Figure 1.--Most prep schools have a wide range of activities or clubs or occupation programs. Carpentry was once a major activity at prep schools. It is much less important today, but some prep schools still have carpentry clubs or activity programs. |
Schools vary enormously in the activities offered and the approach to those activities. Some schools are predominately games oriented. At these schools the children are encouraged to devOte the great bulk of there spare time to games. The activities offered to the children are, in part, limited by the interests and background of the staff and thus at small schools vary significantly from year to year. Succesful programs in activities from railroading to bird watching often depend on a staff member who has a particular interest. The facilities at the school also deterine, in part, the activities offered.
Most schools offer a wide range of different indoor and outdoor activities, or occupations as they are called at some schools. Many activities are competitive, others are encouraged simply to improve on the individuals own standards. Common activities include, but are not limited to: astronomy, archery, backgammon, badminton, basket-making, birdwatching, bridge, boxing (now disappearing) , calligraphy, carpentry, climbing, camping skills, canoeing, chess, choir, computers, cooking, conjuring, coral singing, dance, debate, drawing, drama, dress making,, enamelling, engines, fencing, film making, fishing (especially fly fishing) , 'forestry,. gardening, heraldry, illuminating/lettering, judo/karate, kites, lapidary work, local history, modeling, model trains, musical instruments, needlework, newspapers, orientering, origami, painting, pets, photography, pottery, puppets, origami, riding, roller skating, sailing, scouting (cubs, browins, girl guides, and Boy Scouts) , scrapbooks, sewing, shooting (air rifles and small calibre rifles) , stamp collecting, soft-toy making, and swimming. Other activities are pursued by the children in their free time, including bicycling, building dens, board games, conkers, marbles, skateboarding, war games (board games andmodel displays)
Some of the larger schools, catering to the needs of boarding children, have become in essence year round summer camps, providing a wide range of leisure time activities. Several have elaborate adventure play grounds, although insurance costs have forced some schools to limit use of these facilities. Regular school tournaments are arranged for many of these activities and some competions are conducted with other schools.
Many of these activities are made available to the children on regularly scheduled activty times, either in the afternoon or evening. Often such activities are made available on saturday' afternoon after moring classes, although during the summer term the children are' often encouraged to participate in games and other outdoor activities. Some schools give special emphasis to clubs during the winter term when outdoor games activities are most difficult.
There is somewhat of an overlap here between activities/occupations and free time. The basic difference is the level of staff supervision. Some schools for example allow the children to build models, but they usually do it during their free time. There could also be also be model clubs where model building is a more supervised club activity. Some activties are more clearly free time play activities are supervised occupations activities.
There are a range of benefits to the activity program. The most obvious benefit is that exposed the children to a wide range of activites with which they are often not familiar. It allows them to develop skills and interests in activities for which they may have aptitudes. It also allows the schools to utilize staff skills that might not fit into the formal academic program. These activities also make possible a range of interactions with the children that often pay dividends in the classroom. The staff members get to know the children in projects of mutual interest and the children are able to work with the staff in a more informal structure.
