Year 1 enjoyed a visit to Rainham Hall, a National Trust property in Havering on Tuesday. Rainham Hall is a well-preserved 18th-century merchant’s house with interesting exhibitions inside each room, and a beautiful three acre walled garden outside.
Pelicans and Cranes took part in three workshops, rotating between experienced and knowledgeable members of staff from Rainham Hall, taking part in an art workshop, seed planting and exploring the house.
The sunny weather meant everyone was able to explore the perspective and scale of Rainham Hall from the gardens in their art session. Moving further and further away from the hall, Year 1 were surprised to spot the loft windows and chimneys that were not immediately visible from close-up. The children were challenged to sketch the house in 20 seconds, 60 seconds and three minutes, looking at the architectural details. Returning to the hayloft, they created their own artwork on ‘Rainham Hall calling cards’ and used pastels on a silhouette of the house.
The gardener started his session with exploring the grounds, explaining about the different flower beds and bigger plants – The mulberry bush is almost as old as the house! The grounds have plenty of sustainable features designed to support biodiversity, conserve resources, and promote environmental awareness such as bug and bee hotels, a large composting station and log piles.
Donning gloves, in their groups Year 1 shifted dirt to create a fine potting mix, scooped it into eco tube pots and chose seeds to plant – sunflowers or peas – to take home.
The house is a treasure trove of historic items, with rooms themed around the different previous owners. The ‘pirate room’, with spyglasses and compasses was a firm favourite along with grinding coffee in the next. The nursery on the top floor had cot beds to try, a beautiful Silver Cross pram and a selection of toys from the first half of the 1900’s. No electric gadgets needed for Year 1 to have fun together! The children were given a tick list by Rainham Hall to read and mark off as they went round, spotting and trying out the items, buttons, and opening secret doors.
Everyone agreed it was a brilliant day out, which really got Year 1 immersed with homes of the past and the way people once lived.
Letong – My favourite part when we went to Rainham Hall was playing with the old toys and planting the seeds in the garden.
Eric – I ground coffee by turning the handle on the machine and I liked the smell. I liked going in the house the best.
Jasper – I learnt that Rainham Hall was once a nursery, there were small beds on the top floor.
Rayhaan – The house had a blue cat called Mrs Cat! I liked planting the seeds in the garden.
Amelie – I learnt about being an artist outside, I liked copying the house and all the windows.
Zelda – I loved the mammoth! I learnt that a woolly mammoth the height of a red bus.
Amaiya – We planted seeds in the garden, the house is nearly 300 years old!
Dhiya – My favourite part was the house tour because of all the secret doors.
Erhan – I played with the old toys, there was a car. The house had a big door.
Mia S – Rainham Hall was home to lots of animals, the gardens were fun and it was very sunny.
Categories: Educational Visit News
