WFA grant brings First World War history to life for Scottish pupils
The WFA education grant programme supports schools in bringing First World War history into the classroom. Mallaig High School in the Scottish Highlands recently used a £500 grant to deepen pupils' engagement with the subject. Miss Mhairi Jessup, Teacher of History and Classical Studies, reports on how the funding was used.
Mallaig High School report
MHS were lucky enough to receive funding for £500.
The money was divided between buying replica resources for the pupils related to the Great War, a trip to our museum and some books about our local area during the First World War.
Firstly, the resource pack that was purchased included replica posters, medals and a trench whistle. Pupils were able to use, touch and see these objects that otherwise they would only be able to see on a screen. We have a number of children who are ASN (Additional Support Needs) registered and can struggle with engaging with sources on paper or via a screen – these pupils were far more actively engaged in the discussions with their peers. One quote from our pupils: “This makes it seem so much more real”. This is a really valuable resource which I look forward to using for a long time to come to let pupils see and experience history on a closer level. Pupils were able to use this resource pack to bank some questions which they then asked our museum guide when we went on our trip.
The museum trip was an area that we spent some of our funding – this was to minimise the cost for our pupils. The museum trip allowed pupils to see how their local area was impacted by World War One – many of which did not know about how the First World War impacted their community. They got to see artifacts such as photographs and hear from local historians.
We also used the remainder of the money to buy some local history books about Arisaig and World War One. This is something which the pupils asked if they could have for the school as they are keen to continue their research about how the war impacted their local community. Once back in school we completed a research the soldier task where pupils were researching soldiers who had their same surname as well as soldiers who lived on their streets and in our village. Again, pupils enjoyed this and the opportunity to feel closer to the events and impacts of the war. As a teacher, I do not think the pupils would have been as engaged with this had it not been for the ability to visit the museum and engage with replica sources.
I am hoping that this opportunity will allow the pupils to complete an archaeology Scotland award at a silver and/or bronze level. This involves the pupils engaging in various sources and using their knowledge from their trips to create a project around it – many are keen to create museum exhibitions, posters and leaflets and our local museum is very keen to have them displayed and share with tourists to the area.
Overall, this funding has really widened our pupils’ horizons about the first world war, especially with our local links to the war. This has really inspired many pupils to consider their own ties to the first world war. The funding has seen pupil engagement skyrocket and produce some lovely work – I remain hopeful that this will continue as they move towards their archaeology Scotland award.
Miss Mhairi Jessup, Teacher of History and Classical Studies
