SENIOR SCHOOL

Extra-curricular activities, clubs and societies are an essential and integral part of your daughter's education. We offer a busy and varied programme throughout the week and at weekends to ensure that each girl has a balance of academic, artistic, physical and recreational activities.

Arts

The extra-curricular activities available in Art are designed to enhance the teaching and learning which take place in the classroom and also provide an excellent opportunity for girls to pursue Art as an additional activity in their week.

Workshops and clubs allow pupils to further experiment and explore their own ideas in a wide variety of genres. The clubs include Jewellery, Photography, Pottery and Young Picasso Club. Girls from Year 10 have access to Open Art Studio sessions and Sixth Formers can take the Life Drawing Class. Students are given the opportunity to work with practising artists through regular workshops in school, as well as visiting a range of London galleries and exhibitions as part of their studies.

Sport

We offer an impressive number of sports at all levels including athletics, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, netball, riding, rounders, squash, swimming and volleyball.

Outdoor Pursuits

Girls benefit from a busy weekend programme of activities including abseiling, caving, dry-slope skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, sailing and windsurfing. Girls also have the opportunity to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme with Bronze level expeditions in the Malvern Hills, while those at a higher standard take place in the Peak District, the Black Mountains or Snowdonia.

Music

All girls are strongly encouraged to participate in extra-curricular music, regardless of whether they take music lessons at School. Girls can join a range of groups including two choirs, an orchestra, bands and small instrumental groups. They gain performing experience through Young Performers' Platforms and concerts. Pupils are also encouraged to attend concerts featuring visiting performers and workshops run by professional musicians.

Drama

Girls can participate in productions throughout the year including School plays and musicals. In summer term, girls in Key Stage 3 also take part in an Expressive Arts Week, which culminates in a production. They also benefit from visiting practitioners, such as a Bollywood dancer or costume designer, who share unusual skills. Drama Clubs are available for different year groups in Key Stage 3 every week.

Classics Club

Greek Club takes place every week on Thursday and Friday for girls in years 7-13. This challenging club provides the opportunity for girls to learn the Ancient Greek alphabet, Greek vocabulary and also see how many English words are derived from Greek. Girls also learn about Greek myths.

Many girls each year attain the EMACT (East Midlands Association of Classics Teachers) certificate in Ancient Greek as a result of the time spent in Classics Club.

Confirmation Group

The group meets during the second half of the Autumn Term and throughout the Spring Term. Sessions are one hour during which students cover the basics of Christian belief and practice. There is a school Confirmation service at the end of the Spring Term, usually in Christ Church. Girls are encouraged to join the group in order to explore and develop their faith.

Debating Society

The MSJ Debating Society meets after School every Monday and is open to girls in Years 7-13. Debates are always topical, sometimes on issues of principle, and sometimes humorous in nature. Each girl has fifteen minutes to prepare her material at the start of a meeting prior to taking part in an actual debate. Debates are good-humoured, interesting, and greatly enjoyed by those who take part.

Girls develop their communication skills when constructing and presenting a case and become more aware of politics and current events. Girls take part in national and local debating and public speaking competitions, and there is an inter-ship public speaking competition in the summer term which is a whole-school event.

Success for the Debating Society includes winning the 'Committee Shield' in the Midland Schools Debating Contest and being Midlands regional finalists in the English-Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition.

Model UN (MUN)

An MUN conference is a multi-centred debating exercise in which teams from schools represent the delegations of a particular country convened as a "Model" United Nations in session.

The aim is for students to:

• learn about key international issues through their identification as the specialist delegate from a particular country
• co-operate with other students in order to promote their delegation's policies
• enjoy creating alliances and achieving common goals
• leave the conference with new understanding of world issues and a sense of achievement in identifying common methods to address them.

Taking part in a Model United Nations conference also requires delegates to learn about and debate according to the regulations and procedures of the United Nations.
There is a thriving MUN society at MSJ with a membership of over thirty girls drawn from Year 11-13. We meet several times a term and the meetings are chaired and organised by the girls. We discuss regional issues and draw up resolutions on topics such as "Terrorism in the Horn of Africa" or "Child Soldiers". At the moment we discuss issues from the perspective of Sudan, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. The strength of MUN is that it is not just about big speeches but girls can build up confidence by asking points of information, supporting a resolution or building alliances. It is an invaluable tool in preparing girls for our global society and encouraging them to think outside the box.

The highlight for many girls is attending conferences of usually about 500 students drawn from the UK and abroad. Over a weekend, they meet, discuss and socialise with delegations from boys, co-ed and girls schools such as Eton, Shrewsbury, Wellington College and Withington Girls' School. From 2008 -9 we will have attended conferences at Bath, Manchester, Wellington College, Edinburgh and Eton.

Friendships are formed and intellectual standpoints challenged. Girls from MSJ come away from these conferences with increased confidence and an enhanced awareness of some of the huge global problems facing their generation.

School Magazine

The School Magazine is published termly and features articles from pupils across the school age range. The editor is a Sixth Former, who is supported by the English Department staff, including a qualified journalist and others experienced in public relations and communications.

The experience of liaising with printers and creating a high-quality publication is hugely demanding but satisfying, as well as being an excellent addition to UCAS forms and an advantage for those considering a career in the media.