After-School Club Ideas
5 min read
Whilst some students who may disagree, school can be more than just lessons and trying to remember how to do simultaneous equations. For many students, school is the main social environment in which they form bonds, develop confidence and learn new skills. Whilst this predominantly occurs within the structure of a classroom and planned lessons, this can also happen outside of the rigidity of the national curriculum. After-school clubs provide students with the opportunity to attain new hobbies, form unexpected friendships and gain a different perspective of the world. In this article we explore the benefits of after-school clubs and provide some inspiration on after-school clubs that you can offer in your school.
What are the Benefits of After-School Clubs?
After-school clubs provide students with the opportunity to learn new skills and gain additional knowledge outside of regular school. After-school clubs are a great way to explore interests that may sit outside of the clear cut structure of a school curriculum. For example, a student that is interested in History may develop a particular interest in Ancient Egypt. There may not be scope to explore this in further depth in class, however an after-school club that focuses on ancient civilizations may be of great interest to that student and other students who may not even like History.
After-school clubs have also been linked with improved academic performance. Clubs do not need to be focused on a specific subject and the popularity of an after-school club can often lie in how different it is from school. However, after-school clubs present a great opportunity for students who want to enhance their knowledge on a specific subject or who want to explore areas of a specific subject outside of the curriculum. This can help to improve a student’s investment in a subject whilst simultaneously increasing their confidence in their ability and understanding.
Those who work closely with children on a daily basis are highly likely to gain an insight into their likes and interests. Developing an after-school club that explores these interests can help children to feel seen and validated by having the opportunity to do things that they enjoy. This in turn can give them the confidence to try new things based on their positive experiences in after-school clubs.
After-school clubs can also help to create a sense of belonging, helping students to feel like part of the school community by forming connections across form classes and years. This can encourage more active participation in school life as students feel connected to a wider selection of peers.
After-school clubs are beneficial as they can:
- Boost a student’s confidence
- Encourage new ways of thinking
- Provide students with a healthy way to unwind
- Help a student develop their social skills
- Improve academic performance
- Support working families
After-School Club Ideas for Primary Schools
Below you will find some suggestions for after-school clubs that you can start in your school. Remember, an after-school club doesn’t necessarily require excessive additional equipment in order to run. In fact, clubs that are rooted in or inspired by set subjects can utilise materials already being used for that subject. For example, a creative writing after-school club is unlikely to need more materials than would be available for English lessons. Similarly an after-school book club can use resources from the school library or signpost students to their local libraries if there are not enough copies of a certain book available.
Any after-school club that you decide to run should reflect the resources that are realistically available to you. Whilst it would be great to run a wide range of after-school activities to engage every student, this is unrealistic for many schools. Ensuring that you have the staff and space to effectively run an after-school club is a vital part of its success and helps to keep it manageable and low stress for the members of staff who run them. This can help to make after-school clubs fun for staff as well, evoking an enthusiasm that students will naturally absorb.
The suggestions below are aimed towards primary schools, however that is not to say that it should limit what can be explored in an after-school club. After-school clubs can be a great way to encourage students to push themselves and face new challenges. It can also be an effective way to introduce students to concepts that they may not come across in class until they reach secondary school. Using accessible language and introducing playful elements can enable young students to expand their learning and gain academic knowledge beyond their years.
After-school club ideas include:
Academic Clubs 
Academic clubs allow students to deepen their knowledge without the pressure of grades or strict lesson plans. You could run academic clubs for:
- French
- Spanish
- Science
- History
- Maths
- IT
- Geography
Sports Clubs
Sports clubs can help to get children moving and feel positively about physical exercise. Sports clubs can be a way for them to engage with physical activities that they may not otherwise get a chance to. You could run sports clubs for:
- Netball
- Rounders
- Tennis
- Orienteering
- Swimming
- Running/Cross Country Running
- Dance
- Gymnastics
- Football
- Hockey
Creative Clubs
Creative clubs encourage students to explore their creativity. They can provide a space for students to experiment with different ideas and try new things entirely outside of the curriculum. You could run creative clubs for:
- Creative Writing
- Literature (Book Club)
- Art
- Drama
- Textiles
- Photography
- Origami
- Journalism/School Newspaper
Hobby Clubs
Hobby clubs can be more directly influenced by hobbies and interests that you know students already have. This can help to ensure enthusiastic participation in clubs as they involve an activity that you know students enjoy. You could run hobby clubs for:
- Debate
- Chess
- Choir
- Orchestra
- Gardening
- Comic Books
- Video Games
How to Encourage Students to Attend After-School Clubs
You’ve got the idea, you’ve coordinated with staff and you’ve made your announcements. Now to just hope students turn up! After-school clubs don’t necessarily follow the old adage of ‘if you build it and they will come,’ however, there are steps that you can take to help ensure your after-school clubs are successful and popular.
Below you will find some handy tips on how you can encourage children to attend after-school clubs.
Get Students Involved
Where appropriate encourage students to actively participate, not just during after-school clubs, but in helping to set one up. You could run a poll to find out what kind of clubs students would be interested in, you could set up a schedule whereby different students can lead certain activities so that they all have a chance to lead or you could have students vote on what the clubs focus will be, for example if you are running a Film Club you could let the students pick the film at the end of each term. Getting students involved helps an after-school club to feel like something they have more autonomy in and that is less rigorous than school. Whilst it’s important that certain school structures stay in place, such as active listening and respect for teachers or adults leading the activities, a key appeal of an after-school club is that it isn’t school. Allowing students to have more of a say in what they do or the direction that the club will take, can make a student feel more involved and like an active member of the club.
Be Realistic
There are hundreds of different after-school clubs that you could run to accommodate a myriad of different tastes and interests. However, it’s important that whatever you offer to students can be done so consistently and with the necessary resources. It might be amazing to run a Photography Club but if your school can’t secure the equipment or the staff, then it may end up being little more than an empty promise. It’s important that you are realistic about what you can offer, what you have the resources for and how regularly you can host after-school clubs. It may be that you start a Book Club but decide to run the club twice a month to give students time to read the book and to facilitate staffing and resource levels. By setting a realistic and manageable expectation from the get go, students can get excited about a consistent after-school club that is sustainable for the school to run.
Showcase Work
Providing students with a target or goal can be a great way to encourage them to focus and work hard on something. This is a beneficial life skill that can be fostered inside and outside of the classroom. Students in more creative clubs can be encouraged to create something amazing for an exhibition of some kind, encouraging them to be proud of what they have achieved and providing them with the opportunity to show off their hard work to parents and friends. This in turn can encourage other students to get involved after being inspired by showcases and exhibitions.
Rotate Offering
As mentioned, getting students involved in club planning can be a great way to secure active participation and this is also true of offering different activities. It doesn’t necessarily need to be that you are offering a new club every week, however you may decide to set up a timetable of after-school clubs that run on a termly cycle. This gives students the opportunity to try different activities at different times of the year whilst ensuring that you have a good handle on what is being offered and the resources necessary. Rotating offerings can help to keep students interested and excited for the next thing, it can also help them to identify particular areas of interest which they can then pursue further outside of school.
After-school clubs can enhance the skills and knowledge developed within the classroom whilst encouraging students to think creatively and push themselves. They can help to create a sense of belonging in schools as children develop their social skills and form friendships based on shared interests. Providing after-school clubs in your school can be a great way to introduce students to new concepts and ideas whilst fostering a genuine love for pursuing individual interests and trying something new.
Further Resources:
- How to Create a Positive Learning Environment
- Effective Communication in the Classroom: Skills for Teachers
- CPD Courses for Teaching and Education
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