Extra-curricular Activities

We provide many opportunities for learning outside the classroom and actively encourage all students to participate in at least one extra-curricular activity. The main programme of activities includes:

A Music Faculty offering over 15 groups (including String Ensemble, Wind Band, four Choirs, Ukelele Group, Rock Band, Funk Band, Guitar Ensemble, Chamber Ensembles and Sax Bands).  Peripatetic music teachers deliver additional lessons to a significant proportion of our students.  Every two years we aim to run a major music tour abroad and in recent years have visited Italy and Croatia.

A Drama Department which offers opportunities for students to be involved in a variety of productions. We have developed considerable expertise in technical drama with many productions being run by the students themselves. Typical productions in recent years include: ‘Guys and Dolls’, ‘The Pajama Game’, ‘Of Mice and Men’, ‘Tristan and Iseult’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.

A Dance Department which runs numerous and varied dance clubs, provides support for all major productions and puts on regular displays. The senior Dance company ‘Reverb’, which consists of our most gifted dancers, rehearses weekly and performs regularly at a range of venues, including an appearance in 2011 at The National Arts Festival in South Africa. We also run a junior student Dance company called ‘Pulse’, a boys’ Dance group and a Street Dance club. Follow us on our instagram account by clicking the icon below or by searching @hhsdancedpt on Instagram for more information, student work, articles and alumni.

A network of extra-curricular sports activities that combine competitive success with encouraging students of all abilities. School teams have reached many finals at local, district and national level in a number of sports. Clubs vary from year to year but regularly include athletics, rugby, basketball, cricket, cross-country running, fitness, gymnastics, hockey, netball, rounders, soccer, swimming, tennis and table tennis.

Other extra-curricular activities include Art Club, participation in local and national competitions in Science and Technology and a very successful Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme which benefits a significant number of students. Expeditions take place throughout the country, notably Derbyshire, the Lake District and Wales.

Many charity activities raise around £4,000 for good causes each year.

Visits to Germany (History and Languages Departments) and France (Art and French Departments) take place every year, as does an ‘outward bound’ activity week for Year 9 (PE Department). Other residential trips and field trips are also run on a regular basis.  In addition there are visits to the theatre, galleries, places of worship, concerts, sporting events and museums.  We also hold an annual ‘Activities Week’ and organise international sports tours. Regular visitors to the school include professional authors, poets, dancers and musicians.

A strong House programme includes dance, drama, music and sport competitions and festivals each year, in which hundreds of students take part.