Plus Clubs

30 September 2021

During the Chess Club, Mrs. Henaghan came to see me for an interview. What a nice talk we had! She is so enthusiastic and positive. As a new student myself, I was wondering about the Plus Clubs, so I had a lot of questions for her, here it comes: How long have you been working for this school? -I started 14 years ago and that’s when the Plus Clubs started. Did you start with Primary or Secondary? Or have you been the head of them both since the beginning? -No, I've been Head of Secondary Plus Clubs for 2 years now. What was the first Plus Club ever? -First Plus Club was Cheerleading. I was the head of that. Did you invent that club? -I invented it, because I was from the UK. I was a cheer coach over there, so I just took that with me. What are the most popular clubs? -Friday clubs; Swimming, Volleyball, Science .This year is the most we've ever had. We have 500 pupils in our 65 clubs this year. This adds up to over 200 pupils every night! And there are more clubs coming. How many kids do you need to start a plus club? -10 children for a club to start. How do teachers get selected for the plus clubs? -Teachers select themselves. Then I make an announcement to all teachers and they choose what they would like to do. Do you run any plus clubs yourself right now? -No, I do not run any club now. Are there some clubs that are at a location outside the school? Or are all the plus clubs in the school? -Horse riding is at a specific location. For the rest there is no specific location. Are there new plus clubs every trimester? -No, the plus clubs are actually ongoing. Because if there are kids telling me they want to start a new club like cheerleading, and there are 10 kids interested then I can start one and search for a teacher that wants to help. So it's ongoing. Do you have a day job in school? -I teach P.E and swimming. Was there a club that had no applications ever? -Yes, it happened only once, with a special math club, it also was a club you had to pay for.

I also interviewed Louise Krijthe, a student in Year 9. How long have you been at this school? -1 year; this is my second year. What clubs have you already joined? -Drama, Yoga, Swimming, Cooking club, Cambridge English and Type club. What club did you like the most? -Swimming and Cooking clubs. Did you start any new Plus Clubs? -Almost, I wanted to start a Gymnastics Club, but didn’t have enough participants to put it together.

Livia Reus