Trips

Lepe Beach 

Lepe beach is a stony beach that forms part of Lepe Country Park situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. As a part of their Integrated Learning Unit called, “Meerkat Madness,” the children were considering the physical and human features of Lepe and the geographical similarities and differences with a small area in a contrasting non-European country. The vehicle for this learning was the children becoming familiar with the book, “Meerkat Mail” and as the lead character made his way around the world in search of a perfect habitat, the children answered the big question of whether he should move to Lepe. This trip helped strengthen their understanding of the geographical line of enquiry and enhanced their locational awareness.  

Hurst Point Lighthouse and RNLI Calshot 

As a school within a mile of the coastline and the weather starting to improve, it became increasingly important for the children to develop an awareness of water safety. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch was the perfect platform for the children to learn about the men and women who keep us safe along our shores. In advance of the trip, the children became increasingly familiar with the text and, before writing their own narrative, this trip allowed them to visualise first-hand the inner workings of a lighthouse and meet a lighthouse keeper himself (and his dog!). Integrated with their science topic of materials, the children also had the opportunity to see how the materials within lighthouses have evolved over time with the advent of new technology and more refined systems. Followed a couple of weeks later by their trip to the local RNLI station, this allowed them to consolidate their understanding of water safety and the work of others in the local community. 

Marwell Zoo

Eagle Owls loved their first trip of Year 2 to Marwell Zoo in Colden Common. Their day was packed full of herbivores, carnivores and omnivores with the children coming face to face with penguins, giraffes, zebra and more! They particularly enjoyed their workshops with the zoo keepers where they were introduced to poo of all shapes and sizes and learning how this helps them both manage the animals in these conservation projects and in the wild.

Sea City Museum 

Eagle Owls have had an amazing couple of weeks learning all about the Titanic, which was hugely supported by their trip to Sea City Museum. They were thoroughly entertained by being able to smell the sweat of the Titanic gymnasium and shovelling coal into the burners! They became fully immersed in the lives of the first and third class passengers and the local significance  of the ship, which set sail from Southampton.

Bolderwood Forest

The Eagle Owls were keen to visit the New Forest National Park as it is an integral feature of our local community. It allowed them to build on prior learning last term, in which they were learning about amazing animals and they hosted a visit from a New Forest verderer who helps protect the New Forest ponies. The purpose of this visit was to develop their understanding of how plants grow, what animals need to stay healthy and the impact of humans on the animals’ homes. This also provided a perfect opportunity for the children to broaden their understanding of woodlands as a gateway to next half-term when they look at coastal and desert habitats.

The educational visit enabled the children to have a multi-sensory experience in which they could see, hear, touch and smell the delights of the New Forest. As nature detectives, they were quickly supported by the rangers to look for clues as to where animals such as deer, ponies and cows had been and became experts of different animal poo. This beautifully linked to their recent trip to Marwell Zoo where they were told by the zookeepers how poo is used to help locate and protect animals in the wild.

The activities were fully interactive and immersive, which really helped engage the children in the learning and bringing the classroom outside. The children thoroughly engaged with the expertise of the rangers and then loved applying this learning to kinaesthetic activities. This has enabled them to recognise both the benefits and responsibilities of being an area of outstanding natural beauty.