be presented to parents and pupils will be in November. |
Kenterprise | 7 – 13 | Students can plan and run a business |
Ecollege | 7 – 13 | Students take part in creating a sustainable school community and environment. They will plan and put ideas into action in school. |
Book Club | 7 – 9 | Reading and recommending books, literature foundation competition inspiration and tips on creative writing, and a visit from an author too! |
Japanese number puzzles | 7 – 13 | For those students who enjoy problem solving and working on activities such as sudoku, Ken Ken, Kakuro, Sankako puzzles and many more! |
Robotics | 7 – 11 | Students will learn how to code and write commands for robots through play. By programming and controlling robots, students will step into the world of science, acquiring knowledge and skills that will be useful and applicable beyond the classroom. |
U15 – U19 Boys Football – Open Training | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Football |
Swim Squad – Years 10 – 13 | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Swim Squad |
U16 – U19 Girls Netball – Open Training | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Netball |
Classical Guitar by Inspire Music (Extra Charge) | 7 – 13 | Classical Guitar club is an ensemble for instrumental pupils wishing to perform Classical Guitar repertoire as part of an ensemble lead by staff from Inspire Music. Pupils must be able to read music. Please note that there is an extra charge for this ECA. Price enquiries can be sent to: admin@inspiremusic.me |
U12 Boys Football – FIXTURE | 7 | School Sports: Football |
U12 Girls Football – FIXTURE | 7 | School Sports: Football |
U19 Girls Basketball – FIXTURE | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Basketball |
Swim Squad – Years 7 – 10 | 7 – 10 | School Sports: Swim Squad |
Dance Club | 7 – 13 | Dance Club is a chance for students to learn a range of Dance Styles throughout the Term, particularly Street Jazz and Contemporary (depending on the interest of the students who sign up). It’s a fun and high energy environment where we can all let loose and enjoy Dancing. All levels are welcome. |
Choir | 7 – 13 | Senior Choir is a non-audition choir for pupils who love singing.
We cover a range of repertoires including popular hits as well as more traditional choral repertoire, with opportunities to perform at various points during the academic year. |
Theatre Improv | 7 – 13 | A chance for students to learn to think on their feet, work with others and partake in some Theatre Sports. |
Introduction to Stage Combat | 7 – 13 | Stage combat is a great opportunity for students to learn about fight scenes in theatre and how to perform them safely onstage. Sessions will be active and fun, and explore basic hand to hand and weapon style combat choreography. |
Family meals – cooking | 12 – 13 | A chance for students to learn kitchen skills, each week they will prepare a meal that they can take home to eat. Excellent preparation for when they go off to university and for being more independent at home. |
STEM | 7 – 9 | STEM education is the intentional integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and their associated practices to create a student-centred learning environment in which students investigate and engineer solutions to problems, and construct evidence-based explanations of real-world phenomena.
At KCD, we will be working on STEM projects to discover, create and build as well as developing practical,teamwork and leadership skills. |
Mindfulness and Mindful Colouring | 7 – 13 | Students will practice meditation and engage in mindful colouring to help them keep calm and prepared for the days ahead. |
Jigsaw Club | 7 – 13 | Work together in groups to solve complex jigsaw puzzles. An opportunity to take part in a relaxing hobby and build friendships. |
Study Skills | 7- 13 | Students get the opportunity to receive additional assistance in becoming more organised and adapting to the curriculum as it becomes more demanding. Students will work on developing study skills through note taking, developing study habits, completing homework and building their organisational skills. |
U19 Boys Basketball | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Basketball |
Swim Squad – Year 7 – 9 | 7 – 9 | School Sports: Swim Squad |
Chevron Readers Cup | 7 – 9 | The Chevron Readers’ Cup is a reading competition for schools, held annually by the Emirates Literature Foundation. Pupils will be required to read at least one book to prepare for the competition. It will be held virtually on 1st November. In this session we will be reading and discussing elements of the texts in preparation for the competition. |
Competition Dance Club (Audition only) | 7 – 13 | This Dance ECA is for students on an audition only basis. This ECA will lead to attending competitions and Dance events where students will represent KCD. Style and Genres will depend on the upcoming events, however regular lessons will work on technique, strength and flexibility. |
Music Theory | 7 – 13 | Music Theory club is for pupils wishing to work on their Music Theory knowledge. This could be used to support knowledge at GCSE and A Level Music or working towards the ABRSM/Trinity Theory exams.
Please note that there is an extra charge for this ECA. Price enquiries can be sent to: admin@inspiremusic.me |
U19 Boys Football – FIXTURE | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Football |
U16 Girls Basketball – FIXTURE | 10 – 11 | School Sports: Basketball |
Swim Squad Years 9 – 12 | 9 – 12 | School Sports: Swim Squad |
Original Mix DJs (Extra Charge) | 7 – 13 | ORIGINAL MIX DJs aims to provide a fun and hands-on introduction to DJing to young DJs and music lovers alike. The students will learn about the DJ equipment and the fundamentals of beat matching, mixing, looping and scratching.
Different types of music and genres will be listened to and played, with hints and tips being provided by our professional DJ along the way. Please note that there will be an extra charge for this ECA. |
U12 Boys Football – Open Training | 7 | School Sports: Football |
U10 – U14 Cross – Country | 5 – 9 | School Sports: Cross Country |
U16 Girls Basketball – Open Training | 7 – 9 | School Sports: Basketball |
KCD Speaks | 7 – 13 | KCD Speaks is the virtual school newsletter that offers a diverse range of roles for our students. From trying out journalism for the first time, events photography, sports reporting or content creation, there is something for everyone. Year 12 and 13 students will have the opportunity to develop project management and leadership skills as they coordinate the launch of each issue. |
Piano Ensemble (Pre Selected) | 7 – 9 | Piano Ensemble is a pre-selected ECA for pupils who are working at Grade 4+ on Piano. We cover a range of repertoire, with opportunities to perform at various points during the academic year. |
Arabic reading Club | 7 – 12 | Helping the pupils to improve their reading and encouraging Arab pupils to read Arabic books and we will make a summary of all the selected books. |
U13 Boys Football – FIXTURE | 8 | School Sports: Football |
U14 Girls Football – FIXTURE | 8 – 9 | School Sports: Football |
U14 Boys Football – FIXTURE | 8 – 9 | School Sports: Football |
U19 Girls Rounders – FIXTURE | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Rounders |
U16 Boys Basketball – FIXTURE | 10 – 11 | School Sports: Basketball |
Swim Squad – Invitational Squad | 7 – 13 | School Sports: Swim Squad |
Aladdin Production (Pre Selected) | 6 – 13 | Students will act in our school musical production: Aladdin – the on-stage show which will be presented to parents and pupils will be in November. |
Engineering | KS4 & Sixth form | Students get the opportunity to build an infrastructure or conduct an investigation/research around a new engineering topic such as levitating trains and cars etc. They may be able to imitate a technology and build a model which can also help them with their EPQ projects. |
MUN | 7 – 13 | MUN – Model United Nations sees pupils model United Nations Topics. They will become skilled at research, public speaking, critical thinking and more! |
KS4 Cooking and Baking | 10 – 11 | Learning to bake and cook sweet and savoury snacks and meals (life skills). |
TED-Ed Student Talks | 7 – 13 | Students will identify and develop an idea they are passionate about and transform their idea into a compelling TED-Style talk. We will showcase the TED Talks at an event in November.Participants will develop their skills in public speaking, presentation and giving and receiving feedback. |
Business and Finance Experience | 10 – 13 | Students will experience what the stock market is like, they will all get the same starting amount and will have to trade their way to the top. We will teach them about the market; the historic crashes; and certain trading techniques. |
Aladdin Set / Prop making | 7 – 13 | Making the props and set for the school production of Aladdin |
U12 – U19 Girls Football – Open Training | 7 – 13 | School Sports: Football |
U16 Boys Basketball – Open Training | 8 – 9 | School Sports: Basketball |
U19 Boys Rugby Training – Dubai 7s Squad | 10 – 13 | School Sports: Rugby |
Qur’an Club | 7 – 13 | In Qur’an club, we would like to improve pupils Tajweed and memorization skills depending on their level in recitation. |
Magic Club | 7 – 9 | Learn to perform fun and magical experiments and prepare for a magic show. |
More about some of our ECAs that help to boost your university application:
What is The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award?
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is the world’s leading youth achievement Award which equips young people for life and is run in over 140 countries and territories across the globe. Doing the Award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others; it pushes young people to their personal limits and recognises their achievements consistently. Participants are invited to design their own programme of activities, set their own goals and challenge themselves to achieve their aims.
What is involved?
The Award comprises three levels:
- Bronze: for those over 14 years (6 months minimum participation)
- Silver: for those over 15 years (12 months minimum participation)
- Gold: for those over 16 years (18 months minimum participation)
pupils that are 15 years old can go directly to Silver, where they would do 26 weeks for each section, with their favourite section being for 52 weeks.
