What Are Clubs & Extracurricular Activities in Schools?

School activities can be bifurcated into two different entities. They are academic and extracurricular activities. Academics relate to studying languages, arts, sciences, and other subjects to gain mental knowledge and growth.

The second part relates to extracurricular or co-curricular activities. These help in nurturing and building mental and physical growth that is necessary for the complete development of children.

Extracurricular activities in itself have two parts. The first is school-based while the second is field trips and tours. Both parts are of immense value in the education system.

Clubs give students a great platform to hone their social and interpersonal skills. They fine-tune their interactions with other students and teachers and help them in gaining self-confidence while mingling in society.

All schools give greater importance to having different kinds of clubs in their system. These clubs are of different kinds. They mainly comprise the following departments:

• Academic club
• Writers club
• Dance & Drama club
• Music & Vocal club
• Science & Robotics club
• Drawing & Painting club
• Sports & Fitness club
• Field Trips & Tours club

Skills help in shaping and developing the students' horizons. They also help in polishing their basics which makes them decide their careers in life. Some major benefits of these clubs are as below:

• It makes them better time managers
• Discussions with peers hone their communication skills
• They learn the important technique of becoming skilled administrators
• By partaking in different activities, they learn to focus on their goals
• They learn to develop healthy friendships with others

Multiple activities are done at school. All the activities are done through different clubs which are managed by students. But different teachers are allocated charges of different clubs. The clubs and its members function under their supervision.

Then the school ‘s ‘Head Boy’ and “Head Girl’ along with their deputies are selected through students’ voting. After that, the other teachers are allocated duties of managing the four houses.

These teachers supervise all activities of the houses and clubs and help students managing them to gain managerial skills.

First, students of all the classes are divided into four different houses. The houses are named after some historical figure or personalities of national importance.

It is taken care that students are equally divided into different houses as per their qualities without any prejudice.

The next step is selecting the prefects of all the houses. They have to manage the activities and participation of students properly. They have a complete record of the members of their houses from each class and section.

The final step in house formation is organizing house meetings. The duties, responsibilities, and etiquette of the members of the house are specified clearly. Then, all members are advised to maintain discipline during school and activity hours.

Lastly, the annual activity calendar, which was prepared before the commencement of the session, is distributed among the members. The members are told to submit their names for the activities in which they would like to participate. Then they are advised to prepare for their events.

The activities being done by students throughout the year are numerous. It helps in preparation for healthy competition.

It instills in them a competitive spirit that is beneficial later in life. It also nurtures them into mentally and physically strong individuals.

On the basis of the activities, points are given to the houses and their participants along with the trophies. At the end of the session, the houses are ranked as per the accumulated points.

Then the champion and runners-up houses are awarded along with the participants during the school's annual function.

The different types of inter-house activities can be classified below:

• Poetry, rhyme and story recitation
• Declamation, Debate, and speech competition
• The story, poetry, and content writing for school magazine
• Dance and drama competition and preparation for a school function
• Folk, classical and other kinds of dances
• Vocal and instrumental music competition of all kinds
• Science quizzes and Robotics lab work
• On the spot drawing and painting competition
• Athletics, Indoor, and Outdoor games, Gymnastics
• Wrestling, Tennis, Football, Hockey, Martial arts and Cricket
• Society based specific work, picnics, project works, and educational tours

It has to be borne in mind that clubs and extracurricular activities are very important for the holistic and all-round development of children. A healthy body is necessary for a healthy mind. They are the two sides of the same coin.

The proverb to be remembered is, “ A healthy mind lives in a healthy body.”

Neglect of either by parents, school authorities and the management is not only a crime against children but also a crime against society and humanity.

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