York St John students join the Beningbrough team!

The Teacher Training department at York St John have a very strong link with Beningbrough and each year, two students join the team for two weeks. The idea of these two weeks is that the students gain experience in a setting other than school, also known as 'SOTS'. This year Beningbrough gained two bright spark students who have worked alongside the Learning Team to experience education outside of the classroom.

Who's Who?
Hannah and Rebecca, both undergraduate trainee teachers, joined us for their first week in October. They had both completed their first year of university and their first placement, so had had hands on experience. When they joined us in October, they had never met each other nor did they know anything about Beningbrough or it's existence!


What did they do?
During their first week they were involved in all kinds of activities. They gave up their Saturday to come in and run an informal learning activity for families as part of our 'Play' weekend. They also joined me (Learning Officer) for a trip to East Riddlesden Hall to meet with other learning and community colleagues for a 'Sharing Learning' meeting. As well as all of that, they also worked on creating some story prompts for our 'Halloween' weekend to be used in our Story Den. Throughout the week they completed tasks such as a contextual analysis of the property and those who work there, they explored and became familiar with the education programmes and became aware of our informal learning programmes.

The students returned this week, bringing with them more knowledge, skills and ideas from another years worth of university input and another school placement. When asked to tell us about their experience, this is what they said:

Hannah:
"I feel that SOTS is a fundamental part of children's education as the children are discovering other settings outside of their school environment and are socially interacting with the wider community, supporting their holistic development. I also feel that the SOTS experience is significant for trainee teachers as it teaches us how to use the resources and other environments to enhance children's learning. My own opinion of taking children out of the school environment has completely changed. At first I thought it was just a trip out loosely related to the curriculum, as this is something I have observed previously. However, I now appreciate and recognise that the benefits to the children are immeasurable.

This change in attitude has also encouraged me to take a SOTS placement in the Washington Smithsonian Museums, in the USA, to learn about the children's different reactions and developments in other environments.

I have relished this experience and will most definitely take it into the classroom when I qualify as a teacher. I would encourage other teachers to utilise the experience to promote children's learning and to make the most of the outdoor opportunities available. I would also encourage universities to place trainee teachers in SOTS settings as I have gained a large number of both professional and personal skills, which I feel I could not get from the classroom."

Rebecca:
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Beningbrough Hall, and feel I have got lots from this placement. The experience will definitely help me in my future teaching. I have realised the potential for learning in an out of school setting, which I was unaware of previously. There are so many opportunities for learning in the National Trust and at Beningbrough. These vary from; Art based workshops, Victorian Servant Experience and The Great Fire of London which can be used across the key stages.

As there is such a variety of learning opportunities at Beningbrough, I will ensure that I will explore these at a variety of settings in my future teaching.

I have definitely developed professionally during this placement, and now value the potential at a setting like this."

Getting Hands On...

"Taking part in the Below Stairs Victorian Servant Experience workshop was a particularly enjoyable experience, which has enhanced our understanding of what happens here. Dressing up as Victorian servants certainly ignited the children's imagination, and allowed them to have a memorable experience.

We were able to interact with groups of children doing activities, as we were both leading different elements of the experience. This included hands on activities of making polish paste and then using the paste to polish brass objects. This gave the children an understanding of what life was like as a servant, in an authentic setting, which is something they wouldn't get from the classroom.

Observing children in a different context has expanded our experience and understanding of children's learning. We feel that taking children on a trip to another setting is vital to their own development and clarifying their knowledge and understanding of the Victorian period."

York St John are one of the only universities that run a compulsory SOTS programme which contributes to the student's end of year results. The SOTS programme is one which is successful and enhances the knowledge, understanding, skills and experience of the student. In turn this makes them a well rounded and well educated professional. Jan Spencer, York St John's Partnership Development Officer, is a great supporter of the SOTS placements and with her team, organises placements for around 120 students year after year. Her passion and determination to keep the programme alive, is great to see and Beningbrough is proud to be a part of it.