Here at St. Andrews Dusit International School, we take great pride in our holistic learning programme and how it aligns seamlessly with our co-curricular programmes. We’ve carefully developed these two programmes to blend together and supplement one another by nature and design in order to ensure the best learning outcomes for our children.
When we talk about co-curricular activities, we refer to learning experiences that promote the growth of diverse personality and mental dimensions, including intellectual, emotional, moral, artistic, and social development.
Here at St. Andrews Dusit, we believe it’s important to foster mutual understanding in the young minds entrusted to our care in order to instil in them a sense of holistic individualism. This philosophy provides the direction for our school’s plans and daily learning activities.
What Is A Well-Rounded Co-Curricular Programme?
A co-curricular programme is composed of activities outside the classroom and academics that supplement or enhances what the children learn inside the classroom.
These activities aren’t graded and don’t affect the academic performance of the child, especially when it comes to Primary School children from Nursery to Year 6, despite many various backgrounds and nationalities.
They’re also known for complementing in certain ways what the children of St. Andrews learn from school, such as experiences that mirror the curriculum.
“Fuel the child’s learning with co-curricular activities that stimulate their creative thought, improve their social skills, and develop their talents and interests.” (Teacher Quote)
The co-curricular programme in St. Andrews Dusit is a well-rounded one because it is in-line with our school’s holistic learning. Holistic learning covers everything a young man or woman requires to grow or blossom into adolescence and all the way to adulthood.
The key consideration when our school decides which activities to include is the supplementary education of our kids. How well does the activity supplement their in-class learning?
What Are The Benefits Of A Well-Rounded Co-Curricular Programme?
The classroom helps children develop their intellect while co-curricular activities assist in the holistic development of their creativity, aesthetic tastes, moral values, physical and spiritual growth and character building.
A co-curricular programme helps St. Andrews Dusit instil into their kids the cultural, technological, ecological, and sociological development they need to become well-rounded and prepared adults entering the real world.
A few of the common co-curricular activities we approve of include the following:
- Drama club
- Drone club
- Talent show
- Debate club
- Mathematics club
- Book week
- School sports teams
- Art week
- Robotics
Such activities give children practical experience to apply theory into action. Taking part in experiences and activities where they have to cooperate with others relevant to topics presented in the classroom helps reinforce their understanding of lessons on a practical level.
Co-curricular activities enrich and enhance your regular curriculum during a normal school day, whether it’s for improving your physical health with physical education or developing other aspects of your mental abilities with chess.
Why Is The Co-Curricular Programme In St. Andrews Dusit Important?
Co-curricular activities differ from extracurricular activities done outside of the school day and are dealt with their own standalone itineraries, like entering a sports team or becoming part of the Art and Crafts activities.
In other words, while the Art has lessons and homework done for the sake of completing credits for the club alone, co-curricular activities are more integrated into regular school hour academics, many of whom incorporate theory into practical activities and experiences.
It’s understandable how parents wish to push their kids to focus on academics. However, we at St. Andrews value holistic learning and developing self-reliant individuals who can fend for themselves.
Therefore, allow us to help guide your children to work not only on their grades but with the rest of their being, so that they don’t over-focus on academics and miss out on something equally important.
Developing, Supplementing, and Improving Academics
Our co-curricular activities fuel children’s learning by offering them the chance to switch off from academics and do something they are passionate about. They can also develop their talents and interests, improve on their organisational and social skills, or stimulate their creative thought.
If you as a parent are worried that co-curricular activities can serve as a distraction from the children’s schoolwork or academics, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
As part of the St. Andrew’s Primary School’s holistic learning, we’ve incorporated co-curricular activities into the curriculum to actually help the child’s academic performance from Primary School and beyond.
Active and passionate participation in one of many activities in the co-curricular programme will improve the brain’s function, whether it’s Chess Club or theatre performance participation.
Even physical activities like sport clubs help develop the child’s focus and time management skills, which in turn translates to better, more efficient academic performance. It’s actually a requirement for child athletes to do well in academics to continue with their sports activities.
Speaking of sports, they help train the child to concentrate, build their physical stamina, and teach them determination in the face of difficulties or adversity.
Nurturing the Child’s Social Skills with Mutual Kindness, Respect, and Empathy
Speaking of social skills, it’s important for children to interact with their peers to ensure their school experience is as rich as possible. They can’t just have their noses buried deep into books, memorising formulas or passages.
If your child has difficulty dealing with social situations, joining school clubs, or indulging in co-curricular activities is the perfect chance for him to meet like-minded individuals like himself.
They can have fun with friends to make their school experience more enjoyable with their fellow St. Andrews children, whether they’re classmates or fellow club members.
Social skills are integral for Primary School children as they mature into Secondary School, college, university, even up until their first job. These tools are developed and harnessed through their lives and will be beneficial and useful in their everyday life.
Your child needs social interaction whether they’re introverted or extroverted. They can never underestimate the power of social connections and building networks with others. Sometimes, it’s just as important who you know as what you know.
The friends your child makes today could be the ones to support their future endeavours down the line as they finish their studies and start their careers, when they all become the leaders of tomorrow.
The Bottom Line
We at St. Andrews Dusit believe in helping youngsters learn about how to become well-rounded individuals by giving them co-curricular activities that cover anything that isn’t covered by their academic studies.
These activities also serve to supplement their academics and even their extra-curricular activities, leading to them becoming self-sufficient adults out to achieve mutual success in their future endeavours.
Furthermore, St. Andrews International School Dusit is part of the major institution known as the Cognita School Group. It’s under Cognita’s umbrella that St. Andrews and over 100 schools around the world operate, which includes schools in Europe, Asia, the Americas.
If you wish to learn more about the St. Andrews Dusit campus, schedule a school tour today.
