KidZania

• KidZania London announces its action packed 2019/20 programme for schools
• Over 60 real life activities and careers for children to choose from, in partnership with real life brands including British Airways, Global Radio and Metro newspaper
• Special events include STEM month, Parliament Week and Careers Fairs

 KidZania London – the indoor city run by kids at Westfield London, Shepherd’s Bush – has announced its action packed 2019/20 programme, including a series of special events for schools. 

The destination empowers children aged four – 14 to explore their imagination and interests with real-life activities and careers to choose from. These range from learning about aviation and what it takes to be a pilot in the British Airways Aviation Academy, to learning about animal wellbeing with the professionals at PDSA. 

While offering a space to play and explore, each career applies to the national curriculum and teaches soft skills essential in a pupil’s development – from autonomy, teamwork and creativity. So teachers can be rest assured that while being a fun school trip, the activities enhance and reflect subjects taught in the classroom. 

Victoria Gregory, General Manager at KidZania London, comments: “A recent study by the UCL Institute of Education showed that school playtime is becoming a thing of the past for a generation of children. Sadly lessons are increasingly eating into lunch and playtime, with pressures to cover off the national curriculum. At KidZania, we provide a space where kids can independently play and explore while learning. We’re passionate about providing the balance – where kids feel like they’re getting much needed playtime within a fun, immersive experience – while providing an educational programme that really enhances their personal and social development.”

To bring the activities to life, KidZania runs a series of educational events across the year to enhance the learning experience. 

Throughout June 2019

With a mission to get pupils excited about STEM careers, KidZania is hosting a month-long festival that will encourage pupils to take part in STEM focused activities, giving them first-hand experience of jobs within this field. Activities include the Shell Forecourt and Energy Lab, where young scientists will learn about why we need cleaner energy and how to develop fuels for the future. 

Students can apply their creativity and curiosity at the new ‘Coding 101’ degree in the KidZania University, in partnership with Children’s Intelligence Agency – an app created by award-winning Bright Little Labs (named ‘Top Coding Toy for Kids’ by the Evening Standard in 2018 and the Independent in 2017, plus EDF Stem Pulse Award winner in 2017), which complements the UK’s KS1 & KS2 Computing Curriculum.

Worksheet trails in Science and Maths will be available to collect from the KidZania National Library, where pupils can visit various activities around the city to answer questions and solve mathematical equations.

Parliament Week (5th – 7th November 2019)

As part of UK Parliament Week, KidZania’s popular event will return to the city with a programme of events and activities about parliamentary democracy in the UK. KidZania’s theatre will once again become the ‘House of Commons’, asking pupils to challenge and debate two motions based on anti-bullying and environmental issues. As part of the event, KidZania is partnering with WWE and NSPCC to raise awareness of Anti-Bullying Week, focussing on cyber bullying. There will be a workshop on how to debate, a Politics degree requiring pupils to budget for KidZania Government’s departments, and a voting booth so that pupils can have their say.

Careers Fair (21st – 23rd January 2020 and 3rd – 5th March 2020)

KidZania will be raising career aspirations and challenging career stereotypes with two events focussed on careers. New for 2020, the January workshop will run specifically for secondary schools, geared towards building employability skills ahead of going into the world of work. 

Workshops include CV writing, where pupils will be encouraged to develop their CV in class before their visit to KidZania and build on this as they undertake work experience around the KidZania city. Students will also have the opportunity to check-in to the interview workshop. The aim of the sessions are to give students the opportunity to build their presentation skills and confidence, to enable them to have the best chance in achieving jobs they’d like to do in the future, irrespective of background. 

KidZania’s March event, available to both primary and secondary schools, will coincide with National Careers Weekand International Women’s Day, with more exciting careers-related activities and partnerships to be announced soon. 

Science Week (10th – 12th March 2020)

In accordance with British Science Week, KidZania will be bringing Science Week back for another year. Pupils will be encouraged to discover a range of careers that rely on Science, enabling them to utilise the subject learning in class to real-life jobs.

-ENDS-

 Notes to editors

Learning outcomes:

KS1-3 Science– Animal and Human nutrition, Human skeleton and muscles, Material properties – solids, liquids and gases

KS1-3 PSHE– Skills and qualities required to engage in enterprise, financial literacy

KS1-3 English– Writing narratives about personal experiences, giving short presentations and expressing their own ideas

KS1-3 Maths– Add and subtract amounts of money to give change

KS1-2 Computing– Problem solving by designing, writing and debugging programs to control physical systems

Gatsby benchmarks 4, 5 and 6– KidZania’s activities offer children a chance to explore careers by linking back to the curriculum and having first-hand experience of jobs. Careers Fair provides a chance for pupils to meet employers about their career choices.

Pricing:

Access to all additional activities is included in the entrance price from £10 per child. Terms and Conditions apply. 

Reduced pricing available for schools with a high Pupil Premium level.