Extra-Curricular

Our artist-in-residence, offers Art Clubs after school and during lunchtimes for children in Years 1 to 6. She is a former Broomfield parent and qualified art teacher. The children work across a range of exciting media and themes to enhance the established variety and range of art activities on offer during school time.  She often uses clay and reclaimed materials to help the children create weird and wonderful sculptures.  If your child is in Art Club there will be a plethora of imaginative paintings and artefacts to decorate your home!

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust provide athletics training for our children after school, offering an excellent form of exercise while developing a number of different skills. Athletics is offered to Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2.  It is a great introduction to a sport in which the UK excels.  It may also support the children in preparing for their performances at Broomfield’s Sports Day!

Children in Years 4 to 6 can audition for Chamber Choir, which our Music Teacher rehearses during the week.  This is the opportunity for older children to develop the ability to sing in parts.  The Choir performs a variety of music and takes a leading role in the Senior Carol Service at St. Anne’s Church on Kew Green.  It also performs at various community and other school events and has participated in some brilliant workshops and celebrations with other choirs across the UK in venues such as Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court.  (Free club)

The strategic thinking needed to play chess well is a brilliant skill to acquire and helps with other problem-solving activities in our Maths curriculum.  So our teaching staff enthusiastically lead Chess Club, with the support of our Year 6 Chess Captain.  This is a popular club and in the summer term we hold Junior and Senior Chess Competitions, with the winners being awarded individual trophies.  We also run a House Competition, where the teams compete for the Chess Cup.  It is a joy to watch the Year 5 and 6 prefects coach the younger members and develop relationships across the year groups.  (Free club).

We love to sing in Broomfield.  This is because our Music Teacher, Mrs Bou, inspires confidence and makes singing fun, helping the children find their inner Aled Jones!    Years 1 to 3 come together weekly to sing and so do Years 4 to 6, learning the hymns we enjoy in our assemblies as well as drawing on other vocal traditions such as rounds and simple part songs, and preparing for performances including Harvest Festival, the Carol Service and the Senior Play (Free clubs)

We are blessed with a lot of keen clarinet players at Broomfield, encouraged by Mr Stuart, one of our peripatetic music teachers.  To reflect the children’s enthusiasm he runs ClariClub each week.  This is a wonderful way to develop the children’s love of their instrument, playing and rehearsing together and we are so happy to hear them perform at every opportunity.  (Free club)

Our school chef offers Cookery Clubs for Years 2-4 after school.  Letting the children into her catering secrets, she encourages a love of cooking and some great sweet and savoury dishes are whipped up in our kitchen.  The Christmas cakes, with flamboyant decorative touches, are always a winner.

Dance Clubs are open to children in Years 1-6.  They work on different styles and techniques, often including short routines to help children develop their ability to pick up choreography.  Our Year 5 and 6 Dance Club has participated in the RichDance Festival for the last few years, relishing the chance to perform on the same stage as dancers from the English National Ballet and the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.  Dance is also part of the Early Years curriculum.

Our Drama Teacher offers speech and drama opportunities to children in Year 3 and above throughout the school week.  As well developing the children’s understanding of staging plays they work on acting and presentational skills.  In the summer term children can enter the English Speaking Board (ESB) examinations, in which they do extremely well.  In 2018 the ESB chose Sacha, Year 6, to be one of their 12 Young Speakers of the Year.  The following year we did even better as Sebastian became a Young Speaker of the Year 2019 and 5 other pupils from Broomfield were Highly Commended (out of a total of 13 awards in this category).  So you can see there is a love for drama at Broomfield and our teaching gives opportunities for considerable success.

The Rhythm Studio’s drum teaching team, leads our djembe drum clubs.  The children learn West African rhythms and perform complex multi part pieces.  It is fun, vibrant and a marvellous way for children to learn how to master rhythmic musical performance.  Whether children are flamboyant or more reserved it is such fun to see them light up as they concentrate on synchronising with their friends.

The Rhythm Studio is a music academy where students are inspired to develop their musical talents while learning to play and produce the music that they love.  Their community of young musicians form bands, write and produce their own music, and perform at live gigs throughout the year.  The music school in West London also offer school holiday camps. https://www.therhythmstudio.co.uk/

Fencing takes place for Years 3-6 in lunchtimes during the week.  Jonathan Weekes Fencing has had British Champions and a Commonwealth Champion in recent years, so you can see the team have everything it takes to develop a love of the sport and give a great grounding for any competitive opportunities.  In 2018 one of our students, Gabi, competed for the first time in a national fencing competition, coming in the top 16 competitors in the U11 category.  She lost to the number 2 seed and we are hugely proud of her achievement.  Jonathan is supported by Marion Nemitz.

We offer three Football Clubs after school for children of different age groups with a focus on developing ball skills.  These are run by coaches from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust and our own teaching staff.  The older children enjoy their football at our Sports Field, Old Deer Park, adjacent to Kew Gardens, while the younger ones play at school.  The clubs’ training helps to develop their talent, which stands them in good stead when opportunities for competitive matches come along.

