Peterborough Curriculum Case Study: Dogsthorpe Junior School and Railworld

This year long project involved Year 5 children from the school in helping to rebrand Railworld from the ‘railway museum’ image of its past into a ‘sustainable transport centre’.

Railworld were seeking a child’s eye perspective on their site as they redevelop their offer to schools and to the public; and were additionally keen to promote Railworld to children and their families as well as raise its profile in the wider city. The biggest goal for the school was to establish the children’s understanding of “what Peterborough is, how it’s changed, and how it’s going to change, and our children’s part within that”

Children were taught in advance about sustainable transport options, environmental concerns and vehicle designs, and then gave their views on what they thought the future of sustainable transport in Peterborough should look like. Workshops were given by environmental, heritage regeneration officers, and a key note by the tourism advisor to the council leader.

Future partnerships are being planned, as well as the partnership with Railworld. Although the exact nature of these was to be determined at the time of writing, both partners were enthusiastic about the next steps.