Services for Schools
News for teachers from the City of Westminster Archives Centre
Contact Peter Daniel for more information on our education services.
Telephone: (020) 7641 5180
e-mail: pdaniel@westminster.gov.uk
or write to him at the
Archives Centre.
A Miller’s Tale
In 2006 England was awash with patriotic fervour, linked to England’s participation in the World Cup in Germany. However the venue of the tournament provided some sections of the media with the opportunity of reviving anti-German stereotypes that lie close to the surface of the national psyche, ready to rear their ugly head whenever England and Germany meet at football.
The story and activities in A Miller’s Tale teachers' pack will help to explain to children why this continues to happen, by looking at the period of World War One, where the roots of the problem lie. In doing so, it will also tell the forgotten stories of the German community that once flourished in Westminster and Fulham just as the last living survivors of this conflict fade from our memories. It will relate the tales of the men of the area who went away to fight in World War One and never returned and how they are remembered today at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.
A Miller’s Tale pack will compliment the 'KS3 History Unit 18: Hot war, cold war why did the major twentieth-century conflicts affect so many people?' And 'Unit 13: How do we deal with conflict?' The pack also works very well with YR 6’s.
Monty’s Lost Stripes
Monty’s story, a soldier of the Great War with no known grave, is told through his wife’s perspective and aims to allow children to discover why the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey and the Cenotaph in Whitehall were so important to people who lived through those times. Opportunities to visit the local memorials and to look at primary source material and original artefacts will help children to make a personal connection with a momentous period of our shared past. It will also allow them to understand the importance of Remembrance Day and their own role in keeping alive the memories of those who died.
Monty’s Lost Stripes pack will compliment 'Unit 17: What are we remembering on Remembrance Day?' The unit has been adapted for KS2 so that schools can involve children in the 90th anniversary of the Armistice in 2008 and hopefully continue to do so in the years that follow.
Peter Daniel, City of Westminster Archives Education and Interpretation Officer, is available to deliver A Miller’s Tale or Monty’s Lost Stripes sessions either at your school or at City of Westminster Archives. Please email pdaniel@westminster.gov.uk for availability.
The Archives Centre Education service provides:
Teachers can visit the Search Room at any time during our opening hours to look at sources and select illustrations, maps, newspaper cuttings, census returns etc. for use in the classroom.
Copies of census returns and maps can be made directly from the microfilm and microfiche printers at a cost of £1.00 per page.
There is a photocopier in the search room, but it may not be possible to copy some items (such as photographs) for conservation reasons.
For photographs, a scanning service is available. You can order good quality colour or black and white prints of illustrations. A selection of prints and photographs can be found by searching our online catalogue WESTCAT.
Class Visits
What is a class visit?
A group trip to Westminster City Archives, booked in advance, to explore primary and secondary sources, look at original documents, use the Search Room, go into the Strong Rooms, and see the Conservator at work.
How many can come?
A maximum of 30 pupils.
How long does a visit take?
1½ - 2 hours, normally from 10:00-12:00am. Other times by arrangement.
How much does it cost?
- £30 per visit for Westminster schools
- £40 per visit for non-Westminster schools
Includes drinks and biscuits on arrival.
What does a visit consist of?
- A talk by our Education Officer
- Group work using sources
- A ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour of the Archives Centre
What topics are available?
Here is a selection for Key Stages 2-3:
- How to find out about Local History
- Tudors and the Plague in Westminster
- Victorian Children
- Industrial Revolution: Children sent to the Mills
- Transport
- Health and Disease
- Development of the Poor Law
- Letters
- Diary writing
- Westminster in the Blitz
- Interpreting Pictures
- Journeys
A-level:
- Sources for Historical Research
Resource Packs
As well as bringing your class to visit the archives you can order a resource pack on a particular topic of your choice e.g. a study of your local area.
A resource pack will include photocopies of selected sources eg:
- Maps
- Photographs
- Census Returns
- Street directories
- Documents
Resource packs will soon be available on:
* already available
Handling collection
Small loan collections are available for use at Key Stage 1 and 2:
- Victorians
- Westminster in World War II
Artefacts include slates, flat iron, washing dolly, gas masks and ration books.
Sources
Individual documents can be used in many different ways to:
- Stimulate interest
- Formulate questions
- Encourage persuasive writing
- Evaluate bias
- Give local focus to national issues
For example you can find out:
- What happened in Westminster during the Civil War
- What preparations were made locally for the Spanish Armada
- How long it took to sail to India in 1728
Ask the Education Officer for details and further suggestions of documents to use in the classroom.
Exhibitions
A number of exhibitions are available for loan to schools:
- Crime and Punishment
- Food Glorious Food
- History of the Theatre in London
- Maida Vale: a history
- Pimlico: a history
- Trade and Manufacture in Victorian Westminster
- Transport in Westminster 1800-1900
- Westminster and the Celestial Empire
The exhibitions consist of laminated reproductions suitable for 5 or 8 boards. Archives staff can erect the exhibitions for you, and supply the exhibition stands and boards.
Please contact archives@westminster.gov.uk or telephone 020 7641 5180 if you would like to borrow any of these exhibitions.
INSET training
The Education Officer can hold workshops either at your school or at the Archives Centre. The content can be arranged to meet your particular needs, such as:
- Using primary sources in the classroom
- Local history at Key Stage 2
- Documents and the literacy strategy
- Local history sources for Britain 1500-1750
- Local history sources for Britain 1750-1900
- Black and British: combating racism
- Citizenship
- Interpreting and evaluating evidence
