Department:
Mathematics
Year Group:
Nursery
Venue Region:
South East England
Town:
Milton Keynes
Summary:
I would not take a group of students to this venue again. Though it had links to the mathematics and history curriculum i felt that the delivery of the topics and the tour of the site could have been of far higher quality to really capture the imaginations of the students.
Venue:
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park boasts as being the UK's centre for mystery and intrigue and the place where all code breaking took place during the war. The only part of that i would agree with is the latter. On arrival students were given a talk on some of the codes that were used during history, ranging from simple substitution ciphers up to the Enigma machine. Students were motivated and got on with this task well, though the presenter that we had lacked the va va voom and enthusiasm required to capture the students imaginations. The rest of the day was spent on a guided tour of Bletchley Park where different aspects of the buildings and surrounding areas were pointed out to us. The students really lost focus here and did not enjoy this at all. Things that are interesting about the war to somebody who has experienced it are very different to things that are interesting about the war to students aged 12/13. This is where the day really lost it for me and because of this i would not return with a group of students.
Transport:
Rendalls Coaches
The coach driver was very polite and did well to get us there, despite the fact that when we pulled into the services for a stop the coach broke down. We were then in the services for two and a half hours!! However, looking back at the day and talking to students now about what they remember and enjoyed the most, it was being in the services!!
Benefit:
Links to mathematics and history with code breaking and World War II.
Plus points:
The serivce station on the M5 and Rendalls coaches. Relevant links to the mathematics and History curriculums.
Minus points:
The guided tour of bletchley park and the speaker for the workshop students had.
Overall:
Comments