Trips and Visits
This year our Trust has provided many exciting opportunities for its pupils, both locally and abroad. All visits are carefully planned to ensure that they match educational outcomes and enrich children’s lives.
There have been theatre visits and performing arts visits to London and Paris, science and geography fieldwork studies closer to home and Naples, plus language and cultural visits to France, Spain and Germany. Adventure actives have allowed students to experience climbing, sailing, caving and skiing. There have also been netball, football, rugby and cricket tours. Since September there have been 587 visits across our Trust which equates to 72,694 student days, of these 1,468 were spent overseas and 6,770 days participating in adventure activities. We successfully delivered the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold which meant students spent 1,380 days working as a team in the outdoors.
This is a snapshot of the trips on offer, only made possible by our dedicated employees who are willing to take the responsibility, organise the visit and accompany the children on these fantastic visits.
First Foreign Trip
This year, Temple Learning Academy’s first ever foreign residential departed, as 52 GCSE History students visited historical sites around Ypres, in Belgium. The students visited significant sites which played pivotal roles in the First World War, including Essex Farm and Tyne Cot Cemeteries, and Flanders Fields Museum. Students had an opportunity to witness the Menin Gate ceremony and paid their respects by laying a wreath during the ceremony. On the last day, students paid their own individual respects at Tyne Cot Cemetery by laying poppies at a grave.
Climbing Mountains
Year 5 pupils at Templenewsam Halton Primary School took on the challenge of climbing Pen Y Ghent. They showed determination, resilience and teamwork to complete the climb. It was a fantastic day out and the children felt an amazing sense of achievement.
Panathlon
A team of SEN students from Crawshaw Academy travelled to Hollywood Bowl to compete in the West Leeds Panathon, an event that gives over 60,000 young people with disabilities and special needs the opportunity to take part in competitive sport. The Crawshaw Academy team had a fantastic time and achieved 2nd place.
Mercer Gallery Visit
Pupils from Coppice Valley Primary School had a brilliant time exploring the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate. They enjoyed picking their favourite pieces and evaluating the incredible work on display. It got the children talking, debating and critiquing. Their eyes were opened to different possibilities for where they could take their own artistic skills in their own creative endeavours. The gallery sparked a newfound interest too, with many eager to visit more in the future.
Primary Pupils Earn Their Degrees
In March, a group of Year 6 pupils from Meadowfield Primary School embarked on a unique journey into higher education at the University of Leeds. The "Degree in a Day" event was planned and delivered by the School of Education students as part of an innovative module aimed at fostering aspirations among young minds and providing practical experience working with children. Pupil had a campus tour, attended a lesson, took part in fun activities and at the end of the day, donned graduation gowns for a special ‘graduation’ ceremony.
Knife Crime Education
Secondary students from Temple Learning Academy visited the Royal Armouries as part of a knife crime educational initiative targeting young people, focusing on the negative consequences of knife crime. As part of the day, students went to the see the Knife Angel, a 20-foot-tall sculpture created entirely from knives and blades that have been taken off the streets of Britain. Those students have subsequently been working with our Safer Schools Police Officer, PC Roebuck, to roll out this information to the rest of our school.
Temple Newsam House
Year 5 Pupils from Austhorpe Primary School visited Temple Newsam House as part of their local history topic on the stately home. They took part in workshops which looked at the Tudors and Victorians at the house, as well as participating in a traditional Tudor Court dance. They also created a virtual timeline, where they got to dress up as the different owners. It was a brilliant day out, and a fantastic way to end their Temple Newsam topic.
Houses of Parliament
Year 5 from Whitkirk Primary School travelled down to London for a visit to the Houses of Parliament. This supported their learning about persuasive writing and balanced arguments in English and their History topic on how equality has changed over the last 100 years. The children walked to Buckingham Palace to check if the Queen was in (and to see where the events of their recent class text - 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' - took place) and saw Big Ben. In the Houses of Parliament, the children were given a tour and were amazed by all the historical details in all areas of the building. They listened carefully to their guides and asked a range of insightful questions about life as an MP and about laws and the democratic process in the United Kingdom.
Battlefields
Led by Mr Otway and the History department, students at Rossett School embarked on their annual trip to France and Belgium. This is a hands-on, immersive tour, working with Zeitgeist Tours For Schools, who got students dressing up in period uniforms, had races to put gas masks on, had the opportunity to fire a musket on the battlefields of Waterloo, take photos with a WW1 soldiers camera, and jousted with WW1 bayonets.
