Past School Trips

The below trips were funded by DTSA, coming to a total of approximately £30,000 and supporting 1904 students in being able to attend these educational experiences.

Markeaton Primary School

We funded places for 15 Pupil Premium children to attend a school trip, further subsidising the additional funding already being put forward by the school itself.

“The educational impact of children attending this trip was huge. Not only did it provide the children with opportunities to take part in outdoor activities and build long lasting relationships and memories with their peers, it also allowed them to say goodbye to the school and all it had given them in a holistic and exciting way. Due to the cost-of-living crisis, and despite school using Pupil Premium money to support with costs, we found that a growing number of parents and carers were still unable to afford the trip. We subsidised the trip as much as we possibly could, given the financial resources at our disposal, but it still proved too expensive [for some].”

Parkview Primary School

We funded a place for a child to attend a school trip who would otherwise have been the only child not able to go.

“We are in an affluent area with very little Pupil Premium funding, and we believed this would have had a negative impact on our pupil. This trip supported the OAA part of the PE curriculum, where the child has shown great determination, enthusiasm and natural leadership skills, with the ability to encourage and support others. There were a number of activities over the trip that enabled them to learn new skills, develop their confidence and enhanced their positive relationships with their peers.”

Becket Primary School

We funded a class trip to the Magna Science Adventure Centre, for all 30 students within the class.

“This visit benefitted the pupils by giving them the opportunity to explore how forces work. They were exposed to fundamental elements such as air, water and fire and had the chance to engage in a range of activities that demonstrated the power of these forces. This linked in with their science topics and enabled them to gain a better understanding of how natural forces work. There was also a huge play area that linked in with the elements. It was a real hands-on experience that could not be replicated in the classroom.”

Parkview Primary School

We funded a class trip for 28 students to the Holocaust Museum.

“This is an immersive experience for the children, where they will spend the day in the life of German/Jewish child during WW2. As well as being a significant part of the history curriculum, it also reflects on PHSE ideas regarding being different and being accepted in a new society. As there is a large focus on current world affairs and the conflicts in the Middle East, it is important for everyone to be mindful and understanding of cultural and religious differences.”

Lees Brook Academy

We funded a class trip for 30 Year 10 students to Oxford University as part of an Inspiration Day.

“The visit focuses on raising aspirations towards higher education, explaining the differences between school and university. The experience will also look at the ways in which Oxford University is different to other universities, explaining the tutorial and collegiate systems. In addition to the seminar, students will be able to tour St Edmund Hall and will have a museum handling session at the Museum of Natural History. The group of students includes those students who are disadvantaged and are identified as being in different vulnerable groups.“

Meadow Farm Community Primary School

We funded a class trip for 22 Year 6 students to visit Derby Gaol for a crime and punishment experience day with forensics-based activities.

“The current Year 6 topic is crime and punishment throughout time. This trip will cover all periods that children are learning about – Romans, Saxons, Tudors, Victorians. As these periods have been covered throughout the children’s time in primary school, this trip enhances their current year 6 topic but also works as a recap to all the other learning they have done over the last 6 years. There is also an additional forensic activity which focuses on modern crime/punishment. Therefore this activity could also provide children with an insight into potential careers for the future. We want our pupils to learn about these periods of time in context where possible within their community of Derby City. We have therefore booked for an expert “historian” to lead the day so we get the best out of our experience. We will also be getting public transport to the location which will support the class in becoming more independent, making them ready for the transition to secondary school.

This class has a significant number of mobile pupils. There are 13 Pupil Premium pupils and 8 of these are mobile having joined us within key stage two – 5 of them later than year 5. The number of Pupil Premium children means that we have to be careful with planning school visits which has meant that we have had to limit our external visits. “

Springfield Primary School

We funded a trip for 90 students to visit Cadbury’s World to learn more about the rainforest.

“We will be inspiring our children with a trip to Cadbury’s world to support the learning in our topic this term – ‘Rainforests – How do we preserve them?’. During our trip to Cadbury’s World, children will be immersed into what rainforest life is like, enhancing their knowledge for their topic.

The children will be completing a workshop on the day which explores the Ancient history of Maya, a civilisation that the children will be exploring during their history lessons in school. Cadbury’s World will help us bring our topic to life with their educational talk. The children will be introduced to the great city of Chichen Itza, during their visit, and discover the Mayan myths and legends that claimed how humans were created. This will be followed by a tour of Cadbury’s world giving the children a fascinating insight into the rich heritage of the nation’s favourite chocolate brand, not forgetting learning all about where chocolate comes from – the cocoa bean – one of the Maya’s valuable possessions from the rainforest!”

John of Rolleston Primary School

We funded a trip for 40 students to visit Marston Farm.

