Education Outreach Event

Ian Vallence, the Classic Boat Museum Education Officer, attended St Catherine’s School, thanks to the kind sponsorship of the Museums and Schools organisation on the Isle of Wight, as part of its outreach funding programme.

Ian was welcomed by 16 pupils from St Catherine’s School and introduced them to the Big Boat Competition. The competition consists of a number of different rounds, including a careers quiz, a timeline quiz, a purpose quiz, a little bit of maths and, finally, a boat-building race to round off the event.

The students were highly engaged throughout the whole programme and came up with some excellent ideas about the different careers available in boat-building centres around the Island. Welders, engineers, designers, electricians, plumbers and painters were all suggested by the pupils, and many points were won in the fun quiz.

Next on the list of activities was a look at the way boat-building has developed over many years. We began the story in the Mesolithic period and moved through Roman-built boats, famous vessels such as the Mary Rose and the Titanic, Second World War boats, and even the current Thames Clippers, which are being designed by Wight Shipyard.

Students quickly identified the top five reasons for boat-building, along with three of the most important materials used to build boats, before learning how the famous designer and engineer Blanche Thornycroft revolutionised boat design in the early 1900s.

Finally, it was the turn of the pupils themselves to design a boat before the final race, which brought the whole event to an excited, noisy, but highly supportive conclusion.

Both the staff and pupils of the school were highly appreciative of our visit, and we very much hope to be able to work with them again in the near future.

Once again, many thanks go to the Museums and Schools organisation for its support, without which this event would not have been possible.