11th June 2020
Charlie Trzeciak, Community and Schools Learning Officer talks about a brand new learning programme for primary schools. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at some of our exciting ideas for new maritime-themed workshops which will be available for primary schools to enjoy once the Hull Maritime Museum and Arctic Corsair reopen.
Over the coming years the Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City Project will bring big changes to some of the city’s most iconic heritage sites, including the Hull Maritime Museum and the Arctic Corsair.
Primary schools have loads to be excited about, because we are working with Heritage Learning to develop a brand-new programme of maritime-themed workshops for KS1 and KS2 pupils to enjoy as part of a visit to the Museum or the Arctic Corsair.
A couple of these sessions will cover topics that are old favourites, such as Hull’s whaling and fishing industries, but we also have some new ideas for topics which could form part of the programme. Of course, we’d love to hear what you think!
Idea 1: Hull Docks
Hull has been a thriving port for much of its history, with a huge range of products from all over the world being landed here. A new workshop about Hull’s docks could involve pupils getting ‘hands-on’ with some of these goods, trying out the tools that were used to unload ships, and working as a team in order to move cargoes, just like Hull’s dock workers once did.
Idea 2: Nautical Navigation
Finding the way from one place to another has been a challenge that sailors throughout history have faced. In a nautical navigation workshop we could blend science, maths and history to give pupils the chance to explore magnetism and the inner workings of compasses, create a simple radar with coding, and use angles and historic navigational instruments to work out latitude. Best of all, classes could learn how to navigate using the stars in our planetarium, which will be brand new to the Maritime Museum when it reopens.
Idea 3: Shipbuilding
Taking inspiration from Hull’s once thriving shipbuilding industry, pupils could undertake a series of interactive experiments – which would explore concepts such as the properties of materials, buoyancy, forces and resistance – before using what they learned to construct and test their own vessels in a tow tank, complete with a wind and wave machine.
Idea 4: Migration and Transmigration
For hundreds of years, people from around the world have travelled to or through Hull in search of new lives. For example, during the 19th and 20th centuries over 3 million people passed through the city as they journeyed from their homes in Northern Europe to North America. In a migration and transmigration workshop, pupils could follow in these people’s footsteps in order to understand what their experiences were, and gain an insight into to the wealth of cultures that live in our city today.
Get in touch!
So these are our ideas so far – which do you think would make the best addition to our new learning programme for your school? Are there any other topics that aren’t listed here that you think our programme should cover?
If you’d like a role in shaping the new programme then why not become a member of the Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City Primary School Teachers’ Panel?
Check out one of our earlier blogs for more information.
If you have any comments or suggestions you’d like to share, or want to know more about the Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City Primary School Teachers’ Panel, then please get in touch with Charlie Trzeciak, Community and Schools Learning Officer at charles.trzeciak@hcandl.co.uk.
