Pat Appleton is Year 6 teacher at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Upminster
I have brought many pupils on trips to the Isle of Wight during my 17-year teaching career, but this is my first visit to the Dinosaur Isle museum. It has proved really engaging, which it needed to be because the children were up late at the brass rubbing centre at St George’s Church in Arreton and I thought they would be tired today. While dinosaurs are not specifically part of their recent curriculum, the visit here backs up work they have done on life processes in science and is full of superb information about the relationship between geology and geography. The talk was a little advanced for this age group, but listening to their comments, it is clear they enjoyed the chance to handle the rocks. The visit will feature prominently in the PowerPoint presentations they will prepare for a parents evening before the end of term.
Each year we vote on the elements of the trip. It’s a good way of deciding what to include next time. I am sure this outing will rank among the best of the week’s events.