“Throughout the day we will cover learning across the Y1 curriculum, including Geography, PSHE and Science. As well as observing the lambing season firsthand and discovering the importance of farming to all of our lives. We are really excited to work with the farmers to create a bespoke learning experience for our children and develop community links with the farm.“

Whitecross Nursery School

We funded a trip for 79 students to visit Conkers.

“We have a group of children who have recently come to the country from Hong Kong, various African states and Poland along with several children who qualify for EYPP. We would love to give them a trip to Conkers which would give them an opportunity to experience travelling on a bus with their friends, investigating mother nature through learning about trees and flowers. It will also take them out of the locality they live in and see beyond it. But most importantly of all, give them a day full of fun and laughter to cherish.“

The Bemrose School

We funded a trip for 60 students to Magna Science Adventure Centre.

“There are strong links between what the children do at Magna and our science topic on solids, liquids and gases:

workshops where children learn to make “emulsion” paint, find out about explosive liquids and categorise different materials
water and air zones where children take part in experiments/activities that bring to life moving and changing solids, liquids and gases.

For our Year 4 geography topic on Extreme Earth:

the fire zone, where children learn about the uses of heat from the earth’s core
steel-making show, where children learn about mining and transformation of materials
air zone, where children can see (and create) their own twister/typhoons
earth zone, where children learn about the layers of the earth and how fault lines form”

Murray Park Community School

Murray Park were able to organise a trip for 40 disadvantaged students to visit the capital city and experience various cultural capital experiences, thanks to funding from DTSA.

“The students selected have never travelled to London before and have not experienced a West End show. Without this funding, they would not have been able to access London or experience a cultural experience such as the London Eye.

The school felt that the funding was necessary to ensure that students have these opportunities and that it would help students experience learning outside of the classroom. All research shows that cultural capital and enriching oneself has an impact on progress and the trip supported the students to flourish inside and outside of the classroom. It was also felt that the trip would support the students understanding of British values and community cohesion as they experienced the capital and felt a part of the UK.”

Bemrose School

Pupils from Bemrose School visited Warwick Castle which informed a variety of lessons through the topic of Dungeons & Dragons.

In History lessons they looked at the history around Castles and in Geography they looked at the physical geographical features and how their position in the landscape has changed, as well as the impact of human geographical features, as people visit them, past and present.

They made 3-D motte and bailey castles using papier mache in Design and Technology and designed their own shields in Art.

Many of the pupils had never seen or visited a castle and the trip consolidated their learning, bringing their terms’ work to life, and giving them an ‘awe and wonder’ experience as they walked around the moat, went inside the castle, watch archers and see a trebuchet outside of the moat.

Meadow Farm Community Primary School

The intention and purpose for 22 Year 1 children to visit Cleethorpes was to twofold: to develop their Geographical knowledge, with firsthand experience in order to compare the physical and human features of a seaside town to their current environment; and to educate their character and expand their cultural capital.

Year 1 are growing up in a city, this excursion enables to them to experience what life is like in a smaller, coastal town. Some children have not been on a trip away from their main carers or been to the seaside, and by being a part of this trip, the children had the opportunity to become resilient, capable, confident individuals, able to thrive in a contrasting social environment.

Becket Primary School

28 pupils, 5 members of staff and parent helpers have been given funding to visit Derby Theatre to see Alice in Wonderland.

The school has worked with Derby Theatre to include some of their Year 3/4 pupils in a production of Rapunzel as dancers, and through this it became evident that many students in Y3 have not experienced a theatre performance before. The school is located in an area of deprivation with many pupils missing out on their cultural captial. The school is trying to motivate their children to be interested in drama, dance and performance more widely this year and hope that by organising this trip that their children will have experienced a theatre performance before Y4. They have also discussed their local community in PSHE, and how to support our local facilities and attendingDerby Theatre is a fantastic way to support all that they do and have done this year in drama workshops for the children.

“I think this is a fantastic way of engaging more young people in school trips. Thank you for this opportunity.”

Cavendish Close Infant and Nursery School

67 children from Year 2 received funding to go on a school trip to Conkers.

“Conkers offers an excellent environment for outdoor education, team building and outdoor pursuits, and has been awarded both the LOTC (Learning Outside the Classroom) Quality Badge and Adventure Mark Activity Badge. Giving children the opportunity to participate in outdoor learning and taking the classroom outside, it brings the curriculum to life in a purposeful and meaningful way. As a result, children are experiencing sensory exploration and are able to explore science through nature and natural phenomena.

The Shelter Building workshop enabled the children to work as a team to build structures using natural woodland materials, in the shape of a tepee, shack or hut. The children had to use speaking and listening skills, provoking questions and higher order thinking. It is a physical activity which encouraged children to use their gross motor skills. Spending time outdoors allowed the children to re-connect with nature, associating being outdoors with positive experiences and therefore they will be more likely to do it again in the future. Research shows nature is critical in supporting good mental health and wellbeing.

