2023/24 Enrichment overview
At Marland Hill we see the benefits to learning outside the classroom and educational visits. Visits are planned to offer learning experiences beyond the classroom that actively engage, challenge, and inspire learners. These visits aim to enhance the curriculum, promote experiential learning and develop students' personal, social and emotional skills. We believe that educational visits should complement and extend the areas of study outlined in the school's curriculum, providing opportunities for students to apply knowledge, skills and understanding in real-life contexts. We ensure that all students, regardless of their background or abilities, have equitable access and participation in educational visits, fostering a sense of belonging and promoting diversity.
Nursery
The children visited the school forest school to look at the changing seasons and how this impacts the leaves on the trees. While the children were at the school forest school site, they explored the sounds of the forest and the different colours and shapes which they then used to create natural pictures. The children really enjoyed their visit to forest school and enjoyed talking about way they saw and heard.
The nursery children had visits from the nurse and fire service to enhance their learning of people who help us. The children were able to ask questions and see and touch the equipment used by these professionals. These visits support the children’s understanding and help the children to put their learning into a real life context.
Reception
In Reception, the children were visited by a local police officer and postal worker. These visits were part of the children’s topic ‘People who help us’.
What did the children think?
‘I liked it when he showed us the equipment’ - Ella
‘I liked it when he gave us the bags.’ - Shaan
As part of their expressive arts and design learning, the children in reception had a music specialist come into school to teach the children. In these lessons the children played different instruments and explored the sounds they made.
What did the children think?
‘I liked using the claves’ – Kayden
In the Summer Term, the children in reception visited forest school to explore the local area. The children looked at the different plants and animals which live at forest school.
What did the children think?
‘I liked seeing the butterflies’ – Joshua
‘I liked it when we saw the deer!’ Sophia
Year 1
Linked to their History topic of ‘Transport’, the children in Year 1 visited The Museum of Transport’. While at the museum, the children explored different modes of transport and looked at how these have changed over time. On this visit the children were able to apply and further develop the learning from their History lessons.
What did the children think?
“The trip was very fun” Abdullah
“I want to go back” Dennis
“I liked going on the bus” Zaki
“I liked sitting on the buses and eating my lunch on the bus” Aydin
“I liked looking in the different buses, they all had different colours” Zaarah
“I liked sitting on the buses with Arthur” Kaiden
“I liked the part where we were eating our lunch on the old buses and old trams” Rumaysa
“I liked dressing up as the lady (bus conductor) and giving out tickets” Momina
“I liked being on the buses and hearing the stories about the old buses” Mikhail
“I loved getting the tickets” Harun
Year 2
In Year 2 the children visited a Wood End Farm, where they learnt about how a farm is ran and how farmers look after the animals. On this visit, the children interacted with a variety of animals including pigs, alpacas, sheep and cows.
What did the children think?
‘I loved the alpacas so much. I didn’t even know you could only touch their neck. When I walked them I walked carefully and didn’t touch their back’ Aidan
‘This was the best day of my life. The pony was so adorable’ Florence
‘I was really scared at the start but then I loved it so much’ Haniya
‘I loved walking the sheep. I want to keep it’ John
‘I couldn’t believe my eyes, the alpaca was actually real and looking at me. I gave him a big cuddle’ Hamza
‘I didn’t know beef came from cows!’ Ayla
‘I know that alpaca wool is softer and lighter than sheep wool’ Joshua
As part of their Geography and Art work, the children visited the school forest school site to build shelters for Inuits and create sculptures of Intuits using natural resources. The children applied the knowledge they gained in Geography about Inuits to help them to design their shelter.
What did the children think?
‘I was so annoyed when my shelter fell down but then we just worked together to build it again’ Mahek
‘I liked building the little Inuit people. I used sticks and leaves to make an igloo for them’ Leaena
‘I made a fire for our den because otherwise I won’t be able to cook the fish I catch from the ocean’ George
‘I used the moss to give the Inuit people hair. They need hair otherwise they will be so cold’. Ayla
Year 3
As a reward for KS2 children, the children went to the local cinema to watch a film.
What did the children think?
‘I enjoyed it at the cinema because I haven’t seen Lyle, Lyle Crocodile before.’ – Alyaan
In the Spring Term, Year 3 visited Manchester Museum to explore the ‘Golden Mummies of Egypt’ exhibition. The children were able to freely explore this exhibition to enhance their History topic.
What did the children think?
‘I thought it was really interesting to look at because it was real from the Egyptian times.’ - Aroush
‘It was exciting because we saw so much interesting stuff from ancient Egypt. We saw a real mummy.’ - Farhan
‘I thought it was interesting because there were so many real mummies in there.’ – Sumaiya
Year 4
As a reward for KS2 children, the children went to the local cinema to watch a film.
What did the children think?
