Co-curricular activities

Akademeia students can pursue one or more co-curricular courses. These range from Global Development and Law through Debate, Coding, and Scientific Research Methods, to Music, Drama, and Creative Writing.

The list is constantly growing, reflecting the diverse interests of our students and the expertise of our faculty. Courses are often run at different levels, allowing students to try new things or further practise existing skills.

At Akademeia, we also strive to cultivate a keen social awareness in all our students. To this end, we offer a diverse range of activities in which students can participate. These include lectures delivered by renowned academics and our teachers (i.a. Akademeia Seminars and Open Faculty Lectures), outdoor art workshops, long term participation in start-up projects run by established business leaders, excursions to sites of cultural significance, internships, and voluntary service.

These activities help our students develop a lasting interest in the world around them and present them with practical life situations to which they can apply their growing knowledge. They also learn and practise teamwork, communication skills, and other soft skill prerequisites for success in the 21st century.

Each year we offer around 50 co-curricular courses to choose from. Below you will find description of some of them.

For a complete list of current courses available, please click here

 

Musical Theatre

This elective aims to engage students with a penchant for acting in the preparation of a musical theatre play, for presentation to the public at the end of the school year. To participate in this elective, students must audition for the play. Not all hopeful actors can be guaranteed a role – casting requirements and the strength of the student audition will determine eligibility and ultimate participation. That said, all those interested in acting, singing, and dancing are invited to audition. The chosen play will be announced before the auditions and scripts will be distributed to allow hopefuls to prepare.

School Band (singers and instrumentalists)

School Band is a class dedicated to students passionate about singing, playing instruments and performing. This class will give them an opportunity to play in various musical genres, gain a better understanding of music harmony and most importantly share the experience of playing and singing with your school mates. The repertoire will be chosen by the group and arranged to the skill level of each individual student.

Photography

Over the course of three terms, students will analyse how the representation of landscape, architecture and portrait developed through the history of the photography. Students will analyse, from an artistic and technical point of view, the most influential photographers and images. They will explore and look closely at works of contemporary artists that use photography as their medium, but also documentary photographers, publicity and street photography.

Film Studies

Combining theoretical seminars and practical workshops, this interdisciplinary course enables students to explore International Cinema and experiment with scriptwriting and film making.

Over the course of three terms, students will study the most iconic films from around the world as well as less known arthouse productions. Apart from analysing the plot and contextual information, they will also discuss visual art and literature influences in the World of Cinema. Students will be also encouraged to apply their new knowledge while completing their group project. They will get to write and develop their own scripts in a creative and supportive environment and then in the final stage, their ideas will be turned into short films. Last but not least, they will meet with young film directors who will share their stories and give more insight into the industry.

School Newspaper

Our school newspaper – The Akademeia Post – is written by students, for students and is an opportunity for them to inform, educate and entertain their peers, as well as provide them with key information about upcoming events, opportunities and deadlines.

Maths Club

Targeted at year 10 and 11, this club is focused on preparing for and entering English language international mathematics competitions. This will involve reviewing past examples of questions, answering them and discussing strategies to tackle similar or related questions.

Python elective – becoming a “Pythonista”

Students would learn about making code efficient, adding functions to complete repetitive tasks and debugging techniques.

Creative Writing

The aim of this course is to introduce students to a regular writing practice across a broad range of forms. Forms are defined as prose fiction, prose non-fiction, poetry, script. This course introduces the notion of writing craft, with particular focus on the processes involved in developing creative work, such as generating ideas, drafting and redrafting, using different forms and genres, and critical reflection.

Philosophy

On the one hand this elective is designed to offer a substantial insight into the A-Level Philosophy course as the authors that we will read and discuss in class are of vital importance in the A-Level specification. On the other hand however, in this course we shall read the main works more slowly and in depth than during the more extensive A-Level Prep., paying more attention to ambiguities and author’s main insights (more in the style of actual university-level seminars). In the first 2/3 of the course we shall read fragments from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant and one chosen foundational analytic philosopher (Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer or Carnap etc.) In the final 1/3 of the course I would like to go through some contemporary philosophical works, subject to the interests of the participants. We can e.g. set up a block on contemporary philosophy of (natural) sciences, political philosophy or aesthetics and literary criticism.
No prior exposure to philosophy is required to take this elective. The reading load will be light.

Essay writing

Following current affairs and global developments, students learn to present their ideas and structure their arguments, learning discursive language and essential essay writing techniques. The course
encourages a self-reflective approach to writing through both individual and collaborative tasks.

History vs. Hollywood

This course considers the reception of history in film and television. Through the chronological review of selected historical sources, students will then analyse related films and TV shows for discussions of specific scenes and the historical accuracy (or lack thereof) represented therein. The reception of historical periods from ancient times to the present will be assessed. Some work may include 300, Gladiator, Vikings, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Tudors.

Debating

Whether public speaking is something that makes you come alive, or whether it terrifies you, learning how to debate effectively is an indispensable life skill. In the debating elective, students will learn how to listen well to others, construct and deconstruct arguments, and express oneself eloquently through speech. Using the rules of the Oxbridge debating societies, students will engage their colleagues on a variety of hot topics on a weekly basis, culminating in a public debate open to the entire school community once each term.

Psychology

During this course, students will learn to distinguish different approaches in Psychology (humanistic, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioural). On top of that, they will be presented with insights from social psychology. They will discuss issues important for the contemporary world, including forming relationships, gender, the influence of the media on people’s lives and ethics of Psychology.

Global Development

The course is dedicated to all of the A-level students who are interested in social sciences. The topics covered will be particularly interesting and significant for students that plan to study development
studies, economics, geography, sociology, anthropology, international relations, political science, and related fields. The course will introduce a brief history of the concept of development, as well as basic notions within the contemporary development discourse. Special emphasis will be put on the concept of sustainable development and the United Nations Agenda 2030.

Geography

The elective provides students with a democratic space, in which they decide which geographical issues they want to examine. Akademeia’s geographers debate population policies related to ageing, gender equality, gentrification, urban deprivation, and cultural geography-based understandings of cities as states of mind. The group ‘travels’ virtually to places as diverse as Singapore, La Paz, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Detroit, Karachi and Copenhagen. Every topic is introduced through a summary of more theoretical, academic knowledge, followed by an interactive analysis of specific case studies, with particular attention paid to policy-making. In order to understand intricacies of the latter, we often engage with simulations, role play and debates of various kinds. Students also have a chance to learn about sustainable urban development and the challenges related to rapidly growing urbanization.

Medicine

From the anatomy of the human body, through its physiology to signs, symptoms and treatment options of different diseases – all of these topics cover 1-year “Elective Medicine” program. Students will be guided through the world of medicine, explained complex processes from the basics, making tough issues easy. Roleplay, quizzes, manual training – these are additional methods used by our teacher to consolidate knowledge and whet the appetite for more!

Theoretical Physics Club

This elective focuses on broadening knowledge from the area of physics by solving advanced theoretical tasks. High proficiency in mathematics would be appreciated. It can be treated as a preparatory course for British Physics Olympiad.

iGEM Project

The iGEM Project elective prepares students to take part in the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Competition which is dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology. Within the contest, multidisciplinary teams work together to design, build, test, and measure a system of their own design using interchangeable biological parts and standard molecular biology techniques. During the elective, Akademeia students prepare and give presentations related to the iGEM project. They cooperate closely with the University of Warsaw.