As well as the many enrichment activities and outings organised for whole year groups to attend, we run a special programme of activities designed to extend the more academically able members of the school. The programme enables pupils to explore a wide range of issues and academic disciplines beyond the curriculum, encouraging their intellectual curiosity and ambition and developing their ability to think for themselves.

Pupils are invited to take part in these activities on the basis of academic potential as measured by standardised tests and other departmental assessments but there is flexibility; the composition of groups varies according to the specific topic focus. Our aim is to accommodate all those pupils whose levels of enthusiasm and interest suggest that they might benefit from a particular activity so that we can develop individual potential as fully as possible.

Academically able First and Second Formers are invited to attend extra sessions after school or on a Saturday to explore topics such as architecture, the Law, palaeography or Mandelbrot's legacy. Special sessions are arranged within curriculum time for able Third and Fourth Formers to extend and enrich their understanding of topics such as forensic archaeology, the science of pandemics, chaos theory or the challenges of translating an unknown language. Academically able Fifth and Sixth Formers are invited to attend after school talks given by a member of staff or visiting speaker on topics such as medical ethics, epistemology or censorship. Students are then encouraged to take an active part in the discussions that follow the presentations.

Further details of the activities are given in the term programmes.