At KS4, there has been a gradually burgeoning number of types of educational visits – foreign language school exchanges, cultural visits all over Europe and further afield, sports competitions, youth conferences, winter sports and adventurous activities in more extreme environments. The Duke of Edinburgh Award becomes available at 14 years old and continues to be offered for those up to 24 years of age, and pupils of many ages start work on specialist awards in areas such as mountaineering, sailing and river sports. This increase in venue variety has led to a proliferation of specialist companies catering for these activities.
The aims of history trips tend to be more focused in KS4, with study trips to the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation and the 1944 Normandy Landings often proving popular along with the 1815 Waterloo battlefield. Venues of this type are often catered for by specialist travel companies to ensure participants get the best experience available.
A lot of schools have a tradition of school trips with their choirs, orchestras and musical/theatre students. There are specialist companies that can help any school wishing to explore this possibility, and many venues have tailored activities for groups that can help improve performers’ confidence and motivation.
British schools have been the forerunners in Europe for undertaking challenging outdoor activities both at home and abroad (you can visit here for good list of activities and gateway sites) but there is a notable increase of interest at KS4 in science-based trips – most notably the Science and National History museums in London, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York, Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre in Macclesfield, Techniquest in Cardiff, and the Bristol Science Centre, all of which have reported an increase in visitors in recent years.
Part of the Stephen Beaumont Museum, it includes a padded cell and other exhibits from the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, built in 1818.
The Mental Health Museum is a unique museum in the heart of the Fieldhead site in Wakefield. It is run by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
St Bartholemew's is the largest NHS Trust in the UK serving a population of 2.5 million in east London and beyond and our hospitals have long and important histories.
The Norfolk Record Office holds millions of documents, filling almost 10 miles of shelves. They have been created by a variety of organizations and people, past and present, range in date from the eleventh century to the twenty-first and relate to every town and parish in Norfolk.
Stratford Racecourse is one of the country’s leading small summer jumps racecourses with a reputation for excellent levels of prize money and each year plays host to 17 thrilling horseracing fixtures.
The museum is in room 101 at New Scotland Yard, Victoria – an L-shaped space crammed with glass display cabinets containing items covering over 140 years of crime and criminals.
This picturesque and rustic stone chapel is thought to have been the chantry for Shap Abbey originally. It was built around the sixteenth-century and has been used as a cottage and meeting house during its long history.
The key to open the chapel door is hanging by the front door of the house opposite.
William John Cavendish Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland (1800-79), was the eccentric owner of Welbeck Abbey. Living as a recluse in a small suite of rooms in the massive abbey, he employed a team of hundreds of workmen to excavate a series of underground rooms.
A burial ground for London's Nonconformists from 1665 onwards, Bunhill Fields is the last resting place of Pilgrim's Progress author John Bunyan (d. 1688) and Quakers founder George Fox (d. 1691). Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe (d. 1731), hymnwriter Isaac Watts (d. 1748) and poet and painter William Blake (d.1827) are also buried here.
Lancashire Archives collects unique, historic records that reflect Lancashire and Lancashire life - past and present. These cover church registers, historic images of Lancashire, the North West Sound Archive, police records and old maps of the region.
Arrangements may be made for groups to visit Lancashire Archives
Lincolnshire Archives was established as a county service in 1948 with the bringing together of the records collected by the Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland County Councils, and the Lincoln Diocesan Record Office. The Archives service was known as the Lincolnshire Archives Committee.
The Newsam Library and Archives holds extensive collections of current and historical materials on education and related areas of social science.
In addition to supporting the work of staff and students at the UCL Institute of Education, it welcomes enquiries from all scholars, researchers, and others in the community with an interest in education.
Lake District activities including Gorge Walking, Canoeing, Rock Climbing, Kayaking, Sailing. We specialise in fun for families, group adventures and team away days.
The National Conservation Centre, formerly the Midland Railway Goods Warehouse, is located in Liverpool.
Gate House was built in 1896 as a country retreat and converted into an Outward Bound centre in 1950. With 60 acres of landscaped grounds, stunning views of some of the highest summits in England and the picturesque village of Eskdale Green just down the road it's an ideal venue for our development courses.
Ferny Crofts boasts a whole host of outdoor activities, spacious camping for over 500, as well as three indoor accommodation units
Longridge provides a range of exciting water sports and land-based activities aimed at young people of all abilities.
Forty Hall is a Grade 1 listed Jacobean Manor House, nestled in leafy Enfield and set amidst pleasure gardens, ancient royal parkland, majestic trees, lakes and watercourses.
We provide all year round Adventure activities, outdoor pursuits & paintball, near to Bowness and Team building events near to Ambleside & Lake Windermere, kayaking on Coniston Water, gorge walking & canyoning in Eskdale and rock climbing in Langdale.
Easy access to scenic mountains, tranquil lakes, awe-inspiring coastlines and breath-taking rivers. They pride themselves on their outstanding ability to deliver a wide range of high quality outdoor education programmes with a variety of activities to suit all ages and abilities.
It is a sad fact that some young people experience placement breakdown with no appropriate alternative readily available. Reflexions Response is designed to meet the immediate needs of both young people and the placing authorities by providing an immediate place of safety and a holistic ninety day assessment to inform future placement planning.
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.