Extra Curricular

We encourage our students to lead healthy lifestyles and offer a number of sporting opportunities here. Earlscliffe students have Wednesday afternoons, weekends, and weekday evenings available for sports and activities.

Students play football, basketball, volleyball, squash, badminton and table tennis with one another each week. Many of our students also play for local teams. In the summer months, we also offer tennis and golf. The school football team practises regularly and plays in a competitive league. Our students have free, daily access to a well-equipped gym and fitness centre within easy walking distance, where there is also a 25-metre indoor pool for student use. Horse riding is another popular weekend sporting activity that takes place at a local riding stables, and we are launching our new Basketball Academy shortly!

All sports facilities are within easy walking distance, except for golf and horse riding, which are a short drive away. Some of England’s greatest golf courses are on the Kent coast, including Royal St George’s at Sandwich, a regular British Open venue.

Sport is also a key part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, combined with service activities and a chance for adventure on trips to Snowdonia and beyond. Earlscliffe students are able to achieve this prestigious award at Silver and Gold level.

Earlscliffe is just a short walk from Folkestone Central Station, where the high-speed train to London St Pancras only takes 53 minutes. We regularly organise trips to the capital city, including musical theatre visits, visits to museums and art galleries, concerts and, of course, shopping! With parents’ permission, students can also spend the day in London at weekends with their friends.

Just as London is so easily accessible for us, so is Europe. We can have weekends away in Paris, with the train journey taking less than two hours, so we are ideally situated to benefit from the cultural riches of two of the great cities of the world. We also visit Bruges in Belgium and various destinations of cultural interest in northern France.

Our SCS Co-ordinator also organises trips and visits to interesting and cultural destinations in Kent and around the UK, such as nearby Canterbury Cathedral and Leeds Castle, historic Oxford and Cambridge, and the exciting Warner Brothers Studio – the Making of Harry Potter attraction! There are also more adventurous activities available, such as paintballing, quad biking, go-karting and Go Ape!

Once a term we have a college concert, where those who play or perform are encouraged to participate. The concert builds confidence and provides a platform for friends to appreciate each others’ talents. We also sponsor an art exhibition of students’ and local artists’ work each year.

We host formal college dinners two or three times per term, where after-dinner speakers are invited to share some of their wisdom. Speakers include politicians, musicians, artists, business people, medical practitioners, sportsmen and women, philosophers and philanthropists, who give us a personal insight into their life and career. Evenings like this contribute to Earlscliffe students acquiring a wider perspective on life and its daily delights and challenges, while forming a global vision of their own.

In 2012, Earlscliffe became one of the very few UNESCO-associated schools in the UK. We take our membership very seriously, doing as much as we can to fulfil the UNESCO mission. Earlscliffe operates a UNESCO Youth Ambassador scheme which has seen students take part in UNESCO field projects in Hungary, Germany and France. The annual

UNESCO visit to New York includes a visit to the United Nations and a UNESCO-themed day and debate in a US high school.

We want all our students to commit to at least one term’s weekly service to others during their two years with us. Apart from benefiting those less fortunate, this experience shows our students how they can help other people, and that giving time instead of money can, more often than not, be more effective and certainly more rewarding. One of life’s most transformative lessons can come from the realisation that working in the service of others, rather than focussing on yourself, can give life true purpose.

Earlscliffe students therefore volunteer for up to two hours per week in local places such as homes for the elderly, hospitals, schools, youth clubs, animal shelters and charity shops. We also hold regular fundraising events for local and international charities, such as Rwanda Aid and Save the Children.

Under the sponsorship of a local Rotary Club, Earlscliffe Interact offers our students further
opportunities to serve the local community through events and fundraising activities. Students can take their first steps towards joining a global community dedicated to the service of others. Through a joint initiative with the Business Academy, students are introduced to the concept of social entrepreneurship and encouraged to put theory into practice.

Earlscliffe students are encouraged to have enquiring minds that thrive when supplied with continuous food for thought. We achieve this by offering our students opportunities to develop knowledge and learning in areas other than those studied at GCSE or A-Level. Extending and enriching our students’ learning is part of our duty as educators and it is something we take just as seriously as delivering the timetabled curriculum.

Each year, Earlscliffe enters a team into the English Speaking Union’s Schools Mace Debating Competition. Originating in the 1950s, past winners of this competition have gone on to become MPs, well-known scientists, lawyers, journalists, entrepreneurs and industrialists.

We are closely associated with the annual Folkestone TEDx. In partnership with the organisers, our students are involved in public speaking and debating workshops.

All our mathematics and science students are entered for the annual Senior UK Mathematics Challenge Competition, where we aim for prestigious Gold Awards. Our scientists regularly enter their work for CREST awards and have been rewarded at all levels, including Gold.

At the annual University of Cambridge Science Festival, students take part in events, lectures, exhibitions, seminars and interactive sessions, which are often led by eminent Cambridge scientists. Again, such experiences encourage young minds to enjoy the art of discovery even more.

The Creative Arts Department hosts termly art and photography exhibitions at Earlscliffe, schedules talks and discussions with guest artists and critics, and visits London galleries and exhibitions. Students also enter their artwork for national competitions.

Our students can join the internationally recognised Young Enterprise programme, where they will foster their readiness for the world of work, develop entrepreneurship and become financially literate.

Our students who are considering a career in finance, banking, investment or economics are
encouraged to apply for the JP Morgan Chase Bank’s annual internship programme. Earlscliffe students have won internships in recent years which then led to full-time employment after graduation.

In addition, we have our three new Advanced Skills Academies, launching in September 2022! The Basketball Academy, Business Academy and Creative Arts Academy will be fantastic opportunities for students to showcase and improve their knowledge and skills in these areas. Please click here for further information: