After School Clubs

Art
Each year group gets the opportunity to join the Art Club and make creations using a range of skills. Past projects have included mosaic pictures, painted plant pots, willow sculptures and even giant papier-mâché tea cups! We always have lots of fun and enjoy seeing what wonderful creations the children have produced. This year, Year 2 visited a local art gallery, then produced their own sculptures. An exhibition was held which the parents and a local artist visited. Art Club is run by Miss Mumford.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Ballroom Dancing
The Latin and Ballroom Dance Club, run by professional dancers James and Joanna, is open to children in Years 4–6. The children are taught famous dances such as the waltz, cha cha cha and jive, and a few other interesting dances during the year. They have made several appearances at school assemblies, and some of the children also took part in ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ in May 2010 (part of the Bath International Dance Festival), which won the new Guinness World Record for the largest umbrella dance.

Back to Top

Joanna and James

Book Club
St Stephen’s Book Club, which takes place in the library, started in 2009. Years 5 and 6 came along for the first two terms – inventing a name and logo for the group and enjoying discussions, quizzes and activities on everything from book covers to Boxing Day. After that, Years 3 and 4 had some fun with poets and authors as well as quizzes and games, ending up with an Easter egg search.

Year 2 focussed on illustrators in Terms 5 and 6, setting themselves up as ‘shadow judges’ for the 2010 Kate Greenaway Medal. Reading the books was fun, and the crafty activities to tie in with the books absorbed everybody, but deciding what we liked best was challenging – especially as we put our comments on the national Kate Greenaway Medal website. The final book club session of the year was a picnic in the library, during which the school librarian, Mrs Brocklebank, opened the golden envelope and revealed this year’s medal winner. We can’t wait for next year’s book club to reopen.

Back to Top

Opening the Golden Greenaway envelope in Book Club

Choir
The Choir Club, run by Mrs Holland, is open to children from Years 3 to 6, and there are no auditions. It runs every year in terms 1 and 2, and culminates in two or three performances in the run-up to Christmas. This includes singing at Dorothy House and at the St Michael’s Day Centre. The children also perform at the annual Carols by Candlelight in the school hall.

Back to Top

Cricket
St Stephen’s has four thriving cricket clubs, open to children from Year 2, with separate boys and girls clubs in years 5 and 6. Over 130 children enjoyed and benefitted from the programme in the past school year. Each session is a blend of fun, skills development, game-based learning and competitions, as well as character-building ‘team talks’. The coach, Grant Sheppard, is an ECB Level 3 coach of World Sport Ministries and former Coaching Co-ordinator of Bath Cricket Club.

Back to Top

Fencing
St Stephen¹s fencing club, coached by Tim Miles and open to boys and girls in Years 3 to 6, is designed as an introduction to the sport. The children work towards an initial achievement award and are given the opportunity to represent the school in local and regional competitions.

Back to Top

French Club
The French Club, Les Louveteaux, has been running for the last 5 years and is open to all year groups except Reception. The classes are run by Joëlle Brown, who grew up in Aix-en-Provence and has been living in England for over 20 years. Children are taught through a combination of games, songs, role play and book study to develop a strong base knowledge and understanding of the language.

Back to Top

Joëlle Brown,
French Club Teacher

Football
Football club, run by Steve Tainton (universally known as ‘Spud’), is open to all children from Year 2, with a dedicated girls club from Year 3.

In Year 2, children work on their technical ability, communication and skill levels to develop the knowledge to have fun and learn. In Years 3 and 4, the children are encouraged to be in control of the situation when on the ball, work hard within a team and to learn soccer drills to gain confidence in their own ability. We also enter our teams into the BANES Football Tournament. In Years 5 and 6, the children work hard to improve fitness, team position and their ability to perform skills at a higher level so that they can represent the school or the county at all competitions.

Back to Top

Gardening
Gardening Club runs from January through to July and is open to children from all school years in an effort to create a ‘family grouping’, with younger children working alongside older children. We have lots of fun growing, planting, weeding and composting and often take home vegetables that we have grown to eat. The whole cycle from planting and nurturing through to harvesting and eating is therefore observed and understood. Gardening Club is run by Mrs Searby with the help of volunteers.

Back to Top

Vegetable garden at St Stephens

Hockey
St Stephen’s thriving after-school hockey club is open to all children from Year 3. It is held on the astro turf pitch at the nearby Royal High Senior School and provides a skill-based, enjoyable environment for the children to master the skills required to play hockey. The hockey coach, Sally Potter, is an England Hockey Level 2 coach as well as a parent at St Stephen’s.

This year, the school entered teams in the local Savilles’ Junior Hockey League and Cup competitions, and the U9 team (Years 3 and 4) won the League title. In previous seasons the U11 teams have also enjoyed similar success – which is a huge achievement for St Stephen’s as the hockey competitions attract entries from schools and clubs across the South West and sometimes from as far afield as Wales and Sussex. The school has also won the local BANES area tournament, and in fact the four teams entered last season came in the top 6 places.

Back to Top

Sally Potter with
St Stephens U9  Savilles' Junior
Hockey League Champions, 2010

Judo
The Judo Club has been running since 2008 and is open to children from Years 1 to 6. The students have been very successful and are now advancing through their grades well. The school entered the schoolboys’ National Championships in 2010 for the first time and, from a team of six, won one Gold and two Silver medals, two Fourth places and one Sixth! A great achievement. The coach, Finn Gleeson, has a Level 2 (Club Coach) Judo Coaching Certificate, and also teaches in lots of other schools in Bath and Bristol.

