The Somme Heritage Centre opened in 1994 as an educational facility and tourist attraction. It examines Ireland's role in the Great War with special reference to local cross-community involvement in the three volunteer Divisions raised in Ireland: the 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions, and the 36th (Ulster) Division.
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 website carries information about course, conferences, study tours, and the Association has published ‘The Historian’ magazine for many years. Handsam is also happy to help, please contact us on 03332 070737 or email info@schooltripsadvisor.org.uk.
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:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
Roman Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum at Hadrian’s Wall
Viriconium, Wroxeter, Shropshire
The Jorvik Viking Centre, York
Offa’s Dyke Trail and Chirk Castle
The National Trust for Scotland
Clan Donald Visitor Centre, Isle of Skye
Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
Exeter Cathedral Education Centre
The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
The Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth
East Anglia Railway Museum, Colchester
The National Tramway Museum, Matlock
Venues for this Curriculum
The Cathedral Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Tuam, commonly called Tuam Cathedral, is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam in Ireland.
The museum is housed in a grade B+ Sovereign's House. The Eagle Takers Gallery won the Best Exhibition in Ireland in 2003. The collection contains the uniforms, medals, regalia and the two Victoria Crosses won by the Regiment. The Regimental archive and library may be viewed by appointment.
Carrickfergus is the most archaeologically explored town in Northern Ireland. The finds on display at Carrickfergus Museum provide a remarkable glimpse into life in the town from the Medieval period to more recent times.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Sligo, Ireland, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin. It was opened on 26 July 1874 by Cardinal Paul Cullen of Dublin and consecrated on 1 July 1897. The cathedral was built in a Norman style, and it is the only Norman styled cathedral in Ireland.
Flame gasworks is Ireland's sole surviving coal gasworks and is one of only three left in the British Isles. Opened in 1855, it supplied Carrickfergus with gas until 1965 and was closed in 1987. It is now fully restored and was reopened as a visitor and educational attraction in August 2002.
The RPSI is an all-island body, run by volunteers, which preserves steam and diesel powered railway locomotives, carriages and other equipment from all over Ireland and uses them for passenger excursions on the Irish railway network. RPSI steam trains carry passengers to places as far apart as Portrush and Tralee, Rosslare and Bangor.
Explore. Engage. Enjoy.
Across four unique sites, we care for and present inspirational collections that reflect the creativity, innovation, history, culture and people of Northern Ireland.
The Live & Learn Project
Fareham’s local museum, tells the story of the Borough. Set in a fabulous Georgian building, the museum is right in the heart of Fareham. There are regular exhibitions and free family activities all year round and during the school holidays.
School visits to Westbury Manor Museum
Remains of a Roman camp with visitor & community centre open Tuesdays and Wednesdays with artefacts, handling collection, mystery excavation, dressing up clothes, activity packs and facilitated visits available.
Segontium was later plundered to provide stone for Edward I's castle at Caernarfon.
Facilitated education activity: Life of a Roman Soldier.
The Axe Valley and Seaton museum has many varied collections concentrating on the history and events of the local area, with many photographs, from Victorian times, of Seaton, Beer and Axmouth.
World famous chapel containing Stanley Spencer's visionary paintings
This modest red-brick building tucked away in a quiet corner of Hampshire houses an unexpected treasure – an epic series of large-scale murals, by the acclaimed war artist Sir Stanley Spencer.
A magnificent Georgian mansion and tranquil garden lie at the heart of this historic parkland
Saltram stands high above the River Plym in a rolling and wooded landscaped park that now provides precious green space on the outskirts of Plymouth. The House with its magnificent decoration and original contents was largely created between the 1740’s and 1820’s by three generations of the Parker family.
The family chapel of the Roman Catholic Bodenham family. The originally simple medieval building has a fine Elizabethan timber roof, a rebuilt 18th century tower, and striking Victorian interior decoration and furnishings by the Pugins.
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, housed in a spectacular Victorian gothic building, has been exhibiting artefacts and works of fine and decorative art connected with the local area since 1874. Although the exterior of the building has changed very little the museum and gallery have kept up with the times.
A small chapel tranquilly set all alone in charming countryside. Its atmospheric interior contains a perfect set of 17th century timber furnishings, including a musicians' pew.
200 years of prison life
Visit us and learn about ‘life inside’ one of the world’s most famous and notorious jails. Our museum attracts more than 35,000 visitors every year from all over the world.
Foxhunting, Stilton Cheese and pork pies, local history, sporting art and much, much more!
Melton Carnegie Museum re-opened fully in late 2010 following a major building project which has created a new state-of-the-art gallery, study area and community space for museum activities, schools, volunteers and community groups.
The house is surrounded by a moat which is a big success with any kid to start! Plus follow the nature trail and spot wildlife from the bird-hide, have fun in the natural play area and discover new areas of the estate on their 3 orienteering courses!
If you are looking for something new to do with kids then why not try a self guided, themed Treasure Trail! They offer an imaginative and fun way to explore, and learn about, the great outdoors.
The answers to the clues are located on existing monuments, buildings and structures: some are easy to find, some are a little bit trickier!
Two million years of human history
One million artefacts
Countless astonishing stories
Archaeology and Anthropology are ways of knowing people past and present.
Exploration into science: Discover the story of planet Earth's coldest, driest, windiest, highest and deadliest places…
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 470,000 visitors annually.
Our collections include:
Welcome to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden where you can discover plants from all over the world in 40 acres of beautiful gardens and glasshouses.
The Garden opens daily at 10am.
School Visits
This peaceful ten acre garden occupies a hillside position extending down from the 17th century manor house, constructed of mellow Northamptonshire stone.
Landscaped on different levels, it comprises a series of distinctive smaller gardens, providing variety and interest throughout the season, and enhanced by flowing streams, fountains and ponds.
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