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What a fantastic day Year 1 had on their school trip to Lulworth Castle!

We arrived to glorious sunshine and were immediately in awe of the beautiful castle. The children couldn’t believe how big and impressive it was! We met the lovely Michelle, who works for the Lulworth Estate. She welcomed us into our classroom and helped us get started with a day full of exciting learning and activities.

Michelle began by telling us all about the history of Lulworth Castle. We learnt that it was built just over 400 years ago and has been owned by the Weld family for many generations. The children shared what they already knew about castles, explaining that they are big and strong. To put this to the test, we headed inside the castle for a very special materials hunt! The children searched carefully to see what they could find the castle was made from. We spotted wood, metal, stone and brick - but, much to the children’s amusement, there wasn’t a piece of plastic in sight!

We also learnt that the castle had previously been badly damaged by a fire. The children were fascinated to discover signs of the fire and were able to spot burnt wood throughout the castle.

After all that exploring, it was time to head back to the classroom for a well-earned snack before getting stuck into our next challenge.

We discovered that one member of the Weld family was a boat builder, which inspired our next activity. Working together, the children used newspaper, paper clips, blue tack and string to design and build their very own boats. Once they had finished, it was time to put their creations to the test! We headed outside to test our boats in the fountain, which was creating a super-stormy sea as it sprayed water!

Some boats quickly became submarines, while others managed to withstand the wild weather and float beautifully. The children had great fun testing their designs and seeing what worked -and what didn’t!

After all that hard work, we enjoyed a lovely lunch together in the glorious sunshine in the castle courtyard. Then it was time to explore a little more. We took a walk to the woodland park, where the children enjoyed a well-deserved play.

And then came a very special surprise…

A beautiful peacock decided to pay us a visit! It proudly showed off its magnificent feathers, and the children were absolutely fascinated. It was certainly a memorable way to finish our day!

It was such a lovely day filled with history, teamwork, problem-solving, exploration and lots of fun. The children were fantastic throughout and thoroughly enjoyed learning outside of the classroom.

A huge thank you to all the staff and volunteers who helped make our trip so special and to everyone who came along and supported us. We certainly made some wonderful memories at Lulworth Castle! 💙🏰