A wide range of clubs and societies meet during the lunch hours and after school to extend the girls’ intellectual and social development. In addition to sport, music, drama and debating the girls can choose from a list of activities appropriate to their age. In recent years this list has included Art Club, Ballet, Card Making, Charity Committee, Chess, Creative Writing, EcoSchools, Modern Languages Club, Classics, Music Theory, Photography, Puzzle Club, Tornews, (the girls’ own termly newspaper) and Young Enterprise.
From Year 10 onwards girls are eligible to join the bronze level of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme; many progress to silver and eventually achieve their gold award before they leave the School. In recent years significant numbers of Sixth Formers have been selected to join British Schools’ Exploring Society expeditions, involving six weeks of project work and adventure in remote areas of the world such as arctic Norway, the Amazon or central Africa. Tormead is one of only 23 schools in the country to have been awarded star school status by BSES.
In the Sixth Form, girls also have the opportunity to participate in an overseas expedition. The Vietnam team leave in July, previous eExpeditions have taken place to Costa Rica and Bolivia and the next is planned for China. The challenge for the girls (and the staff who accompany them) begins long before the journey starts, with a 15-20 month programme of training, fundraising and research that provides the maximum educational impact.