Burwell House
Activities
Over
many years, our highly experienced education team have developed a very
wide range of activities covering a great number of curriculum
areas. We continue to develop innovative and interesting sessions
and to add to our ever-expanding portfolio.
This is by no means a
complete list, though if you wish to see a more comprehensive guide to the
different curriculum areas we cover, please
download our topic web
hereor for a much more
comprehensive guide to our activities
our
schools handbook is available here.
We are keen to work with school staff to create and
develop activities
and resources to complement any work that is being done at
school.
A wide variety of fun activities to teach
and reinforce mapping techniques. These have been developed to span
wide age and ability ranges, using the house, its grounds and the local
village of Burwell. Examples include Around the Grounds (an
introductory map skills exercise), The Smugglers Mystery (6 figure
coordinates) and the ever-popular Burwell Fox.
Many of our visitors use our craft studio and take part in a wide range of interesting and unusual art and craft activities. As well as Clay models (pictured) groups can participate in Enamelling, Candle making, Natural Art (outside), Corn Dollies and Photograms. We are hoping to introduce more craft activities soon!
Uniquely (we think) for a residential Centre, we have a fully functioning TV Studio for use by visiting children. Under the guidance of our studio technician, the children plan and produce a television programme (usually a news programme). This can be pre-rehearsed at school and based on any topic the children may be studying, or can be completed as a stand-alone activity on site.
During the broadcast the group not only perform but also operate all the recording and editing equipment! The performance is recorded onto DVD which the school can take away with them. As well as ICT attributes this is a fantastic teambuilding opportunity.
The village of Burwell is a fascinating place with an interesting past and a wide array of buildings and areas which reflect this. As well as many fine historical buildings, including a superb parish church, a windmill and many other old buildings showing use of local materials, students can plan traffic surveys, complete sound maps, and study shops and services to investigate life in the village today.
Nearby, the town of Newmarket provides an excellent example of a High Street plagued with traffic problems - the QCA unit "Should the High Street be closed to traffic" works perfectly here.
We are also fortunate to have Burwell Museum a 10 minute walk away. This excellent resource provides students with a real insight into life in this area in the past.
The grounds of Burwell House provide a safe and stimulating area to explore aspects of environmental education. We encourage the children to use their senses to discover more about the world around them and to develop a true feeling of awe and wonder. As well as areas of wood and grassland and a pond, our grounds have many fine trees making for an ideal study area.
We are especially fortunate to be located within walking distance of Wicken Fen Nature Reserve. A visit to this National Trust property can offer a range of environmental studies that enable students to explore and understand the Fenland habitat.
Furthermore, the local River Snail provides an excellent resource for children to investigate this part of the Geography curriculum
During their stay, whatever the curriculum objectives, teamwork is often of primary importance. We encourage children to take on the responsibility for organising and helping themselves and others. This may be during the activities themselves, many of which have a specific team-building objective, but will also run throughout the stay, through setting up for dinner, serving at mealtimes, and tidying bedrooms!
Some of the activities which really focus on teamwork include the Walk the Plank activity (pictured), Crossing the Canyon, Hooping the Group and Rescuing an Egg in a series of fun and challenging tasks.
The Victorian splendour of parts of the house make it ideal for studying this period of British history. We suggest that children bring costumes with them, and while taking part in a Victorian day the children will experience life in a school room, as a washmaid (washboards and mangles at the ready) and as a scullery maid, polishing the silver. There are also investigative trails in the house and garden where children get to become history detectives to uncover some of Burwell House's past.
Whilst taking part in these activities, children can study many forms of primary and secondary evidence relating to the house, including census returns, old letters, photographs and maps.
The day can be finished with a Victorian style banquet with selected children playing the esteemed Ball family and the others serving them as necessary.
