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
Kirriemuir Camera Obscura - one of only three remaining in Scotland - is housed in a purpose-designed turret room within the cricket pavilion on Kirriemuir Hill.
Both the camera obscura and the cricket pavilion were donated in 1930 by the author J M Barrie (1868-1937), a native of Kirriemuir.
Although School Trips Ltd. is a new name in school travel, we have been organising school and group trips for over 20 years.
Encounters Europe offers high quality bespoke tours and The School Travel Company has innovative ‘off the shelf’ trips. Together with the exotic excitement of our Indian trips, we can provide a wide range of educational visits.
Rondo Travel has been providing bespoke and tailored tours for schools for over 25 years. Our commitment to providing a quality service is unparalleled, with our personal hotel audits going way beyond the minimum requirements set. Our robust Safety Management System is further enhanced by the LOtC Quality Badge.
Set within the magnificent grounds of Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park and inspired by the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, House for an Art Lover combines art gallery and exhibition space, events venue, café, multipurpose artists studios and magnificent visitor attraction into one unique and inspiring venue.
Holts Tours is the leading battlefield and history tours company.
The finest Tudor town house of its period in Britain, with furnished rooms and garden. Education room available for use. Costume-led faciliated visits available based on Numeracy, History the Tudors and Science, Technology, Mathematics. Self-led Tudor activity pack. Tudor Treasure Chest handling collection.
Voyager School Travel is the Educational Tours arm of a group of very successful school tours companies. Schools choose Voyager because of our People, who without exception have years of experience in school travel. That experience brings with it a wealth of product knowledge and expertise, as well as a deep understanding of what party leaders require.
IWM is unique in its coverage of conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day, covering all the armed forces - Army, Navy and Royal Airforce (RAF).
Wyvern Schooltours was founded by teachers in 1979. We specialise in humanities and arts tours, with particular focus on MFL, history tours and day trips to a diverse and extensive selection of European destinations. We also have a specialist set of tours for Primary Schools.
A delightful small 15th century building, with fascinating local architecture and a museum exploring Easton's industrial past.
The house contains a collection of local bygones and memorabilia associated with the local Collyweston slate mining industry, which hasn't been in operation since the 1950s.
The house currently at Plas Penmynydd, the home of the Tudors on Anglesey, was built in 1576, after the Tudor dynasty had come to prominence through choosing to be first loyal to Edward I during his conquest of Wales and the to rebel Owen Glendower.
Standing proudly atop a prominent hill, the Kymin and its nine acres of pleasure grounds, overlooks Monmouth and the beautiful Wye Valley.
Once part of the enormous Monmouthshire estate of the Dukes of Beaufort, the Kymin’s fortunes have fluctuated over the last two centuries. Originally a popular picnic site in the late 18th century, building on the Round House commenced in 1794.
Perched high above the Needles at the extreme tip of the Island, with unrivalled views of the Solent and unspoilt countryside, is the Needles Old Battery a Victorian fort built in 1862 and used throughout both World Wars.
Discover Shute Barton, a medieval house with royal connections. A building of battlements and towers set in the rolling east Devon countryside, this historic house is the perfect place to stay for an unforgettable holiday and is available to hire all year round.
We are the world’s leading charity in promoting the works, life and times of William Shakespeare.
Discover 800 years of the castle’s history from palatial dwelling to cattle shed; romantic ruin to restoration. The brick castle was built by Ralph Cromwell, Lord Treasurer of England, between 1434-1447 as a display of his wealth, power and ambition in unstable times.
A charming 17th-century half-timbered dovecote at Wichenford Court. The building, although small, is very striking.
World Cup winners' medals from West Ham's three 1966 stars are the pride of the east London club's collection.
The medals won by Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters are on display in the museum at the club's Upton Park home - as are others won by the club's most celebrated players.
Professional bespoke guided walks and tours of historic gardens and places of interest in Warwick, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa. Stratford Upon Avon and the Cotswolds.
Scotland's largest & oldest keep. There's a dungeon alongside artwork by Raeburn & Van Dyck. School visits are available by arrangement, and focus on Mary, Queen of Scots and the 1st Earl of Mar. There is an education/teachers and restricted access pack available. The approximate length of a school visit is 2 hours.
The Aldeburgh Museum is housed in one of the most important timber-framed public buildings in England. Dating from the first half of the 16th Century it originally contained six small shops on the ground floor and a spacious meeting chamber on the first floor. The Town Council still meets here today and it provides an attractive display area for the Museum.
The ruins of a mid-16th century coastal artillery fort, later garrisoned - hence the name - by Civil War Royalists.
Although taking its name from its occupation by Royalist forces in 1651, this small artillery fort was probably built 100 years earlier, during the reign of King Edward VI (1547–53).
Lichfield Cathedral offers excellence in learning outside the classroom, for which we hold both the Heritage Education Trust’s prestigious Sandford Award and Ofsted’s Learning Outside the Classroom badge.
Discover Eastleigh’s past, and meet Mr and Mrs Brown a local locomotive engine driver and his wife. There is always something new to see with a regularly changing programme of special exhibitions, workshops, talks and events, plus Family Friendly activities, cafe, and gifts.
Guided Tours, Baking and craft activities for pre booked groups available throughout the year. Picnic area and plenty of space to just play. Please note limited opening times.
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.