Mousetrap Theatre Projects is an independent charity dedicated to creating opportunities for young people with limited resources, opportunities, support or disabilities to engage with the best of London’s theatre. They are currently offering lots of theatre offers for school groups which you can take advantage of. You can find out more about the project in this Youtube video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The charity also run a project called the Teacher’s Preview Club. This club aims to make theatre more affordable, allowing teachers to preview a show prior to taking a school group – or simply enjoy theatre productions with friends or colleagues. For an annual membership of £25 teachers can buy two reduced priced tickets each time they book. Find out more in this Youtube video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’re interested in taking part, you can register for the club here.

School trips to museums or places of cultural interest can provide that much needed stimulus and enable students to engage fully in the subject matter, and overseas trips offer an invaluable immersion in other cultures and languages.

But despite all the benefits, organising a school trip for your class can be difficult, especially a residential trip, due to the increasingly amount of administration involved. So what do you need to be aware of? And what school trip friendly destinations are available and at what cost?

To help you plan and give you some inspiration, Beth Gardner, Chief Executive for the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom and Ian Finlay the Managing Director of the Education Division at TUI Travel PLC will be taking part in a live WebTV show. They will be answering questions and offering their advice on the benefits of school trips and how to get the most out of them for students, their top destinations, and what help is available for teachers who want to take students out of the classroom but are struggling to navigate all the regulations.

This will take place tomorrow (Monday 29th November) at 13:00 GMT. Visit StudioTalk.TV to submit questions and get involved in the webTV show.

CILT, the National Centre for Languages is running a Primary Teachers’ Project, which gives teachers a chance to spend two weeks in France, Germany or Spain next spring topping up on their language skills and picking up new teaching ideas.

Image – Arc de Triomphe

Teachers spend one week in intensive language and methodology workshops and one week on a work shadowing placement in a primary school. Funding worth up to 2,500 euros is available from the British Council and the deadline for funding applications is Friday 5th November. To find out more, visit CILT’s Primary Teachers’ Project webpage.

PleaseCallMum is a new child safety initiative which has recently launched a promotion to help teachers taking young children out to crowded locations on school trips. PleaseCallMum supplies temporary tattoo transfers that can be personalised with a designated mobile number and applied easily and discreetly to a child’s forearm.

PleaseCallMum is offering over 1,000 free tattoo transfers to schools organising trips.  They are easy to order and personalise with a designated school mobile phone number and the transfers will be despatched on the day of order.

PleaseCallMum can also be used as a fund raising tool for PTAs. Participating PTAs are given promotional codes and receive a donation from every order processed quoting its personal promotional code. Visit www.pleasecallmum.com to find out more or watch this Youtube video which gives more information about the product:

Bristol Zoo Gardens has been awarded a badge of recognition for its outstanding education provision. The Zoo has been given the Government-developed ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge’. The Quality Badge is awarded to organisations which have pledged to sustain good-quality learning outside the classroom and have met certain criteria. It makes it easier for teaching professionals to organise activities out of the classroom, by helping them to identify organisations which provide good quality learning activities, reducing paperwork and red tape.

www.bristolzoo.org.uk/education

Education sessions take place in themed classrooms in the Zoo’s Conservation Education Centre. Teachers can arrange a free pre-visit of the Zoo’s facilities, after making a provisional booking with the Zoo. For more information, visit the website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk/education. Schools who are not based around Bristol or the surrounding areas can still download some of the useful educational resources on their site.

Where is your favourite place to go on school trips?

Let Nature Feed Your Senses is an England-wide project to provide farm and nature reserve visits for children, older people, people with disabilities, and others who have difficulty visiting the countryside. The visits are supported by the Big Lottery and Natural England and are tailored to suit different ages and abilities.

www.letnaturefeedyoursenses.org

For more information and to get an idea of who has already enjoyed one of our farm visits, visit the website where you will also find all the contact details you need to arrange a visit to a farm near you. Here’s a video report from the BBC which gives more information about the project:

The BBC is running a Thrillseeker campaign throughout 2010, which was established with the aim to encourage children to be active and experience new things outdoors. Kingswood Educational Activity Centres have been working with the BBC on the campaign and have created resources for teachers to use. The worksheets (embedded below) are designed to get children thinking about how being active can affect their lives, educate them on exercise and healthy diets and, crucially, help get them outside and enjoy being active. The worksheets also include helpful suggestions on discussion topics, an educational exercise based quiz and also mini projects to task children with.

You can also find more activities on the BBC’s ThrillSeeker site:

www.bbc.co.uk/thrillseeker

The National Centre for Early Music, a venue for concerts and festivals, also offers a varied musical outreach programme and produces many learning resources designed to widen participation in music. They have free learning resources aimed at key stages 2 to 4 which can be downloaded from their website, covering 17th century music, music and art in Saxon times, and cross-cultural musical fusion between India and renaissance Europe.

www.ncem.co.uk

They also run many projects for young people which have included collaborating with Sing Up!, jazz workshops, widening access to music for young people at risk, special needs projects, and tours bringing world class musicians to work with children in schools. Details of all their projects and resources can be found in the Teaching and Learning section of their site.

Learning outside the classroom is a useful site which is designed to help professionals working with young people to provide high-quality learning experiences outside of the classroom. The creators of the site state that ‘every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.’

www.lotc.org.uk

The LOTC site shares events that you can take part in, examples of good practice and research items. You can also get involved and share your own ideas and information with the site too.

School Providers is a directory for teachers and educational workers in schools, colleges, nurseries and children’s centres allowing them to find the help they need to enhance their curriculum. Examples of their listings include:

• Guest speakers
• Sports coaches
• Drama groups and workshops
• Field trips
• Musicians
• Language workshops
• Sixth form enrichment ideas
• Sports tour operators and activity centres

www.schoolproviders.co.uk

You can search for different providers using the search tools. There is also a ‘Help & Advice‘ section with tips for those thinking who are considering booking a provider for their school.