Top School Trips -Issue 6

www.teachwire.net/school-trips | 49 MUS EUMS Hannah Brown is the audiences and communications manager at Black Country Living Museum, a living history experience and top school trip destination in Dudley, West Midlands. school groups, giving pupils access to exclusive activities that aren’t available for the general public to try. 3 Do your research A lot of museums offer the opportunity for a free pre-visit trip for the teacher as part of your booking, so make the most of it and check out all the highlights yourself before bringing the class. This is particularly important if a museum collection is vast! Some places have thousands of years of history covered, while others are much more niche but still packed with objects. Making an in-person visit will also help you figure out the best use of time on the day. You can get a sense of the venue’s layout, see the arrival procedure, and gauge how much time you’ll need to physically navigate the space – your lunch area might be a short walk away from the highlight of the trip, for example. As well as being able to maximise every minute of the experience, it will also give you the confidence to brief the other adult helpers attending with you in advance of your arrival. Plus, it’s a handy way to complete your risk assessments for your peace of mind. 4 Engage with museum staff It’s not just the objects in the museum that can enlighten and educate your class. Make the most of the museum’s knowledgeable front-of-house staff – they absolutely love what they do, and they want to share their passion with you! The most memorable experiences are those that feel the most personal, and there’s nothing like a human interaction for that. It could just be one object that a room guide points out or a little bit of context about a particular sculpture in a gallery, but often these become key takeaways for pupils (and teachers!) alike. In the case of living museums, there is nothing like the experience of learning from a costumed demonstrator. Standing in their “living room” and hearing their story is extremely compelling and can add so much colour to pupils’ learning. It truly does feel like going back in time. 5 Look locally If you’ve chosen to explore the history of your local area, I’d encourage you to support and visit your local museum. It sounds obvious, but there are so many stories on your doorstep, and there’s something particularly special about connecting with the history of your own region. Local museums want to share their region’s story far and wide, but it’s especially important for them to connect with their neighbours, as it’s their history being preserved and celebrated after all. 6 Share your experiences Museums love to hear from you! Your insights and thoughts about your experience are invaluable. Were there aspects of the trip you thought could be better? Are there any practical elements that the museum hasn’t got quite right? You’re the experts after all, and museums are open to working alongside schools to do everything they can to improve and enhance their offer. They also love to hear when the class has had a great time too! While it’s hard to predict what that little piece of magic might be in your next trip, hopefully some of these tips will set you up for an amazing visit that’s full of sparks of inspiration for your pupils and which will give them cherished memories for years to come. @BCLivingMuseum www.bclm.com “Make the most of the museum’s knowledgeable front-of-house staff – they absolutely love what they do and they want to share their passion with you!”