A recent visit from the plant manager of Kings Dyke Brickworks in Whittlesey to a nearby primary school has proved a success after bringing the curriculum and the local area to life.
Paul Fitzjohn, who manages Kings Dyke – part of building products manufacturer Forterra and exclusive producer of the iconic London Brick – visited Park Lane Primary School in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, to deliver a talk to Year 2 classes about the process of brickmaking.
As part of their Street Detectives topic, the class teachers were keen to teach the children about their locality and make links with Whittlesey’s community and industrial heritage. In addition, Paul’s talk related directly to the materials topic that forms part of the students’ science curriculum.
Following the visit, the students wrote letters thanking the plant manager for his talk and telling him what they had learned.
Alison Prince, Year 2 teacher at Park Lane, said: “Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Paul’s visit and it is always great to have visitors in to share their expertise with the children. As well as connecting with our Science curriculum, Paul’s visit also helped the children to develop their English skills during our follow-up letter writing activity.
“We all enjoyed Paul’s talk, which enhanced the children’s learning in many ways.”
Paul Fitzjohn, plant manager at Kings Dyke, said: “It was a pleasure to be able to visit Park Lane and speak to the students about what we do at Kings Dyke. I hope the information they learned has stayed with them and will continue to inform their learning, and perhaps even their future careers.”