Portobello Primary School students find their ‘Hook into History’

Portobello Primary School students find their ‘Hook into History’

Portobello Primary School, in Gateshead, successfully secured funding from the Community Foundation / Schools North East collaboration to start a project that enabled the school to take their year 4 pupils on a trip to learn more about Anglo Saxon life.

The project aim was to develop students self-confidence when out of school in a different environment as well as developing an understanding and knowledge about the period of history.

Community Foundation

The project was funded through a partnership between the Community Foundation and Schools North East. The partnership behind the funding began in 2021. Schools North East teamed up with the Community Foundation to make over £100,000 of funding available for schools in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Northumberland, and North and South Tyneside.

The funding aimed to support the development of cultural capital through outdoor education, physical activity and sport. Funding was released for projects that focused on providing a broader enriched curriculum to support students in-school learning, raise levels of pride and appreciation of the region, and develop cultural capital within school settings. 

Portobello students take a trip back in time

Portobello Primary School received  £4,000 from the funding to allow them to visit Jarrow Hall and find out about Anglo Saxon customs and traditions. They then worked with an artist on the school grounds to create an outdoor learning area made by weaving wood/ willow in the same style as the Anglo Saxons had done.  

The project came about as the class targeted had the highest number of children in school who receive Pupil Premium funding and therefore it is these pupils who are at the greatest disadvantage in terms of developing both education and life skills. The identified pupils have had limited opportunities to develop their cultural understanding and their exposure to opportunities has been severely limited. The aim was to enable Pupil Premium pupils to benefit from visits or exposure to a study opportunity that would otherwise be beyond their means. As part of the schools Pupil Premium Strategy, they endeavour to provide access to educational visits and opportunities to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the world and felt that this funding would enable them to further address these barriers through their curriculum, enrichment activities and intervention.

Pupils attended the visit to research and experience life in Anglo Saxon times – they went to Jarrow Hall and spent the day in workshops as part of their research. They then worked with the artist from ‘Sylvan Skills’ observing and trying out techniques used to build and construct objects from willow and other woods. They were tasked to plan and design a learning area for the school grounds made out of willow/wood which could be used by all pupils as an outdoor learning area and safe space for developing social skills. The target was for all pupils to be able to attend the visit and then all to be involved in the practical task, in a fully inclusive manner. Pupils then had to evaluate their contributions to the tasks and consider the future maintenance of the area.

Life after the project

The area/structure built will continue to be used as an outdoor learning area and gathering place for groups/intervention/support. The pupils identified as disadvantaged will gain greatly from this project in terms of their historical and cultural development but also their social skills,  having a place in which they can feel safe and welcome and an area to relax with others. They also feel a sense of ownership as they were involved in its construction. There is potential for developing use of the space further by  development of the area nearby including further planting and potentially fundraising for outdoor furniture for the area.

Embedding into the curriculum

Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East added: 

“Portobello Primary School has done a fantastic job of enabling their Pupil Premium students to be able to experience such an enriching trip through visiting Jarrow Hall as well as fitting this into their history curriculum. It is also great to see the development of an outdoor education area which will last beyond this individual project.”

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