Heritage Harbour
Education Project
This project formed part of our year long Heritage Harbour initiative funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and delivered by Ipswich Maritime Trust. Working with fantastic local education consultant Dale Banham, we created a scheme of work aligned with Ofsted’s guidance for high quality history teaching.
The programme helps schools explore local, national, and international history through the story of Ipswich’s maritime past and the development of its historic docks.
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Across the project, we delivered 3,500 youth engagements in:
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9 Ipswich primary schools
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2 SEND schools
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1 senior school
Activities included assemblies, classroom sessions, and guided waterfront tours. With kind support from ABP, we were able to use the Old Custom House as a venue for hands-on learning.
More than 600 children enjoyed a trip on the water — 400 aboard the Thames sailing barge Victor, and 200 aboard Orwell Lady.
We also ran a teacher training day with staff from 14 primary schools learning how to use our education resource, which remains freely available for schools wanting to bring Ipswich’s maritime heritage into the classroom.