Living History in Plymouth
Plymouth is radically regenerating – and so is learning in the city ’s schools on the subject of history.
The ‘Living History ’ project is using state-of-the-art web publishing techniques, TV skills and music to transform history and citizenship subjects. Working with six schools, the project has at its heart the theme of regeneration, as Plymouth undergoes huge changes under the eye of a leading world architect.
Citizen journalists from each of the schools are being nurtured to document and express facts, thoughts and feelings about the area ’s alteration. They are feeding their work into The Mouth – the website associated with Living History, which holds weblogs (blogs), picture and video libraries. This means that the documentary work carried out by the six schools is published to the rest of the world.
The project partners up Plymouth TV and multimedia firm Coleridge, Plymouth press and PR firm Motiongrafik, and six schools: Plym View Primary School, West Park Primary School, Montpelier Infants School, Coombe Dean Comprehensive and Lipson Community College.
The Mouth website started taking shape in November last year. A related Creative Partnerships project running from November to January involved Hele ’s School at Plympton and meant that Plymouth shops were illuminated with giant projections advertising The Mouth.
Now the website is maturing, with regular additions from the citizen journalists, plus from Coleridge Productions staff who are keeping a diary on the project ’s development. Version Two of the site should be in place now or very shortly, with increased capabilities that mean students and teachers can easily upload their own text, pictures and video.
A proposed forum, allowing students from all of the schools to communicate between themselves, is also part of the site ’s development. Richard Vivash, TheMouth ’s technical manager, said: “What we ’ve put in place is the ability for the schools to be able to post up information and pictures themselves.”
He added: “The idea is to put some power into the children ’s hands, rather than them having to come through us.”
Coleridge Productions ’ managing director Adrian Emerson said of the site: “This is just the bones really. It ’s what they do with it that matters. We’ve made something that won ’t let them down and is easy to use. It ’s about exciting content and their confidence in using multimedia for their images and stories.”
Meanwhile, other aspects of the Living History project span out to cover speaking and listening skills, English, music and performance. Montpelier Infants School hosted a music day, when musician Andy Baker helped pupils play their part in a giant Regeneration Orchestra. Children who ’d never played music were invited to “have a conversation ” with their instruments, creating noises that echoed the sounds of machinery and building.
Dawn Melville, who is coordinating Living History for Creative Partnerships, said: “Everyone felt they were taking part in this musical extravaganza ”.
Lipson Community College has connected with Plymouth Arts Centre via the Living History project. Students there carried out vox pops and interviews with their peers – many of whom never knew the arts centre existed until this project -and they also plan to create a time lapse of the Arts Centre ’s new building, which is an important part of Plymouth ’s new skyline.
The school ’s English department is working with students on the correct style of writing for websites, the ICT department is working on creating an online feedback form for The Mouth and a drama piece for the opening of the new Arts Centre is planned, proving how projects are spiralling out of Living History, while inter-departmental work is reinforced.
Plym View Primary School has a Citizen Journalism Day scheduled for the summer, and will be assisted by Lipson Community College students as peer educators.
West Park Primary School is scheduled for demolition as part of the changes happening in Plymouth. Deputy headteacher Ciara Moran has seized upon Living History as a method of teaching history that happens now – not in centuries back..
“Often the pupils see history and think it ’s about the Egyptians. They don ’t realise that the here and now is also history,” said Mrs Moran. “We want them to record this and tap into this. This is real to them.”
Living History has already reached into West Park Primary School ’s history curriculum. “We are revising our curriculum at the moment and our history coordinator is very interested in using some of the skills used in working on Living History and incorporating them into the curriculum,” said Mrs Moran.
See Living History online at www.plymouthmouth.com/
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