CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES
There is an enormous range of co-curricular activities at Radley College, and every boy should be able to find his niche or his own particular enthusiasm.The College is unashamedly busy, and in particular all boys are encouraged to use late afternoons and evenings to good effect. Societies, lectures and meetings happen throughout the
school day (and during the evenings and weekends) and it is hoped that every boy will have ample opportunity to take part in as many activities as possible. Boys also found and lead new activities and societies, and this is also actively encouraged.
WEDNESDAY ACTIVITIES
All boys take part in the Wednesday Activities programme from Shells to 6.1s (some 6.2s are also involved).
In the Shell year, the Michaelmas and Lent Terms include two compulsory options (Countryside Centre and Physical Literacy) and boys also choose from the following list: sculling, golf, squash, Radley Video, cricket nets, rackets, real tennis, Design Centre, table tennis, art, debating, tennis, backstage, bridge, football, Natural History Society, Rugby Sevens, Geological Society and model aeroplanes. In the Summer Term of the Shell year, all boys undertake the Shell pre-CCF programme.
In the Remove year, all boys do CCF.
In the Fifth year, boys either opt to stay in the CCF as NCOs or participate in the Community Partnerships Programme (CPP).
CPP activities include: concerts for local care homes, helping at local primary and secondary schools (Radley Primary, Pegasus, Orchard Meadow, St Swithun’s, Kingfisher, Emmanuel, Fitzharrys, Oxford Academy), maintaining the churchyards at Littlemore Parish Church and St James Church in Radley, supporting Headway Oxford (brain injury rehab centre), volunteering at Barnado’s and The
British Heart Foundation, coaching rowing for Oxford Academy pupils, supporting Oxfordshire Youth charities in fundraising, working for the Radley Village Parish Council and doing a range of activities at the Countryside Centre including managing local woodland and creating allotments in conjunction with Peachcroft Farm.
In 6.1, boys choose from a variety of activities over the three terms including DofE, First Aid Teacher/ Trainer,Art (sculpture & life drawing), CCF/NCO, Back Stage, Medics, Music Practice, Music Technology, Green Power Motor Sports Challenge, Animals Society, Africa Society, Historic Films, Conversational French/ German/Italian/Spanish, Japanese Culture, Strategy Games, Philosophy, Investment Club, Journalism, Cooking with Confidence,Young Sports Leaders, Real Tennis, Boxing, Rugby Sevens, Golf, Croquet,American Football, Rowing, Countryside Centre and Creative Writing.
CCF
The Shell Pre-CCF Programme
In the Summer Term of the Shell year, all boys are introduced to a variety of activities in order to prepare them for CCF in the Remove year. The rotation of activities includes: Raft Building, Navigation, Cooking on trangias, the Trim Trail, Basic Fitness, Banshee, Orienteering, Mountain Biking, Casualty Evacuation and First Aid, Route Planning and Camping Skills.
CCF in the Remove Year
CCF is compulsory for all of the Removes. In the Michaelmas Term they undertake a variety of leadership activities and command tasks, as well as the Field Gun, Parade Drill, Heartstart and Navigation.These are done in Social groups until the end of the Michaelmas Term. NCOs (Fifth and Sixth Form boys) supervise the activities.At the end of the Michaelmas Term boys choose their Section (Army, Royal Navy, RAF) for the following two terms.The Lent and Summer Terms involve more specialised activities, two Field Weekends (which includes a DofE Bronze Qualifying Expedition) and the Inter-Social CCF Competition.
SOCIETIES
There is an enormous range of activities and societies available at the College. Besides all the formal sporting activities on offer, boys can undertake various other sports including the Countryside Centre and Sub Aqua.
Musical activities include the Choir, Orchestra and a plethora of different ensembles. Competitions include the Ferguson Singing Prize, the Hudson String Prize, the Guitar Prize, the Wharton Piano Prize, the Gunn Cup for Woodwind and Brass and the Percussion Prize.There are opportunities to form bands and record live, with the Battle of the Bands always popular. Inter-Social Partsong is also a firm favourite.
Drama activities include the Haddon Cup, year group plays, a College play or musical, the Peter Cook monologue competition and the Milligan Cup for musical theatre. Debating consists of an inter-Social competition, and College-wide debates.
All boys from the Shells to 6.1 learn a Declamation in the Lent term, with 6.2 finalists as well.The Spens Trophy is the annual inter-Social general knowledge competition.
The following societies meet at various points during the school year: 6.2 Academic,Academic Journal/ Serpentes,Animals,AI, Beer-tasting, BioSoc, Book Lovers, Caledonian, Card Games, Caribbean, Chemistry, Chess, Chronicle, Christian Forum, Classical, Classical Film, Clay Pigeon, Codebreaking, Coding, Countryside, Darts, DeadSoc, Debating, Engineering, Environmental, Formula One, Go, Grapevine, History, International Relations, Investment, Journalism, Junior Science, LangSoc, Law, LGBTQ+, LitSoc, Maths, MedSoc, NatPhilSoc, Orwell, Philosophy, Photography, Physics, Poetry, Remote Control Car Club, Robotics, RockSoc, Rupert Thorneloe, Sub Aqua, Symposium, Table Tennis and Tattersall’s.
CHARITIES
Boys at Radley College undertake various individual charitable endeavours. In the last academic year,boys and staff at Radley raised over £72,000 for charities such as Muscular Dystrophy,The Royal British Legion,DEC Ukraine,Active Oxfordshire,The Ruth Strauss Foundation and The Batten’s Disease Association.
There is a Charities Committee, and each Social has a Charity Rep. Whole School charity fundraising events take place as well, for example Christmas jumper days and 24-hour readathons.