With a new national lockdown in place, it is a fairly safe bet that most college lecturers and leaders are not thinking too hard about the college chess club right now.

Yet the value of a rich extracurricular offer cannot be overlooked as a nice-to-have that can now be dropped without a second thought. Far from it.

While extracurricular provision may not be able to run as usual this year, research suggests that there are enormous benefits that come from taking part in these activities.

These include better educational attainment and reduced problem behaviours, as well as helping to build soft skills, such as cooperation, teamwork and communication.

For instance, a 2002 study that examined the effects of participation in extracurricular school activities on grade 12 (Year 13) and postsecondary outcomes found that these activities had a positive effect on academic outcomes (see box, below).

What’s more, some of these effects could be greater for older students.

According to research published in November 2020, led by the School of Education and Psychology at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, participation in a broad range of extracurricular activities more consistently results in significant improvements to academic achievement among older students - those aged 15-18 - than it does in younger pupils.

Furthermore, in 2019, the UK’s Social Mobility Commission looked at the impact of extracurricular engagement on students’ life chances and the evidence was clear, with data showing that such activities - from music to sports teams, social groups to artistic endeavours - “give young people the confidence to interact socially with others, extend their social networks beyond existing friendship groups and provide them with new skills and abilities”.

“Above all,” the report found, “young people see extracurricular activities as a chance to have fun, unwind and relieve the stresses of their increasingly pressured…lives.

“Our analysis of data also suggests further positive outcomes in relation to educational aspirations,” it said.

And as the commission’s former chair, Dame Martina Milburn, pointed out, the skills learned undertaking extracurricular activities have benefits in later life, too: “Our report shows that a young person [who does not participate in extracurricular activities] may miss out on some of the most valuable experiences in life - a chance to bond with others, aspire to learn more and gain the soft skills so important to employers.”

Of course, the benefits of a strong enrichment programme in addition to strong educational provision are not news to many further education and sixth-form colleges, which have always strived to provide this alongside strong academic achievement. Yet, in the current circumstances, it’s easy to see why colleges might feel forced to place their non-teaching provision on the back burner.

However, Will Sparrow, student experience and progression manager for the Bedford College Group - which includes three further education colleges - says such a response would be a mistake and that, actually, it is “more important than ever to make students feel they are part of the college” by running extracurricular programmes as best as circumstances allow.

“It has been a challenge to keep the provision going, but prioritising the enhancement offer is important and, without it, there is a risk that students will not gain some vital attribute, will feel disengaged and it could lead to students not completing their course,” he says.

Adapt or perish

How, then, have they managed this? The first challenge was to ensure that new students were aware of the extracurricular activities available. This was no easy task when the annual freshers’ fairs - where clubs and societies showcase themselves - could not take place.

“The thought of hundreds of students walking around a bustling hall picking up freebies and sharing pens to sign up to groups was clearly out of the question,” says Sparrow.

Instead, the colleges asked the usual stall holders to produce a one-minute video, filmed as if the students had approached their physical stall. “The participation rate was great and matches previous years,” Sparrow says.

Virtual delivery has also allowed the college to continue hosting themed events and awareness days, such as those around health and wellbeing, Black History Month and International Women’s Week. And before the latest lockdown, wellbeing zones and common-room spaces were also realigned so that some activities were able to take place in person with social distancing, handwash stations and face coverings.

“This allow[ed] the in-person contact to continue and students [could] still access health and wellbeing provisions, such as period products, contraception and sexual health kits,” Sparrow explains.

The college has also been able to continue student union campaigns and elections online, and remotely ensured that interest and support groups such as the LGBTQIA+, black culture, trans support and disability awareness groups have carried on.

“The students, in fact, say that MS Teams meetings are giving them easier access to this type of support,” Sparrow adds.

This effort also means that students have a chance to form bonds of friendship through common interests and causes that are so important to the educational experience, says Sparrow. “It helps to make sure that we don’t lose the sense of community that these groups cultivate, and it has helped with our focus on ensuring that student friendships don’t suffer as a result of spending less time on campus.”

However, some activities have inevitably had to fall by the wayside while remote teaching takes precedence, as Andrew Parkin, principal of St Dominic’s Sixth Form College in Middlesex, outlines. “I can only speak for my own institution, but here we continued to teach throughout lockdown. It wasn’t the same, but we continued lessons, one-to-ones and tutorials. The bit that we weren’t able to do, pretty much, was the extracurricular activities programme.”

However, while the college could not offer a full programme, that does not mean they stopped extracurricular provision entirely. Instead, as in Sparrow’s experience, it was about adapting.

“We ran a photography competition and various writing activities, and students produced art and wrote songs - things did keep going. I think the opportunities for enrichment are so integral to life as a sixth-form college student that we have to try to run things as best we can,” Parkin explains.

Another big focus of this work while students were still in college was to re-establish the college choir - a particular passion of Parkin’s - albeit in a stripped-back form. “It’s on a slightly smaller scale than we would normally have, but we use our chapel, which seats 250 people, and we socially distance. We are three metres apart, which gives a different dimension when directing, and the sound that you get is different, but we have been able to do it, and I am so glad that we did,” says Parkin.

And like Sparrow, he says that ensuring the choir remained also helped students to bond during what has been a difficult time for everyone at the college.

“There are so many friendships that have developed between the choir members, and getting it back up and running has ensured that those relationships - which are hugely important, of course - are as strong as ever,” he adds.

Debilitating

However, despite the keenness of staff and students alike, there are some coronavirus-induced hurdles that have proved more difficult to overcome and that cannot be ignored - such as the recent decision for schools and colleges to move back to online learning.

“Online delivery has its downsides and challenges, too,” says Sparrow. “The students can miss out on interaction and atmosphere, and there is a real risk of digital burnout.

“It’s also harder to [reach] those harder-to-engage students. The online approach requires students to actively engage in the process, so not only is the enhancement offer and college work pushing for the students’ attention, we are fighting Netflix, YouTube and Xboxes, too.”

Meanwhile, at St Dominic’s, while football training had resumed in “bits and bobs” before the latest lockdown, according to Parkin, the local inter-college leagues that would usually be taking place to add a competitive edge to sports provision had yet to restart.

In addition to this, spaces that were traditionally used for sports have had to be requisitioned for academic purposes as a result of the catch-up timetable.

“Our sports hall, which is a big venue, has been an additional study space since September. Then we’ve had the October exam series, we had GCSE resits, we’re in the middle of mocks at the moment. So, those spaces that we have normally for students to use to play sports in are currently being used as venues for exams and other things.”

These challenges, along with the day-day restrictions that have resulted from the pandemic, have placed additional pressures on college extracurricular programmes - and all of that was before the latest lockdown.

Parkin says it “is quite debilitating” for students not to have the full breadth of opportunities and also laments the regional disparities in how much the pandemic has affected extracurricular activities. This is particularly concerning, given that the evidence suggests that those who miss out on such activities can suffer academically.

All this underlines the need for colleges and schools to keep extracurricular activities going. It may not be the same as in-person activities but if it still delivers even a fraction of the benefits the research studies show it does, then the effort will be worthwhile.

Looking to the future, the hope is that, once normality returns, extracurricular activities can return as normal as well - from choir practices and football training to cultural societies and computing clubs.

However, this does not mean what is learned during this time should be forgotten. In fact, Sparrow says there have been some Covid-prompted approaches to extracurricular provision that the colleges will retain, even after the pandemic is over.

For example, the colleges’ series of TED Talk-style events are now run as a blended mix of short information videos and longer virtual talks - covering topics such as Black History Month to LGBTQIA+ awareness.

“These have proved popular and are being accessed by a wider group of students than ever before,” Sparrow says, noting, too, that there is no reason to stop creating these, given the obvious benefits this method of content delivery provides.

Overall, then, taking into account the positive effect that extracurricular activities have on students’ academic achievement and their development of soft skills, it is clear that colleges should do all they can to keep them going, as well as continuing to offer the best of their pandemic innovations.

As Sparrow says, nothing is normal right now, but neglecting these activities is not an option. “Keeping students engaged and satisfied is always a priority and our students consistently say enhancement opportunities not only build skills and character - and diversify their understanding and view of the world around them - but also lead them to have lifelong friendships,” he explains.

And those friendships will be needed by students, now more than ever, to get them through the latest lockdown.

Chris Parr is a freelance writer

This article originally appeared in the 22 January 2021 issue under the headline “College clubs and societies are more crucial than ever”