Extracurricular activities are generally those activities that students do outside of school hours. They may include sports, hobbies, or community activities that are organised for you to do on a regular basis. It is important that students take part in extracurricular activities if they can, as they have a number of benefits, including:

• meeting people outside of school who share interests;
• seeing how community activities are organised (including sports and creative activities);
• experiencing volunteer work (perhaps in a giving or receiving role);
• gaining a sense of belonging to a variety of communities; and
• they are fun! We get to participate in activities that we are very interested in and want to do!

Of course, extracurricular activities also place demands on students' time. This is not just the time involved in participating in a sports match, a class, or an event – it is also the time students spend practising or preparing, and this time needs to be included in daily organisation.

Student activity:

1. Discuss the following with your classmates (your teacher might put you in groups for this):
   • What extracurricular activities do you do?
   • What activities do you choose and do by yourself? Are there any activities you do regularly with your family?
   • Why is participating in extra activities within or outside of school important for you?
   • Look at the extracurricular activities that are offered at secondary schools (you might need to go on their website). What are you interested in?
2. Retrieve the work you did in Classroom Activity 1 around the homework expectations for primary and secondary school.
   • Where do your extracurricular activities fit?
   • Do you need to adjust your homework timetable so that you can still do your favourite activities?
     • For example, do you need to spend more time on homework on a Tuesday so that you can do club soccer on a Wednesday?
     • Do you need to negotiate your homework timetable with teachers so that you can fit everything in?
   • What if you don’t think you can fit everything in? What do you do then? (Hint: keep talking with your family, friends and teachers to see if there are any solutions)

The Parents and carers resource has a helpful flyer and video you may wish to encourage students to share with families: