In April, this blog reported on three schools in Kingston-upon-Thames that were preparing for a multi-media heritage project about the local market place.
Since then, 90 Year 6 pupils and their teachers from King Athelstan, St John's and St Joseph's schools in Kingston-upon-Thames have been on a journey of discovery, uncovering the heritage of their local market place with Digital Drama, then interpret and share their learning on Makewaves.
Here, Kate Valentine of Digital Drama reflects on a successful project that saw three schools create three audio dramas, 15 animations and more than 60 blogs in three weeks!
The students' mission was to uncover the heritage of their local market place, and then interpret and share their learning on Makewaves.
Launching the project at All Saints Church in the Market Place, the children participated in a carousel of activities including an interactive tour, drama workshop and Tudor house pastel sketching. They threw coins at the stone used to crown the Saxon Kings, were surprised by a masked highwayman and sent criminals to the stocks and ducking stool.
Blogs and animations
Using their new understanding of the rich history of the Market Place, each school took it in turn to be the ‘focus school’ for a week, creating heritage reports, Tudor house animations and writing blogs about their experiences. The other two schools were following the activities and output of the focus school, asking questions and leaving feedback via the comments on a dedicated space for the project on Makewaves.
Each school recorded a specially commissioned audio play, created the sound effects and uploaded to the Makewaves site.
Journalism training
Pupils were given training in journalism to create reports about community use of the Market Place. They visited a residential home to record older people’s memories, and interviewed stall holders in the Market Place.
On the final day of the three weeks of activity, pupils manned their own stall in the Market Place to share their work with the public. The audio dramas were played out and their art, reports and photos from the project were displayed as the children shared their learning.
The outcomes
The main aim of the project was that young people and the wider community in Kingston would experience the heritage of the Market Place in a fun and engaging way. This was definitely achieved. Feedback from the young participants included:
"I enjoyed everything because I never saw such a fun way of learning."
"It was fantastic when we got to act like the people in the Tudor times."
"I've enjoyed making animations also making new friends on Makewaves."
From the teachers' perspective, feedback included:
“I thought the project was very useful and informative for all of us. It was great for the children to understand that the area they actually live in is steeped in history and has a 'story' to tell.
"The fact that the day in Kingston was very hands on also made it a very realistic experience for them. The radio play was well received to those who listened to it, and the blogging really got them enthused - probably because it's something they are very familiar with - communicating on the Internet.”
Skills on display
Through the project participants learnt questioning skills, how to use historical sources, record oral history, create animation, write blogs, work in teams, share and evaluate through community feedback.
Evidence of these skills will remain on their own reporter pages on Makewaves and will help them with their transfer into secondary school and beyond.
