Archaeology Scotland’s Heritage Hero Awards are a useful framework for Social Studies topic work and IDL themes based on local heritage resources in your community. This case study shows how Drongan Primary School used the Heritage Detective Award and explored ‘The Story of Our Village’.
Introduction
Drongan have taken an existing teaching theme and used the framework provided by the Heritage Detective Award as an opportunity to build on existing good work and further enhance practice.
The school were introduced to the HH Awards as part of East Ayrshire’s Curriculum Outdoors Attainment Challenge (COACh) input. Much of the learning and teaching therefore takes place outdoors. Learners are able to visit artefacts, local monuments and buildings and quickly realise that the ‘story of our village’ is all around them if they know how to look.
Work completed by classes at Drongan is submitted as part of their Heritage Detective Award. The extract here, which describes the criteria for the award, is taken from the Heritage Hero Awards Handbook. An 8 hour commitment is all that is required and this covers work completed outdoors and in the classroom.
Planning
Classes use the Award outline as a planning tool and populate floor book pages with ideas for topics to explore and possible tools and sources of information to help them. Pupil led learning ensures that each time the award is revisited (successive P4/5 classes have completed awards) the work is unique to that class. It is not a rigid programme of work.
Investigate and Engage
Drongan is a former mining village. While exploring this rich heritage, pupils have been able to draw on family and community knowledge, maps past and present and investigations of sites and buildings walking distance from the school gate. Pupils have engaged in learning across all curricular areas – Social Studies, Literacy, Numeracy, RME, Expressive Arts, Health and Well Being in particular.
Importantly, adults and children are using their own questions to lead their investigations. In the process, they are developing the attributes essential to the Four Capacities in Scottish Education.
Inspire
One Award was completed during a period when parents and families could not come into school due to Covid restrictions. In order to fulfil the Heritage Hero Inspire element, pupils made a film and shared this with community. It shows the variety of sources used (maps, parish records, photographs), family stories and pupils’ own investigations.
Drongan Primary School – Heritage Hero Presentation
Recording and Evidencing Learning
Classroom displays and floor books are used to plan, investigate, engage, inspire and reflect on learning. One example of the work produced is shared in this Record of Activities
Reflection
The Heritage Hero Award and work towards it has proved immensely popular with both pupils and the wider community. The Award will continue to be used as the springboard for further investigations into the history of Drongan and the community that lives there.
