"The wide range of extra-curricular activities, including visits, enriches the curriculum and these activities are very popular. Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is exceptionally well promoted and pervades the life of the academy."

Ofsted, 2015

At The Belvedere Academy, we offer a lot more than academic excellence. We offer a wide range of activities to all students from all Year groups. Enrichment helps students to develop their interests and abilities, provides valuable learning experiences outside their studies, and promotes independence and interpersonal links with students in other Years.

Music is vibrant. Students can join the orchestra, string, woodwind and brass chamber ensembles and the choir, giving public performances each term.

There are a wide range of team and individual sports to choose from. Our students compete against local schools and in national tournaments. We offer the Community Sports Leadership Award in Year 12.

The annual Drama Festival is a highlight of the year. Year 12 students produce and direct a play with each class of younger students and the standard is high. There are also opportunities for students to take part in whole school productions, both on stage and behind the scenes.

Students can take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Students support a number of charities including Jeans for Genes and Operation Christmas Child. Fundraising provides an opportunity for students to have fun and work together with other Years.

Clubs and activities take place at lunchtime and after school, incorporating interests such as debating, trampolining, playing chess or making trade fairer. If a particular interest is not covered, we support our students in starting their own clubs.

Students are also given opportunities to visit amazing places as part of Enrichment. Recent trips have included visits to London theatres, Geography and Science field trips to Snowdonia and Malham, and journeys further afield, to Berlin, Krakow, Italy, Zambia and China.

“Exciting", "interesting", "challenging" and "fun" are just a few of the words that have been used to describe the Enrichment programme at The Belvedere Academy.

All students are given access to the programme on Firefly and through academy noticeboards, and the students choose which of the clubs they will be attending. The range of clubs is immense with students able to do knitting one evening and then cheerleading the next!

The majority of clubs are completely free to the students and some even offer the chance to gain an additional qualification.

Enrichment Programme Information

Click here for the current Enrichment programme timetable.

As part of the changes to the new school day, how the academy runs and administers Enrichment will change with the Enrichment offer largely moving to after school. Moreover, for pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9, Enrichment will now be compulsory on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, running from 3pm (finish times will be available on the Enrichment Programme timeable above). For pupils in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, Enrichment will remain optional with a range of activities available, as is the case now.

There may be some Enrichments, particularly in Music, PE and Drama which also run across the week and we are going to use form time for additional enriching activities as well. Our Year 12 students will also be running activities after school on a Tuesday at 3pm.

The academy coach service will continue to leave the academy shortly after 4pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (3.10pm on Mondays and Fridays). Pupils traveling on the coaches will be supervised until the coach departure time.

Combined Cadet Force

Belvedere are excited to be part of the National Cadet Expansion Programme, which aims to grow the number of cadet forces in state schools. 

This is a Leadership Programme within a military setting that strives to develop qualities such as self-discipline, loyalty and respect, strong leadership, teamwork and resilience, which will enable cadets to achieve excellence and shape their own future.  Cadets will enjoy a range of experiences, which will include drill, rope work, Naval communications, chart work, afloat activities, camps and courses. 

We were proud and honoured to invite Commodore Philip Waterhouse to officially open The Belvedere Academy Royal Naval section in April this year.  It was an outstanding event, which saw Cadets receive their promotions, celebrated by Royal Navy guests, staff, family and friends.  The Contingent is the first all-female Navy Contingent in the country.

We were so lucky to spend the weekend down in Britannia Royal Naval College, in Dartmouth.  Cadets kept themselves busy during the long journey with lots of revision for their up and coming exams, showing cadet dedication to their school work as well as the cadet programme! 

It was a fun-filled weekend in which we took part in so many activities such as low ropes, piloting a variety of vessels on the River Dart, piloted a warship on a high-tech Bridge Simulator, completed drill on the world-famous parade ground, went swimming and even visited the College Beagles!  At night, we all slept on HMS Hindustan, a Royal Navy Training Ship, which is permanently moored at BRNC.  It was a weekend that made a massive impact on cadets and officers alike and it can definitely be said that we all fell just a little bit in love with Dartmouth!

Well done to all of the Cadets who took part in our Afloat Day at Waterside Lodge in Southport.  We were so lucky to have fantastic weather and we enjoyed a great day on the water.  Cadets got to experience both canoeing and dinghy sailing and had lots of fun in the process! 

To show how Cadets does not just make a positive impact on the lives of young, but also on the community, we have joined forces with The Friends of Princes Park to litter pick around the space that we are so privileged to be able to use.

Cadets are always encouraged to access the very long list of camps and courses available to them, provided by the Royal Navy.  This year we have been fortunate enough to have a number of cadets taking advantage of these amazing opportunities, many of which culminate in achieving National qualifications in a variety of water-based activities.  The even better news is that the courses are free to access!  Have a look at some photos from recent dinghy sailing RYA Level 2 courses.

• RNCF FAQs