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
Northamptonshire Archives hold a range of documents covering the history of our county from Norman times to the present day. The aim of the Heritage Education Service is to make this information accessible to school children of all ages.
We work in schools and at special events throughout the county and offer taught sessions using original documents.
The cathedral at Northampton is a commodious but unpretentious building designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton which covers the counties of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and that part of Berkshire (formerly in Buckinghamshire) that lies to the north of the River Thames.
At Masjid Umar we welcome visitors from all over the world. We also work closely with local schools and organisations.
Masjid Umar provides a range of education for both young and old, including:
Originating as a 13th-century wayside hospital, this flint and timber-framed building now displays Roman artefacts from nearby sites.
Evocatively sited amid the East Kent marshes, Richborough is perhaps the most symbolically important of all Roman sites in Britain, witnessing both the beginning and almost the end of Roman rule here. Explore the huge stone walls which mark the site of this Saxon Shore fortress and take a look at the fascinating museum.
For a fascinating day out on the Kent coast look no further than Deal Castle.
Built by the order of King Henry VIII it is one of the finest Tudor artillery castles in England, and among the earliest and most elaborate of a chain of coastal forts, which also includes Calshot, Camber, Walmer and Pendennis Castles.
The EARM is a living heritage site based at Chappel railway station. We are situated on the edge of breathtaking Constable Country and adjacent to one of the largest railway viaducts in Eastern England.
Landguard Fort is the site of the last opposed seaborne invasion of England in 1667 and the first land battle of the Royal Marines. The current fort was built in the 18th century, and modified in the 19th century with substantial additional 19th-20th century outside batteries.
A pretty four-arched late medieval bridge, spanning the River Kennett on the old route from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds.
The bridge is built of flint and stone rubble, with plain parapets, and the edges of the arches are made of brick. Pointed arch shapes like these were constructed using wooden formers to support and shape them, and were not used after the 15th century.
A pretty thatched 13th century chapel with lancet windows.
There is no documentary evidence for the foundation of the Chapel of St James the Apostle at Lindsey.
The historic racing town of Newmarket in Suffolk is home to the National Horseracing museum, housed in the buildings that were once known as the Subscription Rooms which were a focal point of Newmarket and consequently are steeped in history
Retired jockeys and trainers staff the museum, dedicated to horse racing history.
Lydia Eva is the last steam drifter and the last boat to have been constructed in the ship yard in Kings Lynn. Over 1000 of these fishing vessels worked out of Yarmouth in the 1920s.
On-board displays tell the story of the Lydia Eva and the East Coast herring fishing industry.
Have your own private visit to St Nicholas Chapel with its 15th century wooden roof and beautifully carved angels.
For over 600 years the wonderful carved roof angels, the dazzling stained glass and the history contained within St Nicholas' Chapel have inspired locals and visitors alike.
St Seraphim’s is an Orthodox Chapel created in 1967 by Father David and Leon Liddament of the Brotherhood of St Seraphim in what was previously the booking office and gentlemen’s waiting room of Walsingham Railway Station. An onion dome and cross were added to the original 1857 building, but otherwise it remains relatively unchanged from its original design.
There has long been a military presence at Weybourne, reflecting the village’s key defensive position. The remaining Weybourne Camp buildings now house Britain's largest private working military museum.
Exhibits date from 1782 to the present day. Highlights include the many tanks, guns, missiles and armoured vehicles, some outside but many in large indoor galleries.
Grime’s Graves is the only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in Britain. This grassy lunar landscape of 400 pits was first named Grim’s Graves by the Anglo-Saxons. It was not until one of them was excavated in 1870 that they were identified as flint mines dug over 5,000 years ago.
The museum houses the lifeboat Henry Ramey Upcher and other collections relating to the Sheringham lifeboats that were paid for by the local Upcher family and manned by the fishermen themselves.This atmospheric museum is housed in a historic fishing shed on Sheringham's seafront.
The partially excavated remains of a Roman 'Saxon Shore' fort, including wall and ditch sections and building foundations. Built around AD 200 for a unit of the Roman army and navy and occupied until the end of the 4th century.
A countryside extravaganza of delightful gardens, Dad’s Army memorabilia, Victorian fairground rides, steam trains and traction engines and more.
The wonderfully complete 14th century brick-vaulted refectory undercroft - later a cottage occupied until 1902 - of a small Augustinian priory.
It is dedicated to Olaf, the 11th century king and patron saint of Norway whose stark Christian message was ‘baptism or death’.
Caldecott Hall is a 400 acre country estate enjoying the scenic views stretching from an historic Viking burial ground to the Waveney Forest.
Take a journey through crime and punishment in Great Yarmouth in one of England’s oldest prisons. Learn of the fates of thieves, smugglers, witches, pirates and murderers. Hear both gaoler and prisoners tell their stories of transportation, incarceration and execution.
Visit one of Norfolk's best and largest extant marsh mills, built to grind a constituent of cement and in use until 1951, finally pumping water to drain surrounding marshland.
One of the largest, best preserved and most lavishly decorated keeps in England, surrounded by 20 acres of mighty earthworks.
Begun in 1138 by William d'Albini for his new wife, the widow of Henry I, in the 14th century it became the luxurious exile-place of Queen Isabella, widow (and alleged murderess) of Edward II.
Owned and managed by Lord Howard of Rising.
Coxswain Henry Blogg (1876-1954) was the RNLI's most decorated lifeboat man. During his 53 years of service Blogg was awarded three Gold and four Silver RNLI medals for gallantry, as well as the George Cross and British Empire Medal.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.