Silver Adventurous Journey is 3 days 2 nights and Gold is 4 days 3 nights.
Within each level there are four sections:
Service – Participants volunteer in their communities, make a positive contribution to society and demonstrate social responsibility.
Physical Recreation – Encourages young people to improve their fitness and performance and enjoy healthy lifestyles for good mental and physical wel-lbeing.
Skills – Enables participants to develop their talents, broaden their abilities, increase their self‐confidence and improve their employability.
Adventurous Journey – Young people discover a spirit of adventure and gain a deeper understanding of the environment and the great outdoors.
The Bronze Award takes a minimum of 6 months to complete. Participants are required to commit to each of their three chosen activities for at least 3 months – approximately 1 hour per week for 14 weeks. Participants then continue to do their favourite activity from one of the sections for a further 3 months.
During this time, participants are expected to attend an International Award meeting once a week. These meetings are used as mentoring sessions where participants can discuss their experiences and manage their targets. These are logged in their ‘Online Record Book’ which needs to be updated weekly.
During the year, participants also receive all the necessary training required for an unaccompanied hike. They learn skills such as:
- First aid and emergency procedures
- Guidance in how to use camp equipment
- Camp craft and cooking
- Route planning
- Map reading and navigation
These skills are developed and ultimately tested in two Adventurous Journeys which take the form of a 2 day / 1 night, weekend away.
Summary
Young people who complete the Award become more confident and resilient, and develop skills in areas such as communication, problem-solving and leadership. By creating opportunities for your child to develop skills, get physically active, give service and experience adventure, the Award can play a critical role in his / her development outside the classroom. It also allows their achievement to be consistently recognised worldwide, giving them a unique international accreditation of their experiences. We are really looking forward to guiding the pupils through this exciting journey.
ECOllege
Sustainability and eco-conscious living is a top priority at Kent College Dubai. As such, we have an eco club called the ECOllege. Our ECOllege is made up of senior school pupil volunteers that meet regularly to discuss all things such as environmental living, sustainability, and recycling, led by our Senior School Geography Teacher Mr Barker. Various staff members act as active and non-active members of our ECOllege too.
In true environmentalist style, our ideas and activities are planned and shared on a dedicated Google Classroom. This means that not even lockdown kept our ECOllege from working towards their goals.
The ECOllege’s Action Plan states:
“According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an intergovernmental organisation that advises governments on scientific findings regarding global climates, we have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe. The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5°C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
The IPCC report states that at 2°C, 99% of all corals would be lost. Carbon pollution would have to be cut by 45% by 2030 – compared with a 20% cut under the 2°C pathway – and come down to zero by 2050, compared with 2075 for 2°C. At the current level of commitments, the world is on course for a disastrous 3°C of warming. As an IB World school we are aware of our obligation to achieve the aims of the IB programme: The IB learner profile aims to develop internationally minded people who, recognising our common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better, more peaceful world.”
Our ECOllege have identified five top goals as well as action items for each goal. These Goals are:
- Goal 1 – Reduce resource consumption
- Goal 2 – Become a ‘single-use plastic’ free school
- Goal 3 – Improve the number of resources we reuse and recycle
- Goal 4 – Offset the carbon we produce
- Goal 5 – Influence businesses to reduce their carbon emissions
To date, our ECOllege have achieved the following at Kent College Dubai:
- They have identified and partnered with a recycling company – Simply Bottles – because Simply Bottles is affiliated with DGrade – a company that spins recycled bottles into yarn which is then used to make fabrics, which in turn are made into all sorts of products such as caps, t-shirts, face masks etc.
- The ECOllege have rolled out a PET recycling initiative whereby all recyclable bottles are collected and handed over to our recycling partners Simply Bottles.
- The ECOllege’s efforts, together with other schools that take part in the SimplyBottles collections, have collectively saved plastics from going to landfill.
- Our ECOllege pupils created a recyclable sculptural installation to educate the school body on how PET plastics should not be used in the first place. They taught us that what’s even better than recycling, is not using plastics at all.
Model United Nation
MUN is a simulation of United Nations
odel United Nations – also referred to as Model UN or MUN is an educational simulation where pupils learn about diplomacy, international relations and the United Nations through attending, speaking and debating at international pupil conferences. These pupil conferences are sometimes face-to-face events, but more recently they can also be online events.
Topics covered at Model United Nations Conferences
Topics covered at MUN Conferences largely mirror that of the United Nations, including international politics, international relations, international affairs, and human rights. Pupils research the topic and then debate to solve some of the world’s largest issues.
