18 April 2011

Pupils get messy to bring history to life

Pupils have rolled up their sleeves and donned their wellington boots to help create a very early form of housing in Britain, as part of a unique project involving St Wilfrid´s Primary School, Heeley City Farm and the University of Sheffield.

Working with the consultation and support of the University´s Department of Archaeology, pupils are constructing a replica Iron Age Roundhouse, which will be similar to the one already being built at Heeley City Farm.

The collaboration came about after the school invited members of the farm for a visit to look at raising the school pond so that the children could take part in pond dipping activities. After hearing about the farm´s Roundhouse, it was thought it would be a good idea for the children to build a Roundhouse of their own.

The project, which began at the end of February and is set to be completed in the beginning of May, has involved pupils being taught the origins of the Roundhouse and life during the Iron Age. Pupils have also worked with heritage officers from Heeley City Farm and academics from the University on a host of activities, including handling genuine archaeological artefacts and practising building scale models of Roundhouses. The next stage encouraged the pupils to visit the Iron Age hillfort at Wincobank and harvest materials for construction.

This week, the pupils have got messy by working on the daub for the Roundhouse. This is a mixture of clay, straw, water and sand which has to be mixed by foot and then put onto the walls by hand. This covered the woven willow of the wattle and daub walls of the house and students and staff from the University have offered advice and been on hand to give assistance during the construction.

The finished Iron Age Roundhouse will be used as an outdoor classroom for the pupils and will provide valuable results to the academic and heritage communities alike.

Lee Pearse, Heeley City Farm´s Youth Education and Training Manager and co coordinator for the project said: "This is a really positive learning experience for the young children at the school and for the farm. The children have been involved in harvesting the materials and are now helping to build the Roundhouse.

"They will continue daubing the woven willow walls with a clay, straw and sand mix. The building construction itself is an educational process, using authentic materials and techniques and when it is finished it will be an outdoor classroom for the children to use. It really is bringing past farming heritage to life."

Dr Roger Doonan, a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, said: "The pupils are really enjoying this project as it is fun but also forms part of an important research project with the work of the pupils contributing to our understanding of life in the Iron Age. Their enthusiasm and interest is incredibly impressive and I have been asked questions by nine year old pupils which would not be out of place at a professional conference.

"Whilst the project demonstrates the potential of teaching in this way, it also gives me a sense of optimism when I think these children will be playing their part in the world in the next decade – I think we will be in good hands!"