Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake Railway) offers a delightful 9 mile return journey alongside Bala Lake, through the beautiful Snowdonia National Park.
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 [email protected].
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
Learn ancient skills in an authentic landscape, from building ancient structures to blacksmithing and fire-making.
Condover Hall is a prestigious Elizabethan residential activity centre, hosting teambuilding and non-stop educational activity ideal for school children, sports groups, summer camps and corporate team building events and conferences alike.
Sitting in the heart of the Cotswolds, Adam Henson's (of Countryfile fame) Cotswold Farm Park has a long-standing reputation for a fun filled day out. Children can interact closely with the animals and learn about farming, past and present.
The Museum covers 50 acres (20 ha), with nearly 50 historic buildings dating from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries, along with gardens, farm animals, walks and a lake.
The MAD (Mechanical Art and Design) Museum is the only specialist attraction of its kind in the UK. Based in the centre of Stratford upon Avon, the museum was launched in March 2012 and showcases the world’s finest pieces of Kinetic Art and Automata belonging to pioneering artists from all four corners of the globe.
With a capacity of over 60,000 the Emirates Stadium is a state of the art, modern arena which you and your school can visit!
Arsenal Museum
The Arsenal Museum resides in the football club's Northern Triangle Building in the Emirates Stadium, north London.
Relive the RAF's role in the First World War!
This world-class collection of over 100 aircraft and aviation memorabilia offers a fun, educational day out for all ages. Fuel their imaginations and let them navigate their way through the history of the RAF and aviation.
Connecting schools and young people to Parliament
Whether it be to understand the process of law making, how a general election works, what your MP does, or simply to visit the historic and beautiful Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin-designed Palace of Westminster, the Education team have a vast array of opportunities and resources to offer you.
Visit Parliament
A fascinating insight into Grimsby's maritime history - Our Heritage
The museum is suitable for all ages, we also have an easy access route. Many interactive displays and get dressed up as a fisherman or apprentice boy.
From Where The Battle of Britain Was Won
RAF Bentley Priory played a pivotal role during the Battle of Britain as Headquarters Fighter Command.
With splendour, colour and glorious craftsmanship, enter the world of Scotland's Renaissance Kings & Queens
Step into a world of plots, passion, intrigue and high fashion with the people of the palace.
Stirling Castle is a great symbol of Scottish independence & a source of national pride. Knights, nobles and foreign ambassadors once flocked to the Royal Court at Stirling Castle to revel in the castle's grandeur.
Riverside site of the sealing of Magna Carta
Seen by many as the birthplace of modern democracy, this picturesque open landscape beside the Thames was witness to King John's historic sealing of Magna Carta over 800 years ago on 15 June 1215.
Every year we engage thousands of people of all ages with their local environment where they make a positive difference to their community.
Which Side Will You Choose?
It was Britain's deadliest conflict and one which shaped our modern world. Why did brother take up arms against brother and how did a once all-powerful monarch lose his head to the axeman?
Expect the unexpected. Incredible innovation, devastating loss, remarkable survival and magnificent restoration. All in one place
Being restored to its 18th century beauty, with fascinating statues, follies and temples hidden around every corner of the garden for your students to discover on our Nature Trail, Croome is an incredible place to visit.
A unique Capability Brown Folly Tower in an inspiring location
Graphic displays on three floors, roof viewing platform and Tower Shop are a must for Cotswold visits.
Broadway Tower is one of England's outstanding viewpoints and at 1024 feet (312m) above sea level, it is the second highest point on the Cotswold escarpment. Unrivalled views survey an expanse of a 62 mile radius and as many as 16 Counties.
Enjoy a great day out in Warwickshire at Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden. One of the largest historic attractions in the West Midlands, the whole family will enjoy exploring the spectacular castle ruins.
The ruins are best known as the home of Robert Dudley, the great love of Queen Elizabeth I. Dudley created an ornate palace here to impress his Queen in 1575.
Mysterious Guardian of the South Downs
Until the 19th century the Long Man was only visible in certain light conditions and after a light fall of snow, but in 1874 it was marked out in yellow bricks.
The University of Hull Art Collection is a small but outstanding collection specialising in paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints produced in Britain 1890-1940.
Housed in the local library, this collection of local history material contains archaeological finds of national importance. Includes a small and varied collection of British and foreign firearms, swords and daggers, shot and powder flasks and a few pieces of armour.
A grocery store from the last century presenting the visitor with a time capsule of days gone by when personal service and home deliveries were the order of the day.
The museum is owned and managed by the Tamar Protection Society - an environmental group which manages an additional museum of Tudor Elizabethan life and gardening at Mary Newman's Cottage.
Bexhill Museum offers something for everyone from local history and archaeology to fashion and Bexhill’s motor heritage.
The unique collections are housed in a distinctive building which combines a traditional Edwardian museum with a modern extension.
The Ashmolean has worked in close partnership with Worcestershire County Council, other local organisations, and the Keil family, to transform a historic building in the Cotswold village of Broadway, Worcestershire, into
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