Top School Trips -Issue 6

Helen Gill is formal learning and development manager for learning and participation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. kew.org @kewgardens l Pre-booked sessions around science and gardening are free at all five RHS gardens. Experienced education officers are available to lead visits, or schools are welcome to self-guide. Expect purpose-built learning studios and teaching gardens alongside main attractions. l More than 50,000 pupils a year visit the Eden Project as part of a school trip or workshop. Entrance costs from £6.40 per pupil for a self-guided visit. An extensive range of on-site workshops are available for classes from EYFS to Key Stage 2 and beyond. l Alnwick Gardens in Northumberland offers four free pupil tickets for every paying adult. Entrance includes admission to the Poison Garden, which can be accessed by guided groups of up to 20 people. Booking online is recommended. GROWI NG WI LD centuries. Inspired by their visits to Kew’s permanent collection artefacts, pupils collected and created exhibits connected to a whole range of curriculum topics for Key Stages 1 and 2, including science, geography, history, arts and languages. “The headteacher of one of the schools involved said that the visit to us provided the opportunity to enrich children’s lives through the relationship with Kew Gardens,” says Helen. “I would agree; pupils didn’t realise that places like Kew Gardens have museum collections. Incorporating what they discovered here and the museums pupils created back at school provided us with the opportunity to develop a resource to support teachers and pupils in creating their own museum using plant-based objects. The project certainly increased awareness of the importance of plants in our everyday lives and engaged pupils, teachers, parents, carers, and the wider community on why plants matter.” The team at Kew also took part in the Science Capital in Practice initiative from 2019 to 2020, a collaboration between the Science Museum and the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres. “As one of 15 UK science museums and centres involved, we worked to develop a community of good practice for increasing diversity and inclusion in science by applying a science capital-informed approach,” says Helen. “In taking part in such initiatives, our aim is to provide up-to-date training for Kew teachers and to embed the most pertinent elements of science capital- oriented thinking in our education sessions and the resources we offer online.” “These elements include science literacy: the promotion of attitudes and values required for science to be inclusive, communicating about people in science-related jobs, and encouraging pupils to talk to others about science. To date, our work in this regard has reached over 30,000 pupils. And school groups continue to learn and discover the world of science behind our botanical collections during their visit. With over 50,000 living plants across our UNESCO World Heritage site, what they discover and learn about becomes an integral part of that memory.” Always valued for their magical ability to transport visitors into entirely new ecosystems, botanical collections play an increasingly active role in preserving, exploring and advocating for the delicate wild habitats that link to many aspects of the science curriculum: identifying wild and garden plants; describing basic structures; spotting seasonal changes; learning the basics of the life cycle of plants... There are other connected gains too. “Kew encompasses a rich history alongside pioneering scientific and horticultural research,” says Helen, “which we employ every day to care for and understand our vast living collection and present solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing humanity at the moment. Among them are the climate crisis and food security, which are two of Kew’s top priorities. Sessions are curriculum-linked, so that the experience is as stimulating and relevant to classrooms as possible, whether it’s setting foot into the mysterious, tropical world of the Palm House for the first time, understanding the importance of pollinators, or finding out more about some of the world’s most endangered plants in the Temperate House.” www.teachwire.net/school-trips | 25 F EATURE S S C I ENC E