Husthwaite Primary School - Credit Ben Walker
This year saw the start of the Urban and Rural School’s Twinning Project, a partnership project between the AONB Unit and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The project links primary schools within the Howardian Hills with larger urban schools in York and Hull. The project works with the children over 4 years and involves 20 primary schools in Yorkshire. A school in the urban centre is twinned with an AONB school and each makes a visit to the other every year.
The overall aim of the project is for the participants to find out about the contrasts between the two areas- anything from the natural environment, to the history of the area and the current ways of community life. The initiative will provide memorable learning experiences for the children taking part and help them understand the lifestyle differences of people living within the same county.
This year’s visits took place between May and July and each one was unique and successful. Each day generally consisted of a tour of the school in the morning and a tour of the surrounding areas in the afternoon. However, each school took a different approach- some children took part in treasure hunts around the school grounds, some had answers to find out from each other, some visited castles and some visited zoos. Some children learnt about the history of the school they were visiting and the village they walked round, and others learnt about current topics they were studying.
All children were so excited to meet their visitors, some had already written to each other so knew who to expect, other waited eagerly to see who would arrive on the coach! The children from the paired schools quickly made friends and were soon talking as if they’d known each other for years. The children enjoyed finding out about each other and were amazed at the facilities available to each other. The Hull and York children loved the countryside and the open space in the AONB, whereas the AONB children were envious of the city-dwelling children having a McDonalds so close by! Everyone was sad when the time came to say goodbye, and they were looking forward to seeing each other next year. Some children are continuing to write to each other in the meantime and were keen to maintain their friendship.
The school pairings will remain the same throughout the four years. During next 3 years the children will focus on specific topics or themes at both schools, and so the task of finding similarities and differences between the urban and rural schools will continue.
A massive thank you to the teachers and other school staff involved at the schools for all their hard work and effort in making the trips a success. Also thanks are due to the team of volunteers who helped out on the visits, who helped inspire and enthuse the children, and ensured the days ran smoothly!
Many schools have put together a display or book, so do pop into your local school to have a look!
Contact
For more information contact Tony Martin by email.
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
|---|---|
| Project Summary | 472.31 KB |