Activities
You can choose from a huge range of over seventy activities. Whether it's astronomy or war-gaming, there's plenty to do and most activities can take place on-site because of the superb facilities we are lucky to enjoy. Our aim is to offer you the sort of exciting challenges that will help you develop your self-confidence, self-belief and a quiet pride in your achievements (while also having plenty of fun).
From the age of fourteen you choose as an activity: the Cadets; the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme; or Community Service.
Each service provides an experience that is fantastic for your general education.
Cadet Force
The Cadet Force was founded in 1900 and celebrated its Centenary with the Millennium. It is a large one, organised and run jointly with St Helen’s, and has three sections, the Army, Navy and Air Force. Its modern, purpose-built Headquarters helps make it one of the best-equipped in the country. Our grounds contain an assault course, lakes for water activities and a shooting range.
You will have opportunities to rock-climb, shoot, canoe, fly, glide, sail, mountaineer and parachute. You may also teach other cadets. You learn a number of useful, practical skills, and you will find yourself developing valuable qualities of leadership, self-reliance and team-work. There are adventure training expeditions and camps during most holidays, and an excellent record of Services Scholarships. The Cadet Force regularly wins high praise at its annual inspection. More on CCF...
Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme
The School is a registered centre for the Award, and many boys take part in it, occasionally combining it with the Cadet Force. Several elements must be completed to win the Award, - an expedition, for example, a personal interest and a service element -and because of the range of opportunities available at the School, a large number of boys complete the Gold Award before they leave, which is widely recognised as a very fine achievement. More on the Scheme...
Community Service
There is a committed group of boys and teachers who keep up strong links with the local community, and particularly with old people and the young handicapped. Some help children at local junior schools to learn computing, or to develop musical programmes, or to play sport. Others spend time in the holidays helping with inner-city schemes for young people, or with residential holidays for the handicapped.
PHAB
PHAB Week is a great School institution. For nearly thirty years VIth formers, with girls from St Helen’s, have run a week’s holiday camp at the school for twenty handicapped youngsters. The whole School stages various events during the year to raise the funds needed - about £8K - and there is a purpose-built residential centre at the School dedicated to PHAB. The initials mean that Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied young people are paired, and through all the various activities they share during the week - such ten-pin bowling, horse-riding, a West End show, discos and swimming - they are able to discover what they have in common. Powerful friendships develop during the week, and last long after. More on PHAB...
Charity Drive
Charity Drive is never less than fun and organised almost entirely by you, the boys. One day each year is given up to fund-raising, and there is an annual Chipperfield Run, a sponsored bike ride and so on. You choose your own charities to support, you publicise the events, you run the fund-raising projects and you address school assemblies to rally support from the whole School.
Expeditions and Tours
In very recent years there have been school-organised trekking expeditions to the Atlas Mountains, to Mount Kenya and to Peru. Language exchanges are made each year with Mainz, Madrid and Paris; the classicists visit Greece, Italy and France regularly; the Geography department goes to Iceland and Switzerland; the Art department visits New York and has two annual painting schools in St Ives. The musicians have recently toured Germany, France and Italy, and there are annual ski-trips to the French Alps and North America. Recently the cricketers have been to Barbados and Malaysia, and the rugby players to Australia, Canada and Italy. The School also offers five travel scholarships and a very generous number of scholarships for Adventure Training and Sail Training. You can see a selection of photos from the most recent trips in the Galleries section.
