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Schools and youth groups
School and Youth Group Learning Programme
A trip on the Grand Union canal on Electra provides a rich and varied learning in geography, history and science. It’s also simply great to be out and about in nature on an all-electric boat.
Electra offers short educational trips for primary schools and youth groups, supported by free learning resources.
Trips take 12 people (10 pupils plus two supervising adults who direct learning) plus our volunteer Skipper and Cabin Host who can answer questions about canals and boats.
Trips are provided at cost. 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 can be booked from:
– Fenny Stratford: 45 minute circular trip (£60 per trip)
– Great Linford Manor Park: 50 minute one way trip (£60 per trip)
– Campbell Wharf: 30 minute circular trip (£50 per trip), where groups can also use the facilities at the Electra Welcome Centre (toilet, kitchen, seating, display system, picnic tables).
More details about each location can be found on our website – click here.
Booking trips
Trips are only available for over-fives in school (Year 1 and above) or youth groups.
– Trips for schools run in Summer and Autumn Terms, Tuesdays to Fridays in the morning and/or afternoon.
– Trips for youth groups offer opportunities for investigations and badge work, and we offer early evening sessions in June and July.
All bookings are made by arrangement for particular dates and times. Email bookings.electra@bmkwaterway.org to make arrangements for your school or youth group.
School & Youth Group case studies
Groups range from under 20 children on two trips, to a whole year group of 90 on 9 trips over 3 mornings. Some trips are for the experience of being out in the locality, others are linked to curriculum areas. Feedback is always positive and children frequently mention an Electra trip as their favourite outing.
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.