The trail begins at the town hall and takes people on a fascinating journey through the town’s many historic alleyways and past many sites of architectural interest.

The route is mapped out in a leaflet, and highlights include the Carpenter Memorial and The Old Lion Hotel - indeed, one facet of the tour is spotting the number of lions on various buildings. Our wide range of activities includes doing imaginative writing on the theme of lions - for example, poetry and stories about why there are so many representations of lions to be found in the town’s buildings.

This local theme has allowed children to examine some of the many stories about lions as well as doing some research into what certain buildings were used for originally.

We are also working on an activity which combines numeracy and positional and directional language. Key stage 2 children write instructions for the tour, using a map to help them, and they must point out a number of interesting sites along their route.

For example, their instructions might include asking people to turn right at Mersey Bank House and a brief description of its main points of interest. We intend to display their work with captioned photographs which they have taken themselves.

Younger children are being asked to devise a trail of their own around the school, likewise pointing out the various features along the way, such as paintings in the hall or a bench. They too will make a display of their trail, and in this case the photographs will include people, so that the captions might read something like: “This is our bench and John is standing behind it.”

Another idea is to invite our older children to devise a trail around the school which the younger ones will follow.

They are also writing factual accounts of their tours and making storyboards with their photography.

Karen Martin, Barrow Hall Community Primary School, Warrington