The St Marylebone extracurricular programme is designed to provide all pupils with learning experiences and opportunities that will enable them to reach their full potential. Our extra-curricular programme is about taking pupils into academic and professional environments to apply and develop their learning. Our talented staff team lead many of the opportunities available, additionally, we bring representatives from universities and professions into school to work with pupils.
Activities include:
– Clubs
– Speaker talks
– Collaborative projects
– Partnerships with companies
– Trips
– Cross-curricular events
– Support and development sessions
The extra-curricular opportunities are carefully selected and designed to ensure that as a school we can do the following:
– Engage and inspire pupils at all key stages
– Develop intellectual curiosity, creativity and love of learning
– Engage pupils in even higher levels of academic discussion
– Engender greater confidence in pupils’ ability to tackle new and difficult ideas
There is a vibrant and varied extracurricular experience available at St Marylebone which we encourage all students to take part in. Students who make the most of our extracurricular activities flourish personally and succeed academically.
Dance plays a dynamic, integral part in St Marylebone life.
Head of Dance, Ms Nelson says:
We have two spacious and well-equipped dance studios, complete with sprung floors, mirrored walls, air conditioning and integrated sound systems. Our studios are used for lessons, clubs, and rehearsals and are always a hive of activity.
In our lessons and extra-curricular activities, we give students the opportunity to nurture their creative and artistic skills, develop their emotional and intellectual capacities, increase their physical skills, learn how to work collaboratively, improve their confidence and develop their critical thinking and analysis skills. By participating in Dance clubs and productions our students broaden their knowledge and understanding of the dance world.
We offer a range of extra-curricular Dance activities throughout the week, during lunchtimes and after school, including:
- Year 7 Dance Club
- Marylebone Movement (KS3 Choreography Club)
- Step Into Dance (lead by a professional choreographer)
- InNEWvate (Junior Dance Company)
- KS3 Dance Academy (For Dance Scholars and High Achievers)
- Dance Company (For GCSE and A Level Dance students)
For our GCSE and A Level Dance students, we also allocate studio space during lunchtimes and after school for their practical exam rehearsals.
We offer the chance for the students who attend our extra-curricular clubs to perform twice a year in our Dance Show and Summer Showcase, which are held in our newly refurbished theatre. We typically have over 120 students performing in each of these shows. We also offer our Year 11 GCSE Dance students and Year 13 A Level Dance students the chance to perform their practical work in our KS4 and KS5 Exam Showcases.
We invite professional Dance practitioners and choreographers to work with our KS3 Dance Academy and our KS4&5 Dance Company. We are a partner school with The Place, and Dance Academy has performed there numerous times as part of The Place’s CAT Partner School Project and the Camden Youth Dance Festival. Every summer we take our Dance Company on tour, and we often take part in the annual Step Into Dance Festival, which is a partnership programme between the Jack Petchey Foundation and the Royal Academy of Dance.
We run theatre trips for our A level and GCSE students to prestigious Dance venues across London, including Sadler’s Wells Theatre. We are very fortunate to be able to offer some fantastic opportunities through our collaborations with leading Dance companies and conservatories including Rambert, The Place, Trinity Laban, Richard Alston Dance Company, and Shobana Jeyasingh Dance. For the past 2 years, our A Level Dance students have had the chance to work with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance on a project in collaboration with the National Gallery. We also host touring companies from some of the top Dance conservatoires in London, including London Contemporary Dance School LC3 and Trinity Laban FLUX, where students get the opportunity to watch a professional performance in our theatre and then take part in a workshop with the dancers in our studios.
You can find videos from current students and dance alumni here.
Music at St Marylebone is vibrant, inclusive and central to the school community.
Head of Music, Mr Lake, says:
Music is and has always been, a hugely important part of St Marylebone life. We are passionate about providing high-quality musical opportunities to as many students as possible.
