With so much to see and do, a trip to Belsay is one of the best value family days out in north-east England. Explore the medieval castle, the Grecian inspired Hall and acres of impressive gardens.
Science
Science
The teaching and learning of science can take many forms due to the large number of branches of the discipline, but all of them involve a large element of doing things, of experimenting, of making and breaking, of trying out new ideas, whether at primary or secondary level. This has been appreciated by museums and visitors centres, so that we now have a plethora of possibilities.
The Association for Science Education is the lead body helping schools to develop their teaching and learning. It offers support for primary and secondary science subject leaders, teachers and schools, and keeps schools abreast of curriculum and assessment changes and reforms. The Association aims to enrich science teaching and learning with free resources, which can be found at: www.schoolscience.co.uk
Some venues are obviously specifically suitable for science groups, but others, which are more cross-curricular, are less obvious. Below we give staff a pointer to these as well as making it easy to access the websites of the well known attractions.
CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, has long been popular with British school groups. It is celebrating 60 years this year and is encouraging teachers to look at its Cern Education website.
CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, is also celebrating a major birthday this year – its 40th. It is a very different experience from CERN, but fascinating nonetheless.
The announcement in April 2015 that the new SKA radiotelescope is to be built in the UK will also be a huge boost for scientists looking for projects to follow and then visit as the telescope is built in readiness for full operational capability in 2025.
We should draw your attention to the fact that farm visits are popular with primary schools and there is a growing number of farms offering excellent opportunities – from feeding animals to driving tanks. But there are some stringent health and safety rules to be observed. For advice and guidance please contact Handsam by calling 03332 070737 or emailing trips@handsam.co.uk.
Main organisations:
Association for Science Education
Membership through Handsam
Radiation Protection Officer services through Handsam
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
Centre for Alternative Technology
Michael Faraday Museum, London
National Conservation Centre, Liverpool
Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
Techniquest (various locations in Wales including Cardiff, Wrexham and Pembrokeshire)
Venues for this Curriculum
This remarkable small museum is home to many diverse collections of items made from straw including marquetry, embroidery, straw stars, Swiss straw lace and dyed straw marquetry.
There are also examples of other crafts such as quilling, tatting and beadwork. Owner, Ella Carstairs, will be happy to give you demonstrations of straw marquetry and quilling.
A friendly run activity centre, we are small enough to care but large enough and experienced enough to matter. A residential outdoor education programme can be an extremely powerful, meaningful and fun learning experience. We aim to provide an Outdoor Education experience that will be the highlight to any educational or youth programme.
His place of birth, home, influence and inspiration
Welcome to Shrewsbury – the birthplace of Charles Robert Darwin: naturalist, explorer and true Salopian.
The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity, and first public art gallery, and celebrates the ways in which artists of all disciplines have helped improve children’s lives for over 270 years.
An ancient hill fort with views over the Otter Valley
An impressive Iron Age hill fort, Dumpdon sits on one of the largest and most striking hills in the beautiful Otter Valley.
The climb is well worth the effort, offering fantastic views of the surrounding area. Explore these impressive defensive earthworks before visiting the mysterious small beech forest behind.
Set a mere four miles from Stonehenge, Netheravon Dovecote is a charming yet practical building - and an excellent example of an early 18th century dovecote. It still retains most of its original 700 chalk nesting boxes.
The Deepest Nuclear Bunker in the South of England
Come and witness the three lives of the bunker starting with its role as an RAF ROTOR Station, then a brief period as a civil defence centre through to its most recent life as a Regional Government HQ.
13th-century monastic barn
One of Europe's oldest timber-framed buildings, it has a cathedral-like interior and is linked to a local Cistercian abbey.
Inside the barn hosts an exhibition of local woodcarving, tools and a collection of agricultural carts.
Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, Kimbolton Castle was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester. It now houses Kimbolton School.
A collection of perambulators; strollers; and sundry curious conveyances
What should you look for at the Pram Museum?
