Year 8 Royal Holloway Visit
On Friday 11th January 201911 year 8 Historians took part in a workshop with Claire Kennan, a Historian from Royal Holloway University, examining reasons why the Chartist movement failed. Claire is a specialist in Medieval History, having completed her PhD last year and is now working on creating more published piece of work alongside developing resources for schools with the Citizens 800 Project.
The workshop itself was challenging, with pupils given a number of sources to sort into smaller groups and analyse to discover the weaknesses in the Chartist campaign. There were about 20 sources in total and pupils had to develop both their historical understanding and their communication skills to succeed with the task! They coped exceptionally well, impressing Claire by identifying all the reasons the Chartist campaign failed with little help from staff! The pupils were also invited to travel to Royal Holloway on the Friday of the same week, accompanied by myself and Mr Odd, to record their findings on film. |
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After numerous train journeys and a slightly painful walk up Egham hill, we eventually arrived at Royal Holloway, which is located near Windsor. The pupils were given a fabulous welcome, with pastries, cakes and hot drinks provided for all in the beautiful setting of the Founders building! They spent the day touring the university and learning more about what it takes to study History at university. They were also given lines to deliver to camera, which were shot at different places around the university. The Cameraman (who has just returned from LA, we were impressed to discover) got very creative with the filming, encouraging the pupils to cover and rotate the camera during their performance to help with transitions. Towards the end of the day, some of the pupils were given the chance to monitor the sound levels during filming, using a very expensive looking piece of equipment!
On the train home, much quieter than when we left, I asked the pupils for some feedback on the day. All students praised the staff involved at the university and commented upon the challenge of filming and presenting their historical enquiry. Most student even used the words ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’!
On the train home, much quieter than when we left, I asked the pupils for some feedback on the day. All students praised the staff involved at the university and commented upon the challenge of filming and presenting their historical enquiry. Most student even used the words ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’!