School trips to Trust churches

Why take your pupils to a Trust church?

• It’s a free learning resource on your doorstep
• It offers an active, first hand learning experience
• It stimulates and supports learning about: local, social, architectural and religious history; citizenship issues surrounding the conservation, care and potential re-use of redundant buildings and traditional craft skills.
• It can be used to introduce a project, support its delivery or evaluate the pupils learning at the end of the project.

What can the Trust offer you?

• Hands-on practical workshops
• Advice and support
• Downloadable materials
  - Project ideas
  - Guidance notes to help plan visits
  - Schemes of work and lesson plans
  - Sample pages from the Trust resources – ‘Exploring Churches’ (book) and ‘Sacred Art’ (CD Rom)     
• Church Builder 3D Churches software: A toolkit to enable students to model their local heritage and place it on a shared virtual world. More details of how this software can teach essential skills can be found attached. Click through to the Funzone pages now to find out more about Church Builder.                         

What do I need to know?

1. A preliminary visit is essential to enable you to complete your own risk assessment. Some churches have custodians who are available to help with visits. You can also contact the Trust's Director of Regions, Colin Shearer on 07721 866424 or by email for advice. (See related information for further information on hazard information).
2. Opening arrangements vary. Sometimes a church has to be closed for emergency repairs. Full details of visiting arrangements can be found in the Visit Churches section of the website.
3. The church may contain uneven flooring and limited lighting. Few Trust churches have heating, toilets or parking. Please come warmly dressed!
4. Please complete and return the Group Visit Booking Form (see related information) after your visit to enable us to demonstrate educational use to our sponsors.