The original aims of the Project as set out in the MGEP bid were to:
Educational On-Line network. The aim of NEON.net was to pilot an Educational-On-Line network which would utilise the latest networking technologies to link schools in a partnership, a forerunner of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL). As part of the programme the Blyth schools were provided with a range of basic ICT equipment, which was linked to the Internet via the Northumberland County server. The package also incorporated basic equipment for video-conferencing, which enabled schools within the partnership to interact with each other. This was very basic and did not incorporate 'Microsoft netmeeting' or a similar package, which limited the effectiveness of the equipment during the Project.
The responses given by teachers at the initial planning meeting were useful in informing the direction, content and structure of the Project.
What do you hope to gain from this project - as teachers - as a school?
What do you hope your children will gain from this project?
How can the Museum/Reticulum staff help achieve this?
Teachers in English schools are required to prepare a planning scheme which follows a predetermined structure, created initially under the 1988 White Paper on Education. For each subject there should be a:
Each topic within a subject is allocated a set number of hours within the teaching year.For History, each topic is allocated 12 hours of teaching time. At Primary level children should receive one hour of Literacy teaching (The Literacy Hour) and one hour of Numeracy teaching (The Numeracy Hour) each day. The average school day at primary level is 6 hours, broken down into 5 teaching sessions, with breaks.
View a medium term plan for Roman Britain and an individual lesson plan.
Brenda Soulsby, teacher at St. Andrew's Roman Catholic First School, Blyth, was initially disappointed not to be able to take up the offer to be involved in the Project. The history curriculum in her school, in common with many of the smaller schools in Northumberland, follows a two-year rolling timetable and her class had already studied the Romans in the Spring Term prior to the Project's launch. However, she was able to bring her existing class to visit the Museum in the Summer Term and arranged that we would work together on a session in September, focusing on the handling of objects, which would enhance her pupils' history skills. She was keen to take part in the Trading Game and to receive the Literacy texts.
During the Spring Term the pupils used the Museum of Antiquities as a focus for some of their Literacy work. The Literacy Hour requires children to look at the use of persuasive language, and this coupled well with the ICT curriculum which states that "pupils should be taught how to share and exchange information in a variety of forms" (DfEE/QCA 1999, 3a) and that they should "be sensitive to the needs of the audience and think carefully about the content and quality when communicating information" (DfEE/QCA 1999, 3b). The Museum with its use of promotional brochures and posters provided an ideal focus for both of these areas of the curriculum.
Prior to their visit to the Museum the children used the Literacy Hour to prepare questions to ask the Museum Education Officer and Technician. During their visit they had opportunities to ask their questions as well as to conduct their own research into the facilities offered by the Museum. Once back at school the class used their observations and the information on the existing leaflet to design their own leaflets to persuade others to visit the Museum of Antiquities. They also created posters using MicroSoft Publisher to promote the Museum further.
As a follow-up to their visit the pupils used video-conferencing to interview Lindsay Allason-Jones, the Museum Director, about her work in the Museum. Again, they had discussed and prepared questions in the Literacy Hour. They were also able to share their leaflets with Lindsay. We were so impressed with the pupils' leaflets that we decided to use them as a basis for a new promotional leaflet. Using the expertise of a local company, a new leaflet was designed that included many of the pupil's ideas and drawings.
The culmination of the year's work with this school was the official launch of the new leaflet when the pupils of St. Andrew's acted as hosts to the invited guests, including the Vice Chancellor of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Mayor of Blyth. Each child was allocated a guest to show around the Museum. Their confidence in explaining the exhibits and directing their guests to their personal favourites bore witness to the success of the Project's approach and the whole occasion was a delight.
These cards appear on the market in various guises, often related to television programmes. The primary aim is to collect a complete set either through purchasing new packs of cards or through swapping spare cards amongst friends. Value is given to each card in a variety of ways - through the characteristics of the character portrayed or the scarcity of a particular card.
This text is typical of the format used for the 'Cursus Publicus'. Teachers were free to use them as they wished. Twenty-two texts different texts were used relating to the whole of the Roman period of English history, from Caesar's descriptions of the Britons to the withdrawal of the Roman Army at the beginning of the 5th century AD.
Last updated: Tue Aug 13 2002
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