The 2008/09 Engaging Places network was a success due to the concentrated effort of everyone involved. But what happened after the academic year ended? We catch up with two very different project partnerships, to find out how being part of Engaging Places has changed the way they teach.
Dover Castle © English Heritage
A bigger splash in Dover
Gail Swainston is Head of history at Dover Girls Grammar School. She ran A 360 degree journey in 2008/09 with Dover Castle. The project took the students through a multi-sensory investigation of Dover Castle and culminated with an exhibition at Dover Town Hall and at Centurion House. The exhibition at the Town Hall allowed the students to experience being part of a public exhibition and talking about their own work. This was complimented by the ‘shop window’ style gallery display at Centurion House, which brought the exhibition right into the public realm for passers by.
The art project had a major impact on the student’s achievements. Students who took part were originally chosen because they were underachieving or had issues with attendance. However, when the exam moderator saw their work he could not believe it was GCSE standard. Every student achieved an A* in GCSE art. A 360 degree journey also uncovered a talent for photography within the school. Many of the participating students have gone on to study photography as part of their A-level programme.
The partnership with Dover Castle proved such a success that they are running another partnership project this year. War table is a multi-media project for year 8 students, that includes the creation of a large plasticine war table and a film. Even though it requires a huge amount of resource, the senior management team have backed the project all the way, encouraged by the tangible benefits from their 2008/09 experience.
War table is building on Gail’s positive experiences from last year. She has made more links this time, both with the maths department in school, and the local South Kent College – their hairdressing students created 1940s hairstyles for the girls performing in the film. And last year’s project hasn’t been forgotten, Dover Castle are planning to exhibit the artwork on site, and Teaching History are running a feature on the work!
Students explore brown field site © Tom Wipperman
Evolving the Dearne Valley
Tony Dodsworth is a teacher at St Pius X Catholic High School, in Wath upon Dearne. He ran Resurrecting the past in 2008/09 with the Geographical Association. The project concentrated on a brown field site near the school, with students proposing ideas for its redevelopment. Looking ahead to the future of their area proved to be an overwhelmingly positive experience for the students. They realised for the first time that this was their area and they could have a say in its growth and improvement.
Project experience encouraged teachers at St Pius to make far more use of the school’s local area in geography work. The emphasis of the teaching has also changed, with time being spent investigating the future of the landscape, rather than just focusing on change between the past and the present. This academic year all year 7 students have had geography lessons concentrating on the areas around their homes, and how negative perceptions of these places can be improved.
Resurrecting the past has been recognised as an excellent project from the Yorkshire and Humber region and received a community award from Yorkshire Bank. Tony is now working with the Geographical Association on a KS3 teaching resource for exploring the local area, which will be made available on the Geographical Association’s website.
Inspired?
Find out about all the 2008/09 Engaging Places Network projects.or Read about the current, 2009/10, Network Projects.
