KEDLESTON HALL
“(I enjoyed) seeing the children’s ideas develop from initial tentative thoughts into positive and exciting ideas, especially the emergence of huge interest form the class “know it all loud boy”. He really picked up all the group’s ideas, and pulled them all together to create a good presentation.”
An education volunteer’s comment at Kedleston Hall
With the National Trust’s well established networks of volunteers comes a wealth of expertise and enthusiasm. HERO has sought to capitalise on this in order that volunteers could advocate the potential of HERO within the Trust and in order that interested volunteers could directly influence the development of the Project. To this end two Focus group meetings were held in year one. One working to achieve the same aims as the Focus groups at the other two sites and one exclusively for Kedleston’s National Trust Volunteers. A core team of education volunteers has been established. “The Kedleston Heroes” are challenged with developing resource boxes associated with the project and are acting as ambassadors for the project within the National Trust.
Kedleston Now! is an educational resource for KS 2 based on a visit to Kedleston Hall, incorporating History, Art and Design, Design and Technology and English, Mathematics and Citizenship based on redesigning a room at Kedleston Hall that encourages a practical ‘hands on’ approach to a visit to a historic site.
“You can’t keep everything.
It’s not always good to change.
Not everything can be changed.”
Pupil after taking part in the Pilot phase
Children are invited to redesign the room interiors of Kedleston Hall to fulfil their aspirations and meet their personal needs.This resource has relevance to key curriculum areas, most notably: Art and Design Unit 6 - Visiting a museum, gallery or site, History (investigative skills), Design and Technology (Developing, planning and communicating ideas, evaluating processes and products, Focused practical tasks), English (Opportunistic), Mathematics (Opportunistic) and Citizenship (Opportunistic).
From the outset, the project has had five stages:
- School based-first stageChildren undertake the ‘What is Beauty’ activity to explore concepts of beauty
- School based study of interior design based on a child’s own choice of room. This could be a bedroom, living room, kitchen or any other familiar room. This study would consider function and purpose, furnishings and equipment and decoration.
- Children receive a letter inviting them to form groups to undertake a design task at Kedleston Hall for an anonymous client.
Kedleston Hall
- A visit to Kedleston Hall, which would begin with a tour of the house and an invitation for children to choose a room to redesign suitable rooms at Kedleston include the State Bedroom, Saloon, Drawing Room, Library and State Dressing Room.
- Children choose an item of furniture or ornament to retain in the room and when possible use a digital camera to record an image of the item
- Groups undertake a series of activities in their chosen room with the help of volunteers or teachers to help them explore the room. These include:
- Observing for a short time and then answering questions about the room with eyes closed.
- Measuring the room
- Taking notes and sketching
- Recording those parts of the room that must be retained including fireplaces, heating, plasterwork and widow and door positions
- Handling an object [if possible using a replica or other artefact]
School based- second stage
On returning to school, children will redesign their chosen room to suit their needs and aspirations, developing a plan of the redesigned room and details of furnishings, equipment and decoration. The study will contain a short report on their plans for the house, which will be used for a presentation to be made on a return visit to the Hall or at school.
These activities can be supported by:·
- A collection of materials, including fabrics and stone for reference
- Colour cards and charts
- Room plans and images when possible
- Image of chosen retained item
- Catalogues and life style magazines
- A secondary task that can be undertaken as part of the project is the selection of one object from a room at Kedleston for an in-depth study. This could be an everyday object that has evolved and is still available today. The study would look at change and continuity and design for function. Objects that could be chosen include furniture, cutlery or decorative items. Lighting for example would provide strong evidence of change and continuity in the development of domestic equipment.
Kedleston Hall Presentations
The presentation of their new designs to a representative of Kedleston Hall, this could be a character associated with the Hall in role and costume or modern day representative. This could if necessary take place in school or other location. The presentation to an audience should be supported by a/v and IT equipment including PowerPoint presentation resources.
Evaluation
It is important that all those involved should have an opportunity to evaluate the project; this should include Kedleston Hall staff and volunteers, teachers and pupils.
The project provides a meaningful opportunity to visit Kedleston Hall, which clearly enhances the project. With support from experienced guides, learners develop a vocabulary that will enable them to develop a presentation, which they then make to an audience of adults and their peers. The project enables children to make decisions and choices and reflect on their experience. The project gives opportunities for speaking and listening, ICT and presentation skills and the collaborative nature of the project was beneficial to cross age groups. The relationship between the volunteers and the children also provides for an intergenerational element to the learning undertaken.
