What the New Budget Means for Maths and Computer Science School Trips
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Another year, another Budget. If sitting down with the 93-page contents of Phillip Hammond's red box doesn’t fill you with joy this festive season, have no fear as we've done the legwork and digested what we think the Chancellor's Budget means for your future school trips.
At a glance, what we know is that there are plans to inject new investments into schools across the UK that will include £177 million for Maths specifically and around £85 million for Computer Science. These are two of the biggest changes for schools within the Budget this year and one that schools should really be taking advantage of.
One of the most notable headlines from the Budget for schools this year, was the introduction of a £600 ‘Maths Premium’ for every additional pupil who takes A-level or Core Maths. More than £80 million will be available initially and there is no cap on the number of students this will be available for, incentivising schools to encourage students to take further Maths.
So how are teachers going to convince a 16 year old pupil that Maths A-Level or Core Maths is for them if they hadn’t necessarily considered it before? By making sure that they’re involved with wider Maths experiences, such as Maths school trips and other activities, students will start to see the benefit of Maths and how it works outside of the classroom. We’re predicting in the next couple of years that there will be a big increase in the number of Maths school trips that schools will be looking to plan to try and prove to students that A-Level Maths really is for them!
One of the more interesting proposals in the Budget is an £8.5 million that will test more innovative approaches to improve GCSE Maths resit outcomes. One of the options available to teachers looking to try something different is to get those students who are re-sitting their Maths GCSE out of the classroom and into the big wide world to show practical uses for Maths. The idea here is to build confidence and interest around a subject they’ve previously struggled with in the hope of igniting new interest.
Below we've compiled a quick list of our favourite locations for school trips suitable for all secondary school Key Stages centred around Maths and Computer Science:
Silicon Valley Computer Science
As the beating heart of America's technology sector, Silicon Valley is home to some of the biggest tech companies in the world, such as: Google, Facebook and Apple. There's so much to see in the area relating to computing, from the California Museum of Sciences to the famous Googleplex campus.
Explore our Silicon Valley Computer Science school trips here >
Disneyland Paris
Maybe not the first place you'd consider when you're thinking of planning a Maths trip, but hear us out. We've created an exciting Maths learning pack that contains all the materials for Key Stage 3 and 4 to combine leisure and learning for students in Disneyland as well as in Paris itself.
Explore our Disneyland Paris Maths school trips here >
National Museum of Computing
Bletchley Park was the home of British code-breaking efforts during the Second World War. The museum at Bletchley now ranks as one of the top computing museums in the world. There a number of IT-based exhibitions that cover a wide range of computing topics; from code breaking in the Second World War to software and women in computing. A definite recommend for any school looking to inspire students into computing (especially girls!). This is a great excursion when combined with our other exciting London excursions.
Explore our London Computer Science & Maths school trips here >
New York City
We can't think of a better educational and exciting Maths trip than one to the Big Apple. We offer a number of options when it comes to planning your school New York Maths trip in a way that combines education with the real world application of Maths within business. Students can start off with seeing the inner workings of the Federal Reserve Bank and then take in either the Museum of American Finance or the Museum of Mathematics and then capped off with a visit to the One World Observatory at the top of One World Trade Center. Yes, New York really does have something for everyone.
Explore our New York Maths school trips here >
Whatever sort of Maths or Computer Science trip you're planning, we offer a wide selection of educational trips to take advantage of the new Budget measures and help students succeed in Maths and Computer Science going forward.
If you would like to see our full range of Maths and Computer Science school trips, head to our search page to find out more.
