Thetford Guildhall Heritage Project

 

Following a successful Heritage Lottery bid by Thetford Town Council, Eastern Multi Academy Trust is both pleased and proud to partner its seven Breckland Primary and Infant Academies with the Guildhall in a new and exciting curriculum programme.

The three year programme will see all of the pupils from Admirals, Diamond, Glade, Norwich Road, Queensway, Raleigh and West Row Academies work in partnership with the Guildhall and their historians and heritage experts. The project will see the pupils working in year groups studying key historical figures via the true stories that occurred on the sites still present in the town of Thetford.

The Project will be overseen by Amber Pullen, our new Schools Liaison and Education Programme Development Officer, who will support both pupils and teachers in the delivery of the programme. The programme intent aims to engage pupils within the history of their local area and home town, with the implementation phase seeing pupils research, respond to and re-communicate the stories of the famous sons and daughters of the town. It is intended that the impact of the programme will see pupils qualify as Thetford History Heroes, able to re-live and re-tell the famous stories for years to come.

Amber has worked in Theatre in Education since graduating from the University of Exeter in 2017. She has facilitated for a number of educational outreach projects in schools across Suffolk and Norfolk and has used theatre as a learning tool whilst performing and teaching English throughout Italy in 2019. With a background in theatre and the performing arts Amber is passionate about creative learning and using the arts to bring the curriculum to life. Amber will deliver the units in the Academies via the use of high quality and diverse resources, but there are also significant opportunities for exciting site visits, engagement in Drama and Performance workshops which will lead to significant opportunities for extended writing. Unit delivery is organised as follows:

Nursery/Reception

Charles Burrell & his Marvellous Steam Machines (Engineering, Industrial Revolution)

Year One/Two

Dr. Alan Minns ‘Stinky Streets, Public Health & the Poor’ (Equality, Sanitation, Public Health)

Year Three/Four

Sophia Singh’s Super Snaps (WW1 & WW2, Suffragettes, LGBTQ)

Year Five/Six

Holmes & Kable, Celebrity Convict Couple (Justice & Criminal System, Relationships, Potential for change & Aspiration)