Barefoot Walk Challenge allowed children to work in pairs, each pair navigated their way through the 17 troughs that contain a variety of materials. It helped the children to develop their communication skills to guide their partner and describe sensory feelings. The children were able to recall and apply prior vocabulary from their science learning to describe the different materials they encounter on the way around the Barefoot Walk.

As a school located in an area of deprivation our children greatly benefited from exploring the beautiful woodland spaces at Conkers which will hopefully inspire them to access their local green spaces.”

Becket Primary School

31 children from EYFS have been funded to visit Derby Open Centre, visiting Mosque and Gurdwara to link with RE, having already visited a Church. This trip has given the children the opportunity to visit other religious buildings and links to home culture and religion.

Cavendish Close Infant and Nursery School

DTSA funded 80 children to visit Bluebells Farm.

“Our educational visit provided our children with the opportunity to explore the natural world around them, making observations and learning about animals through small animal stroking and handling with a range of animals including small mammals and minibeasts. They also went on a field walk and were given the opportunity to feed some larger outdoor animals such as alpacas, goats, sheep and cows. They met the dairy herd inthe animal barn, and got to see where they are milked, and learnt about the milking cycle. The visit enabled our children to experience an environment that is different to the one in which they live and provided opportunities for them to describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside.

Bluebells farm offers an excellent environment for outdoor education linked to the ‘Understanding of the World’ statements in the EYFS curriculum and Development Matters document. Bluebells was awarded the Countryside Alliance Award in 2016 and is a silver award winner of a British Farming Award. Giving children the opportunity to participate in outdoor learning and taking the classroom outside, has brought the curriculum to life in a purposeful and meaningful way. As a result, children experienced sensory exploration and were able to explore their understanding of the world through first hand experience.

As a school located in an area of deprivation our children benefited greatly from exploring the beautiful open spaces at Bluebells farm which we hope will inspire them to access their local green spaces.”

The Bemrose School

DTSA funded 57 children to visit the Crich Tramway Museum

“Year One would like to tell you about our fantastic opportunity to experience our local history. We visited the Crich Tramway Museum as part of our local history topic, giving us the chance to immerse ourselves in a living history environment and experience artefacts from the past in the way people back then experienced them. Being able to compare and contrast different modes of transport, shops, dress and daily activities gave us an insight into history that we haven’t had the chance to experience previously. The opportunity helped our understanding of our local history and how it affected the lives of people in our area. It also helped us to understand our daily lives.“

Becket Primary School

30 children from Becket Primary School in Derby were funded for a class trip to Eyam Museum.

“We followed a trail around the Museum to learn about the impact of the bubonic plague on the village and its population. We also studied how the village has changed over time to the present day . We considered changes in land use, housing, population, public services and transport.

As part of our geography work, we also compared Eyam to inner city Derby (where our school is located) and studied a range of maps.”

Ridgeway Infant School

We funded a trip for 180 KS2 students to visit the Open Centre, including visits to a Mosque, Hundu temple and Sikj Surdwara Singh Sabha with langlar experience.

“This is always a memorable trip for our Year 2 children. As a school based in a highly diverse area, we are proud of the cultural capital of our community.

This trip offers students the opportunity to both experience new faiths and places of worship but also offers them the chance to be the expert when visiting their own personal places of worship. The children find this highly validating and it is a great opportunity for the children to learn from each other. This trip is also used to enhance staff CPD with a number of staff in different year groups attending the trip to support with their own knowledge and understanding for more impactful RE lessons within school.“

Redwood Primary School

We funded a trip for 89 students to visit the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham.

“Children were able to have the experience of going on a school trip to Birmingham. The visit to the Botanical Gardens allowed the children to gain an understanding of rainforests and this complemented what they were learning as part of their curriculum.“

We also funded 90 students from the same school to visit Peak Wildlife Park.

“Children were able to have the experience of going on a school trip to a wildlife park. The intended outcome was identifying different native species and their habitats, identifying different human impacts on the environment and what to do going forward.”

Booth Wood Primary School

DTSA funded 31 children for a visit to the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham.

“The Think Tank Museum had a wide range of activities and resources that linked to the units of work our Year 5 class had been learning about this year. The trip went ahead in the Summer Term and linked directly to the ‘Forces’ unit that they were studying at the time. Within the trip cost, they had the opportunity to explore a range of different forces in a lesson at the museum and this helped to further build our pupils mental models of, not only their knowledge of forces, but their understanding of the numerous units they have learnt about this year: Earth and Space, Properties and Changes of Materials, Scientists and Inventors“

Redwood Primary School

DTSA funded 90 children for a visit to the Peak Wildlife Park.