The performing life of the school is thriving, with many opportunities to perform in concerts. Formal events include our Festival of Lessons and Carols at Christmas, and the Spring Concert, both of which happen in the beautiful St Marylebone Parish Church next door, and also the Wigmore Hall Scholars’ Concert.
There are also more informal events such as the Marylebone Jam for singer-songwriters, and our popular Cake Concerts which give younger students an opportunity to perform in a more casual setting in front of a supportive audience.
We have excellent Music facilities including large classrooms, several practice rooms and a varied instrument collection. We have a Music Technology suite with advanced software and an adjoining recording studio that students can take advantage of to record their own songs. They can even release them on our own record label, Under the Block Records.
We often perform in celebrated locations and are asked to return for repeat performances at venues including:
- Southwark Cathedral
- Westminster Abbey
- Wigmore Hall
- Royal Albert Hall
There are also a variety of trips available, the Music Department runs trips to concerts and tours, most recently to New York City.
The extra-curricular life of the Music Department is busy and exciting, with the opportunity to take part in clubs such as:
Choirs
- Lower School Choir
- Shout Out!
- Chamber Choir
- Chapel Choir
Instrumental groups
- Symphony Orchestra
- String Concertante
- Pops Orchestra
- Jazz Band
- Brass Ensemble
- Music Tech Club
- Drumming Group
We also have a fantastic team of 15 peripatetic music teachers. These are professional musicians who provide music tuition on-site in instruments such as: piano, singing, guitar, drums, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, french horn, and more.
Many of our students sign up for these lessons, which are generally half an hour a week, and there is the opportunity to take graded exams, or simply to enjoy learning an instrument.
If you are interested in taking Music Lessons please fill out this form.
St Marylebone is a brilliant place to be a musician or become a musician.
You can find a variety of videos about careers in Music here.
Drama at St Marylebone develops people, hearts and souls. We urge you to join in.
Head of Drama, Ms Burton, says:
“Drama in our school is an opportunity to excel. We are so fortunate to have fabulous facilities such as our wonderful theatre, which has been newly refurbished with state of the art LED lighting, retractable seating, Bluetooth sound technology and brand new flooring. This versatile space is used extensively for lessons, clubs, events, and of course, productions. Drama lessons, clubs and productions are geared to: expand our students’ performance skills, give students confidence, investigate the world we live in, explore issues, learn about theatre from a range of cultures and explore the art of theatrical design.
Some of the weekly clubs available are:
- KS3 Drama club
- Monologue Slam
- Devising Club
- Poetry Slam
We run regular theatre trips for A level and GCSE students to large scale West End shows as well as smaller-scale fringe venues. We have touring professional productions in our theatre; recent examples include The Royal Court, Splendid Productions, The Paper Birds and the Donmar Warehouse.
We invite professional practitioners into school to give talks and also work with students. In recent years we’ve been visited by professional directors for film, TV and theatre, professional actors and also workshop leaders.
Every year there is a chance to audition for the whole school play. This is a play or musical on alternate years to provide as many opportunities as possible. We usually have a cast of over 100 students and a large backstage student crew doing all the hair, makeup, stage management, design and production.
Past productions have included: Alice in Wonderland, Oliver!, Grimm Tales, Hairspray, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Wind in the Willows, West Side Story.
There is also the chance to get involved in our KS3 Production which takes place in our wonderful theatre in the Summer term. This is a full-scale production with set, costume, props, sound and lighting. Past productions have been shows such as The Railway Children and Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
We offer some incredible opportunities through our collaborations with organisations such as the Royal Court Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, and the Central School of Speech and Drama. With these organisations we have offered many opportunities to students from all year groups to get involved in taking part in a week-long residency at the Royal Court, taking part in weekly online playwriting sessions with professional playwrights, creating an original ensemble drama. Students have performed this at a West End theatre. Our students have also won prizes in the National Theatre playwright competition New Views, with winners’ plays being performed at the National by a professional cast.
Participation in St Marylebone Drama develops people, hearts and souls.”
See videos from current students and watch some previous performances from the Drama department.
