History

History

History tells stories about people, places and things to help explain to young people of any age why the world is as it is as they grow up and begin to question it.

Schools will choose different periods and settings and topics to cove during different Key Stages, but all of them are pretty well guaranteed to be rooted in actual places that can be visited, explored and enjoyed.

It has been a curious fact that for many years primary classes have studied the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, while secondary school syllabuses have been more engaged in post-medieval periods. For a while secondary courses involved a great deal of ‘topic work’. While this discipline still exists, the recent examination syllabuses have returned to an emphasis on historical periods and links.

But all periods and topics provide fantastic opportunities for school visits. We are so lucky that so many general and specialist museums and visitor centres exist in the UK. The problem is not a shortage of possibilities but how one sifts through the available opportunities to make choices.

The Historical Association (link is external) website carries information about course, conferences, study tours, and the Association has published ‘The Historian (link is external)’ magazine for many years. Handsam is also happy to help, please contact us on 0844 335 1737 or email info@schooltripsadvisor.org.uk (link sends e-mail).

Most venues will have teaching materials and activities geared to students’ different ages and aptitudes whether at primary or secondary level. All of them will set out to develop students’ ability to understand, analyse and evaluate key features and characteristics of historical periods and events studied.

Some venues will be easy to identify because they fit neatly with the period and topic being studied but others may offer new possibilities, not least to the teachers themselves. Teachers need and deserve their own stimulation.

Over the next four years there will be an upsurge in visits to the First World War battlefields. Because of this there will be an increase in companies offering visits and requirement for battlefield guides, especially in northern France and Belgium. There are bound to be discrepancies in guides’ knowledge and experience. Close research into the credentials of the company you are contracting with, and the company’s guarantees about guides, will ensure that your group will not be disappointed.

Main organisations:

The Historical Association (link is external)

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (link is external)

Inclusion: NASEN (link is external)

Thought of visiting?

Roman Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum at Hadrian’s Wall

Viriconium, Wroxeter, Shropshire

The London Museum

The Jorvik Viking Centre, York

Winchester Discovery Centre

National Museum, Cardiff

Offa’s Dyke Trail and Chirk Castle

The National Trust (link is external)

Bannockburn Heritage Centre

The National Trust for Scotland (link is external)

Youth Hostels Association (link is external)

Historic Scotland (link is external)

Clan Donald Visitor Centre, Isle of Skye

Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre

Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

Hull and East Riding Museum

Soane Museum, London

Exeter Cathedral Education Centre

Ironbridge Gorge Museums

Royal Armouries Museum

The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

The Scottish Maritime Museum

The Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

East Anglia Railway Museum, Colchester

The National Tramway Museum, Matlock

The Museum of Rugby at Twickenham

Windermere Steamboat Museum, Cumbria

For a complete list of venues and providers who deliver specialist courses and activities for this subject see below: