Trips

How one school benefits from its work with the National Trust

In this programme, pupils from St Catherine's Primary School in Bridport conduct a river survey at Dorset's Golden Cap Estate. The school is taking part in a guardianship scheme which involves them building an ongoing relationship with a National Trust site. It not only supports the work of the National Trust wardens but also enhances the school's programme of study. It is a year round programme that includes the whole school. Here, we see the pupils make observations as they follow the river until it reaches the sea, measuring its width, depth and speed. The programme also features the follow-up classroom project, where pupils use their findings of the survey to design a poster.

Back to Nature

Comedy Dave leads a group of inner city children on an adventure

Dave Vitty, better known as Comedy Dave from the Chris Moyles Show, has been given a teaching challenge to help lead a group of 80 inner city students on an adventure holiday in the New Forest. The pupils from Whitmore Primary School in Hoxton, London include groups with autism and other SENs as well as many students who have never been outside their inner-city neighbourhood before. The first challenge is to raise enough money for the trip, and dedicated teachers and staff lead by Claire Willis busy themselves with fulfilling this task. There are many logistical hurdles to overcome when organising an activity holiday for such a big group. Will Comedy Dave rise to the challenge and give these children their first taste of nature?

Comedy Dave

Learn about animal movements at the Natural History Museum

Rodmell primary school in Lewes is preparing for a dance performance based on animal movements at a local show. To help the children make their costumes and movements more authentic teacher Leanne Stevenson books two sessions at the Natural History Museum in London. &nbsp; "Investigate" is a hands-on science centre in the museum which allows students to hold, touch, measure and explore real specimens using microscopes, mini cameras and computers. Back in school the pupils draw on their experience to perfect their performance and add the final touches to their costumes. See the resources and support materials page for more information relating to this programme. You can also find the subtitle document for this programme on the resources and support materials page.

Creepy Crawlies

A Year 6 class visit Europe's premier aviation museum

In this programme, a Year 6 class learn about building structures and architecture at Duxford's Imperial War Museum. A former RAF fighter station, Duxford now houses Europe's premier museum of aircraft and aviation history. The pupils, from St. Mary's RC Primary School in Ipswich, learn how designing an aircraft hangar presents an unusual set of architectural challenges. They look at how differing solutions were developed over the course of the 20th century and have the chance to put their own ideas into practice by building scale models. Back at school, the students continue to think about triangular shapes as constructional elements. Architect and broadcaster Maxwell Hutchinson adds his thoughts on the importance of structure in architecture.

Duxford Aircraft Museum

A cultural learning project exploring epic tales

Inside Story is a cultural learning project exploring epic tales from Asia and the Middle East with teachers and children. The British Library has teamed up with with libraries, museums, archives and three primary schools in Yorkshire to help them access rich source material and benefit from the experience. The stories selected are the Shahname, the Ramayana and the Jewish Haggodot, all unique masterpieces vividly bringing to life epic and culturally important stories. Each of schools worked with storytellers and had the support of the project co-ordinator to plan a programme of work. An artist designer responded to a brief devised with each of the classes involved to create an amazing storytelling space to share the stories. This programme focuses on Hillcrest Primary's work on the story of the story of Hanuman from the Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit poem, and how teacher Jim Crennel used the story across the curriculum.

Epic Inspiration

Year 6 pupils visit The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham

The series visiting and recommending worthwhile and enjoyable venues for educational trips. This week Worth the Trip joins Tom Barret and his Year 6 pupils on a visit to The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham to explore the history of crime and punishment from the 1500s to the present day. We also catch up with Richard Machin and his Year 6 pupils on a three-day outdoor activity trip to The Robin Wood Activity Centre in Lancashire.

Galleries of Justice

A school who linked up with their local art gallery

This programme shows how one primary school linked up with their local public art gallery in Wolverhampton to enhance their pupils' creativity with a stone-carving outreach project. This project sees Nisha Patel's Year 4 class from Merridale Primary School working with an art interpreter from Wolverhampton Art Gallery. It all starts with a visit to the gallery's Sensing Sculpture exhibition, where pupils can touch, feel and smell the exhibits, and gain inspiration for their own pieces of art. The class then take part in a stone carving workshop back at school where each pupil designs and creates their own stone carving, with guidance from a gallery expert.

Hands-on Art

Plymouth's mobile museum brings natural history to the classroom

"The Museum in Transit (MIT) is an outreach project funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's 'Renaissance in the Regions' project. Teachers can book the MIT to come into school free of charge for a week of activities which every pupil has direct contact with. The content of the van and sessions is flexible to school requirements and it can cover a range of subjects including natural history, ancient civilisations and art. This programme shows Hooe Primary School's week of activities based on natural history. The MIT helps the pupils to set up and curate their own school museum, which they continue to manage after the visit is over. Department head Jill Selwood sees the MIT as a great bonus for the school, which avoids the potential problems of a school trip and benefits a greater number of pupils. "

In Your School

A class visits the largest open-air museum in Britain

Blists Hill, the largest open air museum in Britain, is an authentic recreation of a small Victorian town. In this programme, we see a Year 5 class explore the town and interact with the demonstrator inhabitants. The pupils, dressed in Victorian costume, watch a printer at work and participate in a hands-on workshop, type-setting and printing their own artwork. They also experience a school lesson as it would have been in 1900, learning that discipline was strict, teaching inflexible and the class system rigorously enforced. Back in the modern school, teacher Clare James talks about the trip and explains how she has integrated it into the term's work.

Ironbridge

An overnight trip aboard the HMS Belfast

HMS Belfast is a branch of the Imperial War Museum. "Kip in a ship" is a citizenship-based residential visit, which gives school groups the chance to sleep overnight on board HMS Belfast in the original crew mess decks. Russ Green has been bringing pupils from Homelands Primary in Torbay to the ship for the past three years. He has built a good relationship with the ship's education team, which allows sessions to be tailored to his specific requirements. In the education centre, pupils learn about the harsh conditions crew had to face during the artic convoys. The session is brought to life by John, an HMS Belfast veteran who served on board the ship in the 1950s. Here the pupils get to talk to John and find out what it was like living in a floating town. It's also a good opportunity for teachers and pupils to spend time together, away from the confines of the classrooom.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Whole school

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