Expeditions and Outings
At St Christopher’s, we believe that carefully selected and organised outings are an essential part of a child’s education. Every year group can expect to go on between three and six outings a year. The outings are chosen to enhance work covered in school. The children visit galleries, concert halls, historical sites, museums, theatres, parks and places of worship.
The children in Reception visit the local Fire Station where the fire officers in White watch spend time talking to them about the fire service. The children were allowed to try on their protective helmets, climb in the cab and, with a little help, hold the hose that is used to extinguish fires.
In the Autumn Term, pupils from Year 5 go to the local water treatment centre to support their study of the water cycle. It is an excellent trip which includes practical experiments on filtration; allowing the children to see the various processes required to provide clean drinking water.
The children from Year 3 and 4 go to the British Museum; Year 3 to look at the Sutton Hoo exhibition which enriches their study of the Anglo-Saxons and Year 4 to the Egyptian gallery to enhance their understanding of the Ancient Egyptians.
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The children at the British Museum
In September the children of Year 4 go on a walking tour of the local area. Their guide is a very knowledgeable retired teacher who imparts information about Wembley, the local fauna and flora. The children get to pick and eat blackberries on the way.
The children are taken to the London Transport Museum which helps them appreciate the impact that the Metropolitan railway had on our local area.
Residential Trips
In Year 4, children go on a weekend trip to a suitable residential centre and stay on site with two members of staff. Last summer the children went to a PGL centre in Liddington. For some children this is their first experience of staying away from home. Even though some are apprehensive about being away, they return full of exciting tales of achievements and often do not want the weekend to finish.
Senior pupils have the opportunity to go on a week-long trip. They leave school early on a Monday morning and return after school hours on the Friday.
Folly Farm
This spring, the children in Year 5 and 6 went to ‘Folly Farm’, a centre run by the Avon Wildlife Trust. This centre is set in 250 acres of nature reserve, so the focus was on the great outdoors. Luckily for the children, and staff, the weather was glorious; sunshine non-stop for the whole week. This allowed the children to engage in a variety of exciting activities: pond dipping, setting traps for mammals, badger watching, listening for bats, making shelters, building camp fires and cooking bread, making a short wildlife film and dissecting owl pellets. The staff at Folly Farm were wonderful, the food delicious and the children had an amazing time.
All trips, whether day trips or longer, are fully assessed in terms of risk, and all destinations are visited by a teacher before the trip takes place. Most trips are transported via coach, whilst a small number are organised with the assistance of TFL. This is very helpful training for the future, as we send pupils to schools necessitating tube travel almost every year.
