American Academy Larnaca | Private School | Senior School

Description

Extra-curricular activities (ECA) are activities that take place outside regular class teaching and yet are related to student learning. As such, they fall within the scope of the school’s curriculum.

ECA focus on the students’ different developmental needs such as their sense of moral values and attitudes, skills and creativity. Through their participation in ECA, students learn to communicate and co-operate with other people, teachers and fellow students. In addition they enrich their life experience. Moreover, students who are given the opportunity to organise ECA gain first-hand experience of programme planning and leadership, thus enabling themselves to discover and develop their potential. The emphasis of ECA programme is given on experiential learning. By performing real tasks, students experience real consequences over which they reflect over time.

Students are engaged in a combination of activities that are creative, aesthetic, athletic and community service activities. Students are advised to select activities which they find intrinsically worthwhile and rewarding, as well as mutually beneficial to themselves and to their community.

Moreover, students are encouraged to select activities which coincide with their own interests, skills and abilities. The activities should represent a good balance of creativity, action and service, while enhancing students’ personal and interpersonal skills. A successful implementation of the ECA programme helps students build self-esteem, self-confidence, autonomy and self-reliance.

Objectives

Objectives of the Extra-Curricular Activities Programme

To challenge and extend the individual by developing a spirit of discovery, self-reliance, responsibility, initiative and empathy.
To provide a balance to the demands of scholarship and address the development of “the whole person” in an experiential way.
To encourage the development of the student’s individual skills and interests.
To develop the ability to work cooperatively with others.
To foster more caring and socially responsible attitudes, including the habit of volunteerism
To foster the relationship between teachers and students and create a harmonious school climate.

Implementation of the ECA Programme – ‘Student Life’

After the establishment of the correct objectives, appropriate activities were selected, with due consideration paid to the format and content which will enable students achieve the above objectives.

The programme includes all the activities taking place outside the teaching hours but during the working time of the school, as well as, all the activities which are outside the working hours and are on a voluntary basis for both the students and the teachers provided that permission has been obtained from the Management of the school. The ECA programme includes the following categories: