Year 6 pupils from Holyhead Primary Academy stepped into the world of forensic investigation during an educational visit to the West Midlands Police Museum in Birmingham.
The visit formed part of the Academy’s Excite, Explore, Excel (E3L) curriculum, a programme taught across Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust primary schools. The curriculum is designed to help pupils make meaningful connections across subjects and understand how classroom learning applies to the wider world.
As part of E3L, Year 6 have been studying the topic ‘Forensic’, exploring evolution and inheritance through the context of crime and DNA. Pupils are introduced to the scientific field of forensics through a fictional crime scene, where they use evidence to investigate what happened.
The visit gave pupils the opportunity to take their learning beyond the classroom. Throughout the day, they explored the history of policing, discovered how evidence has been collected and analysed over time and took part in practical activities that put their investigative skills to the test.
One of the highlights was the museum’s forensics lab, where pupils took on the role of detectives as they investigated evidence and worked to solve crimes. The hands-on experience gave them an opportunity to apply their knowledge in a different setting and see how forensic techniques can be used to build a picture of what happened.
Pupils also explored the museum’s collection, discovering more about two centuries of policing history and gaining an insight into the people, methods and technologies that have shaped policing.
For pupils, the visit provided a fantastic opportunity to see how the principles they had been learning about in their lessons could be applied beyond the classroom.
School Principal, Natalie Shipley, said: “Our children work incredibly hard in the classroom, so we want to give them opportunities to take that learning out into the real world and see where it can lead them. Pupils were able to be curious, ask questions and investigate for themselves, rather than simply being told how forensic investigation works.
“Experiences like this help them to build confidence, develop a love of learning and begin to understand the many possibilities that are open to them in the future. We want our pupils to leave Holyhead with much more than just academic knowledge. We want them to be excited by the world around them, confident enough to explore it and ready to make the most of the opportunities ahead of them.”
The visit provided a meaningful context for pupils to apply their E3L learning while developing skills such as observation, questioning, reasoning and problem-solving. It also gave them the chance to see the relevance of subjects such as science beyond the classroom and understand how different areas of knowledge can come together in the real world.
For the Academy’s year 6 pupils, becoming forensic detectives for the day offered a memorable way to deepen their understanding of a topic that brings together science, investigation and real-world problem-solving.
