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Walton-On-Trent Church Of England Primary School
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Children from Mr. Ben Bradshaw’s class have been amongst the first to take part in, and complete the LANDshapes Oral History Project for Schools. |
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| LITTLE LANDshapes is a scheme in which children in Primary and Junior Schools within the area covered by the National Forest can develop their language, geography, history and inter-personal activity. |
| These skills, of course, are all part of the National Curriculum and feedback from schools which have already taken part has been extremely positive and have given head teachers and their staff a new perspective upon which to build. |
At Walton, as at other schools, LITTLE LANDshapes has taken place over three separate sessions over three or four weeks. The short timescale has kept up the momentum of the children’s enthusiasm.
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In the first session
• The children were invited to think about what history is.
• They were asked to think about their own history such as the birth of a younger sibling or the time their pet cat or dog came to live in the household.
• We discussed how to ask questions so that the answers received contain lots of information (Open Questions as opposed to Closed Questions which can often result in one word answers giving little information.)
• A short illustrated PowerPoint Presentation is shown outlining the whole project and setting up the next sessions.
• The children were introduced to making a recording of their voices on a Mini Disc recorder followed by a very short presentation on how the material is digitally edited. Their voices were played back to them as an illustration of the whole process.
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In the second session
• A guest speaker or speakers who can answer questions which the children have prepared sat in front of the class. The question and answer session was recorded and each child who wished to ask a question had the opportunity. Questions were related to the project which is entirely flexible whilst retaining links to the National Forest area. |
| Topics covered can be linked to projects already underway such as ‘The History of Coal Mining in This Area’ or ‘The History of My Town or Village’. |
| At Walton, the children were already studying the history of the village so after a short question and answer session in the classroom, they went on a walk around the village where the guests were able to answer questions about the village shops, the site of the Toll House for the bridge over the river. |
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The guest speakers were able to point out buildings like the Old Smithy which, being a listed building could not be demolished when new housing was constructed nearby. The children learned that the building has now become a garage and workshop for the adjoining new house.
The recordings were edited to remove unnecessary pauses and have become the first two parts of a CD which will be presented to the school.
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In the third and final session
• Brief extracts from the previous recording were played to the class.
• The children were recorded describing pictures that they had drawn. This develops their language skills together with their inter-action amongst each other and with other adults.
• There was a class discussion about the project and what the children had gained by taking part.
• At Walton, a photographer from the ‘Burton Mail’ a local newspaper arrived to take pictures and to interview the children for a forthcoming article. As well as delighting the children, it gives valuable positive publicity to the school in an increasingly competitive market place. |
| A fully edited CD will be presented to each participating school within a fortnight of completing the three sessions. It’s hoped that this will be come a valuable archive item for years to come. |
The full cost of the sessions in each school is being met by the LANDshapes project.
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