Trips

Curriculum Trips

We believe that first-hand experiences bring learning to life. Each year, pupils at Gordon Children’s Academy take part in a wide range of curriculum trips designed to enrich their understanding and give them memorable learning moments.

Curriculum Trips

Trips are carefully planned to link with class topics and enquiry questions. They allow children to:

• See classroom learning in real-world contexts
• Explore museums, galleries, historical sites, and outdoor environments
• Ask questions, investigate, and learn through experience
• Develop independence and confidence outside the classroom

Each year, as part of our trip offer, all children from EYFS-Year 6 take part in Geography Field Trips. These trips are designed to deepen understanding of geographical concepts by allowing children to observe, investigate, and interact with physical and human environments directly. As part of the trip, pupils will take part in fieldwork - a key component of geographical education. This means they’ll be actively involved in collecting data, making observations, asking questions, and analysing what they find. This could involve creating field sketches and maps, surveying land use or recording data.
 

Extra Curricular Trips:

Some trips are directly connected to our extra-curricular clubs:

• Choir Club pupils have the chance to perform at Young Voices, the largest children’s choir concert in the world. This incredible event brings together thousands of schoolchildren to sing in a professional arena alongside live musicians and guest artists—an unforgettable celebration of music and teamwork.
• Choir members also take part in community singing, such as performing for local residents, helping to build confidence and foster kindness through music.
• Sports Clubs may lead to participation in competitions like the Mini Youth Games, a Medway-wide sports series that promotes fair play, teamwork, and healthy competition among primary schools.

Seizing Opportunities

We also embrace one-off opportunities that enrich pupils' cultural and educational experiences:

• KS1 pupils have previously visited the cinema as part of the Into Film Festival, which promotes literacy and storytelling through film. These trips help children engage with narrative, character, and emotion in a visual format.
• Year 5 and 6 pupils have attended theatre performances in the Marlow Theatre in Canterbury that brought their class novel to life on stage - deepening their understanding of the story and sparking a love for literature and drama.
• We take up opportunities to attend performances by the Royal Ballet or West End productions, giving children access to world-class performing arts and creative inspiration.
• Our Pupil Parliament visit the Houses of Parliament, where they take part in workshops and tours that help them understand democracy, leadership, and how their voices can shape the future.

We’re always on the lookout for enriching opportunities and when they come our way, we make sure our pupils benefit.

Cost and payment

We work hard to keep trip costs as low as possible and use a mixture of PTA support and school funding to subsidise visits, however, if we do not recieve enough parent contributions to cover the cost of the trip, there is risk that we will have to cancel them. Payments are made securely through Arbor. We aim to ensure that curriculum trips do not total more than £40 per year. If you need any support with payment of trips, please do speak to the school.

Keeping parents informed

Parents receive a trip overview at the start of the year with planned trips and approximate pricing. Letters via Arbor are then sent with full details of each trip, including timings, clothing, packed lunches, and any permissions needed.