Providing children with meaningful ‘Memorable Experiences’ is a key ingredient for learning at Captain Webb Primary School. At the beginning of each half-termly topic, every year group either goes on a visit or has a topic themed day led by an expert in that field. This enables children to experience, first hand, important elements for each area of themed learning; hear and use key vocabulary; contextualise their writing and maths and develop a firm understanding of relevant historical, geographical or scientific concepts. We also provide our children with many opportunities for outdoor learning through day-long and residential visits to the Arthog Outreach Centre in Wales and a residential trip to France in Year Six! Our aim is to ensure that (through visiting local and regional museums and sites of historical and geographical interest) children leave our school at the end of Key Stage 2 with cultural capital and a deep appreciation of where they are from.
A child that spends their primary school years at Captain Webb Primary School will have experienced two teacher led theme days in school; had four trips into the local community; visited five sites of local interest; learnt from fourteen experts in their field; visited eight geographical and historical landmarks and experienced artifacts and exhibitions from nine different museums!
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Here’s what our Student Council have to say about Captain Webb Primary School’s Memorable Experiences:
What is a memorable experience?
“When we have expert visitors or when we go on trips that we are going to remember”
Why do we do memorable experiences?
• To have a good time and remember those experiences forever – even when we are older
• To help with your learning – to see things in real life
• To help us with our writing – so we know what we are writing about. It makes it real for us.
• You can imagine things more clearly when you’re learning about them.
• To help us with all the other subjects as well.
• They put vocabulary into real life situations.
• Sometimes we use it to do contextual work in maths – Last year we went to Chester Zoo and we got to design the new park when we were learning about area.
• We can have a good time and remember the great times at our school.
• When an expert comes in they can help us. They help us to learn. If you go to a museum, you can’t ask objects questions… but you can ask an expert visitor!
Do memorable Experiences help with your learning?
• Yes… especially in writing, maths, theme, science, reading, history, geography and RE (when we go to the church)
“If we didn’t do Memorable experiences anymore we wouldn’t see things in real life and it would affect our learning. School would be nowhere near as good.”
What do you think has been your best Memorable Experience so far?
West Midlands Safari Park because we got to go on the rides which helped with our narrative writing that was set in a theme park.
• Western Park because we got to make toys and we were learning about toys.
• Park Hall Farm because I got to see all the animals that we were learning about.
• The Golden Ticket show because we got to see a clown.
• Seeing a scientist dissect a heart because it showed us what all the chambers of the heart looked like.
• Pizza Express because we actually got to make a pizza!
• We went to a farm and it was great because we got to see a pig race. Unforgettable!
• Making a real teepee when we were learning about the Native Americans because we experienced how they really lived.
• Stone Age Centre because we actually got to use real charcoal to do artwork just like the stone-age people.