In November, we held ECA (Extracurricular Activities) Day, when we invited families to witness the progress made by children in extracurricular activities throughout the year. These practices make up ongoing work that expands repertoires, supports the discovery of abilities, cultivates interests, and strengthens coexistence and community.
Through presentations, ECA Day creates a moment to recognize children’s development, valuing the journey of each student in a process that becomes visible when experienced regularly, with the attentive guidance of specialist teachers and within the community.
Designed especially to bring together families who, in their daily routine, are not always able to follow these processes closely, the event reaffirms the nature of the school as a place for socializing, listening, belonging, and sharing.
“The idea behind holding presentations of the activities is to give families the opportunity to see the children’s development throughout the year—what they learned and practiced in the activities—both in terms of their individual growth and their collective experiences,” says the extracurricular activities coordinator, Fábio Cabianca. He explains that the power of the day also lies in the coexistence among the practices, which allows the children to observe other forms of expression, other groups, and other possible rhythms, and to let themselves be inspired by what is new.
The presentations lasted all Saturday morning, with different learning activities taking place side by side in the school’s classrooms. On the guitar and ukulele, the children played songs—sometimes accompanied by the teachers, sometimes on their own—exploring attention to cadence and to listening to the group. In judo, the belt ceremony revealed the concrete ritual of evolution within a practice that demands preparation, focus, and presence. For tennis and soccer, the school set up nets and marked out courts in the playground, transforming the school grounds into a playing field, an experience that some children and families do not have outside of school, as they do not attend clubs or use courts. In the theater, costumes and rehearsed lines told stories that ran through the collective creation of the text and the scene.
Fábio points out that giving a presentation promotes another type of attention in children: greater care with time, with the internal organization of the group, and with their own posture when the family audience is nearby. “As the presentation date approaches, they start to focus and dedicate themselves more so that on the day of the event they can present without any problems or confusion. I notice that they have a different attitude when their family is present: they become a little more serious, more focused,” says the teacher. This seriousness, according to Fábio, reflects the importance of this type of event. “The children understand that their experience deserves to be shared with the same dedication with which it was built.”
Even in practices that start with individual gestures, there is an unspoken pact to pay attention to the surroundings. On the guitar, for example, although each child holds their own instrument, it is the group that determines the tempo. “You can’t make one child play faster than another. They need to play at the same pace and pay attention to their colleagues. “It’s an exercise in independence and, at the same time, in caring for the group,” says Fábio, noting that being in sync is an important part of learning in Extracurricular Activities—not just for aesthetics, but as a teaching value that fosters empathy and understanding of others.
The impact on families is seen as recognition of the children’s progress . Their family is thrilled to see their children in action during the activities organized by the school. “There are children who have been involved for more than a year, and the family sees their evolution. Sometimes their kid is signed up for tennis, but doesn’t belong to a club, there is no court available for them to practice. When parents sees their child hitting the ball around in the yard, as if playing for real, their reaction is one of great surprise and satisfaction. The feedback is always very positive, and families are grateful for this work,” he says. In some activities, medals and certificates mark achievements that do not represent the final step of a learning process, but reveal continuity and invite the next step.
The coordinator cites the example of the guitar: many students start in Year 2 and reach Year 5 with fluency and confidence, which allows us to observe how years of dedication build a vocabulary of the body, sound, and perception, highlighting the evolution of listening, musicality, and presence. “The families understand that sometimes their children cannot do everything perfectly, but they clearly see the progress and are happy for them.”
Overall, the meeting reveals what be.Living believes to be integral education: development that is built on the exploration of rhythms and movements, creativity, meaningful experiences, relationships, autonomy, and coexistence. It is not about the extraordinary as a spectacle, but about everyday life as a powerful learning path, experienced with pedagogical intent and capable of being recognized and shared.
ECA Day confirms that knowledge is strengthened when it is seen, experienced, and shared with others, inviting the school community to enjoy learning about the paths that children are taking.
