Gloucestershire Local History Association – Working with Schools Forum

Jemma Fowkes and John Putley attended the GLHA forum which met at Gloucestershire Heritage Hub on 9 September with the subject being ‘Working with Schools’.  Members from around 15 local history groups attended.  The topic is always a perennial favourite among heritage organisations, and it is one of the most difficult things a local history society can tackle, but is a really good way of promoting local history societies amongst the communities that they operate in and potentially obtaining new members from them. 

After a general introduction, the room was split into different groups and each group worked through a sheet with questions revolving around the subject.  This triggered discussions that ranged from ‘getting past the school secretary’ (always badged as a harridan defending her headmaster & school from unwanted intrusions!) to how groups could  work with schools, what subjects local history groups could offer and how to plan potential schemes of work.  Other  musings included finding out what teachers wanted, safeguarding, identifying suitable subjects in local areas,  organising and planning school visits and much more besides.  The round-table groups covered a vast range of topics,  with some great discussions and there were some really good ideas put forward.  Sally Self led the meeting and the  end summary and everyone who attended went away with some new insights and good ideas to put to their societies.  All in all, it was an excellent afternoon’s work that will no doubt bear fruit.