The Pitt Rivers Museum is famous for it's period atmosphere and outstanding collections from many world cultures, past and present.
Primary schools
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
Roofed conduit for Oxford's first water mains, constructed during the early 17th century. North Hinksey Conduit House is located on a hillside with views over the busy Oxford ring road to the spires of the city below.
A classic series of collections housed in stunning architecture. Among its most famous features are the Oxfordshire dinosaurs, the dodo, and the swifts in the tower.
An ancient site of incarceration (since 1071) offering a highly atmospheric history lesson spanning ten centuries, with hands on displays and real life prisoner stories. Quirky costumed tour guides are available every 20 minutes.
The old buildings have been preserved and are now open to the public revealing a time capsule: allowing the buildings to tell their captivating story.
Donington Park motor racing circuit was the first permanent park circuit in England.
Its first motorcycle race took place on Whit Monday 1931 on the narrow lanes of the Donington Hall Estate. In 1933 the track was widened, made permanent and became a venue for Grand Prix car racing.
Mainly encased in brick but still retaining its 14th-century timber roof, this was in turn part of a hospital, a chantry chapel, a public house, and a Georgian barracks, before its basement became a Second World War gas decontamination chamber. The building is within Gravesham's Heritage Quarter and currently exhibits a fascinating insight into the borough's heritage.
Try the working period telephones and switchboards. Visit the Victorian Parlour and Schoolroom. Listen to an air raid in the Museum's Anderson Shelter. Make toast in the period kitchen. Visit the street of period shops. Visit the Hall of Transport.
A unique partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and National Museums Scotland, the museum combines an exhibition building (with shop and cafe) and the historic working farm of Wester Kittochside.
The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Luke the Evangelist is the spiritual and community centre for Greeks from mainland Greece and Cyprus. It is one of three Orthodox Churches and the only Orthodox Cathedral in Scotland. It also serves all other Orthodox communities in Glasgow, such as Serbs, Romanians, Russians etc.
St Andrew's Cathedral, built in 1816, is seen in a new light since its restoration, completed in April 2011. Visitors remark on the brightness, the colour, the space.... a much-loved church restored to the people of Glasgow and welcoming all who come to visit.
The award-winning St Mungo Museum, named after Glasgow's patron saint, is home to inspiring displays of artefacts and stunning works of art exploring the importance of religion in peoples’ lives across the world and across time.
The spectacular Riverside Museum is home to some of the world’s finest cars, bicycles, ship models, trams and locomotives. Interactive displays and the hugely popular historic Glasgow street scene bring the objects and stories to life.
Step back in time and discover Glasgow’s unique history with a visit to the oldest house in the city, built in 1471. It was originally part of a hospital and is one of only four medieval buildings to survive in Glasgow.
Book a tour to visit the extraordinary store for Glasgow Museums' vast collection. Come and see our Archaeology, Art & Painting, Arms & Armour, Natural History, Transport & Technology and World Cultures collections at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC) - even when they're not on display at our venues.
Mingulay, Berneray and Pabbay are three islands of unrivalled wildness and beauty.
The Falkirk Wheel is one of Scotland's top tourist destinations and attracts visitors from all across the World.
Lothian Health Services Archive holds the historically important local records of NHS hospitals and other health-related material.
We collect, preserve and catalogue these records and promote them to increase understanding of the history of health and for the benefit of all.
The Famous Blacksmiths Shop is the ancient building that made Gretna Green famous? It has stood in Gretna Green since 1712. It was also one of the earliest destinations for runaway couples fleeing to marry in Gretna Green.
Scone Palace has an exciting and colourful history as one of Scotland's most important stately homes. Fifteen hundred years ago it was the capital of the Picts. In the intervening centuries, it has been the seat of parliaments and the crowning place of the Kings of Scots, including Macbeth and Robert The Bruce.
Welcome to St Ninian’s Cathedral, situated in the fair city of Perth in the heart of Scotland and is in the diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane. St Ninian’s belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church and is home to a lively, caring congregation of people from many different backgrounds.
Feed the farm animals, see the miniature Shetland ponies, picnic area and welly walks, zip wire and adventure play fort and dressing up in the manor house. Indoor soft play, cafe and farm shop. Family fun at Oxfordshire Cotswolds historic Witney farmstead.
The most accomplished piece of Renaissance architecture left in Scotland.
Located near the spectacular St Magnus Cathedral, these palaces are regarded as two of the finest examples of architecture in Scotland and highlight Orkney’s close Norse and ecclesiastical links.
A particular attraction is the magnificent monumental fireplace in the great hall of the Earl’s Palace, built about 1600.
Highlights
St Magnus Cathedral known as the 'Light in the North' was founded in 1137 by the Viking, Earl Rognvald, in honour of his uncle St Magnus. The Cathedral belongs to the people of Orkney and its doors are open to all. The Cathedral, set in the heart of Kirkwall, the capital city of the Orkney Islands, is a place of stillness, of inspiration, of warmth, and is steeped in the presence of God.
Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Centre offers a range of programs, in Gaelic and English, for primary and secondary school students linked to the Curriculum for Excellence. With real-life stories, an opportunity to explore the battlefield and hands on workshops this an excellent trip that will enhance your topic.
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