Sunderland children to get on board for a Tall Ships record attempt

Children from St Anne's RC Primary School, Sunderland, watching a performance based on the history of the River Wear in preparation for the arrival of the Tall Ships.

A huge range of activities have been announced to give schools the opportunity to get on-board and be part of this year’s event.

The city will welcome a majestic fleet of Tall Ships to take part in a colourful four-day festival of culture and entertainment from Wednesday, July 11, to Saturday, July 14.

St Anne's Primary School youngsters enjoy the show.

Events will be spread across four main zones - Sunderland Port, Town Moor and East End, St Peter’s Campus and the Seafront.

Sunderland City Council’s Portfolio holder for Children’s Services, Coun Louise Farthing, said: “The Tall Ships Races Sunderland 2018 gives us a fantastic opportunity to bring young people from across the city together in a joint purpose.

“I’d like to thank all of the partners involved in delivering the activities and in particular Together for Children for their generous support of the school visits to the Tall Ships site. I urge schools and academies across the city to make the very most of this unique chance to be part of this historic occasion.”

Activities include

• Songs for Sunderland Tall Ships with a live-streamed performance so every pupil from Sunderland can join in from the classroom, with the aim of breaking the world record of the most children singing the same song at the same time.

• Heroes of the Sea Trail explores characters and objects connected to Sunderland’s proud maritime history. From the brave acts of heroes Jack Crawford and Harry Watts to record-breaking ships built on the Wear.

• Part of The University of Sunderland’s ‘Wear Sailing’ range of maritime inspired activities is, code breaking with flag semaphore. This is an activity where primary pupils will be introduced to the concept of sending messages and signals without modern day technology.

• There is also a fantastic opportunity for schools to showcase their talents performing on stage at the event.

Together for Children who deliver children’s services on behalf of Sunderland City Council are supporting schools to visit the event. As part of a full day of activities, participants will experience a wide range of organised activities, involving working with artists, watching stage performances and seeing the Tall Ships, plus primary school pupils can achieve an ‘Arts Award Discover’ certificate.

Director of Together for Children, Simon Marshall said: “The Tall Ships event will be fantastic for the city and we’re delighted that with our support, schools from across the city will be able to go along and enjoy the workshops and educational activities on offer, while also getting to see the Tall Ships for themselves.”

For full details on the extensive range of activities available to schools, visit https://www.tallshipssunderland.com/download-resource-centre and for the latest event information go to https://www.tallshipssunderland.com or follow on Twitter @TallShipsSund.