Enrichment through School Trips and Activities
This page is about the trips we did pre-Covid – except Year 6 Residential Trip to Blacklands Farm, taken in July 2021. Scroll down the page for photos!
Click here for an overview of costs of all trips and class activities
Reception
In Reception we take a trip to Wilderness Wood in the Spring term. There, the children participate in a variety of activities during the day:
- a discovery trail following woodland trail markers and using all their senses
- a scavenger hunt to collect natural resources to make works of art;
- We go into the dark woods in search of a Gruffalo! We listen to the story of the Gruffalo, get camouflaged and then follow clues to his hiding place.
- and a mud kitchen, zip wire and tyre swing to finish the day.
We also go to the rockpools in Rottingdean in the Summer term.
Years 1 & 2
Years 1 and 2 take their trips together. Trips are connected to the two year topic cycle and include a trip to Lewes Castle where we rescued a princess …
During the two year topic cycle we also go to Drusillas, Kipling Gardens and the Brighton Fishing Museum, and we have activity days in school such as Dinosaur Dome and a Chinese Workshop.
Years 3 & 4
Years 3 and 4 take their trips together. Trips are connected to the two year topic cycle.
- As part of our Victorian topic “Hard times” we take a trip to Preston Manor – our Year 4 link governor joined us for the trip and says: “Congratulations to the pupils of year 4 along with the Teachers and helpers, who all without exception entered into the spirit of the occasion by dressing up in Victorian attire.The programme for the day’s visit was centered around the children applying for domestic work in the Manor…. They learned how to set out and lay in the correct order a dining table, make strawberry tarts (which they later took back to school to cook and eat), make the beds, blacken the fire hearth and clean the carpets using dried tea leaves. Down in the basement they were put work and shown how to wash the clothes, put them through a mangle and use various types of flat irons. The boys set about cleaning shoes and beating carpets. The whole day was a great experience for the children, and I am pleased to say Year 4 were both very well behaved and a credit to their School.”
- a trip to the Ashdown Forest Stone Age Experience – We found out what life in the Stone Age was really like. Our Guide led us to the quarry stopping along the way to explain how stone age inhabitants survived entirely on the natural materials of the environment in which they lived, for food, clothing, tools and of course shelter. Those brave enough were invited to taste flowers from the gorse bushes, a delicacy we were assured, also pine needles and later in the day burnt stinging nettles – when you’re hungry you might find them quite tasty. Following a Deer trail, but not unfortunately seeing any, we arrived at the Quarry where after breaking up into groups with an attending adult to each, the children set about building a temporary shelter, using only the natural materials they could find around them. A lot of imagination was shown by the children in this exercise and resulted in some excellent shelters. We inspected replica flint tools typically used in the Stone Age, made clay pinch pots later taken back to the school for drying out, shaped sticks using only local sandstone and ground acorn husks to make the equivalent of todays wheat.
- a trip to Fishbourne Roman Palace
As trips are connected to our two year topic cycle, the other year we go to:
- Pavilion and Volks Railway
- Port Lympne
- British Museum
For some weeks in the Spring Term 2019, Year 4 also enjoyed one whole “Wild Beach Day” per week. On Wednesday 27th February, they spent their first day’s learning on Rottingdean shoreline, as part of the one day a week for a six weeks’ Wild Beach Project. This was led by Katie Eberstein from the Sussex Wildlife Trust. They did rockpooling, identified the creatures they found, and built shelters. As a result, they completed the John Muir Award. In order to obtain this award they needed to discover, explore, conserve and share information about our local environment. Many thanks to the PTA for partly funding this amazing project!
Years 5 & 6
Years 5 and 6 take their trips together. Trips are connected to the two year topic cycle and include a trip to Portsmouth Dockyard. We also celebrate a Viking Day in school. In addition, Year 5 and Year 6 usually take part in separate residential visits – Year 5 to Sayers Croft for three days, and Year 6 to Blacklands Farm for five days.
Portsmouth Dockyard
When Year 5 and Year 6 spent the day at Portsmouth Harbour, they were touring the HMS Victory and taking part in an historical workshop. This trip was inspired by our Storms and Shipwrecks topic. On the day the children were invited on board the HMS Victory to explore the captains quarters and to learn about his life (and death) on board. The children then descended into the heart of the ship to learn about the everyday life of a gunner, cook, marine and doctor. During the workshop the experience was then taken a step further with the children dressing up as historical characters, including Tom Hardy the legendary captain of the Victory. They were then tasked with carrying out some of these people’s daily tasks including scrubbing the deck and drumming out the call to arms. It was lovely trip with the children learning much about life on board such a grand old ship and we all left with a greater appreciation of the life of a sailor.
Newhaven Fort
When we travelled to Newhaven fort we had the chance to explore the historic battlements, learn more about the home front and handle real objects from the Second World War. It was a great trip, we learnt lots and had loads of fun. Year 5 and 6 had a brilliant time exploring Newhaven Fort and learning more about their topic of World War 2. We even got to handle real artefacts, including a gas mask and a hand grenade!
Year 6 trip to Blacklands Farm, 5-7 July 2021
Wet and windy, but a great time!
