National Space Centre School Trip

Whilst on my final Professional Practice, the school went on a school trip and I was lucky to be asked to go with a group of children from Year 3, a class I wouldn’t have usually worked with due to them being in a different Key Stage to my class. The trip was to the National Space Centre and all year groups from Year 2 to Year 6 went. The Space Centre was busy with lots of different schools visiting, ranging from college students to toddlers with their parents. We set the task for all of the children to learn as much as possible whilst on the trip, about space which was the Topic for Key Stage 2 at the time. We wanted the children to do as much of their own learning as possible, engaging with the exhibits and taking a lead in their own learning. While at the Space Centre, we were able to see a show in the Planetarium about how Night and Day are formed, as well as looking at the stars and the different constellations which they make. I personally found it very engaging and interesting to learn about an area of Science which I am interested in, and many of the children were amazed about what they learnt throughout the day.

Below is a map of the Space Centre and the different exhibits which were on offer:

Map of the exhibits in the National Space Centre

 

Throughout the trip,, I was responsible for 9 Year 3 children, who all had exceptional behaviour throughout the day and were excellent role models to the younger Year 2 children who were a part of our larger group. They showed enthusiasm throughout the whole day, even towards the end when it was tiring for all after walking around.

Below is a link to the National Space Centre website and I would truly recommend a visit with or without a class of children as it was accommodating and showed age appropriate content and exhibits throughout.

http://spacecentre.co.uk/

How it meets the standards:

• TS1: I am working towards sections A and C of this standard because I had to ensure the environment was safe for the group of children I was working with on the day, and remind the children that they were representing the school so they had to be well behaved throughout the day.
• TS7: Throughout the trip I feel that I was showing elements of sub sections A, B, C and D of this standard because throughout the day I had a duty of care for the children, and had to make sure their behaviour was good, as to not damage the reputation of the school. Even though I was working with a group I would not usually work with in school, I had a strong connection with the children and all were able to follow tasks whilst having a good behaviour and attitude towards what they were learning.
• TS8: Section B of this standard was what I had been working towards for this standard with this evidence because I was working with two other colleagues with their small groups throughout the day, and each of us in turn helped the other groups as we explored the exhibition. We were able to navigate the centre and enhance the childrens learning throughout the day.