Professional Development: using local buildings

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.

Whilst there are many obvious historical buildings - castles, Roman Villas and Abbeys these often involve transport costs which may be beyond a school budget. Turner-Bisset suggests:

There is also history in ordinary, everyday sites, such as buildings, housing, banks, restaurants, schools, railway stations, public houses, shops and factories...are all evidence from the past, as it is the landscape itself with its record of human activity and interaction with it. (p.69 Turner-Bisset 2005)

Using the Local Environment: Trails

The immediate environment of most schools, therefore, can be a great starting point for investigating the built environment and the locality of the area. Starting with a trail of this area can open the children's eyes to many features of interest which they may well have walked past on their way to school everyday without noticing or questioning.