Introduction
This unit of work explores the mining community of Bolsover, Derbyshire, in 1901. The town has one of the finest examples of a planned ‘model village’ in England.
Officially called New Bolsover, this village was built by the Bolsover Colliery Company between 1891-95 to house the miners and families. Today it is still fully occupied and, in the local area, is referred to as the ‘model’.
The project was designed to allow the pupils to find out more about this piece of architectural and social history on their doorstep. The primary school is adjacent to the ‘model’ and many of the pupils actually live there. Some of the secondary school pupils also live there, and all pupils will have regularly walked or driven past the ‘model’ as it is such a prominent local landmark.
It was decided to find out who lived in the model village when it was first built, and what kind of lifestyle the people had. This would not only promote understanding and interest in their local community, but enable the pupils to study living and working conditions at the turn of the century. Researching the 1901 census was the starting point for the activity, which would bring the ‘model’ and its inhabitants to life.
The aim of the project was to engage young people in Bolsover in a dynamic and innovative local history project. This project had direct links with the EPE research in Bolsover. The plan was to engage pupils, from two different schools, across different Key Stages. 15 – 20 Year 9 (ages 13 – 14) pupils from Bolsover School worked with 30 Year 5 (ages 9 – 10) pupils from New Bolsover Primary.
There were numerous intended outcomes of the project. The pupils would learn new skills, acquire knowledge and become enthusiastic ‘experts’ in a wide variety of fields. For example: historical knowledgeand skills; ICT skills; geographical knowledge; literacy; empathy;presentation; communication; cooperation; working with others; research skills; interview skills; role-play and drama.
Community cohesion would also be a benefit, and transition between Key Stages 2 and 3 would be less daunting for those involved. We hoped the pupils would get to know one another and take a pride and interest in their local area, and that these relationships would be transmitted to friends, family and members of the public who witnessed (or were in some way involved in) the project.
The project had four phases:
- The project started with a joint trip to the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield. This allowed the pupils to gain an understanding of late Victorian mining, and they began to empathise with the mining families of Bolsover from this period. The trip also acted as an icebreaker, and working relationships between the pupils began to form.
- This was the research phase. The group was split into Year 5 and Year 9 pupils. The younger pupils continued their background research into late-Victorian mining. They also had a session (delivered by an outside specialist) on interview skills. Whilst this was happening, the Year 9 pupils attended a workshop at Bolsover Library. Here Derbyshire Library staff instructed the pupils on how to research and interpret census data. They then researched their assigned ‘characters’ from
the1901 census and began to build up a profile of that individual. This was followed up by a session on drama and role-play (delivered by the same outside specialist).
- Activity day! The Year 9 pupils became their assigned characters and stood outside their ‘own’ houses in the model village. Each pair of characters also had a specialist subject connected to the ‘model village’, such as crime or education. The Year 5s conducted a walk in which they interviewed all the characters. Many local residents came out and listened to the pupils, and were enthused by the activity.
- The final weeks of the project took place back in the classroom. The Year 9 characters were each assigned to a group of Year 5s. They then worked together to produce a webpage about the characters and their life in the model village. This webpage was a mixture of text, photographs from the activity day, sound recordings of the interviews, and original photographs used by the EPE Derbyshire project. Before the pupils embarked upon this phase, they were all given IT training from a specialist.
This unit of work offers many cross-curricular links:
Key Stage 3 History
2.2a. Identify, select and use a range of historical sources, including textual, visual and oral sources, artefacts and the historic environment.
2.3a. Present and organise accounts and explanations about the past that are coherent, structured and substantiated, using chronological convention sand historical vocabulary.
2.3b. Communicate their knowledge and understanding of history in a variety of ways, using chronological conventions and historical vocabulary.
3g. The way in which the lives, beliefs, ideas and attitudes of people in Britain have changed over time and the factors – such as technology, economic development.
4a. Investigate aspects of personal, family or local history and how they relate to a broader historical context.
4c. Appreciate and evaluate, through visits where possible, the role of
museums, galleries, archives and historic sites in preserving, presenting and influencing people’s attitudes towards the past.
4d. Use ICT to research information about the past, process historical data, and select, categorise, organise and present their findings.
4e. Make links between history and other subjects and areas of the curriculum, including citizenship.
Key Stage 3 ICT
4d. Apply ICT to real-world situations when solving problems and carrying out a range of tasks and enquiries.
2.3a. Use a range of ICT tools to present information in forms that are fit for purpose, meet audience needs and suit the content.
KS3 English
4.2c. Develop reading skills through work that makes cross-curricular links with other subjects.
4.3g. Develop writing skills through work that makes cross-curricular links with other subjects write for contexts and purposes beyond the classroom.
Key Stage 2 History
Historical enquiry
4. Pupils should be taught:
a. How to find out about the events, people and changes studied from an appropriate range of sources of information, including ICT-based sources [for example, documents, printed sources, CD-ROMS, databases, pictures
and photographs, music, artefacts, historic buildings and visits to museums, galleries and sites].
b. To ask and answer questions, and to select and record information relevant to the focus of the enquiry.
Organisation and communication
5. Pupils should be taught to:
a. Recall, select and organise historical information
b. Use dates and historical vocabulary to describe the periods studied
c. Communicate their knowledge and understanding of history in a variety
of ways [for example, drawing, writing, by using ICT].