 Back to Top

Finn Gleeson

Maths
This is a club for Year 3 children who would like to gain greater confidence with their numeracy skills. In a happy, helpful and entertaining half-hour session, Mrs Gilbert and Mrs Darch try to dispel any anxieties children have with various aspects of maths. Largely through play, we explore the importance of maths in all our lives. Like music, maths is an art, a science and a language; by giving the children a better under­standing of this, we aim to kindle a fascination and excitement for numbers.

Back to Top

Multi Skills
The Multi Skills Club provides Reception and Year 1 children with their first experience of an after-school sports club at St Stephen’s. The club is designed to improve the children’s coordination, balance, running, jumping and catching skills through a range of well-organized, safe and fun activities. It normally takes place in the School Hall. The club coach is Mark Gunning, who teaches Geography and PE at
Culverhay School and has also held the post of School Sports Coordinator, which enables him to coach younger children too.

Back to Top

Mark Gunning

Musical
Every year 150 or so children join in the Musical Club, which culminates in a performance in the summer term. This year, the musical was based on James Bond and last year on Blue Peter. The club begins in the January of each year and is open to children in Years 3 to 6. The performances are always fun and very loud. The musical showcases the best of St Stephen’s, with parents, staff, pupils and even ex-parents all working together to give everyone a good time.

Back to Top

Netball
The netball club is open to girls in Years 5 and 6. The aim of the club is to introduce netball to players regardless of ability, in a fun, safe environment and to the very highest of coaching standards. The girls are taught High 5 Netball, which is a version of the game adapted to suit primary school children: it is a fun but skilful game, in which players are able to rotate positions and adapt their skills to play in any position. The most recent successes saw St Stephen’s qualify for the regional finals in Bristol after winning both the Bath and BANES High 5 competitions, which was a fantastic achievement by all the players.

The club coach, Ali McLachlan, has been involved with netball for 20 years both as a player and coach. She teaches netball to various primary schools within BANES.

Back to Top

Orchestra Club (Years 4-6), Tuesdays, 2.30-3.10pm

This club is open to all children, learning to play an instrument in years 4-6, exceptionally to children in year 3. There are also a limited number of places for children to learn percussion through the orchestra. St Stephens Orchestra perform in concerts and events such as Carols by Candlelight and the Christmas fair. Playing in an orchestra is a fantastic opportunity for children to build confidence in playing and performing with other musicians. As well as learning a wide variety of music, children develop skills in general musicianship e.g. following a conductor, playing by ear, improvising etc. All children are provided with music and rewarded with stickers and certificates for their contribution to school musical life.

Back to Top

Junior Recorder Club (Year 3) Friday lunchtime, 12.35-1.05pm

Junior Recorder Club is open to all children in year 3. Whilst children enjoy learning to play the recorder, they also develop key musical skills; including learning to read music, composing tunes, playing by ear and improvising. We also sing and use percussion instruments! It is a great opportunity for children to play and perform music together; Junior Recorder Club performs in school concerts, fairs and assemblies. The club is led by Jeni Reid, a parent and experienced music and flute/recorder teacher. Children are rewarded for their contribution to school musical life through stickers and certificates.

Senior Recorder Club (Years 4-6) Tuesday lunchtime, 12.35-1.05pm

Senior Recorder Club is open to all children in years 4-6. Children often progress from Junior to Senior Recorder Club; however, they can also start in this club as a beginner. Learning the recorder is an excellent building block to future instrumental learning although it can be an end in itself. In this club children play more advanced music and develop key musical skills; including learning to read music, composing tunes, playing by ear and improvising. We also sing and use percussion instruments! It is a great opportunity for children to play and perform music together; Senior Recorder Club performs in school concerts, fairs and assemblies. The club is led by Jeni Reid, a parent and experienced music and flute/recorder teacher. Children are rewarded for their contribution to school musical life through stickers and certificates.

Singing
The Singing Club is an opportunity for children in Years 1 and 2 to learn basic singing techniques in a relaxed and enjoyable way. The aim is to instil a sense of fun and develop a love of singing. The children learn a wide repertoire of songs. The highlight of the past year was taking part in the Valley Schools’ concert in July 2010 with the Year 2 children. Demand for places is high so termly sessions are run for separate year groups. Year 2 children meet in terms 1, 2 and 3, and Year 1 children in terms 4, 5 and 6. Sessions take place at lunchtime and last for approximately 25 minutes.

Kate Dixon, who also does supply teaching at St Stephen’s, has had many years’ experience of choral singing and is a member for the City of Bath Bach Choir.

Back to Top

Singing Club

Spanish
The school’s Spanish Club has been running since 2007. Classes are taken by Antonieta, a native Spanish speaker who has extensive experience of teaching both adults and children. Her aim is to introduce the children to the language and cultures of Spain and Latin America through activities, games, songs and stories. There are two groups of different levels. One for years 1 and 2 and the other for Years 3, 4 and 5.

Back to Top

Tag rugby
St Stephen’s Tag Rugby Club is held at Walcot RFC, Lansdown. It is open to children from Years 2 to 6. Pupils involved in this club previously have played on the hallowed turf not only of the Bath Rugby Recreation Ground but also of Twickenham: St Stephen’s represented the Bath premiership club in a half-time EDF Final showcase at Twickenham in 2009 and entertained the masses with their skills.

Back to Top

Vicky Heslop

Jimmy Deane