In a word, it's wheels! wheels! and wheels! Well . . . it's actually wheels and axles and the frame. It doesn't matter how cute the bears-and-bunnies print is if a wheel falls off in the middle of the street, or the frame collapses without warning with your 23-month-old in the stroller.
1930s-style garden, with herbaceous borders, cottage garden and lily pond
Did you know?
Dorneywood is traditionally the country residence of a senior member of the Government, usually a Secretary of State or Minister of the Crown. It was given to us by Lord Courtauld-Thomson and it is administered by the Dorneywood Trust.
Useful information
Dorneywood is open on selected summer dates.
Step back to the 1770s at poet William Wordsworth’s childhood home
Wordsworth House and Garden, in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, is the birthplace and childhood home of romantic poet William and his sister Dorothy.
It is presented as it would have been when they lived here with their parents, three brothers and servants in the 1770s.
17th-century manor house with romantic, intimate gardens
Come and explore East Riddlesden Hall, home of 17th century cloth merchant James Murgatroyd. See the changes he made and discover why his work was never completed.
For generations, this estate was a hive of farming activity; producing enough milk, cheese and bread to adequately supply the household and its workers.
The museum was opened in 1875 to house the Thackeray Collection of British Birds and other collections and has been located in its present site since 1895. It now houses over 15,000 specimens, donated from the nineteenth century onwards. Initially, the museum belonged to Eton College Natural History Society and was actively curated by boys.
Honey-coloured stone house with exquisite plasterwork and fine landscaped garden
Nestled in the heart of rural Warwickshire, surrounded by elegant lakes and fine landscape gardens sits Farnborough Hall. Made from the locally quarryed Horton honey-coloured stone, this country house shimmers in the sunlight.
Chalice Well is one of Britain's most ancient wells, nestling in the Vale of Avalon between the famous Glastonbury Tor and Chalice Hill. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and orchards it is a living sanctuary in which the visitor can experience the quiet healing of this sacred place.
Unspoilt island, home to a fascinating array of wildlife amidst dramatic scenery
Undisturbed by cars, the island encompasses a small village with an inn and Victorian church, and the 13th-century Marisco Castle.
There's also a disused lighthouse to discover. Called the Old Light, it offers superb views over the north part of the island.
Explore the history of medicine. Be terrified by our death masks and find out what an amputation looked like in the 19th century! Stop at the apothecary for a cholera remedy and have a go at our mystery object game.
Houghton House today is the shell of a 17th century mansion commanding magnificent views, reputedly the inspiration for the ‘House Beautiful’ in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
Located on the site of a 17th century fort, Malone House was built in the 1820s for William Wallace Legge, a rich Belfast merchant who had inherited the surrounding land. A keen landscaper, he designed and planted most of the estate's grounds, which remain relatively unchanged today.
Belvoir Castle stands high on a hill overlooking 16,000 acres of woodland and farmland. Visitors from all over the world are welcomed here to events in the park, weddings, our world famous pheasant and partridge Belvoir Shoot, tours of the Castle and its art collection and our recently renovated gardens. Whatever draws you to Belvoir will enable you to share the magic of this estate.
We welcome thousands of children from schools across the world to the Cathedral every year. Many hundreds visit during our annual schools’ festivals: Church Schools Festival, Infant Schools Festival, Secondary Schools Festival and Special Schools Festival and we offer schools’ tours and trails throughout the academic year.
Heather-clad moors of Kinder to the gritstone tors of Derwent Edge
The wild Pennine moorlands are of international importance for their populations of breeding birds and mosaic of habitats.
Streams of lichen-rich sarsen stones
Sheltered valleys containing well developed 'boulder streams' of sarsen stones. Sarsen stones are of ecological interest for the lichens and mosses they support as well as geological importance.
The sites were purchased in 1908 following a public appeal and were our first countryside properties in Wiltshire. Prior to this, sarsen stones were removed to provide building materials.
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