Local history study
7. A study investigating how an aspect in the local area has changed over a long period of time, or how the locality was affected by a significant national or local event or development or by the work of a significant individual.
Key Stage 2 ICT
Pupils should be taught:
1. How to develop and refine ideas by bringing together, organising and reorganising text, tables, images and sound as appropriate [for example, desktop publishing, multimedia presentations].
Pupils should be taught:
1. How to share and exchange information in a variety of forms, including e-mail [for example, displays, posters, animations, musical compositions].
2. To be sensitive to the needs of the audience and think carefully about the content and quality when communicating information [for example, work for presentation to other pupils, writing for parents, publishing on the internet].
Key Stage 2 English
9. The range of purposes for writing should include: to inform and explain, focusing on the subject matter and how to convey it in sufficient detail for the reader.
11. The range of readers for writing should include teachers, the class, other children, adults, the wider community and imagined readers.
12. The range of forms of writing should include narratives, poems, playscripts, reports, explanations, opinions, instructions, reviews, commentaries.
At the end of the unit most pupils will be able to explain why the ‘model village’ was set up, what kind of people lived there and how different was their lifestyle was to ours.
Most pupils will have improved their communication, ICT and literacy skills.
Some pupils will have a detailed understanding about working and living conditions at the turn of the 20thcentury. They will know how to set up a webpage and the correct style for this. They will have improved their confidence and have acted as group leader.
A few pupils will have become ‘experts’ in working and living conditions in the ‘model village’. They will have become enthused and passionate about local history and will transfer this to others. Their interpersonal skills will have flourished and they will feel confident in new and challenging situations. Their ICT skills will be excellent, they will be able to set up a webpage, add sound files and edit video footage.
The project was conducted during morning sessions over an eight week period.
Teacher Pack contents
This pack of material contains the following documents:
- Teacher Notes: Overview;
Examples of pupils’ web pages.
- Activities: Project Planning.
- Resources: Pupil Feedback Form;
DCC Cultural Community Services Presentation;
1901 Census – Bolsover Entries;
Sources of Information;
Live Interpretation Notes;
Bolsover Colliery and New Bolsover Images;
New Bolsover ‘Model Village’ Images.
- Timeline.
- Did You Know?
- Images
Acknowledgements
The material was largely written by Gordon Nisbet (Advanced Skills Teacher, Derbyshire) from AldercarCommunityLanguageCollege, in liaison with Noel Edwards from The Bolsover Secondary School and Liz Mulcahey from NewBolsoverPrimary School, Derbyshire. The contributions from other schools’ staff are also acknowledged.
In addition, the work and support from:
- Derbyshire County Council Cultural & Community Services is acknowledged, in particular the Local Studies Office & Bolsover Library.
- Live Interpretation specialists: John Charlesworth & Donna Booth.
- Education Improvement Service: Consultants - Out of School Hours Learning (in particular Orlinda Dias) & ICT.
The unit was sponsored by England’s Past for Everyone and draws on original research byPhilip Riden and Dr Dudley Fowkes (for the EPE paperback Bolsover: Castle, Town and Colliery).
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Teacher - Personal Evaluation
Week One:
The day was a success. The pupils were clearly engaged by the museum, especially the trip underground. The feedback gathered was positive. All pupils had increased their knowledge of the period and, crucially for the project, good working relationships between the year groups had developed. Both sides commented on how they had got over the initial ‘fear’ factor.
Week Two:
The session was a great success. The pupils responded very well to the non-school setting. The library staff were fantastic and explained the complexities of working with original material. The highlight of the week was when the pupils beganto get to know their ‘characters’. They were tremendously excited and began animatedly telling each other who they were. For example: “My name is…………….. I am……. years old and I am in charge of the pit ponies in the colliery.” By the end of the session they were addressing each other by their new 1901 names and competing with each other to tell ‘their’ story.
Week Three:
The sessions were both a success; the pupils were excited about the upcoming role-play. John Charlesworthwas an enthusiastic and knowledgeable consultant; he enthused the pupils and gave them some excellent tips and help. All staff learnt a lot from spending a day with him. In retrospect, I would have liked even more practice and another session with John, perhaps the pupils could have had a ‘dress rehearsal’ in the classroom – interviewing each other under John’s tutelage.
Week Four:
The morning was truly memorable and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. History did come alive and the participants and observers got a real sense of what the ‘model village’ was like in 1901, and the characters and goings on there. Many of the local residents were fascinated with the event and engaged the pupils with interest and enthusiasm. The costumes and props were good, but with
more time I would have made this a more important part of the project. The digital recorders worked well, although we had maybe too many recordings!
Weeks Five to Seven:
The ICT training session was useful, but if I did this again I would make it only available for the Year 5s – I would then make them ‘experts’ on the ICT programme and allow them to guide the Year 9s.
The designing of the web pages was very successful. The pupils worked brilliantly together and produced some very professional-looking pages. By the end, both groups had become firm friends and also knowledgeable advocates of their local area. I don’t think anyone who was involved in the project will be able to pass the ‘model village’ without thinking about what it was like in1901.
Future:
The Bolsover Mining Community 1901 project was such a success, that I am going to recreate this project with a ruined 11th century castle which has little documentary evidence. Here I will have to make up some typical medieval ‘characters’ for the pupils, but I am confident that we can bring the castle to life and engage both sets of pupils and the general public.