All Aboard at the Cutty Sark

by | May 22, 2026 | Community, Curious, Geography, History, Imaginative, Learning Theme, P4C, Tagore Class 2025/26, Understanding the World

Tagore Class had a wonderful day visiting the Cutty Sark as part of their theme : What are the different interpretations of Christopher Columbus?

They have been learning that people see Columbus in different ways. Some think of him as a brave explorer who travelled across the ocean. Others think about the impact his journeys had on the people already living in the lands he reached.

Children looked at different texts and pictures to learn about the life of the sailors.
Children did a question and answer session with Vicky

At the Cutty Sark the children explored a real ship and imagined what life at sea was like long after the time of Columbus. They met Vicky who gave them a tour and helped them learn how goods such as spices and tea were transported around the world. They found out that green tea came all the way from China and travelled across the oceans in huge amounts.

Children passed around cups of loose tea and took a sniff.
Ameenah said the loose tea smelt like smoke.
Atik enjoyed dressing up with his friends

They also saw where the sailors ate, slept and used the toilet. They were surprised to learn that sailors used to break their hard ship biscuits on their elbows because the biscuits were so tough to chew. Breaking them helped any insects crawl out and then the sailors dipped the biscuits into soup to soften them. The class also learned that there were many rats on the ship in the past which made life even harder for the crew.

Eliza and Inayah learnt new facts by reading texts around the Museum.
Children spotted landmarks that they learnt about last term like the Shard!
Children acted out pulling down ropes and pretending to scrub the floors as they imagined the hard work sailors once did while learning about life on board.
Yusra was busy trying to understand what she was reading
Itban and Ava were especially excited as they explored the museum because they were looking closely at everything and loved getting hands on with the different objects while learning about life at sea and historic ships.

It was an exciting day full of learning and curiosity. Tagore Class came away with new ideas about exploration, history and how people understand the past in different ways.

We have two philosophical questions inspired by our interesting trip to Cutty Sark. Please choose one and let us know what you think by emailing us at p4c@lansburylawrence.org

  1. Is it more important to discover new places or to take care of the places we already know?
  2. If you were the captain of a ship, how would you decide where to go when there are many directions?

Thank you for reading our blog and have a lovely half term!

    Tagore Class!