Model United Nations Conferences vary in size, and any participating academic institution can organise and host an event.
How MUN works:
Pupils spend weeks preparing for a MUN conference: the conference organiser will share the topic and tell each team which country they are representing.
With Model United Nations, pupils don’t necessarily represent the country they live in; rather, each team is assigned a country to represent at the outset of a conference, and will need to do all of their research and debating through the lenses of the nominated country’s legislation and policies). Team members are often assigned various roles or positions at Conferences.
Delegates conduct research before conferences: they must formulate position papers and create policy proposals that they will debate over with other delegates. At the end of a conference, delegates will vote on written policies, called draft resolutions, with the goal of passing them with a majority vote. The best-performing delegates in each committee, as well as delegations, are sometimes recognized with awards.
Team members are often assigned various roles or positions at Conferences from representing countries as delegates, to coordinating the debates as the chairperson and further to coordinating whole conferences as part of an executive committee.
How to get involved:
The MUN club is open to all pupils from Year 7-13, with opportunities linked to age and experience. Pupils attend the weekly ECA, where they will learn the skills needed for the conference and also get the opportunity to review current international projects and events. Sign up is open termly on Schoolsbuddy.
TEDEd Student Talks
TED talks are known the world over for providing a platform for sharing ideas. Similarly,TEDEd Student Talks are about discovering, exploring, celebrating and presenting ideas in short, TED-style talks. At Kent College, TEDEd Student Talks is a pupil-led program. Senior pupils are encouraged to lead and support their peers in the preparation and presentation of their talk.
In preparation for the TEDEd Student Talks, pupils are encouraged to think about their passions and about “ideas worth spreading”.
Through the process, pupils develop their skills in:
- Presentation style and public speaking
- Speech writing
- Research and reflection
- Providing and receiving insightful and useful feedback
- Peer- support and collaboration
- Self management and organisation skills
The TEDEd Student Talks program takes commitment and time, with pupils working over several months to explore and present their big ideas. Their talks are performed to a real audience, recorded and then submitted to TEDEd for publishing on the TEDEd YouTube channel, to spread their ideas to their parents, friends, communities and the world.
Kenterprise
Each year, pupils from year 7 – 13 come together to take part in the Kenterprise Business Project, either as an ECA or as a part of their Business Studies (dependent on their subject choice). The Kenterprise project takes place in three phases:
Phase 1: 6 weeks:
Teams spend 6 weeks planning their business including ideation, market research, product research and development and/or sourcing, detailed business plan creation, costing, marketing and advertising.
Phase 2: 8 weeks:
Teams spend 8 weeks trading, which in most cases entails actively advertising and selling their products. Many of teams opt to create their own mini-website advertising their products, and so get to hone their skills in web design, advert design, copywriting and using social media. During this time, teams take part in the Kenterprise Festival – a fun day where all pupils from Year 3 upwards visit the stalls.
Phase 3: 3 weeks:
Lastly, each team spends 3 weeks evaluating the successfulness of their business.
Kenterprise is a wonderful experience enjoyed by so many of our pupils who end the project with a great feeling of achievement and confidence along with a suite of great business ideas and skills.
STEM Society
Our STEM Society aims to be a place where a group of pupils with a similar interest in all things STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – come together to develop their skills and portfolio. The sessions will be versatile, and will include the creation of mini projects, career and education help, Q&A styled sessions as well as STEM based competitions. The STEM society will also take part in planning events for the end of Term 1 and 2 as well as guest speaker sessions and a fundraiser later on in the year.
Year 12s will have an additional opportunity to become the vice president of the STEM society. This is an amazing leadership role which would be beneficial not only for their development but also for their university applications.
The society is limited to 30 spaces and the sessions will take place once every 2 weeks.
Psychology Society:
The aim of the Psychology Society is to provide the students with an opportunity to gain exposure to Psychology before potentially choosing it as an A Level subject.
The format of our sessions will therefore be open discussions with a heavy practical element including role playing or designing investigations, loosely based around the GCSE topics, such as Perception, Memory, Social influence, etc.
The Society offers fun readings, movies to watch, discussions, and activities. It will also include reading far around the subject, covering topics outside of the textbook in the hope of developing students’ critical thinking towards the content presented. Speakers will also be expected to discuss career paths in the field. In the future, links with other schools for conference-type discussion sessions will also be facilitated.
The society is open to all students considering Psychology as a career path, students that are interested in Psychology, as well as those who are unsure about the topic but want to give it a try. We are here to inspire an interest in Psychology for students to develop throughout their academic careers.
The society meets every 2 weeks.