Cassiobury Park Education Resources Pre visit information Contents Introduction A typical visit Curriculum Links Background information for Teachers Ideas for topic work Example Activities and worksheets Planning for a Safe and Enjoyable visit Planning for a Safe and Enjoyable visit (continued) Expedition Equipment List and Golden Rules for Children Information for drivers Example risk / benefit assessment Children’s Evaluation Form Teacher’s Evaluation Form Further resources Written by Tab McLaughlin Cassiobury park Education Officer 2016 1 Introduction These resources are designed to help you start to plan your visit to Cassiobury Park. They will give you an idea of some of the different activities and learning options you can explore with your class when visiting to Cassiobury Park. Think of the environment, and if possible please read this information on your computer rather than printing out a hard copy. We are able to teach in either a formal field studies session style or on a sliding scale towards an informal play based session depending on the age / special needs of the group. All sessions are designed to meet national curriculum learning and development targets. Young children are nearly always keen to investigate their surroundings. These activities will help you focus their attention where you want it. Older pupils can also benefit from the inspiration of a field trip to re-inspire them in their learning and provide fascinating extended study topics. Take a look at all the activities, think about the time of year and have a chat with us before you decide which particular activities are suitable for your group. Some of the activities are suitable for a wide range of ages (even adults will enjoy them). The example worksheets and some of the more formal teaching ideas are Keystage specific but we are happy to create materials suitable for your group on any topic you wish to study during your visit. With all our teaching we aim to spend the majority of our time out in the park, nature reserves and woodland so please make sure all the children are dressed appropriately for the weather. The activities can be varied to suit your particular requirements. Just speak to us before you make your booking. Cassiobury Hub Education Service Explore your local heritage and natural environment 2 A typical visit Every visit is individually tailored, but we have found that the framework below allows for a smooth visit. 10.15 Arrival - Teacher in charge goes to book in; remaining teachers organise the children into groups of not more than 15. 10.30 Introductory chat / game – to see what the group already know about the topic of the visit . 10.40 1st set of activities (e.g. river survey, orienteering, tree trail) 11.35 2nd set of activities (e.g. history walk, building tour, bug hunt) 12.30 Lunch – at picnic areas or under canvas Hub in inclement weather. 13.00 3rd set of activities (e.g. den building, scavenger hunt, train ride) 14.00 Depart – our packs provide educational resources for use back in the classroom, to extend the learning opportunities gained during your visit. 3 Curriculum Links Depending on the activity units chose your visit can cover almost any area of the curriculum and of course there are often cross curricular links outside of the main focus. This is a very basic guide Resource pack Curriculum Specific topics area Our heritage History KS1-3 Local history Links to National history (middle ages – present day) Geography Identify how and why the park has changed and consider KS2 how it might change in the future including how people can improve or damage the environment Woodland & Science Ks1-3 KS1/KS2 Life and living things waterways. KS3 independent study (also variation/ classification /interdependence / internal and external influences on behaviour / causes of changes in the environment) KS4 assessing effects of human activity on the environment (also differences between species and interdependence / adaptation / evolution). Geography KS2 fieldwork investigations (also unit can expand to water KS2 and its effects on landscapes and people / physical features of rivers /environmental issues caused by change in an environment / attempts to manage the environment sustainably) Sustainability / Geography KS2 case study of how and why people seek to manage renewable KS2-4 environments sustainably. Identify opportunities for energy involvement. KS3 understanding the physical and human characteristics and interactions of a real places. The hub building is an exemplar of sustainable development. We would also be interested in your data to add to our records giving the students a ‘real life’ purpose to their study topic. KS4 Talk to us about how we can plan a day or half day field trip around the curriculum of your exam board 4 A brief history of the Cassiobury Estate The Manor of Cassio is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, listed as owned by the Abbey of St Albans. It covered an area much bigger than the current park including the golf course, Whippendale Woods and the Cassiobury housing estate. In 1533, Henry VIII confiscated the Abbey’s lands (as part of the ‘dissolution of the monasteries’) and sold it to Richard Morrison in 1546. It was then that the grand house started to be built although Richard died before it was finished and his son Charles oversaw the completion.The house was passed down the male line until 1628, when Elizabeth Morrison married Arthur, Lord Capel of Hadham. In 1661, Elizabeth and Arthur’s son, Arthur, was made Viscount Malden and Earl of Essex. He employed the gardener Moses Cooke to set out formal gardens, “strictly in the French style” during periods between 1669 and 1680. The Earl also commissioned extensive remodelling of the house in the early 1700s. The First Earl © Watford Museum View of Cassiobury Park by John Wootton, circa 1748 © Watford Museum Despite the first earls execution for actively supporting the royalist cause in 1649 (toward the end of the civil war) and the second earls arrest for his part in a plot to assassinate Charles II (he died in the tower of London under ‘mysterious circumstances in 1683) the estate remained in the ownership of the Capel family and the seat of the Earls of Essex until it was sold in 1922. When the 6th Earl died in 1892, it was clear that despite (or because of) his enthusiasm for new farming projects around the estate no significant maintenance had been carried out on the house in the previous fifty years, consequently many of the family paintings and other valuables were sold to provide funds for restoration. The house in 1922 © Watford Museum 5 The Seventh Earl By 1900, the house had ceased to be used as a © Watford Museum permanent residence, and in 1908 parts of the estate were sold off. The Council bought some land at this point and then added more land over the next decades to create the current park. The house was demolished in 1927 and sold off in pieces as building materials. The final purchase was the Whippendell Wood area in 1935. The paddling pools were also built in the 1930s. In the second half of the 20th century, funding for parks in Watford decreased as part of a general trend across the UK. The resulting decline in management meant that a number of historic features were lost, and the character of the landscape began to change. The Bandstand © Watford Museum The historic importance of Cassiobury Park was recognised in January 1999 when it was entered at Grade II in English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest It is also recognised for its ecological value, with the area between the River Gade and the Grand Junction Canal designated a Local nature Reserve in 2003 (Whippendell Woods was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1954). Cassiobury Park (including the Cassiobury Park Local Nature Reserve) has been awarded a Green Flag Award for sustainably managed open spaces each year since 2007. In July 2014, the park received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery of £4.5 million (alongside WBC match funding of £2 million) to build a new visitors centre, renovate the pools, modernise the facilities of the Cha Cha Cha, create a new entrance space from Rickmansworth Road and reintroduce and restore the historic bandstand. The money also pays for two new staff to run lots of events and activities. The works completion is estimated at the end of summer 2016. Funding for the activities staff continues after that. 6 Natural assets Cassiobury Park has a large number of mature and veteran trees. The two main pathways from Rickmansworth Road are lined with trees, creating avenues of shade on a hot summer's day. In the centre of the park on the brow of the hill is a beautiful Cedar of Lebanon, which is over 100 years old, and there are several veteran oaks dotted throughout the park. In spring the park is brightened with daffodils and tulips, and the rhododendron bushes provide splashes of colour. The river Gade flows through the park, and the Grand Union Canal, regularly used by colourful barges, borders the western edge of the park. You cannot fish with rods on the river Gade from 15 March 2011 to 15 June 2011 inclusive. However, children can still fish with nets in the river. Watford Piscators have the fishing rights on the canal, and offer day tickets. If you would like to know more about them, please visit their website. A large area of the park, adjacent to the river Gade, has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR).