FEATURE FOCUS: SCHOOL TRIPS the galleries
• Obtain consent from parents. You can add this passage to your parental consent form: “The children will be completing a riddle hunt
where clues are sent to their team’s selected mobile phone. The trip requires the use of one fully charged phone, email and phone number, and use 3G data, per team - if each team does not have this, we will have to re-arrange the team groups to ensure that all groups can participate in the hunt. This hunt is provided by
www.breadcrumbsgame.com, and the school will have to provide the name, school email and mobile phone number for each child that acts as a team captain. The company will store all data securely, will not share it, and will delete it after the school trip. Please make sure your child brings a fully charged mobile phone with them on the day. If you would prefer your child not to be a team captain, and to opt them out of using their phone, etc., please let us know before the day of the trip.”
• Decide on the number of teams that will be playing (4 per team recommended)
without Facebook Messenger can play. [
www.breadcrumbsgame.com/treasure- hunts/museum-of-london] The teacher booking the hunt will receive
registration links for each team captain. Registration can be completed at any point, with no expiry date. After signing all of the groups up (one team
captain with a charged phone per group), we left for the Central line to St. Paul’s Station.
At the Museum of London After a quick toilet stop, we led the students down two flights of stairs and we gathered next to the cafe area. We gave the students 1 hour and 20 minutes before they had to meet back at that spot. We told them that there would be 15 riddles in a randomised order, and it was a competition to see which team could solve them the fastest, but with the least use of hints. Before starting, we walked them all around the area that they would be using and informed them that they would not need to go up the stairs or beyond certain areas. After this, we told them to text ‘start’, and made sure that the first text message came through!
Reflections of an English Teacher As a teacher who has run quite a few school trips, this one was particularly easy to manage. Like any trip, it takes a lot out of you… interestingly, I find that even when all of the kids behave, it can still feel more tiring than a normal working day! However, despite my own fatigue, the students were fully engaged and eager to solve all of the riddles, whether it was finding the debtor’s jail cell or walking through the pleasure garden. A few needed some help (this is where the transcript came in handy) and a nudge in the right direction. When I run the trip again this academic year, I plan to make a quiz to test their knowledge after the hunt is complete. Either way, I have never seen secondary school
children so excited to be in a museum: learning and reading about history. I believe that technology can definitely be a useful tool to bridge the gap between the sometimes-
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disinterested youth of today and the arguably archaic methods of delivering academic information during school trips. The world is changing and slowly the classroom is too, what with smart boards and tablets where students work collaboratively. As a result, the school trip needs updating too, especially if you want to take advantage of the free museums in London. Some teachers may be scared of trying out new technology and apps, but the overall gain can heavily outweigh the discomfort of the first unknown trip. Whereas many apps and websites allow
students to explore historic and scientific marvels in the 360-degree safety of the classroom, I feel that a vital part of physical interaction and intimacy is lost as a result. Not only will it lead to less visitors and more closures of sites of importance, but it could in fact disconnect our students from the real world and the majesty of these constructions – something extremely human is lost when we view the world through a screen. So, the next time that you plan a trip, use a search engine or ask the company what technological experiences they can offer – you and your students will thank me for it.
Top tips • Excitable Children: we had to remind the students not to run, and not to be too loud, especially around any tours that were happening. We came across one small tour and positioned a member of staff nearby to ensure that students did not disturb the tour.
• Monitoring Progress: staff members can track team progress and see how many questions teams have solved, how many hints they used, how many incorrect guesses and how long they have been playing for.
• Area for Lunch: Postman’s Park (EC1A 7BT) is a nice green space to have a picnic or lunch with the students after the hunt - be aware that it is busier between 1-2pm.
Checklist Before the day of the trip: • Contact the museum and book your time slot in
www.education-today.co.uk 31
• Sign up and pay for the school hunt on
breadcrumbsgame.com
On the day of the trip: • Decide on team captains (the captains will have charged mobile phones, consent forms, and 3G data)
• Register team captains. The organising teacher will have received a link to do this by email
• Children will then receive welcome messages and from then on can direct themselves. If children get stuck, they can request hints.
• The organising teacher will have access to a full transcript of the hunt, including all answers
• The organising teacher will be able to monitor team progress. They will be able to see how long each team takes, how many hints they need, and how many questions they get right
• Once all the teams have finished, award prizes if desired
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