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Small grant helps children to learn about bridges

One of the first schools to receive a Rochester Bridge Trust education small grant has now begun teaching children about bridges.

Thanks to the money, 30 pupils at St Helen’s Church of England Primary School, Cliffe, are getting to grips with the challenges of practical bridge building.

More than £230 was given to the school to buy materials such as wood and glue guns to enable the seven and eight-year-olds to participate in hands-on learning.

Headteacher Steph Jarvis said: “We’re very grateful to the Rochester Bridge Trust for giving us this grant to buy materials. Various elements of the Trust’s book Learning about Bridges tie in with our Year 3 curriculum, and this money has made all the difference to us getting all the children involved in the hands-on learning activities included in the book.

“Experience learning is a great leveller and a way of demonstrating classroom concepts to the pupils. We’ve been pleased to see how engaged they all are.”

Learning about Bridges is a book of 12 lesson plans, written by Bridge Clerk Sue Threader. It is provided free to anyone who wants to introduce children to the concept of bridge building and civil engineering. While the majority of materials used by the book are readily available in the classroom, small grants of up to £300 are available to facilitate the book’s use.

The lesson plans can be downloaded here, or find out more about grants here. Find out more about the Trust’s engineering education initiative at www.rochesterbridgetrust.org.uk.

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