DRAUGHT Project - East Dunbartonshire Council
Starting in January 2006, six Primary schools in rural areas of East Dunbartonshire participated in Detecting Roman Architecture Under Great Historical Terrain (DRAUGHT). Due to their locality, it is usually a struggle for these schools to access facilities and local resources. The project aimed to make the Auld Kirk Museum and Peel Park, in the centre of Kirkintilloch, accessible resources for the children to use as the foundation for a 10 week Roman history visual arts project.
The project was delivered during curricular time due to the subject matter. The Romans play a large part of the history within the district and therefore is a common school topic across the Authority.
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Participating schools were Torrance PS - Primary 7, Twechar PS - Primary 3/4, Craighead PS - Primary 6, Baldernock PS - Primary 7, Lennoxtown PS - Primary 4, St Machans PS - Primary 5.
The project was open to all age groups so as not to restrict the schools' timetable and the participants were selected at the schools' discretion. The Romans is a topic which all children receive at some point in their time at primary school. The arts specialists tailored their projects to cater for the children's abilities.
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During 16 - 20 January, each school participated in a trip to Peel Park in Kirkintilloch. This area is the site of a Roman Fortress. The children met with Adrian Cox and Lynda Tindal, two archaeologists from Historic Scotland who spoke to the groups encouraging them to envisage the forts layout and the way of life during its time. The children then visited the Auld Kirk Museum which holds a permanent exhibition detailing the Roman history of the area. There are also Roman handling boxes available in the Museum; this together with the site visit and exhibition gave the children a great introduction to the project to inspire their creativity.
| A professional arts tutor worked with each school for 10 weeks between 23 Jan and 28 April, providing weekly two hour workshops. The topics covered were all related to Roman History across Britain. The group's goal was to work towards creating a three dimensional roman fort; this could be as inventive as their interpretation with their tutor enabled it to be. |
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It could range from being fabric, paper, a wall hanging or solid flat planned structure. The fort was to illustrate all they learned throughout the project and their own representation of the building. The groups created a vast amount of support material.
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They experimented in ceramic workshops creating traditional bathing jugs and mosaic pictures of giant roman soliders. The handling boxes from the Auld Kirk Museum were transported around the schools for them to use the contents as source materials for drawings and paintings.
On completion of the project the work was displayed across Kirkintilloch town centre. Some ceramic art work was shown alongside local artists in the Auld Kirk Museum until 23 June 2006. A larger collective exhibition was held on 17 and 18 June 2006 in the Park Centre Kirkintilloch. This enabled children, parents, staff and the wider community to view the children’s art work. |
It also coincided with the Local G66 festival which increased the number of visitors to and awareness of the project. Transport was provided for each participating school class to visit the exhibition and revisit the Auld Kirk Museum.
Some feedback from teachers and participants have been:
'Some of the less confident members of the class have shone in these workshops; it has really boosted their self esteem'
Teacher
'Previously some were not particularly good at listening to instructions but their attention skills have definitely improved.'
Teacher
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'The child's drawing which was chosen was not greatly enthusiastic about arts but now is so proud of their achievement and has become very keen to participate as much as possible in the workshops.'
Teacher
'I didn't think my drawing was very good and never thought it would be picked but did kind of hope so.'
Pupil
'They have been such wonderful children to work with.'
Deborah Campbell Artist
'I love it here ( Auld kirk Museum) is it open at the weekend?'
Pupil |
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'It’s wonderful to see all the art work together and the children’s achievements throughout the project as a whole'
Teacher
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'The value of such historical, arts related projects cannot be over estimated and funds should be allocated for similar ventures in the future.'
Director, the Park Centre |
For many of the participating children this was their first experience of the Auld Kirk Museum and Peel Park. The project and exhibition has created an awareness of the local facility and historical site to families in the surrounding area of Kirkintilloch. Historic Scotland and the Auld Kirk Museum were vital partners; their time, flexibility and cooperation contributed greatly to the projects success.
| The hard work and commitment from the artists and school staff gave the children the opportunity to participate in a number of arts learning experiences in a classroom setting. The project was very well received by the rural schools and others have expressed a keen interest to participate in something similar. |
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The Education team at East Dunbartonshire Council is now aiming to pursue a larger future heritage project which encompasses the vast heritage sites and museums across East Dunbartonshire.
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