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Activities

There is a huge range of over seventy activities from which the boys can choose, from astronomy to war-gaming, and most of them are offered through the School’s own, superb, on-site facilities. Our aim is to offer boys the sort of exciting challenges that help them to develop self-confidence, belief in themselves and a pride in their achievements while having plenty of fun.

All boys are required to spend two years from the age of fourteen in either the Cadets, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme or Community Service. Each service provides an experience that we feel is essential in their general education.

Cadet Force
The Cadet Force is a large one, organised and staffed jointly with St Helen’s School, and has three sections, the Army, Navy and Air Force. In the year 2000 it celebrated its Centenary. There is a modern, purpose-built Headquarters that makes it one of the best-equipped in the country, and the grounds contain an assault course, lakes for water activities, and a shooting range.

The emphasis is essentially on worthwhile, character-building activity. A cadet will have opportunities to rock-climb, shoot, canoe, fly, glide, sail, mountaineer and parachute. He may also teach lessons to other cadets. Boys learn a number of useful, practical skills, and they develop qualities of leadership, self-reliance and team-work which are valuable in all areas of School and adult life. There are adventure training expeditions and camps during most holidays, and an excellent record of Services Scholarships. The Cadet Force regularly wins high praise for its annual inspections.

Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme
The School is a registered centre for the Award, and a great many boys take part in it, occasionally combining it with the Cadet Force. There are several elements to be fulfilled 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 complete the Gold Award before they leave, which is widely recognised as a very fine achievement.

Community Service
There is a committed group of boys and staff 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 sixth 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 £8000- 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 - ten-pin bowling, horse-riding, a West End show, discos, swimming - they are able to discover what they all have in common. Powerful friendships develop during the week, and endure beyond it.

Charity Drive
Charity Drive is never less than fun and organised almost entirely by 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. Boys choose their own charities to support, run the fund-raising projects themselves and speak to the school themselves in assembly to rally support.

Boys do the organisation, contact the Charities, choose which they want to support , publicise the events and then get the whole School, including the staff, involved.

Expeditions and Tours
In very recent years there have been school-organised 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 regularly, and the art department 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 Canada and Italy. The School also offers five travel scholarships and a very generous number of scholarships for Adventure Training and Sail Training.

Read more about activities offered at MTS here.