Thanks to the inspiration from the Engaging Places network project, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove, is now into phase two of their local history project. The project began when the school was first invited to join the Engaging Places South East network in 2008. Kate Forbes shares how their project has developed from going through co-development network process.
Cardinal Newman students interviewing Brighton residents © Cardinal Newman Catholic School
At Cardinal Newman we have been teaching local history for many years now. We take the year 7 students out to investigate the oldest streets in Brighton. Sometimes it has worked and sometimes herding students through busy shopping streets whilst trying to point out the finer points of a Georgian window has seemed like too much of a challenge!
Our original Engaging Places project was called “Revealing Brighton” and involved a group of gifted and talented students from year 10. These students investigated the Laines area of the city and produced a documentary designed to support the work for our year 7 students.
The film they produced now forms an important resource in our year 7’s new scheme of work. The year 10 students went over and beyond what we expected. Based on their research, students developed quirky historical characters to retell the story of specific buildings. These are portrayed as little dramatic interviews throughout their film. You can see a few examples of these characters in the Engaging Places video.
What has changed
The Engaging Places project encouraged us to be more rigorous in thinking about our learning objectives and to go on to develop new learning activities that are compelling and have stimulating and creative outcomes.
We have now redeveloped our year 7 local history project and turned it into a real investigation. This year (2008/2009) the students will be encouraged to explore the streets and buildings for themselves.
We have developed a research journal for the students and a resource pack. This encourages students to generate their own research questions and figure out the direction they want to take. We have provided their first question, which is to find out how the area now known as the Laines changed in the 1800’s.
The collaboration with the Brighton and Hove Museum Services has enriched the project. Part of the field work now includes a visit to the museum’s local history centre where students investigate the local history using census material and street directories.
The idea of a learning walk as opposed to a guided tour is a big improvement to our year 7 project. Lots of primary schools use this approach and we have tried to give out students more independence to use the walk to find things out for themselves.
Cardinal Newman students receive their Engaging Places certificate from John Sorrell at the Time to engage event, March 2009 © Alys Tomlinson
Using the Engaging Places website
We have also incorporated ideas and resources from the Engaging Places website. I scoured through the site looking at the huge range of resources and ideas from other projects.
I knew that I wanted the students to use the actual streets and buildings in a more meaningful way and to come up with their own ideas about how and why the Laines area of Brighton has changed.
I found a great resource from that brings together pictures of buildings through time that students can then use to make a collage.
This activity is designed with key stage 2 in mind but I have tweaked it for our key stage 3 students. They will make a timeline of the buildings in the form of a collage and I have added in pictures of the Royal Pavilion, a fisherman’s cottage and a Georgian town house from the area that we investigate during the field work.
This resource is great because all the images are ready to use and the idea of making up a building should lead to some interesting ideas about building design and purpose. I am hoping that this will stimulate students to look at the different ages and purposes of the buildings in the streets they visit.
What I have learnt
What we learnt from the Engaging Places network project was that students are actually very good at this if you give them the opportunity. I also learnt that careful planning, strong objectives and lots of preparation time are key to a successful investigation.
We take our year 7 students out in May and June to do their field work and the preparation and research is already well underway. They are also being pushed to develop a creative outcome of their findings. So we are very eager to see what they will come up with.
Kate Forbes was the lead teacher for key stage 3 history at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove. Before half term she was appointed head of history at Cardinal, in which her participation in the Engaging Places network helped her achieve. Congratulations Kate!
Find out: about the Engaging Places network
Watch: the Engaging Places film
