What Are The Benefits Of Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities?

What are co-curricular and extra-curricular activities?

Co-curricular activities are:

• activities organised by your school that take place outside the classroom
• support the classroom curriculum in some way
• provide coaching, training or instruction, but not in the regular classroom

Co-curricular activities are usually not graded but the co-curricular activities you do at school may be listed on your school reports.

Schools usually offer a broad range of co-curricular activities you can choose from. Examples could include activities such as:

• School sports teams
• School choirs or bands
• School drama productions
• Student committees
• Debating and public speaking
• Chess clubs
• Peer tutoring
• Youth ministry activities
• Defence Force Cadets
• Duke of Edinburgh Award

Your school’s website may list the co-curricular activities offered. If not, contact a teacher to find out what co-curricular activities your school offers.

Extra-curricular activities are:

• Activities available in your community that you may do on an optional basis external to the school.
• Not organised by your school

Examples of extra-curricular activities could include:

• Playing sport for a club
• Learning dance at a private dance school
• Private music lessons that are not organised by your school
• Youth group
• Pony club
• Modelling
• Church activities
• Scouts
• Surf life-saving
• Defence Force cadets that are not organised by your school
• Volunteer firefighting
• Part-time work out of school hours

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities:

• Develop your skills
• Help you explore what activities outside the classroom you enjoy or do not enjoy
• Help you to explore the non-academic skills you are good at
• Develop important skills for your future, such as how to work in a team, how to communicate with people, how to organise your time, how to set personal goals and work towards achieving them

These benefits can help you when you make learning and career decisions. For example, if you choose to play a sport for your school as part of the school’s co-curricular programme, you may discover that you love the sport and have a talent. This may in turn influence your school subject choices, the course you decided to study when you have finished school and your first career step after finishing school.

You can include your co-curricular and extra-curricular activities on your résumé when you are looking for a part-time job. This may give you the edge in getting a job.

Disadvantages

• It may be stressful trying to keep up with your school work and your co-curricular and/or extra-curricular commitments
• Spending too much time on co-curricular and/or extra-curricular activities may mean that you have less time to prepare for tests or complete school assignments, which could affect your academic results

Aim for a balance between academics and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.