Highland and Moray learning initiative launches
Volunteers and curators from museums as far a field as Bettyhill, Mallaig and Elgin are gathering at Culloden on Monday (7 November) to launch a unique 6 month education project.
The initiative is being led by a partnership of The Highland Council, Highland Museums Forum, Moray Council, Moray Heritage Connections and the National Trust for Scotland. The project is supported through grant funding from Museums Galleries Scotland. This new partnership aims to support museums to improve their services for schools through training and sharing best practice nationally. As part of the project, museums will encourage more schools to visit, find out more about their outstanding collections and the resources which they have on offer.
The launch will be led Calum Price, a Museum Education specialist with many years of experience in working with schools in museums. Participants will have the chance to find out more about the Curriculum for Excellence, how to make their museum “school friendly” and to encourage pupils to work with museum objects.
Over the coming months, each museum will be offered one to one support to produce resources for schools. They will also gain first hand experience of excellent practice in other museums through structured exchange visits to museums throughout Scotland. Highland teachers will have the chance to discover more about the progress of the project during Continuing Professional Development sessions in February. The initiative will culminate in March with a Marketplace of Ideas event in Inverness which will give museums from Highland, Moray and the rest of Scotland the opportunity to showcase the best of museum education work.
Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “Highland museums provide a rich resource including objects, photographs as well as an extensive local knowledge. This is of great benefit to schools, both in topic work and in meeting the wider needs of the Curriculum for Excellence. This is a great opportunity for museums to develop their skills and to develop closer working relationships with schools in the area.”
Councillor Jeff Hamilton, Chair of Moray Council’s Children and Young People’s Services Committee added: “Museums lie at the heart of positive learning experiences for communities, individuals and crucially for schools. Moray’s museums and heritage centres can collectively play a key role in supporting the Curriculum for Excellence and this partnership approach in developing skills and knowledge deserves to be applauded.”
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