I have recently retired from teaching. During my 32-year career, I organised and participated in many residential visits, exchanges and educational trips. Taking children outside the classroom brings the learning to life. If there is one piece of advice that I would give to new teachers, it would be to not be afraid to get involved in school trips. So, with time on my hands now and as a great fan of learning outside the classroom, a lover of historic sites and an interest in Isle of Wight heritage, I made a visit to Carisbrooke Castle, an English Heritage site, to meet Laura Bosworth, who has recently taken on the role of Education Officer. Laura, as an ex-Primary School Head on the Isle of Wight, is very aware of the pressures that schools face: targets that need to be reached; time and budget constraints and frequent curriculum changes. Laura’s enthusiasm over her new role was evident as soon as we met. Laura showed me around the castle, pointing out the opportunities for learning.
As well as the ‘expert-led discovery visits’ and the ‘self-led visits’, Laura is keen to provide bespoke activities for teachers to enhance their classroom learning. Schools can book an expert-led hands-on discovery visit which help tell the story of the castle and the people who live there. For KS1 – 3 ‘How to survive and stay alive’ allows pupils to discover the stories and secrets of the castle with guide Sir John Hevingham. Pupils can try on armour, handle weapons and artefacts and have a go at role play. For KS2 and 3, ‘Who lives in a house like this?’ enables pupils to go through the Carisbrooke keyhole and meet the people who lived there over the last 100 years. They can try on costumes, stepping into the shoes of kings, ladies, servants and soldiers. Or follow the clues in the treasure map to unlock secrets of Carisbrooke Castle and let the interactive timeline guide pupils through its history in times of war and peace.
Alternatively, teachers can book a free self-led visit and design the day to meet their teaching needs. Lots on offer: see where Charles I was imprisoned; explore Princess Beatrice’s Garden; visit the famous resident donkeys in the Elizabethan wheelhouse; climb the steps of the Norman keep, walk along the battlements and view the beautiful island from all directions.
I told Laura about a visit I made to Carisbrooke Castle a few years ago. At the start of the academic year, I discovered one lesson of Year 7 English on my timetable. One afternoon lesson a fortnight with a small class of students: some disengaged with their learning in general, some struggling with their reading and a couple with challenging behaviour. The lesson was 50 minutes long and at the end of the day, so sharing stories seemed a good idea: traditional ones that we could read together, perhaps giving students some inspiration to write their own. Committed to global learning, I turned to eTwinning to search for a relevant project and was pleased to see that someone had set one up already: Comparison of Fairy Tales. So we joined the project. This meant that we could not only read our traditional tales but look at the origins of some of our tales and read some shared by schools in other countries. My students wanted to read Robin Hood. We read various versions, watched short films and then wrote our own script. Then we went up to Carisbrooke castle to re-enact our story, in the grounds of the castle dressed up in costume. We filmed it and shared it with the other 28 schools around Europe. This provided great motivation (and excitement!) and these students were still talking about this when in Year 11! Incidentally, the eTwinning project was not only awarded an eTwinning national Quality Label but also an eTwinning European Quality Label. The curriculum focus here was English with the objectives being to encourage these students to read for pleasure, write creatively and perform for an audience, whilst also learning about other cultures. This was not a History lesson as such.
Laura is keen to get that message across: that English Heritage sites and their education offices and resources can enrich many areas of the curriculum, not just History. She explained how she has gone in to local schools, met with teachers and looked at their curriculum to see how they could work together. She is happy for Isle of Wight schools to contact her to arrange a meeting. One local school is working on a 'Field to Fork' project where pupils are considering what would have been grown in the castle grounds. Pupils are carrying out some planting and then will hopefully harvest some products. They will then prepare these in the Carisbrooke Castle café.
Laura’s area covers not only Carisbrooke Castle but Yarmouth Castle, Portchester Castle across the Solent, and Osborne House. Laura invited me over to Osborne House to see the resources and activities on offer there. Osborne House is one of my favourite visitor attractions on the island: as home to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their family it is full of history and there are beautiful grounds to explore. I love the walk from the house down to Swiss Cottage and then on to the beach – just lovely. So obviously, I agreed and met Laura the following week at Osborne House.
Again, there is a choice of expert-led discovery visits and self-led visits. And again, Laura is more than happy to work with local schools to see how she and her resources can support learning. Firstly, she took me to Mrs Pilkington’s room. This is where students can discover what life was like for the servants downstairs. Polish boots, lay the table…make sure your finger nails are clean! As we left, some local school children were lined up excitedly outside waiting to go in and meet Mrs Pilkington – what an experience! Also for KS2 pupils is the opportunity to find out about the exciting adventures of a Victorian explorer, and to use this inspiration to write their own tales. For KS1, there is the Story Mat which tells the history of the Isle of Wight by looking at the rocks that created it. Pupils handle stones and fossils and discover more about the geology through stories of the Royal children who collected them.
Laura is working with Holy Cross RC Primary, in East Cowes, very close to Osborne House, on the theme of ‘Women and Power’. Year 5 and 6 children visited Osborne House and learnt about Queen Victoria and her power as monarch. They met the formidable Mrs Pilkington and learned about the power that the housekeeper had in a Victorian household. They also met two female conservationists who carry out important work in the House today. Following on from this initial visit to Osborne House, the children are continuing their studies back at school and have recently returned to Osborne on 23rd November which was the national museum ‘Takeover Day’.
This is what pupils said about the Takeover day:
It was a good experience and very exciting." Phoebe, age 11.
"It felt good teaching adults and children something new about Victorian women." Hari, age 10.
"I felt important taking over Osborne House for the day. I really enjoyed it." Katherine, age 11.
"It was great to see the public come to Osborne House and read the information we had worked hard on in school." Riley, age 10.
And their teacher, Miss Mather, said:
"Being able to take our classwork out to the public is a brilliant opportunity for our children - it really brings to life the purpose and audience of our learning. The children thoroughly enjoyed taking over Osborne House and being able to pass on new skills and information to their family and members of the public. The feedback given from the visitors is a testament to Takeover Day. We look forward to doing it again next year!".
Local school trip company, Education Destination, are very good with giving advice when planning visits to attractions on the Isle of Wight. They can help put together an itinerary which is particularly useful for schools visiting the island from the mainland, for a few days or more.
For more information on school visits to English Heritage sites visit:
And for information on how visits to Osborne House, Carisbrooke Castle, Yarmouth Castle and Portchester Castle can help learning in your classroom, contact Laura Bosworth: Direct Line: 01983 200022 Ext 164 Laura.Bosworth@english-heritage.org.uk
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