‘It was a very nice movie and I enjoyed the fresh walk with my friend.’- Jezreel
‘I loved going to see the big screen as I had never been before.’- Olivia
‘I really liked walking with my friends and watching a film together.’- Philipe
The children in Year 4 took part in a yearlong project called ‘The Linking Project’. As part of this project, the children were linked with another school and had a linking partner from this school. The children visited the M6 theatre with their linking partner where they watched a show and competed different workshops. Following this visit, the children also visited their link school where they played games and completed different crafts and activities.
What did the children think?
‘I enjoyed going on the bus to the theatre as this was the first time I’d been on one.’ Hareem
‘I enjoyed learning about another person from another school.’- Aribah
‘I liked the acting activities that we were able to do at the M6 theatre as they were fun to do.’ Jordan
‘I liked doing acting.’ Mehvish
To enhance the Geography unit of work looking at the local area, the children went on a field trip around Rochdale to look at the human and physical features of specific areas – Mandale Park / Town Hall.
Year 5
As a reward for KS2 children, the children went to the local cinema to watch a film.
What did the children think?
“Fantastic!”
“One of the best movies I’ve watched!”
“I enjoyed it as a nice treat.”
A group of children in Year 5 took part in a project called ‘Aspire’. As part of this work the children worked with children from another school to develop their teamwork and leadership skills. The children completed a range of activities to develop these skills alongside developing their aspirations for their own future. As part of the project, the children learnt about Rochdale and made a presentation about the future of Rochdale.
What did the children think?
“I thought it was fun. We got to make some new friends from a different school. I enjoyed the activities.”
“I got to learn new things about Rochdale. It was interesting.”
“I was a bit nervous but when I met the students, I was excited to tell them all about Rochdale.”
“I liked visiting the hotel and learning about how it was built. I think that it is really good for people to come to Rochdale and spend their time here.”
“We have been learning about Rochdale. We’re putting together a speech for an assembly.”
“We were working with a sixth form college student to get to know them better.”
“It was really fun doing the PowerPoint and we got to explain about the future of Rochdale.”
In the Summer Term, the children in Year 5 completed work in Geography and Science about everyday materials and the different types of settlement and land use. The children learnt about trade links and the distributions of resources. To enhance their learning from Geography and Science, the children visited Longley Lane Recycling Centre.
What did the children think?
“It was fun.”
“It was entertaining and interesting.”
“It was good to explore the recycling centre.”
“I taught my family what to put in the right bins.”
“Science helped me because we were talking about separating materials and we did this in science.”
Year 6
As a reward for KS2 children, the children went to the local cinema to watch a film.
What did the children think?
“I really enjoyed going to the cinema because I had never been before”
“The film was amazing and I liked the action packed ending”
In History, the children had been learning about World War 2. To further develop their understanding and to inspire their writing, the children visited the Imperial War Museum in Manchester.
What did the children think?
“The trip was interesting because I saw lots of artefacts that I had learnt about in history”
“I thought there were lots of stunning artefacts on show. It was the first time I had been to a museum. I enjoyed seeing WW2 primary sources after we had learnt about them in history”
In Year 6, gifted artists are invited to complete the Arts Award with Mrs Hurst. As part of this extra-curricular club, the children were invited to attend an Art workshop.
What did the children think?
“I got to lots of things like tie-dye and casting. It was fun”
“It was really good because I enjoyed doing the tie-dye. I liked looking around the art gallery”
As a reward for their hard work throughout Year 6, the children were taken bowling and took part in a circus activity day. The children had a day packed full of activities planned including: circus skills, archery and a climbing wall.
What did the children think?
“It was really good. I have never been bowling before and I got three strikes”
“It was a new experience and it was thrilling. I enjoyed playing with my friends and I was able to score 100”
“I felt like a monkey on the climbing wall. It was great”
“I enjoyed the climbing wall. I got to the top. It was really scary but I enjoyed it”
“It was the first time I did archery and I hit the bullseye”
“I learnt new tricks at the circus skills day and I had a great day”
Sporting Events
Throughout the year, the children have taken part in a range of sporting opportunities. These sporting opportunities allow the children to participate in competitive games and apply the basic principles for attacking and defending. The competitions the children took part in are as follows:
LKS2 Dodgeball
“I thought it was good but wish it would have been longer”
UKS2 Dodgeball
“I enjoyed playing even though I kept dropping the ball”
“I liked playing against other schools but some of them were definitely better than us. It made us play better though”
LKS2 football
“I enjoyed playing against other schools and I think we played well”
“It was fun but tiring at the same time. I enjoyed it though”
UKS2 fitness festival
“I enjoyed all of the different events that we did especially the tug of war that you (Mr Hudson) were in”
“It was so much fun doing all of the different activities but I was really tired at the end”
UKS2 football
“We played well and I was passing a lot. I felt nervous but proud to represent the school”