Historic England has launched new education resources created to help primary school teachers engage key stage two pupils in the history of buildings, as part of the Breaking New Ground project supported by the John Laing Charitable Trust.
… trainee programme… enabled three young professionals to work with the Historic England Archive team…
… project to digitise 10,000 images from the John Laing Photographic Collection… one of the most significant British construction companies of the 20th century…
The education resources are accessible to all via the Historic England website and will provide a lasting educational legacy for the project, which has run workshops and visits for primary school children to meet ex-Laing workers in Swindon, Bristol, London and Coventry since October 2019.
As part of this legacy and to help inspire schools and their pupils, three new films show the workshops and visits in action. A further film explores the trainee programme, which has enabled three young professionals to work with the Historic England Archive team and develop their skills in cataloguing, conservation and digitisation.
These new education resources and films are part of John Laing Collection: Breaking New Ground – a 21-month project run by Historic England that explores the history of constructing modern Britain through the John Laing Photographic Collection. When completed, the project will have resulted in 10,000 images being digitised and made accessible via the Historic England Archive.
New education resources
Today Historic England has released new education resources, which have been created to enable teachers across the country to benefit from Breaking New Ground. The resources include a lesson plan and film from each of the four schools workshops which have taken place over the past year, giving teachers useful templates and resources for conducting interesting and engaging classes on the built environment.
Heritage Schools Case Studies
- What Makes a Housing Estate Special? (Goddard School, Swindon)
- Building the London Central Mosque (Gateway Academy, London)
- Building Coventry Cathedral (St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School, Coventry)
Teaching Activities
- What Makes a Housing Estate Special? (Goddard School, Swindon)
- What makes a place of worship worth exploring?
- Using the John Laing Photographic Collection for oral history projects
The schools workshops aimed to develop the pupils’ sense of pride in where they live, helping them understand their local heritage and how it relates to the national story.
Through the schools workshops, Breaking New Ground has also developed a guide for conducting oral histories (see ‘Downloads’), to help teachers engage pupils in learning from others about their experiences….
The Breaking New Project is a 21-month project to digitise 10,000 images from the John Laing Photographic Collection, held by the Historic England Archive. Many images from the Collection are now accessible via the Historic England website, with final images to be uploaded by autumn 2020. Alongside the digitisation of images, the Breaking New Ground project has involved a nationwide programme of education outreach.
Founded in 1848, John Laing plc was one of the most significant British construction companies of the 20th century. Throughout the 20th century, the company employed photographers to capture its work, which resulted in the John Laing Photographic Collection. Now held by the Historic England Archive, this Collection of over 230,000 images provides a unique insight into the origins of iconic British buildings and the professional development of the construction industry over the course of the last century.
