Visiting: Schools

Shanklin Chine and the Heritage Centre form a splendid complex for school parties to visit. The Chine is a beautiful and natural geographic phenomena, with a swiftly flowing stream running through a sandstone gorge, tumbling over a series of waterfalls on its path to the sea. It is a haven for wildlife and plants where children and students benefit greatly from an experience of applied natural history in these unique woodland and river surroundings.

Teaching Development

Geography

The life of a river and its three stages.

• The formation of sandstone and the ‘sedimentary cycle’
• Different types of sandstone in other parts of the country
• Its use in the building industry.

History

Development of the tourist industry on the Isle of Wight, and spa resorts in particular. The history and development of Shanklin. The story of PLUTO and the use of Shanklin Chine to deliver petrol to the forces in Europe during the Second World War.

Art

Displays of specimens from trees, e.g. leaf prints, bark rubbings, pictures of twigs, flowers, fruits, catkins.

Biology

Plants and animals of woodland and river habitats, their dependence on each other - food chains. The evolution of plant life and how it gradually came to live away from water. Reproduction of non-flowering plants.

Drama

Enact stories of smuggling. Make up a play about a smuggler who is caught.

English

Stories of smuggling at the Chine. Write about life in Shanklin before the coming of the railway. Imaginative stories of plants or animals of the Chine.