“Children were able to have the experience of going on a school trip to a wildlife park. While there, they were identifying different native species and their habitats, identifying different human impacts on the environment and what to do going forward.“

St Martins School

DTSA funded 230 children (60% of which were Pupil Premium) to visit Spring Lakes Watersport and Leisure Centre

“Our drive at St Martins is to provide an equality of opportunity and aspiration for the most vulnerable learners across our city. As our friends and colleagues at the DTSA already know, success for our learners takes many forms and community based, real life learning often has the greatest impact on positive, sustainable long term outcomes. With the specialist sector hit most severely with budget & funding cuts along with our most vulnerable families struggling with the cost of living crisis, the DTSA ‘School Visit’ fund was an amazing support for our school community.

St Martins’ ambitious plan was to take all of our 230 learners to Spring Lakes Watersport and Leisure Centre in the summer term. The day itself included the exclusive use of the beach and paddle area of the lake, as well as access to various water sports (inflatable park, group paddle boarding and pedalos). The trip supported our learners with social communication, functional skills, building positive relationships, positive mental health & wellbeing, physical fitness but perhaps most importantly a day that was packed with fun, laughter & smiles. A significant number of our learners very rarely venture outside of the Derby city limits, so these opportunities are absolutely essential in developing their cultural capital and aspirations.”

Gayton Junior School

DTSA funded 90 children on a trip to the National Adventure Farm.

“The trip to the Adventure Farm included a tractor ride, meeting the farm animals, an hour long workshop on ‘Amazing Animals’ where the children learned about animal welfare, our impact on them, why we need animals and how we can make sure we look after them. Year 3 have ‘Our World’ and ‘Life Cycles’ as topics and this visit provided a real life experience for their creative writing. We have a ‘Passport of Experiences’ which has 50 activities which we believe every child should experience before they leave Gayton. This provides stamps for :

Visit a farm
Hold a chick
Feed a goat

Gayton Junior School

DTSA funded 90 children to visit the National Space Centre in Leicester.

“The topic this term for year four is ‘the race for space’, and this trip was to help illustrate that topic. This is tied into lots of different aspects of their learning eg maths, history, science, and asks questions such as :

How do you put a man into space?
How much did it cost?
What difference did it make to the USA, USSR and the world as a whole, and how did it advance technology?
Why was it so important to the USA and USSR to put the first man on the moon?
The conspiracy theories – did man actually land on the moon, or was it a complex hoax?
What was life like in the 1960’s?”

Portway Infants School

We funded 60 places for Y1 children to atten a day at Yorkshire Wildlife Park to enhance their science curriculum learning.

“This trip consolidated and enhanced our topic “Fur, Feathers and Scales” and helped embed the children’s learning.

Our visit to the zoo included a hands-on experience, where the children were give the opportunity to handle live animals in order to inspect and scrutinise them, as well as learn more about which animals are carnivores, omnivores or herbivores. Students identified and named a range of animals from different animal groups with animal bio-facts used to group and classify.”

Portway Infants School

We funded 60 places for Reception children to attend a day at Crich Tramway Museum to provide them with greater knowledge of the world around them.

“This trip consolidated and enhanced our topic “What a Wonderful World” and helped embed the children’s learning.

Our visit to Crich Tramway Museum included a woodland walk which supposed learning opportunities in science and geography. We explored habitats and woodland animals, being an explorer in a nature hunt. The students were able to ride on trams throughout the day and learn why trams were invented, what they were like and how they worked. This suppoted their learning opportunities in history.

This was a positive experience that provided a vital opportunity for the children to experience, especially when many of our students have never been on a bus or tram before. We created a real-life experience that they will remember, which has extended their language and vocabulary as a result.”

Worthington Primary School

We funded 43 places for children to visit the Houses of Parliament in London for the day.

“This trip developed our children’s personal development as well as enhancing the curriculum. As part of our whole school curriculum we embrace both British and our school values. This trip enabled the children to recognise and promote British values and our school values. This trip also enabled our children to see our capital city. Unfortunately we suffer from rural isolation and a number of our children have not been to London. Having the opportunity to visit London and the Houses of Parliament was an amazing opportunity for them”

Homefields Primary School

We funded 90 places for children to visit the ThinkTank Museum for a science trip.

“Our children benefitted immensely from the interactive Science Museum trip. We booked 2 incredible workshops: the LegoWeDo2.0 (which included an element of computing) and Chemistry Cauldron to inspire the children. The outdoor and indoor areas were filled with interactive Science activities that the children engrossed themselves in and were able to use equipment they would not able to use elsewhere. This helped promote a love for science and fed in well with all elements of the science curriculum”

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