EXTRA CURRICULA Enrichment Activities The standard curriculum is taught during the school day and is followed by all students. We offer an extended curriculum for students to take extra subjects (eg. a second Language), in addition to the standard curriculum. Enrichment is open to all and consists of clubs, societies and supervised homework periods in all curriculum areas as well as rehearsals for school events, for example the choir or orchestra. Enrichment takes place after school, at lunchtimes and even before school. Activities include: Dance, Drama, Life-saving, Swimming, Gymnastics, Athletics, Volleyball, Netball, Football, Badminton, Aerobics, Basketball, Science, Computing, Languages and Technology Clubs, additional Mathematics groups, Choirs and the School Orchestra. Master Classes The School has an extensive range of Master Classes that we offer in the majority of our subjects for our gifted and talented students. These have included Saturday morning Master Classes in Science, where visiting speakers from universities, including St George's, University of London, have talked to our students about Astronomy, Black Holes, DNA, Chemical Reactions, Life on Other Planets and Philosophy of Science. The English Cluster, Information & Communication Technology and Humanities Clusters have also offered Saturday morning Master Classes.

The Arts

Burntwood has a balanced Arts course (Dance, Drama, Music and Art) in the lower school. Arts subjects are studied to GCSE and Advanced Level. School productions have included The Last Resort, Guys and Dolls, Animal Farm, The Grimm Tales, Daz 4 Zoe, The Wakefield Mystery Cycle, The Oresteia, The Tempest and Willy Russell's Our Day Out. As part of Shakespeare's Schools Festival we performed The Taming of the Shrew at Burntwood and also at The Secombe Theatre. We also took part in the Connections Festival with The National Theatre and performed a new play DNA at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith.

We run a Year 7 Drama Club each week and organise visits to the theatre regularly for all Year groups including our Sixth Form Theatre Club. The school is regularly involved with Arts projects involving professional groups such as local museums, galleries and art schools. We also produce work for exhibitions and companies such as Ing Bank. In Music, students worked on an electronic music project and have recorded a CD with professional musicians as well as performing at The Barbican with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Various dance and theatre groups have visited including London Contemporary Dance and the Royal Ballet. Other activities include participation in The Wandsworth Arts Festival and The Miracles Project which culminated in several public performances.

The School has a strong belief in the value of the Arts both in the curriculum and in after-school performance. Class music lessons provide each student with a thorough grounding in vocal technique, recorder skills, percussion and keyboard skills. In addition, advanced specialised vocal tuition is provided for Students of Marked Aptitude. Musical activities have literally ranged far and wide; the orchestra has taken part in school productions and toured Holland, the Chamber Choir has sung at Westminster Abbey for Her Majesty the Queen, and in St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The School Choir has participated in the Vienna International Festival, appeared on American television and recorded a CD. The Steel Band has played in front of royalty at the Commonwealth Institute and at local events, the Recorder Consort also give public performances. The Chamber Choir won the Sainsbury's Choir of the Day Competition and has been awarded an 'A' Grade by The Royal College of Music. The Chamber Choir has taken part in the Llangollen Eisteddford, an exchange trip to the Czech Republic and has recorded the sound track to the film, The Snow Queen, which they are now learning in French and Spanish for further recordings. Burntwood provides opportunity for music tuition both instrumental and voice, and a charge for instrument loan is made. Those receiving tuition must commit themselves to membership of the School Orchestra, Ensembles and Choirs. In 2005 Burntwood was awarded 'Artsmark Gold' by the Arts Council of Great Britain for excellence in curriculum and extra curricular Arts provision. The school regularly takes part in arts projects involving professional groups and artists.

Our art students visit a range of museums and galleries, such as the Tate Modern and the Royal Academy. They are offered a variety of artist-led workshops and life drawing masterclasses as well as encouraged to attend arts clubs at lunchtime and after school. The department has links with local Art Schools and takes part in an exciting programme of events, workshops, portfolio critiques and artists residencies.

GCSE and GCE Art explores the medias of drawing, painting, print, sculpture and mixed media. They reseach a variety of artists' work and use this to inspire their own ideas and methods of working.

Sport & Physical Education

Three well equipped gymnasia, a swimming pool, several tennis courts and the sports field provide the resources for our physical education programme. We believe that all students should have the opportunity to participate and compete in a range of activities and be encouraged to continue at least one sporting activity into adult life. Competitions, Sports Day and participation in out-of-school events are features of this area. Our teams win regularly at local level in Wandsworth Schools competitions and students compete in a wide range of sports such as Athletics, Football, Netball, Swimming and Tennis.

Burntwood has received a National 'Sportsmark' award from Sport England, in recognition of its commitment to and excellence within curricular and extra curricular Sports provision. The school has been applauded for its consistent efforts to ensure young people are keeping fit and healthy. Swimming has been an area of excellence for many years, and in Athletics we have formed close links with 'The Herne Hill Harriers' club and our students are producing outstanding performances at County and National levels. We have developed a wide range of activities from cheerleading, box-a-size to scuba diving. Students in Keystages 4 and 5 are given the opportunity to participate in the Junior Sports Leaders Awards scheme.

School Journeys

The school offers an extensive range of school journeys and field trips. These include: a Geography trip to the Lake District; exchange visits to our 'link' schools in Paris and Santander in Spain; visits to its French and Spanish cities; and day curriculum visits to the theatre, exhibitions, museums, university laboratories. The Sixth Form have their own programme of school journeys which includes residential courses for Art, English and Mathematics, the University Access Programme and a wide range of cultural enrichment activities.