Active heritage in primary schools
Rachel and Kate have been continuing their visual art and drama work with primary schools across the region and this past month I was able to visit them at Lairdsland, St Macahans, St Matthews, Harestanes, and Baldernock. In each of the schools Kate and Rachel have been exploring aspects of heritage associated with the different communities, as well as encouraging young people to share their own heritage places, people and stories. Thomas Muir has figured strongly in much of the work, in particular at St Machans, St Matthews and Lairdsland, and heritage ideas explored, with pupils asked to research and share with the rest of the class what they’ve found out about Muir, from his birth place, birth date, his fight for democracy, the loss of his eye and his arrest for sedition, all were able to relay and explain the different qualities of Muir and his actions. Words that pupils associated with Muir ranged from ideas of fairness, to people’s rights to listening. Pupils then embarked on drawings of Muir – imagining a contemporary image and message that their drawings might convey – It’s the rights of people, I fight for democracy, be fair, listen to people’s opinion, were some of the slogans coined by pupils alongside their poster-like images of Thomas Muir. As well as drawings, thinking about new objects that could be built in public spaces that marked or commemorated Muir were also developed and sometimes using performance and drama techniques, these spaces and places were physically enacted by the pupils. The range of learning covered and richness of visual ideas communicated was great to be part of. In Harestanes and Baldernock, pupils looked at the heritage around them, of the canals, and the environment as a stimulus for visual ideas. Beautiful drawings and paintings of wildlife associated with the canals, as well as more domestic animals allowed Kate and Rachel to introduce pupils to the work of local artists such as Sir George Pirie and his paintings of animals – showing that locally, international art was being made and having an impact on the rest of the world. The images here show some of the amazing range of work being produced by young people and many others as part of Trails and Tales.
