Children’s grades get a boost from after-school activity

Schools can play a crucial role in boosting children’s academic performance by offering a range of after- school programmes, a report suggests.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds, the report warns, may lose out academically if they do not have access to the same kind of activities as their middle-class peers.

Furthermore, children who engage in cultural activities and social networking perform better in reading and maths than other groups.

The study on nine-year- olds, called Growing Up in Ireland, also warned that being involved in too many activities cancels out some of the education benefits.

The study also found having internet access in school was associated with greater use of technology outside school, particularly for social networking.

The research carried out by Trinity College Dublin and the ESRI reveals that children of professionals are three times as likely as those of unemployed parents to take part in cultural activities.

However, those in homes affected by unemployment are three times as likely to be involved in unstructured activities such as watching television or hanging out with friends.

As part of the long-running Government-funded study, the latest research examined what influences children’s after-school lives.

The findings are based on interviews with 8,500 nine-year-old children and their parents, teachers and principals that took place from September 2007 to June 2008.

“Given the findings on the impact of out-of-school activities on children’s educational performance, it is surprising that little or no attention has been given to whether schools can influence children’s access to informal learning opportunities outside the school setting,” the report states.

It suggests that one of the most direct ways in which schools can influence children’s out-of-school activities is by providing extracurricular programmes such as drama, arts and crafts, organised sports, debating clubs and homework clubs.

Schools could also awaken children’s interest in particular learning activities, which they then pursue in their free time outside school.

While chronic illness or disability did not appear to affect the nature of children’s activities, those identified with a learning disability were less likely to take part in cultural activities.

It emerged that 13% of children with learning disabilities took part in cultural activities compared to 22% of able-bodied children.

Life styles

Nine-year-olds fall into five distinct groups on the basis of their activities outside school:

* Cultural activities: 25% are very involved in activities such as music and drama lessons/clubs, and reading for pleasure.

* Sports and computer games: 20% spend a lot of time playing sports and computer games.

* Social networkers: 18% use computers a lot to keep in touch with friends.

* Busy lives: 15% spend time on a very wide range of structured activities, leading busy lives.

* TV and sports: 23% who spend their spare time in mainly unstructured activities, such as watching TV and spending time with friends and rarely use computers and other forms of information technology.