Children from Dr Radcliffe’s CE Primary School in Steeple Aston are involved in a unique project to bring an exhibition on the history of the village school up to date and create a book.
An exhibition in 2005 traced the development of local education from its foundation in 1640 to the present day, with sections on curriculum, school meals, the buildings, discipline and teachers.
Sanctuary Housing has donated £5,000 to Steeple Aston Village Archive Trust (SAVA) to be used to add examples of current school practices and initiatives, suggested by children and staff, to the exhibition.
The material will then feature in a new SAVA history exhibition, which is planned for November 2014, before being published in the trust’s own book.
Sanctuary has also provided funding for a project which is allowing children from Class 4 at Dr Radcliffe’s School to take part in a mapping project.
Through the scheme, pupils are exploring the village and recording different features they see including paths, trees, hedges, springs and buildings, to help produce a scale map of the area. The map will be displayed at a SAVA exhibition later this year.
Martin Lipson, chairman of the Village Archive, said: “Sanctuary’s grant has already allowed 30 children, many from local families, to spend supervised time out in the village, observing, measuring and drawing what they see. Some of them have amazed us with their mathematical skills and their team work.
“We’re really looking forward to the next stage of the project, where schooling itself becomes the focus for a larger group of children.”