Children love to get their hands dirty and Gardening Club offers some great opportunities for this.  We have a secret vegetable patch which club members keep planted and weeded until they are ready to produce delicacies which our chef is happy to cook or add to her delicious salads for school lunches.  At certain time of the year tomatoes and salad leaves, radishes and potatoes are dished up fresh from the Broomfield garden courtesy of Gardening Club.  The team also keep our flower beds looking colourful. (Free club)

Pee-Wee Karate and Funakoshi Shotokan Karate UK (FSKA) offer non-contact karate to the Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Year One children in a fun environment at school during lunchtime. Our black belt instructors teach Funakoshi Shotokan Karate to Year 2 children and above and we are delighted that Broomfield is such a hotbed for young karateka.

Many Karate Club members have taken part in national and international competitions both locally and abroad.  In December 2019 ten students from Broomfield represented FSKA at the International World FSKA Championships which were hosted by Renshi Debi Steven, winning gold, silver and bronze medals.  A terrific haul!

Our karateka also support the FSKA community programme, giving demonstrations at local care homes for elderly people and at the annual Kew Fete, where our Broomfield squad can showcase their skills and the fun they have in karate.

https://www.fskauk.co.uk/

Our Headteacher runs LEGO Club during morning break alongside our Pastoral Deputy Head.  We aim to give opportunities for the children from Kindergarten upwards to work creatively, in groups or individually, to build from their imagination.  Completed creations are photographed for our display board and occasionally shared in assembly.  The children often choose to use the LEGO to recreate something from the learning they have had in class.  A group from Year 4 won a Detail and Design award in the Lego League Junior programme in 2019 for their amazing Space Base, complete with jacuzzi!  (Free club)

After school our Netball Club puts children in Years 3-6 through their paces.  Coaches from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust work to develop ball skills, improve hand/eye coordination and increase fitness.  Broomfield is lucky enough to have netball hoops around school and so shooting skills are often kept up during playtimes as well as in the club.

Led by our wonderful Music Teacher, Orchestra brings together children from Year 2 – 6, learning musical instruments individually and allows them to understand how, by working together, they can achieve a much bigger and more layered sound.  Many of us will have experienced the joy that being part of a band or group can bring and Broomfield’s Orchestra does this and more, playing a repertoire which might otherwise seem out of reach.  They concluded one of our 2020 Instrumental Concerts with a rousing chorus of Land of Hope and Glory.  Orchestra also performs at school events and festivities and regularly bring a happy tear to a proud parent’s eye! (Free club)

Year 6 enjoy the challenge of Pythagoras Club, the maths problem-solving club run every lunchtime by Mr Kennedy.  In small groups, the children dissect complex maths problems, first trying individually and then pooling efforts with others in pursuit of a solution.  The skills they develop centre on analysing a problem to see what bit of their existing maths toolbox might help them open a way into it and then, once inside, how to solve the whole thing.  The best bit, according to Mr Kennedy, is when the “lightbulb moment” occurs, when the solution suddenly and excitingly pops into the student’s brain. “Eureka!”  (Free club)

Most children love hands-on, practical science and our club offers many opportunities for this.  Investigations with light and prisms, creating bottle rockets, competing to make enormous towers and pond-dipping for wildlife are a few examples of our fun and educational sessions.  Science is such an important part of the school curriculum and these extra sessions offer many opportunities for exciting practical experiments.

Mrs Ali has some lovely Spanish reading books for her Spanish book club, which is open to all children in Years 3, 4 and 5.  The aim is to enjoy reading in Spanish and she has a wide variety of books from a basic level upwards.  Reading is a great way to improve understanding of the language and it is always fun to share your reading experience with others. (Free club)

For the children motivated by the wonders of new technology we are delighted to have TechnoKids in school to deliver Computing sessions after school.  Technokids have been running their technology club at Broomfield for over 20 years!  The sessions focus on developing digital literacy, creative computing and coding skills in a fun, social context.

A different set of tech comes into school each term, including laptops, iPads, programmable robots and more.  The tutors teach a variety of modules designed to support the Computing curriculum for Key Stages 1 & 2.

Technokids at Broomfield is administered directly by Bruce Harrison at:  www.technokids.co.uk

Some children like to clear the decks before going home and our Umbrella Club allows for this.  Supported by a member of staff, pupils in Years 2-6 can tackle their homework in school so that when they get home they can be free to play, relax, chat or maybe even help prepare the family’s supper.

Mrs Carver Williams and Mrs Munasinghe invite Years 1-6 to join them in their Zen room for rest, relaxation and reflection.  The children participate in mood enhancing activities such as yoga, art and meditation – learning to quiet their minds.  Silence is celebrated or calming music played to support a serene end to a school day.