1/10/08: Students galore!

Hockerton Housing Project recently took on a significant school challenge – managing 180 students around the site on one day this September. This is nearer to the total number of visitors we receive in a whole month. The school requesting the visit was Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough, and in particular the Geography department. Their objective as expressed by teacher, John Kingdom was:

“The visit would be a superb scene setter for our work on ecological footprints and global warming (which covers most of the rest of the year). I think that you would kindle genuine interest in the students and it would really bring the topic to life for them.”

The practicalities of the visit were made easier by running three separate tours during the day and then sub-dividing them into smaller groups to be shown around by a team of HHP guides. The visits included the following:

• Site tour highlighting renewable energy systems (wind & solar), autonomous water systems (rainwater collection/treatment, wastewater treatment via reed bed), self-sufficiency (food), waste management (e.g. composting).
• Walk through one of the project member's homes, highlighting key environmental features, how the home is designed to only use 10% of a typical UK home, and how individuals can take their own positive actions to reduce energy.
• Look at exhibition posters & models to explain how homes work and a chance to experience using a compost toilet.

We make the tour as interactive as possible through questions and short fun exercises as we go round. For longer visits we can include an exercise looking at the student’s carbon footprint.

Feedback from school

The key points from staff were that:

• Your delivery was extremely professional
• The site is inspirational
• The visit was relevant to geography; science and social science and those cross-curricular links are invaluable
• It really made us think about how we live our lives.
   

Student feedback was just as positive:

• 'I liked the worms'
• 'I didn't see any rats'
• 'I told my Dad to turn the TV off standby''
• 'I'm going to grow all of my own food'

"Both staff and students were hugely impressed.  We are referring back to the visit throughout our scheme of work and the experience has helped students get to grips with the concept of sustainability and our impact on a fragile planet." (John Kingdom, teacher).
 
Further information

HHP is running visits for increasing numbers of secondary schools, providing a real context for curriculum learning across a range of subjects. For more information about HHP’s educational work, click here.

If you would like to discuss bringing a group of students on a similar visit, or would like to ask a teacher (maybe of your own child) to contact us; please email hhp@hockerton.demon.co.uk or call 01636 816902. We would be very happy to discuss options.