Keynsham Critters

Year 5 students from Tyndale Primary School joined the Platform team on a trip that tied together rail education and the Science curriculum in a Keynsham Critters Adventure.

Prior to travel, students participated in a rail safety, confidence, and behaviour workshop, gaining the information they needed to keep them safe on the day – and as future travellers. There were also opportunities to build travel confidence through rail familiarisation.

On the travel day, the class met Emilie from the team at Yate Station, where they recapped the important safety messages from the previous day before walking on to the platform and waiting to board.

The train to Keynsham was nearly an hour long; some students chose to chat with their friends, look out of the window, and relax; others completed activities our fun, education workbook.

On arrival into Keynsham, the group disembarked and – led by Emilie –  began walking to Keynsham Memorial Park. The park is a very short walk from the station and, with its range of accessible facilities, it is a perfect destination for a free onward trip.

Keynsham Memorial Park also offers a wealth of opportunity for searching for critters, exploring habitats, and understanding the relationship between animals and nature, which tied in with this term’s learning for the year 5 students.

After going on a bug hunt, and walking the park to see the different types of habitats there, students participated in a workshop designed and delivered by the  Platform team. As part of this, students were given information about a range of animals that could be reintroduced to the UK if the right habitats were chosen.

Students were challenged to discuss what each animal needed to survive – and to thrive – before deciding in small groups which animal was the most likely to thrive in Keynsham Park. Each group presented their choice to their classmates, carefully outlining what the needs of their chosen animal were, and what the park had within it that could meet that need.

It was grey and it was rainy, but none of that managed to dampen their spirits; there wasn’t a single complaint about the weather and, if the post-lunch playtime in the park was anything to go by, the students barely noticed the drizzle.

Jemma Stewart, year 5 teacher at Tyndale Primary School, said, “Thank you so much Platform for reaching out to our school and organising our fantastic trip. Emilie has been amazing from organising, communicating to leading the school trip on the day. We had a fantastic trip from Yate Train station to Keynsham. We went to Keynsham Memorial Park and explored habitats, which links to our topic, Critters. Emilie was so friendly, professional and our Year 5 class had the best day out. We had such an enjoyable, free day out thanks to Platform. Emilie even went above and beyond and dropped back a bag a pupil left on the train a couple of days later!”

To find out more about a free rail education trip with Platform, please contact the team here.