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Schools and youth groups
School and Youth Group Learning Programme 2025
Electra offers short educational trips for primary schools and youth groups, supported by free learning resources. Trips take 12 people (10 pupils, 1 teacher, 1 adult supervisor) plus our volunteer Skipper and Cabin Host who can answer questions about canals and boats.
Trips are provided at cost (£45-£55) and up to four trips can be fitted into a school day, depending on location. So for example, a class of 30 children need three trips (10 pupils/2 adults per trip) and two classes need two days of trips.
Trips depart from Campbell Wharf (30 minute circular trip), Fenny Stratford (45 minute circular trip), and Great Linford Manor Park (50 minute one way trip). At Campbell Wharf groups can also use the facilities at our Welcome Centre (toilet, kitchen, seating, display system, picnic tables).
Trips for schools run in Summer and Autumn Terms, by arrangement, Tuesdays to Fridays in the morning or afternoon.
Trips for youth groups offer ample opportunities for investigations and badge work, and we offer early evening sessions in June and July.
Click here to download 2025 School & Youth Group Options
We’re taking bookings now for 2025! To find out how Electra can support learning in your school or youth group, contact jane.wolfson@bmkwaterway.org who arranges bookings and puts teachers/group leaders in touch with an Electra Schools Liaison Volunteer to help you to get the most from your booking.
Success in our 2024 School & Youth Group Programme
In 2024 Electra worked with seven schools from across Milton Keynes and welcomed our first cubs’ group. In total we provided 32 trips in 15 half-day sessions. Groups ranged from under 20 children on two trips, to a whole year group of 90 on 9 trips over 3 mornings. Some trips were for the experience, others linked to curriculum areas. Feedback was always very positive and children
2023 case studies
Giffard Park Primary School booked five trips for the whole of Year 4 which combined a towpath walk with a focused ‘spotter sheet’, an introduction to battery technology as part of their science topic on electricity, looking out for wildlife, and locating the canal and the trip on maps. Pupils also had a booklet to jot down their impressions on the day, to support a writing project back in school.
Drayton Park Primary School booked two trips for KS2 pupils with a focus on sustainability and innovation. They explored Electra’s pioneering use of all-electric power from batteries and solar panels; found out about the historic innovation of canal and lock building in Fenny Stratford; and encountered wildlife, assisted by the almost silent nature of cruising.
Shepherdswell Academy booked four short trips at Campbell Wharf for the whole of Year One and combined these with a short walk from school along the canal towpath. Pupils were learning about the difference between physical and human geography, and there’s lots to see in this newly-developed area of the city. The Electra team produced photo-based ‘spotter sheets’ for the walk and the boat trip.