Extra Curricular Activities
At Gildersome Primary we are committed to helping our pupils reach their full potential. We believe that children cannot achieve this simply by sitting in a classroom with a book in front of them. Over the past few years we have been carefully improving our curriculum to incorporate such things as providing each class with at least three educational visits per year. We’ve also introduced an annual community project for each class which contributed to the school winning a Civic Pride Award as the best school in Leeds in its category.
Perhaps the most innovative recent improvement to our curriculum has been the introduction of a range of exciting activities which children can choose from on a Friday afternoon. We are extremely proud that so far we’ve been unable to find another school anywhere in the country that offers such an exciting choice on a weekly basis!
Photography – We designed this course in partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University to develop some basic skills and techniques which will be of life-long benefit to our pupils.
Batley Tennis Centre – Playing indoors pupils receive tuition from professional coaches.
Dance - Under the instruction of Miss Oakes, we hope to ensure that when they grow up our pupils at least appear to have some semblance of rhythm!
Gardening – Based at our allotment this was one of last year’s most successful projects. Not only do pupils learn how to grow, eat and sell their own produce, but also learn how to recognise and appreciate good healthy food when they see it.
Pantomime – Few experiences in life are as good at building confidence as appearing on stage. This term Miss Whale is producing a pantomime which will be performed for parents around Christmas.
Leeds Climbing Wall – Supervised by qualified instructors pupils follow the National Indoor Climbing Awards Scheme. This provides our pupils with the ideal challenge of learning to conquer fear.
Pod casting – Scripting, recording and editing their own community radio station pupils work under pressure to meet strict deadlines. Their weekly programmes can then be accessed by listeners visiting our Radio Phoenix website.
Kick-boxing – Taking place in The Baptist Church pupils learn respect and self-control. It’s also fun and great exercise.
Art and Craft – The purpose of this activity is to help our children become more resourceful, ingenious, and generally better at making the most out of what they’ve got.
Horse Riding – Visiting Back Lane Stables pupils follow the British Horse Society, Riding and Stable Management programmes.
Sign Language – Through learning to communicate using sign language pupils develop an understanding of how life presents each of us with different challenges and how we can help each other to overcome these.
Fine Art – An advanced painting and drawing class designed to provide talented artists with the skills and opportunities needed to reach their potential.
Filmclub – COMING SOON (January onwards) – Pupils learn about classic films as part of a national project supported by leading industry figures such as Emma Thompson and Alan Parker.
The activities described above only represent what is available on Friday afternoons. We also offer numerous after school and lunchtime clubs along with an extensive array of opportunities to compete in inter-schools sport. Last year these included: Maths Club, Sewing Club, Cross-country, Chess Club, Netball, Football, Origami, Electric Guitar, Spanish, Mini-tennis, Indoor Athletics, Tag-rugby, Active Club, Kwik Cricket and Wake-up Shake-Up.
We have no intention of stopping here. Our staff and governors are committed to developing an exciting and innovative curriculum which as well as nurturing hard-working, creative and confident individuals, will maintain the year on year improvement in academic standards which the school has experienced in recent years.