Class One’s Educational Visit to the Quarry Park in Shrewsbury.

It was so nice to be out and about on a class visit again and we all had a wonderful day exploring the surroundings. When we got off the bus the children commented on how big the park was.

First we saw the suspension bridge on Port Hill. We knew it was called a suspension bridge because of all the vertical cables holding it up. We had learnt about these in our structures lessons in school. We could see two supporting structures either side to support the deck. We talked about what the bridge was for. “So you can cross the river” Who can cross the river? “People and bikes but not cars. Boats can fit under too.”

We talked about what materials the bridge was made of and what shapes we could see in the bridge. “Triangles, diamonds and crosses”. We knew that these shapes were used to make the structure stronger.

We waved to the school children on the boat! We read the plaque on the bridge and found out that it was built in 1922. We worked out that this was almost 100 years old! When we were stood in the middle of the bridge we could feel that it bounced ever so slightly.

Next we walked along the river to the Welsh bridge. We talked about how this bridge was different. “It’s an arch bridge. Cars and people can go across.” What is it made of? “Stone” Will it wobble like the suspension bridge? “No” Why not? ” The stone is too strong.” We counted 5 arches in total. What shapes can you see here? “squares and rectangles” We had a short debate about whether or not boats would fit under! The children used their drawing skills to sketch the bridges they saw.

We heard the loud chimes of the bell at St Chads church. We counted 12 so it must be lunch time. After lunch we we followed the trail around the Dingle. On the way we were able to identify some features of a park like paths, a play park, a cafe and a band stand. We noticed that the river curved around the park. As we walked around the Dingle we saw all sorts of flowers in all colours and flying insects. It reminded us of when we were learning about pollination. In the dingle we spotted another bridge which we thought looked like a miniature version of the arch bridge we saw earlier.

When we came out of the dingle the children realised they were back at the start again. The path had taken us all around the Dingle. There was just enough time for a play in the play park before we got the coach home. There was even a bridge in the play park! I have never seen such big smiles as the children came down the big curly slide. Some of the children challenged themselves to climb frames they didn’t think they could climb.