Schools rise to challenge in E&S Living History Awards
Schoolchildren who brought learning to life have been recognised in the Express & Star's first ever Living History Awards.
Schoolchildren who brought learning to life have been recognised in the Express & Star's first ever Living History Awards.
The awards were the brainchild of historian Carl Chinn with the aim of encouraging youngsters to investigate and learn more about where they live and what events in history helped shape their community.
The three schools chosen as the overall winners were Quarry Bank Primary, in Dudley; New Invention Junior, in Willenhall, and Wodensfield Primary, in Wolverhampton.
The judging panel consisted of Express & Star editor Adrian Faber, director and chief executive of the Black Country Living Museum Andrew Lovett and Express & Star columnist Dr Chinn. They said the standard of entries was "fantastic."
Pupils and teachers from the three schools attended at a special awards presentation on Thursday.
Year 5 pupils from Wodensfield Primary impressed the judges with their time capsule, containing with poems, stories and songs about the school. Delighted head Joan Harriman said: "The children have taken part in finding out about their local history and loved studying their heritage."
Youngsters at Quarry Bank Primary created their very own cardboard bandstand. Finally, New Invention Junior's winning entry was their Faith PR local history website.
New Invention teacher Rebecca Scordis said: "The children wanted to educate the public on the importance of local history. Parents have all been on there and have commented on how much they love it."
All three winning schools received a cheque for £250 and five others received a £50 runner up prize.
Mr Faber said: "When we started this we expected we would get lots of essays and written things. We never expected the to get a full-sized bandstand."
And Mr Lovett was equally impressed, adding: "I hope this won't be the last year we do these awards."
Dr Chinn said: "The bandstand was so different and the website was very interactive. The time capsule had some great material inside it."
The awards were open to all schools.
